Via Defamer.com
Amuse Bouche: Russell Brand and the Elephant in the Room
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008Cheap Thrills: Obama’s Texting Blitz From an Ad Girl’s Perspective
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
I remember learning of Barack Obama’s Iowa win via text message. A bunch of my old school friends were in town, and the news made an already tasty night even sweeter. Learning of the win “on location†(i.e. at the bar) gave us the opportunity to celebrate night right: we toasted, hugged, bounced around the restaurant excitedly and talked politics for the rest of the evening.
My generation texts everything, because texts cut the crap – good ones are short, easy to follow and, most importantly, informative. Receiving a text that says “what up†is seriously wack. But give me some news or update that I really want, and I’m all over it. I’m hungry for it.
As a digital marketer, I see corporations starting to understand the real opportunity that text messages present. Mobile coupons, text-to-wins, updates – it works if it’s done right. But so many companies are really scared of new media. They don’t trust it
So yesterday I was a bit stunned upon receiving this e-mail from Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. My thoughts went a little something like this: “Announce the VP choice via text and e-mail? Seriously? He’s crazy. Oh, and that’s so ridiculously awesome, I gotta go sign up right awayâ€
The choice that the Obama campaign made is daring, that’s for sure. They’re putting tremendous faith in new media. But it’s funny, by using new media—my media—and as the only platform to announce such important news, I feel as though the Obama campaign is tremendous faith in me as well – which feels really good.
Because you and I both know that when I receive the VP text, I’ll shout it out all over the bar. Apparently the Obama campaign knows that too.
Related:
Washington Post: Obama Nearing a Veep Decision?
Originally posted on Ryan Barrett’s blog Cheap Thrills .
Bush Plays Beach Volleyball While the Post-American World Burns
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
The former Soviet state Georgia has a street named after George W. Bush. It’s an honor Bush shares with Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt, both of whom have avenues named after them in Paris. The two American presidents were recognized for rescuing France from authoritarianism and totalitarianism.
Bush petitioned NATO hard to admit Georgia, as well as the Ukraine and Macedonia in April 2008. An ambivalent Europe rejected the bids, fearing the Russian reaction to NATO nations on its border.
Their fears were prescient. The Russia-Georgia border ignited last Friday, just as the Olympics were starting. The death toll has not been independently verified, but human rights groups estimate more than 100,000 have been displaced. There is war by sea, air and land.
Georgia faces military suicide against Russia. Leaders hoped their American patron saint would send military back-up. Instead, President Bush had other ideas: he rode the Olympic mountain bike trail in Beijing and rhapsodized the beauty of religious freedom to Chinese leaders.
Obama’s Looking to be the ‘Text’ President
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
Barack Obama didn’t just tell the world that he is going to announce his veep pick via text. He Twittered it.
Incorporating new technology into the campaign trail is not a new concept. Sure, today’s text is may be the telegraph of yesteryear, but the Twitter/text transformation is also about recognizing a fundamental shift in how our society communicates.
Of course, the timing of the announcement will still be strategic. The turn-of-phrase in the carefully crafted text will undoubtedly  ooze with hope and optimism and all that stuff the Obama campaign is made of. The press will be ready to file their own stories based on tips and embargoed materials the second the campaign clicks ’send.’  But in this case, it’s the medium that defines the message.
As a serial texter (I recently had to upgrade my calling plan to unlimited texts), I can safely say that the rise of texting says a lot about the way our culture—youth culture in particular—communicates. Whether it’s a status update (“Meet me at the quad in 5″), a non sequitur overheard on the subway or flirty banter with that cute guy you met at the party last weekend, texting is easy, efficient, and, most importantly, it frees the sender of the commitment and formality of a full phone call. It’s casual and cool without trying too hard—the exact image that someone courting the cutting-edge college crowd might want to project.
Plagiarism: Does the Medium Define the Word?
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
Jayson Blair: Sometimes plagiarists aren’t this obvious
In a world where RSS feed aggregation is the norm, and the Drudge Report is as big an online presence as the New York Times, Jody Rosen’s “Dude, You Stole My Article” piece on Slate.com, which chronicled Rosen’s investigation into a small (and now defunct) Texas alternative weekly named the Bulletin, hit a nerve for both the casual reader and any journalist who has slaved into the wee hours writing an original work.
An innocuous reader tip about Rosen’s Jimmy Buffett story possibly being ripped-off by a writer named Mark Williams, turned into the unmasking of what Rosen called, “the greatest plagiarism scandal in the annals of American journalism.” The publisher and writer essentially made blatant plagiarism the entire business model for their publication. Collectively, it’s a massive violation of fair-use and copyright laws, with a level of wanton disregard anyone can appreciate, but one that sucker punches journalists in the gut.
The most intriguing point that Rosen raises in his article deals with the infinitely more nebulous area of rss feed aggregation and content linking on the internet:
But perhaps the Bulletin is merely on-trend—or even ahead of its time. The Drudge Report, the Huffington Post, and Real Clear Politics have made names and money by sifting through RSS feeds; Tina Brown and Barry Diller are preparing the launch of their own news aggregator. Mike Ladyman and company may simply be bringing guerrilla-style 21st-century content aggregation to 20th-century print media: publishing the Napster of newspapers.
Where does aggregation end and plagiarism begin? We put the question to Bill Boyarsky, former City Editor of the Los Angeles Times and current columnist for Truth Dig, and Choire Sicha, former Editor at Gawker, New York Observer columnist, and freelancer for Radar Online.