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Thursday, February 18, 2010
Ch-Ch-Changes...
I STILL LIKE MY IDEA FOR A CABLE NEWS NETWORK. Things are popping in the New Media world. Michelle Malkin has sold HotAir to Salem Communications:
When we [Ed Morrissey and AllahPundit]
negotiated our new relationships with Salem, both of us stressed the
need to have the same editorial control and direction for Hot
Air. Not surprisingly, Salem readily agreed. Now, they
still own the business and can intervene when they see fit — just as
Michelle could, but rarely if ever did — but they know us and our
editorial choices. We clarified the process and the direction to
our satisfaction. If we weren’t satisfied that we remained in
position to maintain the current direction of Hot Air, neither of us
would have stuck around. We did, and we’ll be around for a while,
too.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be changes, of course, but most of those will be to broaden our impact and reach. Salem has a tremendous presence with its radio hosts, for instance, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see some synergy applied in that direction. Townhall, now our sister site, will remain separate from Hot Air, but we’ll probably have some opportunities to participate more often in the magazine in the future. I’m very excited about the potential for growth at Hot Air by being a part of the Salem family.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be changes, of course, but most of those will be to broaden our impact and reach. Salem has a tremendous presence with its radio hosts, for instance, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see some synergy applied in that direction. Townhall, now our sister site, will remain separate from Hot Air, but we’ll probably have some opportunities to participate more often in the magazine in the future. I’m very excited about the potential for growth at Hot Air by being a part of the Salem family.
On the same day, the National Review is promoting a hip new news-aggregating service called The Feed:
The Feed is the very latest in
news-blogging, brought to you by Greg Pollowitz. All day long Greg will
post stories — from the worlds of politics and entertainment and
everything in between — and include his brief take on them. Consider it
a guided tour of what’s important and unimportant at any given moment.
As you’ll see, you can log-in to vote, comment, and suggest — a leap in
interactivity here at NRO. All honor to our always over-worked, but
gung-ho tech team for putting it together. The Feed is a work in
progress, so we’re eager to hear what you think.
And suddenly, there are rumors that (gasp!) Keith Olbermann may be on his way out:
"Has the countdown begun for the end of
'Countdown with Keith Olbermann'?" asks The New York Post. "With his
ratings in free-fall, and his hateful histrionics reaching new highs,
even Olbermann's former supporters on the left are tuning out." Indeed,
The Los Angeles Times reports, "In the most desirable TV demographic of
25-54, which Keith will soon outgrow himself, 'Countdown' lost 44% of
its audience from the beginning of President Obama's term until this
year"...
And as Olbermann fades from memory even though he's still on the air, like Diagnosis: Murder or DeGrassi Junior High, The Joe Franklin Show, and Oliver North's War Stories, all of which may well be producing new episodes, ask yourself: Didn't he take it to the chipmunk (which is not really a chipmunk, we know) like a pro? Go tell the Spartans, or at least Roger Ailes, that this was one Cool Hand Luke who could really take a punch! [ED: The chipmunk reference is to a video included in the post, which is funny, as is the whole post, so go peruse it.]
And as Olbermann fades from memory even though he's still on the air, like Diagnosis: Murder or DeGrassi Junior High, The Joe Franklin Show, and Oliver North's War Stories, all of which may well be producing new episodes, ask yourself: Didn't he take it to the chipmunk (which is not really a chipmunk, we know) like a pro? Go tell the Spartans, or at least Roger Ailes, that this was one Cool Hand Luke who could really take a punch! [ED: The chipmunk reference is to a video included in the post, which is funny, as is the whole post, so go peruse it.]
Big news? Maybe. So why does it all remind me of this?
Underneath...?
Same old snake.
I guess I'm just a cynic or something. In my heart of hearts, I'm not expecting much from these developments.
Hotair's Ed and Allah are disciplined, reliable, and intelligent, however much I disagree with them on any particular point, but their attraction, such as it is, consists of their status as gadflies buzzing the big media pond. If they get much bigger or more prominent in the public eye, they'll lose their outsider chic. In particular, Allah can't afford to step out from behind his nom de guerre. Like the Unknown Comic, the paper bag that's been hiding his face has become his face. Without the bag, unfairly or not, he'll be diminished.
I applaud the fact that National Review is trying something new, but The Feed seems (to me) either an eccentric stunt or a disturbing portent of bad things to come in our media future. The Corner is a wonderful blog because it retains the erudition, style, and wit of the print publication in a briefer format. Reducing actual National Review content to an intermittent smart remark at the end of individual borrowed items makes me begin to imagine what I don't like to imagine: the 2030 National Review whose Table of Contents consists entirely of Twitter essays 140 characters long. I'm not fotfl about that possibility.
Should I be more jazzed about the possible demise of Olbermann's Countdown show? Probably. But I'm not. In my experience, things that sound too good to be true are too good to be true. Also in my experience, the really ugly nasty things in life never really go away. They're too ugly and nasty to go away for good. Like Rosie O'Donnell and Janeane Garofalo. Cancel them here and they'll eventually pop up there, just as ugly and usually much more nasty.
Oh well. My two cents. Worth (given the state of the dollar these days) a few mills.
