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October 27, 2003

Fair & awarded
: FoxNews founder Roger Ailes is named TV Journalist of the Year by Broadcasting & Cable. And they interview him. Choice quotes (and getaloada the Howell Raines story):

Q: What do you think Fox News' contributions and innovations have been?
A: We've proved that we get larger audiences to cable news than anybody in American history, for one thing. We cover a broader spectrum than most people. We say it's fair and balanced....
And we present broad views. We don't eliminate it. Bias has to do with the elimination of points of view, not presenting a point of view....
Q: Is the public not smart?
A: They may not be as informed. They're very smart, and they catch on quickly, and they can process different sources....
Q: So if Fox News is fair and balanced, then why do so many other people not believe it?
A: Because they're getting their ass beaten.
Q: It's not just CNN. It's not just competition.
A: Look, we're doing something that is forcing them—including the New York Times and the LA Times—to examine how their journalism's being presented....
Q: So you think the New York Times and the LA Times are comfortable being liberal?
A: Well, they've become advocacy journalism. You either do it, or you don't. And they do it. [Former New York Times Editor Howell] Raines clearly was driving an agenda. I called Howell. I forget the story. It was their Afghanistan coverage. There was some stuff ... that wasn't true. We had guys on the ground, and so I called him up and said, "Howell, You're going to get an award for fiction here." He said, "I'm hanging up." I said, "You don't seem to have a sense of humor, Howell." He said, "I don't have one about journalism." So then, later, when Jayson Blair happened, I sent a note and just said, "Maybe it's time to develop a sense of humor about journalism."

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Vox.pop
: Gary Wolf is writing a story about the Dean campaign for Wired and along the way, he's blogging about it (a new and wise approach to reporting, by the way, for it will bring in new information and perspectives).
He just blogged a "retroactive manifesto" for the Dean campaign's online strategy -- that is, acting as if you were planning what has happened, what principles would guide you? He puts together a good list from David Weinberger to Steven Johnson to Joi Ito [hat tip to Joi for this]. He's now trying to figure out how to distill Clay Shirky into a paragraph.
And, Gary, don't forget Glenn Reynolds from Bloggercon: Online, you have to give up control to gain power.

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How to make the world job in journalism the best job in journalism
: Dan Okrent has just been appointed to the worst job in journalism: public editor (that's the pronouncable, spellable, PC synonym for ombudsman) at the NY Times.
But I think I know how to turn it into the best job.
I know Dan from my days at Time Inc. and afterwards, when he headed up new media content. He's smart and opinionated; I like and respect him. But I'll just bet he'll rub the Timesies the wrong way, for he can be gruff and he has no newspaper experience (which would help if you're trying to figure out how a story gets messed up in such an organization). That will only make watching this more entertaining.
I thought this was the worst job in journalism: dealing on the one hand with too many Times-bashing natterers to count and on the other hand with Timesies, and being at the center of the gigantic circle-jerk that is journalism self-awareness.
But I see a new model for how to run the job in a memo -- not, unfortunately, a column -- that Washington Post ombudsman Michael Getler wrote slashing Tina Brown's debut in the Post:

Post ombudsman Michael Getler’s review was scathing. “This precious, egocentric piece was about the worst and most irrelevant thing I’ve read in my three years on the job,” he wrote in his weekly Friday afternoon memo.
At 11 AM Thursday Brown went online for a live chat about being Tina Brown. She mentioned her cable-TV show an even dozen times. The cable network and show will go unmentioned here, but the network does have an unwritten deal with the Post to share stories and information—and now, Tina.
About the online self-promotion, Getler said he was “embarassed for the paper and also for the Web site."

: So imagine this: Okrent is supposed to be able to put columns in the New York Times "as often as he sees fit." And the Times editors have "waived any right to review Mr. Okrent's commentaries before they are published."
So Dan should make himself into the Times' own blogger. I don't mean he should start a blog. I mean he should take on blog attitude: skeptical, wry, pestering.
What would happen if he wrote a column making fun of a Maureen Dowd column? You'd hear cheers! What if he made fun of dog-demograpic stories on page one of the great paper? What if he fisked an editorial? And, just to keep you guessing, what if he turns around and praises the logic of a Paul Krugman column?
What if, in short, he became what he says he wants to be: the true Times Überreader?
Rather than writing stuffy, boring, balanced shoulda/coulda/woulda post mortems on newspaper boo-boos, instead do what the world does when it cares enough to read the Times: Argue about it, poke at it, make it the subject of conversation. That would bring the old gray lady new life -- and credibility.
It could make you a star, Dan.

: Oh, and one more bit of advice: Seriously, do read weblogs, Dan. You will find legitmate questions and criticisms more quickly than they can bubble up through the mail and the ranks. Blogs are your early warning system.

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And then they were Friends
: Stern also reports this morning -- unbelievable but true -- that Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt are going to the Middle East to bring peace. Sure enough:

Where presidents and prime ministers have failed, Hollywood hunk Brad Pitt and wife Jennifer Anniston hope their star power will work wonders in new roles as Middle East peace envoys.
Tinseltown to give a try, led by Brad Bitt (left) and his wife Jennifer Anniston.
They will team up with other actors such as Edward Norton, Jason Alexander and Danny DeVito on a private mission to help resolve the Israeli-Arab conflict.
'The past few years of conflict mean that yet another generation of Israelis and Palestinians will grow up in hatred,' said a statement from Pitt and Aniston. 'We cannot allow that to happen.'

That's what the Middle East needs: a laughtrack.
And that's the wonderful thing about stars: They have no idea how stupid they are and they have no one to tell them.

: Meanwhile, did you see that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston's production company just bought the rights to the story of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl's murder? That's what the war on terrorism needs: glamorous victims.

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Howard Stern says...
: Howard says the reaction of some New Yorkers he knows to the California fires is odd. Try to talk to them about the fires, try to get them to care, and they say, "9/11."
Yes, it's hard to beat even our tragedies.

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