Online chatfest Bloggingheads.tv — a cult favorite amongst wonky blognoscenti types — just got some money where its mouths are in the form of a cash infusion by cable TV pioneer and C-SPAN founding chairman Bob Rosencrans and a loose network of others associated with Bloggingheads co-founder and current proprietor Bob Wright. Though Rosencrans is the lead investor, Wright has retained control of the venture, which unites Bloggingheads.tv and its more soulful sister site, MeaningOfLife.tv (hosted on Slate.com) into a new company called Brainwave.tv.
Wright (pictured, left) founded the remote-location webcam show fifteen months ago with Slate's Mickey Kaus (also pictured, right) and site technical advisor Greg Dingle, who is well-known in certain rarefied circles as having developed the "Dingalink" — a time-coded link which takes the viewer to a specific spot in a video. Kaus, who runs the tart stream-of-consciousness political blog Kausfiles on Slate, renounced his stake in the business to avoid a potential conflict of interest with linking to the site's many video "diavlogs" (helpfully divided using Dingalinks). What started as two charmingly wonky fellows having a semi-stiff conversation about the issues of the day via broadband quickly expanded into, er, a lot of charmingly wonky people having all sorts of lively, policy-diatribe-infused discussions about the issues of the day as more and more viewers in the blogosphere tuned in and turned on (or, more likely, took notes).
Rosencrans said he was instantly charmed by Bloggingheads TV when longtime friend Wright introduced him to it last November. "It got better and better as I watched it, and seemed like something really unique," said Rosencrans, reached by phone earlier today. "I asked if he was trying to expand it, develop it and I thought it sounded like a great idea and said 'Let me join you!'"
Wright says the plan is to eventually make the site self-sustaining through advertising: "It will be a challenge to accomplish this while maintaining high standards, but we're going to give it a try." In the short- term, the plan is to improve site quality and build the audience, and expand the network of contributors (aka the eponymous Bloggingheads), a task which will be aided by the 'Heads' just-hired first full-time employee, production manager Brian Degenhart (Dingle dingalinks on a part-time basis). Though contributors will continue to vlog for free, Wright says he hopes to someday be able to pay them (and points out that he himself draws no salary, and has invested his own capital.) So far Heads like Matthew Yglesias, Ezra Klein, our own Arianna Huffington, Spencer Ackerman, Jonathan Chait, Joshua Marshall, Glenn Reynolds and the Alts — Eric Alterman, Ann Althouse and Jonathan Alter — don't seem to mind, nor does the still-ubiquitous and generously-browed Kaus.
Though obviously enthusiastic about the venture, Rosencrans said he has no plans to meddle in its success. "Bob has control - it's important that it's done based on his integrity and his vision," he said. "I find this very much akin to what we did with C-SPAN about 25-30 years ago — let it run, let it develop and the right people will take it on. Their integrity is the key to developing a very solid business." Also reminiscent of C-SPAN is its emphasis on substance over flash: "I love the civility of the discussion," he said. "That's unique on television." (That could just be because it's very difficult to imagine yelling at the mild-mannered and highly-respected Wright.)
Rosencrans says they're "no script" but they're hoping to get more cameras situated "in think tanks and bureaus around the world" as the site grows and the audience builds. "Obviously there is the possibility of financial gain, but that's not the point," said Rosencrans, in a statement that would likely sounds resoundingly unfamiliar to employees of the LAT and Time Inc. "There's no urgency to have it happen overnight. It's a rare opportunity to get invovled with some wonderful people and wonderful material but it's in Bob's hand and I think he's going to do a wonderful job."
Related:
Two Bloggers Set Up a Web Site To Go Head to Head [NYSun]
From Fox News
This wasn't intentional — how could it have been? — but we are under an obligation to report the news that matters to you, dear reader, and so we are bound to report that no sooner had we picked up the remote control in an idle moment and randomly switched to FNC's "Live Desk With Martha McCallum" than we were once again faced with that pressing question of the day: What's it like to be a Hooters calendar girl? Apparently, if you like being on TV it's pretty good, because this is the second time we've seen Fox News on the Hooter's beat, but then again it's only the second time we've watched it in as many days. Eagle-eyed viewers will recognize our winsome centerfold from the previous segment with Neil Cavuto (or, as we are only too delighted to have an excuse to call him again, Neil Cav-Hoot-O), but alas, we did not learn her name because we only caught the tail end, as no doubt people flipping casually through the calendar are wont to do. Though we tried our luck at HootersCalendar.com as instructed, the sheer volume of Hooter's girls was daunting; ditto Hooters.com (though we did consider signing up for the Hooter's Mastercard - Variable APR between 8.25% and 29.20%, plus Hooters Reward Points!). Still, the important thing is that this critical story isn't being forgotten — and wherever important Hooter's breaks, by God, ETP will be there, just like we were here and here and here.
p.s. Rejected title for this post: "Hooter's Girls Are The New Shamu!"
Related:
Your World With Neil Cav-Hoot-O [ETP]
Courtesy of AP
Dick Cheney bets on "Meet the Press," a staffer told Libby who Valerie Plame was, and Ari Fleischer will testify Monday. These are the most recent revelations from the trial of Cheney's former chief-of-staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, which yesterday centered on the testimony of former Cheney spokeswoman Cathie Martin.
Martin yesterday testified that she told Libby about Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent (contradicting Libby's claim that he learned Plame's identity from the press). In fact, she says, he called at least one reporter to check the story. Martin told the court, "I was aggravated that he was talking to the press, and I wasn't." According to Slate's Seth Stevenson, media reps in the room laughed at the line.
Stevenson notes that Martin's testimony contradicts not just Libby's claim that he heard about Plame's identity from reporters, but also the argument that Libby was too busy to care or remember about Plame. Monday's testimony from Ari Fleischer could also belie this claim: Fleischer has requested immunity if he testifies, and defense lawyers have agreed to reveal this to the jury, on the condition that they also explain he did so because of a Washington Post article implying Plame's outer could face the death penalty for treason. If Fleischer was worked up, Stevenson deduces, Libby must have been as well.
The Post's Dana Milbank writes that Martin also discussed Dick Cheney's PR strategy, which included putting him on Meet the Press where he could "control [the] message" about the White House's handling of Iraqi nuclear plan evidence. Tactics also included burying bad news on the weekends and keeping Bush spokespeople in the dark about important matters.
Martin also complained that reporters didn't listen to her during the controversy in 2004. "Often, reporters would stop calling us," she said. Milbank writes that at this, a reporter in the court whispered, "When was the last time you called the vice president's office and got anything other than a 'no comment'?"
No more miserable failure
Public opinion aside, at least Bush is no longer a miserable failure on Google, after the company tweaked its search engine to neutralize "Google bombs." This type of prank, in which bloggers linked to Bush's White House profile page with the words "miserable failure" to increase the page's Google rank for that phrase, caused many users to believe Google was making a political statement. Google ignored these as harmless until the misconceptions about its role made the company reconsider. The fix is done with an algorithm, not by hand, as with all Google searches; Yahoo and Ask.com results still show Bush's bio as one of the top links. Search expert Danny Sullivan explains why this was a long time coming. [Google Blog; Search Engine Land]
Warning: This TV is junk in two years
Three U.S. Representatives are proposing a bill that would put a warning on analog TVs stating that they will need an added converter box to receive over-the-air broadcasts. Beginning February 17, 2009, broadcasters are required to switch to a digital signal. Any large TV sold since July 2005 is digital-ready, as is any medium TV from March 2006 and small TV after this March. While this measure may help save some customers, it seems like plenty of TV-watchers will still be clueless when one day soon, their old TVs go blank. [Ars Technica]
Sundry
from crooksandliars.com
Forgive us our kvelling, but we're excited about today's installment of the regular CBS Public Eye Blog feature, "Outside Voices," because it features ETP's own Ankush Khardori, also of Penguins On The Equator and now EzraKlein.com. Here's his point, in a nutshell: CBS can turn the lemon of its third-place news department into lemonade but using this time as a chance to experiment, to "throw things against the wall and see what sticks":
Importantly, the nightly news race is still in its beginning stages. The dust from the end of the Jennings-Brokaw-Rather era has not yet settled, which gives CBS an opportunity to experiment before young and middle-aged viewers settle in with Brian Williams or Charles Gibson. With 19 actual minutes for news, I realize that even ostensibly small changes can actually be quite significant, so here are just a few suggestions of my own for tweaking the show, but by all means, surprise me.
Khardori goes on to suggest cutting out soft news stories and its concomitant "journalistic nibbling around the edges" and adopting the bullshit-calling attitude of "The Daily Show" (to which ETP alluded earlier). He also suggests giving emerging superstar Lara Logan more airtime ("Logan's reports are consistently riveting, she's covering frequently the most important news story of the day, and -- let's be honest about it -- she's unusually attractive"), even suggesting giving her a half-hour special here and there (look to CNN's "This Week At War" for a model, CBS). This advice is especially telling, coming as it does on the heels of Logan's plea for attention after an important segment she produced ended up going online rather than on-air.
Read the whole smart, pithy column here (especially you, CBS brass). Regrettably, Ankush didn't submit a photo to Public Eye; though we can assure you that he's both fetching and strapping, I think we can all agree that there's never a bad time to run a picture of Lara Logan.
from Comedy Central
Jon Stewart devoted over a third of the broadcast last night — a full 10 minutes, and remember there are commercials — to unpacking Wolf Blitzer's interview with Dick Cheney on CNN, and if anyone ever sputters that "The Daily Show" isn't news and is pushing a biased agenda, direct them to this clip. Not only did Stewart go through numerous highlights from the interview, but the "Daily Show" staff went and gathered supporting video clips from elsewhere to provide context for the interview, using previous statements of position and policy to hold the veep accountable for the stuff he was saying now. Media junkies may take for granted statements like "We'll be greeted as liberators" and "The insurgency's in its last throes" but for many people, these soundbytes put into context help to clarify the narrative immensely. For someone who failed to catch the Blitzer interview on TV or online (and there are such people, you know, many of whom have jobs on location or who perhaps do things in their spare time that doesn't involve being mesmerized by the glow of an LCD screen), this segment brought the highlights of the Cheney interview to the fore against the backdrop of the event of his time in office. Sure, there were jokes — Stewart loves doing his so-bad-they're-good impressions, and the bit in the hunting cap and Darth Vader mask were obviously gratuitous from a hard-news point of view — but for anyone who came into it tabula rasa, that segment provided all they needed to know and then some.
Note also that this was just one segment; after the break, Stewart welcomed New York Senator and Dem bigwig Chuck Schumer to discuss his new book, Positively American. Let's see, Senator...book...elections '06 and '08...nope, nothing newsworthy there!
(By the way, the "Daily Show" modus of tag-teaming similar clips into one damning collection is so effective, it's amazing that more news channels haven't caught on.)
from nymag.com
WWD's Memo Pad today reports that New York's "Look Book" feature, oft-stared at in mute incomprehension and mocked weekly by Gawker, is set to publish its "Look Book Book," which WWD's Amy Wicks hopes is a working title, but we love for all the fun headline variations it promises. According to Wicks, the 150-page book will publish in mid-September by Melcher Media, the publisher of Spy: The Funny Years and Glamour's Big Book of Dos & Don'ts. Look for a mix of 'Look Bookers' and new faces, plus backstory info on those photographed: "One couple broke up when the man's other girlfriend saw the magazine." Honestly, it is truly amazing that doesn't happen more often. Ever been busted by a media sighting, Gawker party-crash picture or some random person's all-inclusive Flickr stream? Do tell. Anonymity assured, unless it's really juicy. Kidding! Tell us here. Oh yeah, dishing on friends and co-workers is totally welcome. We're serious journalists.
The Look Book [New York]
Looking At The Look Book [Gawker]
Don't Look Now, It's The Look Book! [WWD]
Related:
The Sartorialist [The Sartorialist]
Streetwalker [Fashionista]
Dontspotting [Glamour]
from FishbowlNY
Citigroup fired exec Todd Thomson this week in wake of Bartiromo-Gate: CNBC defended its marquee anchor to the WSJ and New York Times, saying her role in speaking at Citigroup events was ethical, including plane rides on Citigroup's corporate jet (for which CNBC says it compensated Citigroup). Love for the Money Honey, from all sides. Joey Ramone would be proud. [WSJ/NYT]
Also: She reports/takes a $50,000 flight on a private jet with a source, you decide! [FishbowlNY]
Libby trial testimony reveals White House media tactics: Notes by Cheney's communications director include recommendations that Cheney appear on Meet the Press as it is "our best format," where Cheney could "control the message" about accusations that Bush had stretched evidence for Iraqi nuclear plans. The director was embarrassed by a note suggesting a press "leak," which she called a "term of art" for an exclusive. Other testimony reveals that Cheney was obsessed with Hardball because the show paid attention to Joe Wilson. [WaPo]
The EIC of Sun-Times Media Group's Pioneer Press chain says he quit because the company is full of 'truthiness.'" "A lot of these folks would be at home in the Bush White House," John Ambrosia tells the Chicago Reader. He also says he saw ineffective cuts made to short-term costs. [Reader]
Atoosa Rubenstein is ready for her closeup Part XLVII: And looking to rally the troops (and the money) around Brand Atoosa. [BusinessWeek]
The New York Post promotes metro editor Jesse Angelo to managing editor. He and two other managing editors will report to EIC Col Allan. [NYT]
Journalists will "find new ways of finding a new audience," Google's CEO tells PBS Frontline: "I'm not sure it's good," says Eric Schmidt, who lists blogging as one of the possible new revenue forms for news outlets. "We're critically dependent on the success of these newspapers... Anything that screws up their economics, that causes them to get rid of reporters, is a really bad thing. So anything that Google can do to help them by sending more traffic, better advertising, those are all improvements. The fact of the matter is that the consumption of news is up." [Frontline]
WSJ to launch 'Rub N' Sniff' ads: There's no way we can improve on that, nor would we want to. [AdAge]
John Stewart lampooned New York Times videos on Tuesday's Daily Show, playing some real snorers from the vows and classified sections. His point: NYT chose the worst stuff to put on video. That idea should scare the Times, which presumably started web-only features like video to attract the younger audience that is abandoning print news for the web.
But is Stewart playing fair? The videos featured on the Times front page feel as interesting and well-written as its stories and provide a value add. Granted, since the videos are locked onto the site, they're at a disadvantage against embeddable videos from YouTube. (An embedding solution could still involve ads, as with videos at Revver and Blip.tv.) The public-television style could distinguish Times videos in a sea of amateur content and overslicked TV clips.
Stewart makes another point with a mockup of Art Buchwald's video obit on an undignified ad-filled page. That's actually one advantage the Times has over YouTube, thanks to the paper's high-quality advertisers. But to stay relevant in online video, the Times will have to balance between its low-key thought pieces and high-profile stunts like video obits (which we're sure will seem perfectly normal in a few years).
(Ed. Best part by far: The bike ad. Awesome.)
