HeadlineUpdate

Holy Astroturf! *Updated*

As I shamefully boast below, my most widely reprinted column was my op-ed for the Christian Science Monitor about phony grassroots, or "astroturf" letters to the editor.  If you follow my logic on the links below, you'll see that when it comes to ghostwriting, propaganda and public relations, sometimes I'm for it, sometimes I'm agin it.  But even I was gobsmacked (as Guardian readers might say) to read this, from the Guardian by way of the L.A. Times.  Now, your tax dollars are at work paying for phony news stories that Iraqi middlemen pay to play in the press.  Stop the spin machine.  I want to get off!

More on this story from the NY Times, the Washington Post and Romanesko. (Can you see Scott McLellan squirm?  Squirm, Scott, Squirm)

Watch this story blow up over the next few days as government officials express shock, shock, that they paid to place news articles in Iraqi papers.  Wasn't it easier when the CIA just paid U.S. journalists directly ?

Originally posted 9 July 2005  On Thursday, The New York Times printed an op-ed by Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, archbishop of Vienna called "Finding Design in Nature," in which he wrote: 

"Evolution in the sense of common ancestry might be true, but evolution in the neo-Darwinian sense--an unguided, unplanned process of random variation and natural selection--is not."

Then, Saturday's Times contained a page one article on reaction to the Cardinal's views and the links between the Cardinal and the Discovery Institute in Seattle, which promotes the theory of "intelligent design."  Read the article in full for yourself, and prepare for the coming storm over evolution.

Book your seats now for the next monkey trial on TV. 

But while we wait, consider this nugget dropped in the eleventh graf of the Times story, after the jump to page A11: 

"The cardinal's essay...was submitted to The Times by a Virginia public relations firm, Creative Response Concepts, which also represents the Discovery Institute."

Holy Astroturf, Benedict!

Is it shocking that the Church has the same PR acumen as, say, the tobacco industry ( I just like mentioning them whenever this blog needs a villain)?

The Creative Response Concepts website describes the services it performed for Cardinal Chris thusly:   
Opinion editorials and letters to the editor enable the author
to comment directly on important news of the day. They provide an
unfiltered opportunity to reach readers. Op-Eds enable you to reach
opinion leaders and help you shape the terms of debate on issues of
concern to you, your industry or your constituency.
 
My most widely reprinted column (thank you, Google) was about the retailing of one of the last homes to honest discourse in the daily paper.  It was even reprinted in a media textbook that included the words "like Malcom Gladwell" in its bio of me.  OK, they were referring to a fact only slightly more distinguishing that we both breathe oxygen but still...

Is the answer really more truth in labeling?  Should The Times note which  columns are submitted by professional interests? 

I'm not sure that's a good idea.  As a professional writer, I appreciate professional writing, and if a public figure signs an op-ed I actually enjoy reading, I consider the ghostwriter a good investment. 

But I bet the Times' ombudspeople are busy as bees tonight...

Turning Safavian

    As noted before in this space, one of the ways journalism has changed in recent years is the shifting of the most important information from the beginning of a story to the very end.  This update on the ever-expanding Jack Abramoff scandal waits until the very last two grafs to make an important, if indirect point.
    First, credit where credit's due:  there's lots and lots of solid reporting and juicy tidbits here, including how Abramoff put wives of GOP bigwigs (including Tom DeLay!  Yea!) on monthly retainers to do things like answer phone calls for a fundraiser that ended up cancelled, and in Mrs. DeLay's case, determining the favorite charity of every member of Congress.  (Can you say, "busy work?")
    The article also makes clear that "plea deals have become more likely" as Justice Department investigators enter a "highly active" phase in their investigation of "at least half a dozen members of Congress." 
    So it was with great interest that I read between the lines of these two last grafs:

The Justice Department investigation is also looking into Abramoff's influence among executive branch officials. Sources said prosecutors are continuing to seek information about Abramoff's dealings with then-Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, including a job offer from the lobbyist at a time when he was seeking department actions on behalf of his tribal clients.

The former top procurement official in the Bush administration, David H. Safavian, has already been charged with lying and obstruction of justice in connection with the Abramoff investigation. Safavian, who traveled to Scotland with Ney on a golf outing arranged by Abramoff, is accused of concealing from federal investigators that Abramoff was seeking to do business with the General Services Administration at the time of the golf trip. Safavian was then GSA chief of staff.

    What does David Safavian know, and who in the White House does he know it about?  Can you see the invisible words after the first sentence in the second graf?  The full sentence should read:

The former top procurement official in the Bush administration, David H. Safavian, has already been charged with lying and obstruction of justice in connection with the Abramoff investigation and is currently cooperating with prosecutors.

Buy Citgo (You Go, Hugo!)

    Did you know that the government of Venezuela owns the Citgo oil company?  According to this article in the Washington Post, they gained control of the company that began as Cities Service in 1990.
     That sign in Fenway?  Hugo's.  Now, Hugo Chavez is sending discounted heating oil to the U.S. and donating gasoline to the Gulf Coast. The Post says that several Citgo refineries are in operation in the U.S., and "about 14,000 independently owned gas stations carry the company's name." 
    So if want to spend your petro dollars on leftists, not Texans, now you know where to go.

   

    Happy Thanksgiving...more from me after the holiday...

Sunday Brunch

    The tastiest news today is surely the continuing saga of Jack Abramoff, Michael Scanlon, "Lawmaker A," Grover Norquist...like Bob Woodward said about Nixon, this is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

    This could build the tidal wave that sweeps Republicans out of power.   Crucial grafs from today's Times story:

Scholars who specialize in the history and operations of Congress say that given the brazenness of Mr. Abramoff's lobbying efforts, as measured by the huge fees he charged clients and the extravagant gifts he showered on friends on Capitol Hill, almost all of them Republicans, the investigation could end up costing several lawmakers their careers, if not their freedom.
The investigation threatens to ensnarl many outside Congress as well, including Interior Department officials and others in the Bush administration who were courted by Mr. Abramoff on behalf of the Indian tribe casinos that were his most lucrative clients.
The inquiry has already reached into the White House; a White House budget official, David H. Safavian, resigned only days before his arrest in September on charges of lying to investigators about his business ties to Mr. Abramoff, a former lobbying partner.

"I think this has the potential to be the biggest scandal in Congress in over a century," said Thomas E. Mann, a Congressional specialist at the Brookings Institution. "I've been around Washington for 35 years, watching Congress, and I've never seen anything approaching Abramoff for cynicism and chutzpah in proposing quid pro quos to members of Congress."

    I'm sure one or two Democrats will be found to have taken Abramoff's money, but six months from now voters will have a new meaning for G.O.P. -- Get Out Pronto.  Earlier campaigns to "Clean Up Congress" used a broom as a graphic symbol --this next one will require a vacuum cleaner.

 

    Moving on from stories of political mortality to real death--no, this won't be about Iraq--check out this fascinating obituary from today's NY Times.  One of the reasons we need newspapers is for stories like this --nobody online has the kind of obituary file the Times famously built.

Woodward, We Hardly Knew Ye

    Thanks to reader Bill Kalish for passing on this blogger's take on Bob Woodward's "oops!" moment.  Good background on the story can be found in the Times and the Post today, stating the obvious that Mr. Woodward has come a long way from the seat-of-the-pants journalism he practiced during Watergate.   Now he posts transcripts of taped interviews with top sources on government websites.

    Once upon a time, the very use of tape recorders was considered suspect; the machine was said to add an unnatural external element to the interview, obstructing natural conversation and leading people to "talk to the tape."  Now "star reporters" submit 18 pages of questions in advance, show up with a tape recorder, and consider that "investigative journalism."

    The great Truman Capote not only refused to use tape recorders; he'd often not even bring a pencil.  He told George Plimpton about this in a 1966 interview:

You never used a tape-recorder?

Twelve years ago I began to train myself, for the purpose of this sort of book, to transcribe conversation without using a tape-recorder. I did it by having a friend read passages from a book, and then later I'd write them down to see how close I could come to the original. I had a natural facility for it, but after doing these exercises for a year and a half, for a couple of hours a day, I could get within 95 percent of absolute accuracy, which is as close as you need. I felt it was essential. Even note-taking artificializes the atmosphere of an interview, or a scene-in- progress; it interferes with the communication between author and subject--the latter is usually self-conscious or an untrusting wariness is induced. Certainly, a tape-recorder does so. Not long ago, a French literary critic turned up with a tape-recorder. I don't like them, as I say, but I agreed to its use. In the middle of the interview it broke down. The French literary critic was desperately unhappy. He didn't know what to do. I said, "Well, let's just go on as if nothing had happened." He said, "It's not the same. I'm not accustomed to listen to what you're saying."

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics?

     As much as I like to quote Mark Twain, I have to acknowledge that sometimes statistics are true.  And while I love to make fun of focus groups and other expensive marketing tools, I won't deny that polling works.  The problem comes when people who don't understand the nuances of polling interpret the results.  To really get inside a poll, you need a fairly sophisticated understanding of data and statistics.

    This story about Michael Bloomberg's state-of-the-art polling operation makes some very interesting points --but as is often the case, the most important graf here is the last one.  (Talk about "burying the lede").  There have long been pollsters who've attempted to group the electorate into "psychological portraits,"  or clusters, and no doubt the "never-before-identified" groups Bloomberg's pollsters identified do "transcend the traditional political fault lines of race, party and class," but if Fernando Ferrer had been given (he couldn't afford to pay for it) the same data, he still would have lost to Bloomberg.
    For as Ferrer's pollster, Jef Pollock points out, "It's kind of hard to pinpoint things that did work in the face of millions of dollars of broadcast advertising."   Q.E.D.

F*!@ the South???

    This is a family website, and I don't want to get in even more naughty search engines than I am already (thanks to the headlines of this post and also this one) so I won't repeat what one Democratic strategist told me years ago.* But Tim Kaine's victory in Virginia, and the lessons from Loudon County, force me to reassess my views, and you know how painful that can be. 

    Like Tim Noah, I read with interest an article in the Washington Post during the 2004 campaign by political scientist Thomas Schaller that reinforced this view.  But now I'm not so sure.

    If you were following the Virginia Governor's race,you heard a lot about Jerry Kilgore's ads attacking Kaine for being against the death penalty.  Did those ads turn people off from Kilgore?  Yes.  Did they make the critical difference in the election?  No.  The ads that I think really sold Kaine to voters were the ones showing Kaine behind the wheel of his car, talking about transportation and suburban sprawl. 

    These are natural issues for Democrats, as they tie into rebuilding infrastructure which means jobs.  Kaine's ads were startling in part because you never see a politician driving himself, and effective because like all good propaganda, they hit people where they live.  Right on, Tim.  Maybe you're showing us how we can win in the South.   Holy #$@!

   *But it's of course the same language the great Steve Earle uses in the song of freedom and democracy I compare to "This Land is Your Land"

Elections Post Mortem (Delayed)

Apologies to the loyal HeadlineUpdate reader, as well as anyone else, who wondered why I'd been silent on the subject of last week's elections.  I was too busy gloating...tune in tomorrow for Sunday papers round up and why the results in Virginia lead me to question my favorite unpopular national election strategy...

When Presidents and Trustees Fight: Bad Behavior Behind the Ivy Walls*Updated Again*

Today's Washington Post updates the story at American University, and includes quotes from trustee David Carmen, who comments on my original post below.   I'm in agreement with him that AU could emerge from this as a national model for good governance; I know from personal experience that governance issues occupy a great deal of a Board's time. 

Goddard College went through a turbulent patch or two, too, and like the Trustees of AU, the Goddard Board had one of their meetings interrupted by angry students.  But as  H.L. Mencken said, "The cure of the evils of democracy is more democracy."  Goddard's Board re-emphasized it's commitment to transparency and inclusiveness, and it sounds like the AU Board is doing likewise.

What's truly shocking about the fracas at AU is how it split the Board into factions, and how a rump group of trustees formed an ad hoc committee behind the rest of the Board's back.  As the Post reported earlier:

Opposition to the executive committee, led by then-board Chairman Leslie E. Bains, grew to the point that 13 trustees banded together, calling themselves the ad hoc committee, and hired an attorney.

Hey, I'm on my Board's  Executive Committee and no one is meeting beind my back...at least I don't think they are...

Actually the elephant in the room is called Sarbanes-Oxley --seems like some AU trustees were worried they'd be held personally liable for the Ladner spending spree...

(Originally posted October 9) "There's a lot of politics in politics," my girlfriend said when I was fired from a presidential campaign.  She could just have easily been speaking of campus politics.

The scandals surrounding Ben Ladner and his performance as American University's president are different than the scandals surrounding Ladner's predecessor but similar enough to other hubris-fueled spending sprees/power grabs. 

If you read between the lines of the reporting on this story, you can perceive a Board of Trustees riven by factionalism, secret deals and mistrust.  Power corrupts, even in ivory towers.  Too bad.

I'm on the Board of Trustees of Goddard College, a school known more for Phish than phoul (though there's plenty of good vegetarian food in the area).  Once or twice, our Board has made news, but mainly we concern ourselves with oversight, serious leadership issues, and how to get better food at Board meetings. 

American University is in for some tough times.  Ladner will go, the accusations will linger, the school will be damaged.  Message to AU's Board:  Take immediate steps to reassure the faculty and students, apologize and make necessary changes.  Ben Ladner's the bad guy now --if you're not careful, you're next.

Weekend Update--This dispatch from the Day After --following the fall of Ladner, the purging of the Board, why it's all, as one expert quoted here says, "very unusual" for Boards to take potshots at each other.  Note the heroic efforts being made by a reader of this very post.  And if any readers are themselves members of a Board of Trustees, circulate this story to your colleagues and count your blessings...

New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey!*Updated*

    When people ask me where I grew up,  I do this thing where I put my hand over my mouth and mumble while I take my hand away, "Nuh Grzy" and everybody laughs.  But except for the brief period in the mid 70s when the state received some reflectled glory from Bruce Springsteen (someone actually said to me, "wow, you're from New Jersey?") the Garden State has never had the right profile.

    Now comes the news that after hiring an expensive branding consultant the state of New Jersey is turning to vox populi.  It was thought the consultant's $260,000 result:  "New Jersey:  We'll Win You Over" was a bit defensive, so acting governor Dick Codey is opening it up to the people. 

    Getting inside people's heads and finding what advertising genius Tony Schwarz calls "the responsive chord" is hard. Some tools of market research are valuable, others can be a crutch for advertisers looking for "proof" that their ideas will work. 

    Branding consultant Tracey Riese says, "New Jersey has confused their slogan with their brand. A great brand stands for something that matters to the customer. A good slogan embodies that. "I love New York" was "magic", in Alan Siegal's words, not because it was a brilliant slogan, but because New York is a great brand that resonates with meaning."

    I wish them well, as a natal New Jerseyan and professional marketer.  But no one will ever be able to top the contribution by the legendary WMCA newsboys, who recorded the anthemic "Raucous in Secaucus" back in the 1970s.  I think I remember most of the words...if you know any I've missed please fill in the gaps...and wish the state of New Jersey well in its search for a slogan.  Stay tuned...