"The Conscience of American Journalism"

Now days, there is so much pre-interview prepping about what you can/can't say, what the current talking points are, and how to keep the interviewer "on topic;" it's usually a effort in futility to try and get the guests to say anything interesting or, god forbid, honest.

For that reason, I love when interviewers get the tables turned on them. They seem to have so many opinions bottled up, when asked, they come rushing out.

That was the case last Friday when Bill Moyers, an ex-White House press secretary under LBJ and 38 year veteran of PBS, sat down with Bill Maher.

The topics ranged from what to do in Afghanistan to comparisons of JFK's & Obama's oratory abilities. But the bulk of the time was spent on health care reform. After his interview with Wendell Potter a few weeks back, you know Moyers was chomping at the bit.

Everything's real!

A great video from the guys over at FunnyorDie.com, that tells us, you should believe everything you hear. Sounds like good advice to me. Speaking of, did you hear Obama wants our foreskins?

Death Panel Advisors - watch more funny videos

Smaller. Faster. Smarter.

Anyone familiar with online trends knows the formula for many sites is something along the lines of:

Site becomes popular.
Giant corporation buys popular site.
Giant corp tries to monetize site.
People run away and make new site popular. (See: MySpace, Napster)

With the news that Rupert Murdoch will soon begin charging for online content published by his media conglomerate, one has to wonder, what's the future of online news?

Nic Brisbourne, of PaidContent.org, has some really interesting ideas on where the online news game is heading.

He argues that with so many news outlets available online, once one source starts charging for content the masses will migrate to another site. Headlines are headlines, no matter the site you get them from.

But abundances create scarcities.

According to Brisbourne, the scarcities in online news are "...interesting stories, thought provoking analysis, conversation and community, and trust/verification."

He expands on that by adding:

"Interesting stories go beyond simple reporting of what has occurred, bringing in relevant context and staying with a topic as it unfolds. Thought provoking analysis will dare to shock, and to be wrong. Conversation and community will both make the experience richer for the active participant and improve the quality of the content on the site for more casual reader. Trust and verification will make you go back to one site rather than another as you know the stories there will be more accurate (note breaking news should be published first and verified second, with appropriate caveats)."

The companies who follow this model won't necessarily have to charge for content. Just keep overhead to a minimum and "leverag(e) (their) position in the community to offer services no one else can."

Full article here.

Kill the clutter before the clutter kills you.

It always seems like I'm drowning in bookmarks. That or have a bookmark I want to read but it's on a different computer.

But no more!

Now I've found InstaPaper.com, which is like your bookmark folder if it were designed for the absentminded.

They offer some great options. Basic stuff like one-touch bookmarking and the ability to create folders. But there are some more advanced options, like being able to archive your bookmarks, or viewing your pages text only for easy mobile viewing. Even better, the iPhone app gives you the option to save the pages where you can view them sans Internet connection.

All for the Internet-only low, low price of diddly squat. Not bad, IMO.

Advertisers don't like crazy.

After a long list of bat-shit-crazy things Glenn Beck has said, the conservative talk show host has apparently pushed advertisers too far.

So, which crazy straw broke the camel's back?

Joking about poisoning Nancy Pelosi? No.

Screaming/shrieking at a radio caller who disagreed with him? No.

Beck actually saying he believed our mixed race president was a racist? Yahtzee!

Ad Age has picked up on the story that many online discussion boards and aggregators, like Reddit, have been talking about for weeks.

ColorofChange.com has been leading the calls for a boycott of GB's prime-time show on Fox News because of his "racist" comment. So far, 36 advertisers have demanded that their ad spots won't appear on Beck's show.

And these aren't no-name companies like the Extenze male enhancement guys but big wigs like Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble, S.C. Johnson, Clorox, and Sprint.

Clorox has gone as far as to say not only will they be pulling all future ads from GB but they are also avoiding all "inflammatory" political talk shows, right or left, for the foreseeable future.

This raises an interesting problem for advertisers.

The political talking heads like Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly and Olbermann have made a name for themselves by being incendiary. Which is bad. But they have the highest ratings on cable news. Which is good. So what's an ad buyer to do? Can't be sure but this consumer is hoping they'll choose the high road.

They are talking about me.

When they talk about 47 million uninsured Americans, they're talking about me.

When they talk about people being denied health care because of "preexisting conditions," they're talking about me.

I eat well; exercise 5 times a week; and stay away from the cancer sticks but because I was diagnosed with leukemia at 2.5 years old, I'm not deserving of health care.

But they can't say that.

It's about stopping the death panels or those who want to "kill grandma." There can't be a legitimate debate because then people would see the human side of the argument.


Wendell Potter was the head of corporate communications for CIGNA, one of the nation's largest health insurance companies. He was at the forefront of the corporate spin that was designed derail health care reform efforts over the last decade and a half.

That was until his conscience revealed its ugly head.

Below is one of the best videos I've seen about the health care reform "debate." Potter lets you into the mindset of a health care executive and relives how once he put a human face on the problem he couldn't go back to his ivory tower.

Fascinating stuff.