from MSNBC
While Barack Obama may have everyone wondering whether he is black enough, Hillary Clinton seems to have everyone wondering whether she's sorry enough.
The two Democratic Nominees for President dominated coverage this week-end with Obama officially anouncing his run for the Presidency, and Clinton making her first stop in New Hampshire in a decade.
Clinton, despite feeling the love of the voters in early primary polls, could not seem to get away from questions regarding her 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq invasion.
When asked, point blank, by New Hampshire resident Roger Tilton whether she would "admit her vote was a mistake" Clinton (who recently kept voters guessing regarding her own Love Story), reminded the questioner that it was Bush who had provided the Senate with faulty information. Apparently she didn't feel that an apology was necessary. Though Clinton's Iraq war vote has hardly been a secret, the weekend's episode was enough to push the question front and center, discussed and debated on the cable news networks this evening and getting a second wind for tomorrow's news cycle in op-eds and analyses.
It is still very early in the game, and even though Valentine's Day is just around the corner, formal declarations of love will not be required from New Hampshire voters for another eleven months.
However, on yesterday's Meet the Press, Roger Simon of The Politico, felt that eventually the Democratic Senator from New York would be pressured to admit "that her current position not to apologize, not to say it was a mistake, is an untenable position for her. I think she will be pushed to say, before we get to the Iowa caucuses "I was wrong"."
Perhaps by then Senator Clinton will have brushed up on her John Lennon, who knew that, among other things, love also means "having to apologize every fifteen minutes."
As for Obama, apologies are not yet in order. Apparently, all he has to do is quit smoking.
Yahoo announced today that it's coming out with an IM program embedded in its regular email, an innovation that means users will no longer have to toggle out of one program and into another should they wish to use both simultaneously (which, as any inveterate web-addict knows, is rough on the wrists). It's an innovation, note, that was pioneered by Gmail in their Gchat program, which ETP considers the most user-friendly IM program out there (privacy issues notwithstanding). Why is it so great? Because it's easy - providing a quick way to swap information and make contact while permitting easy and continuous access to email (ETP can attest to both the professional and recreational utility of same). It is the ADD-afflicted multitasker's dream (and, as we recently demonstrated, those taglines can be all sorts of fun. So, it's a smart move for Yahoo to rip it off &mdash particularly since it is in serious need of pumping up its utility to users, and hence numbers. Yahoo also recently made the smart move of re-jiggering their (previously frustratingly inefficient) email program along the lines of Outlook, allowing for quickie categorization, sorting and searching. One drawback, however: It staggers under the load of many messages, making it near-impossible to re-sort for those of us who have long abandoned our Yahoo accounts and long despaired of ever cleaning them out. The new interface would be ideal for the quickie cleanup, if only it didn't take forever to load. This is, of course, not a consideration for all users but there are enough email packrats out there to make issues of storage a live one (Gmail, too, led the charge on that point).
In other news, MTV clips will soon be embeddable, no doubt in a move to cash in some of that sweet YouTube action. Here's the thing about Gchat (read: Google) and YouTube (read: Google) — they're both way out front on both these points, and continuing to innovate while their competitors play catch up. We say "their" but of course it's "its" — the All-Powerful Monolithic Globe-Straddling Power that is Google.
p.s. We don't know what "toast" means but our instant association was "waffles!" That's based on that old kid's joke where you try to trick someone who's been asked "what do you put in a toaster?" into saying "toast" when it's actually "bread." That totally doesn't work on people who really like waffles.
from nytimes.com
Congratulations, Barney — we know we've been tough on you in the past, but good job smacking down your bosses at the NYT for their lazy, misleading, statistically-gerrymandered article claiming that "51% of women are living without a spouse" — and including 15-17 girls in that equation. This article was attacked and debunked a whole bunch of times so I won't go into that here, but I will say that the Times loves its spot-the-gender-trends articles, knows they're a fast-track to MEL#1, and consistently plays fast and loose with the facts while they're getting there. Not cool.
And not a secret — the blogosphere is all over this stuff, from Jack Shafer harshing on last year's misleading "women at elite colleges are eschewing careers" red herring to Salon's marvelous and thoughtful Broadsheet, parsing through the detritus of these toss-off gender pieces, to blogs like Feministing and Echidne and Pandagon actually taking time to explain the inconsistencies and suss out the nuance. But that doesn't stop these stories from getting instantly picked up all over the place, repackaged on front-pages throughout the country, repeated on news and talk shows, hashed over in the blogosphere. That would be fine if they were right. What was that about not needing a public editor, Bill Keller? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
p.s. Here is our only criticism of Calame's column, and it's really addressed more to Jonathan Landman: You might want to take a bit more care in determining URLs, as the abbreviation "Pub Ed" reads as "pubed" in this particular instance. On the plus side, it totally sounds like a natural for Sunday Styles.
Kyle du Ford
It happened a little less than two week's ago, roughly a year after Tom Foster got the editor gig at Jann Wenner's Men's Journal, Foster and his trusty Deputy Editor, Ben Court, got the boot. First, Foster nixed Court. Then Wenner nixxed Foster Foster resigned.
I like them both, Foster and Court, and I've always admired the magazine....
from globorati.com
If The Economist and Vice magazine had an offspring, the result might be Monocle, Wallpaper* founder Tyler Brulé's new "global media brand," which launches this week (both online and in print form, with a 10 times per year publishing schedule). The heavily-guarded first issue comes out on Feb. 15th, and, while ETP hasn't yet seen it, the jet-setting style-o-philes over at Globorati.com report that despite the prevalence of glossy photos and pristine art direction, it represents a dramatic departure from the design-porn for which Wallpaper* was known. Per Globorati: Monocle is "serious stuff...the first issue offers a wry deconstruction of the sartorial choices of Iran's President Ahmadinejad, as well as lengthy articles on Chinese imperialism in Africa and the expansion of the Japanese navy. "
Indeed, the somber, martial-themed first cover looks more like something that the editors of The Atlantic might run than it does the work of the design-savvy dandy who re-branded Swissair after its near collapse in 2001. Or does it? Brulé, it seems, is full of surprises, and the more substance-based Monocle may actually represent a return to earlier form. As it turns out, Brulé spent time as a war correspondent, earning his stripes in March of 1994, when he was shot covering the war in Afghanistan. Not many creative directors can make that claim.
ETP will have more on Monocle this week--as we blog, a copy is en route from Monocle's home-base in London, and later this week we'll be speaking to Brulé (who, our editor would like noted, is Canadian).
foxnews.com
Greg Gutfeld, ex-Maxim UK editor and the funniest and most controversial blogger in Huffington Post history, began last week hosting 'Red Eye' on Fox News. It's kind of a cross between a community-access version of 'The Daily Show' and a late-night dorm bull session, if your dorm looked like a drug kingpin's inner sanctum in an '80s direct-to-cable movie. Regular panelists are former Stuff / Shock editor Bill Schulz and pundit Rachel Marsden; guest ringers in the first week included Andrew Breitbart of Breitbart.com, Slate's Mickey Kaus, NYT's David Carr, and National Review editor Rich Lowry. Regular remote sessions include a mid-game ombudsman (Army vet/ex-Hollywood publicist Andrew Levy) critiquing the first half, and an end of show wrap-up from Gutfeld's 82 year-old mom.
Gutfeld's an interesting choice for an on-air host. He usually looks like he's about to break into a snarl, but never quite does. His nervous energy is constant and he resembles a slightly puffy Joe Strummer. All of which are compliments, by the way. If you're up at 2AM EST and feel like watching television, it is definitely more fun than the herbal penis enhancement infomercial that's usually on Comedy Central in that time-slot.
We spent last week trying to arrange a phone interview with Gutfeld, but he's a busy guy. Finally, we settled for an email Q&A, the last resort of scoundrels and bloggers on deadline. It's after the jump, but squeamish HuffPo readers might not want to look.
Update: Here is the promised clip from RedEye, which aired last week, featuring a special surprise appearance from the New York Post's Steve Dunleavy, plus Gutfeld's highly cogent commentary on global warming, not to mention that of his panel (Andrew Breitbart on the perils of being a runway model are especially lucid). Notice how the panel talks all over Rachel Mardsen as she tries to interject...when she finally speaks, judge for yourself whether it was worth the wait. — Rachel Sklar
Onward to the Interview!
Paul Krassner
Today (February 12), Barricade Books--a small, independent publisher of controversial subjects--is shipping "The Anna Nicole Smith Story" (an updated paperback version of a previous book).
Following Smith's death, orders increased from 1,500 to more than 10,000.
"We finally got lucky," publisher Carole Stuart told me.
PLUS: According to Roger Simon of The Politico, "Scooter" should rest-assured - even if he is convicted "would any judge send to prison a guy named Scooter?" [Meet the Press, 02/11]
www.smh.com.au
While the Tribune Co. unloads the New York edition of Spanish-language daily Hoy to Impremedia, it's simultaneously reinforcing ties with the other two daily editions, in Chicago and Los Angeles. In LA, acting publisher Javier Aldape has been promoted to general manager and editor as well as named a VP of Los Angeles Times Media Group. No personnel changes in Chicago, but the edition gets a shout-out in the press release.
Just another piece of the future-of-Tribune puzzle...
(link via LA Observed)
from nypost.com
Keith Kelly gets the (ahem) confirmation: The New York Observer really is coming out with their redesign this week, a brand-new tabloid format that will be easier to read, hold, and capture your fleeting interest! It will still be salmon, but with a new logo and typeface (though from the looks of the pic it does seem like the classic little Observer man graphic is unchanged). The front cover won't feature the giant cartoon anymore (though it will have a smaller version) — instead it will be headlines and pics to tease the viewer inside to the "real" front page, according to Kelly. The Observer's famously long, long features (Bloggers drinking! Scocca You-Tubing!) will also be clipped, from 3,000 - 5,000 words to 2,000 - 2,5000, with more shorter stories (still, we should point out that 2,000 - 2,500 words is still quite long, especially for a tabloid). Also, the back page will be all-real estate, all the time as the Observer aims to flood that zone.
In the accompanying photo, Kaplan and Kushner look happy and excited about their new baby, and Kelly's version makes it sound like a fun romp to the finish line ("There's definitely a Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid thing going on here, and that's fine," said Kaplan), borne of many adrenaline-fueled nights to give readers "a new kind of newspaper to hold." Of course, the road to Wednesday's relaunch has been perhaps a little rockier, as ETP's Melissa Lafsky reported last week (Kelly refers to "reports of some friction in the overhaul" but Kaplan and Kushner say everyone's pleased as punch). ETP is a little sad to see the old Observer go, but then again we read it online, anyway. Either way, we wish the Observer and its plucky staff the best of luck with the relaunch — for that we'll go to a newsstand.
Change Comes To The Observer [NYP]
After Turbulence And Turnover, The Observer Prepares For Re-Launch [ETP]
Associated Press
In his Saturday column, Los Angeles Times media columnist Tim Rutten does a post-mortem on the Anna Nicole Smith post-mortem. Main Provocative Point: "The mainstream journalistic coverage of Smith's death is among the first such stories driven, in large part, by an editorial perception of public interest derived mainly from Internet traffic." Editors saw the web frenzy and put it on page one of their papers, where it might not have been a year or two ago. Which maybe, says Rutten, is a shame. Do we want newspapers to be ratings-driven in the same way as cable news? Or, as he puts it, "[i]n the case of these accumulations of online hits, it is hard to know what you're measuring beyond a 24-hour fad or the inclinations of obsessive people with too much time on their hands."
Meanwhile, in the NYT, another more obvious point is made: weekly gossip magazines, unlike newspapers, can't even hope to compete with the internet on stories like this in terms of timeliness. So they have to find other coverage niches. For instance, People and Us Weekly will, in their new issues this week "focus more on providing a complete recap of Anna Nicole developments" than on trying to break the news.
So: newspapers are becoming more like the internet, and gossip magazines are becoming more like, uh, expensive redundant versions of the internet.
![12campaign_2.650[1].jpg](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eat-the-press/12campaign_2.650%5B1%5D-thumb.jpg)
newyorktimes.com
Barack Obama capped his big week-end by beating out Anna Nicole Smith as most searched name on the internet. This rise in the ranks of world wide search engines may help go a long way to reaching the 33% of the U.S. population that is still unfamiliar with Obama's name.
We're not exactly sure who these people might be, although apparently the don't watch Oprah, read Men's Vogue, or watch Monday Night Football. However, it's a problem Obama himself acknowledges.
That said, Obama shouldn't worry that he's short on friends. According to the newly launched techpresident.com he leads the democratic nominees in myspace friends, clocking in at 37,819. That's 15,599 more than Hillary Clinton. Who says it's lonely at the top?
Hint: He's tall, in the Senate, on TV a lot [Chicago Sun-Times]
from CBS
Last night were the 49th Annual Grammys, and they were a a surprisingly good Grammys at that, despite the low points that were the Dixie Chicks acceptance speeches (case in point: Natalie Maines' little yelp on win 4 or 5). The Chicks were the big winners with five — winning all of their nominations including album of the year for "Taking The Long Way" and both song and record of the year for "Not Ready to Make Nice." We would explain the difference between those two if we could. Ludacris was another winner, for best rap album (and, it must be said, for best tie), and after thanking a list of people as long as his arm, if he had abnormally long arms, he gave a shout-out to Oprah and his boy Bill O'Reilly ("I love you!") as follows:
A 'nice' night for Dixie Chicks [CNN]
Idolator: Live-Blogging The Grammys [Idolator]
Grammy Winners [BBC]
*We think that's Joe Walsh because it's not Don Henley or Glenn Frey. Air guitar! We can't complain, but sometimes we still do.
