As it claws for greater power, the Democratic Party has found a newly rich ally in one of the fastest-growing U.S. companies: Google Google's givers go Democratic: Engineering Dissent
The Blog, The Press, The Media: Hair of the Blog
Political impact as Boris Johnson scoops Channel 4 award for the person who made the biggest impression on the politics of 2004. Hansard Society with courtesy of Google Society
On the merits of the Eason Jordan kerfuffle, we defer to our colleague Bret Stephens, who was there, and who was the first journalist to write about it, in the Jan. 28 issue of OpinionJournal's Political Diary (subscribe here). Still, there's no gainsaying the victory that Jordan's critics in and out of blogdom, who pursued the story relentlessly in the two ensuing weeks, won when Jordan announced on Friday night that he was leaving CNN.
James Tarnanto, OpinionJournal.com language is unequal to the task of encompassing reality. Its failure is inevitable, a given ...
• Eason Jordan kerfuffle [ WSJ's Apologia for Eason Jordan ; Since no one who has wielded unaccountable power is ever happy to suddenly find themselves being held to account, it comes as no surprise that the media is now squealing like a stuck pig. And so the media has reaped what it sowed ]
• · Michael Gawenda: When the journalist is a party spin doctor, it's bad PR for real news. More and more in the US, current affairs hosts and the like are fiercely politically partisan. n shades of Australia's cash-for-comment scandal, a conservative syndicated US columnist and pundit on several cable TV current affairs shows has been secretly contracted for $US241,000 ($307,000) by the Bush Administration to promote the President's education policies in his columns and TV appearances Intimate Dinners: Cash for PR ; In this research brief Thomas John provides an overview of the last 15 years of developments in whistleblower legislation in Australia and looks at some of the legal issues surrounding the topic. Whistleblowing in Australia: transparency, accountability… but above all, the truth
• · · Anyway, the big discussion topics du jour – are the blogs a lynch mob? Is it war between the mainstream media and blogs? Isn’t the Jeff Gannon story the biggest deal EVER? – all seem rather insignificant in light of some experiences this weekend. 48 Hours Of Jordan Fallout, And What Really Matters; I Would Have Fired Eason Jordan - On the difference between a mistake and brain rot Jack Shafer, Slate; via Bill Ives: Final thoughts on this mess
• · · · It Helps to Remember that the Wolves Arrive in Sheepskins Measuring Investment in Blogging – The CEO Bloggers Club; What really bummed me out about the Amazon haters wasn't that they disagreed with my politics, but that they immediately summoned such genuine outrage at me for deigning to express a political opinion at all How About A Little Politics With Your Candy? (The Role Of Art) ; Apple has four retail stores in the Los Angeles area, which give the sales associates ample opportunity to rub elbows with Hollywood celebrities. It isn't always pleasant. Stars Take a Shine to Apple
• · · · · Thorn: Publishing gets down, dirty: See Dick sue. Sue, Dick, sue: Who says publishing is a genteel business? Numerous lawsuits over publishing projects are currently before the courts. And some of them are pretty amusing... Suit Happy - Publishing As Entertainment ; There are some really smart people in the book business, which is why it’s such a mystery that so little is known about the basics, such as why anybody buys a book. Wal-Mart can predict with great specificity that hurricanes in Florida will mean increased demand for batteries and flashlights, but also, based on past correlations, beer and pop-tarts. (Beer, understood, but pop-tarts? Don’t they need toasters for that? Wouldn’t the electricity be out?) The book business has nowhere near this forecasting expertise Why Is The Book Business So Badly Run?
• · · · · · Ach, the writer's curse - writer's block. But even worse, perhaps - procrastination. "At its worst, procrastination is a form of slow suicide, a kind of stand-off with life. Why act, when we know the end of all endeavour? Days, weeks, months creak past, but still no attempt to advance the work is made. Procrastination is surely worse than writer's block, less involuntary: you see what you need to do, you know you can do it, and yet ... and yet Put Off - The Writer's Curse