All Blog Posts from Public Eye

Is the campaign trail getting a tad easier with the absence of the “Daily Show” and “Colbert Report?”

In my listening to the “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” replay on XM radio yesterday, I heard one of his panelists making that observation. Her argument being basically that ‘if Jon Stewart had been around, the Clinton campaign wouldn’t have gotten away with the Barack/kindergarten letter story.’

For a moment it sounded silly, like a child saying ‘Ooooh, it’s a good thing mom didn’t see you,’ but then I realized that the panelist’s observation had the added quality of being … true.

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go.

And watch. And read. And listen.

End of year lists or compilations and formulaic news coverage are as much a part of this season as egg nog and concerns about “The War on Christmas.”

Over at PR Week Hamilton Nolan observed that the ritual of end-of-year lists is in full swing already:

Birdwatching magazines do it. Beekeeping magazines do it. Even, yes, PRWeek does it. As the end of the year approaches, magazines of all stripes spew forth lists covering every possible lens through which one could view our world. Looks back. Looks forward. Predictions, analyses, bests and worsts, most notable people, places, things, events, products, gadgets, guns, and gewgaws.

Everyone from media critics to casual readers has grumbled about the profusion of these lists as long as they've been published.

Though I’m not exactly sure what a “gewgaw” is, but I wholeheartedly second Nolan’s notion.

But unlike the proliferation of summertime lists – which serve as cover for vacationing reporters – the end of year lists make an amount of intellectual sense.

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"Do you believe America needs to declare a countrywide time-out and have a national group hug, and just think about our future for at least a few weeks quietly and without interference from politicians? Sixty-three percent of you responded that you agree it is time for that countrywide time-out."

--The always-embraceable Lou Dobbs, reporting the results of his weekend unscientific poll.

"I don't know if I would have advised (the candidates) to avoid free television time, whether it's on Fox or Al Jazeera."

-- Keith Olbermann, on the decision of many Democratic presidential candidates to not participate in a Fox News Channel debate. (From a report by Aaron Barnhart.)

We’ve now gotten to the point where a columnist at BusinessWeek has dared to ask the question: Which major American newspaper should be the first to throw up its hands and stop publishing a print product?

Not “if,” mind you, but “which.”

As Jon Fine writes:

Killing print requires acknowledging not just that the old mode is dead but also that the future means less revenue and shrunken staffs. This is why it makes sense soonest at a money-losing newspaper already grappling with those realities, and one in a major city that generates enough local ad dollars to support a sizable online business.

So he believes that “the old mode is dead?” What does that mean, anyway? Mode meaning ‘financial model?’ Mode meaning ‘people don’t read papers anymore?’ It’s unclear. But since we’re talking about the beginning of the end of one of America’s most revered traditions, it's worth trying to nail that down.

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“We are a country at war and we have a presidential election coming up. And I’m the number one google search. I think it’s kind of ridiculous.”

-- Miss New Jersey and alleged blackmail victim Amy Polumbo, discussing her story on the "Today" show this morning. (It's around the 1:50 mark. You're welcome.)

"The relationship between the President and the press is a unique relationship, and it's a necessary relationship. I enjoy it. I hope you do. As I say, sometimes you don't like the decisions I make, and sometimes I don't like the way you write about the decisions. But nevertheless, it's a really important part of our process."

-- President Bush, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new briefing room this morning, befriending the filter.

A compendium of the week's finest quotations, from the nation's newspapers and beyond.

"The news media will find the story line irresistible, and Democrats around the country are eagerly anticipating the competition."
--The Washington Post, regarding the impending possibility of Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as Democratic frontrunners in 2008.

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"A retired math teacher who moved here from North Carolina said he had no basis for judging the credibility of White House officials, including Cheney -- although he admitted that he was 'not sure I would like to go bird hunting with him, either.'"
--The Washington Post, describing one potential juror for the Libby trial.

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"The Chinese are telling the Pentagon that they don't own space. We can play this game, too, and we can play it dirtier than you."
--Security expert Michael Krepon, on the Chinese government's reason for testing an anti-satellite missile.

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A compendium of the week's finest quotations, from the nation's newspapers and beyond.

"Instead of smart phone, how about 'brilliant' phone?"
--Tim Bajarin, president of consulting firm Creative Strategies, regarding the soon-to-be released Apple iPhone.

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"Some suspicion fell on New Jersey, given the path of the prevailing winds and the prevalence of chemical and petroleum facilities in the state."
--The New York Times, discussing the potential that New Jersey was responsible for Manhattan's odd stench.

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"I would say that since Princess Diana, in terms of selling newspapers, the only person who comes close is Victoria Beckham."
--Victoria Newton, show business editor of the Sun, a London tabloid, regarding Posh Spice's marketability in advance of her move to Los Angeles.

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A compendium of the week's finest quotations, from the nation's newspapers and beyond.

"It's almost counter to the essence of the place for the majority and minority to share responsibility for legislation."
--Ross K. Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University, regarding House Democrats' move to pass its 100-hour agenda without deliberating with the GOP

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"Some of you are broke, plenty of you are conservative, quite a few of you are young and 20 percent of you are not white. A few of you even watch 'Fear Factor' …"
--NPR's Brooke Gladstone, describing the not-so-average NPR listener, according to a recent audience survey

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"Bannockburn Elementary School in Bethesda is suburban Washington's Lake Wobegon, Garrison Keillor's fictional hamlet where every child is above average."
--The Washington Post, describing the gifted education program at one of Montgomery County, Maryland's public schools

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