The YouTube clip featuring MSNBC shouter Chris Matthews taking down hapless conservative talk show host Kevin James has been everywhere, most notably promoted by MSNBC itself. As an Obama supporter, and hater of content-free punditry, you’d think I’d get a kick out of that, wouldn’t you? Actually, no. The clip represents everything I dislike about political “analysis” done by talking head pundits of whatever stripe. In the clip, Matthews, trying out for the role of teacher-pundit, asks the clearly over-excited, over-matched James to explain exactly what Neville Chamberlain did in 1938 to appease Adolf Hitler. James can’t answer, but continues…
Shelly's Web of Wonder Posts
FriendFeed and Me
Posted in New Media and Tech, and Random Personal Nonsense
God help me, I signed up for FriendFeed, just to see what it’s all about. Mostly, I’m upset that the username Shelly was already taken. It’s mine, I tell you, mine! http://friendfeed.com/podcastpundit
This post is mostly a pointer to an excellent piece I just saw on ReadWriteWeb, called “Did Twitter Really ‘Outshine’ the Mainstream Media?”. I continue to love this site and its thoughtful commentary. The long and the short of it? Twitter can tell you about the earthquake first, or even help survivors communicate with the outside world and get help. But it can’t tell you the details, the scope of the disaster, or the long-term impact. I’m getting really tired of triumphalists claiming that tools like Twitter are effective replacements for the real, on-the-spot news coverage that requires more than…
Free for iPhone Users Only
Posted in New Media and Tech
I essentially admitted to a bit of iPhone envy yesterday. But this isn’t about that. Seems that AT*&T has opened up free wi-fi access for iPhone users at its hot spots (read, Starbucks). I find that disturbing. It seems to set up a class system of Internet access, based on the device you carry. I have no objection to AAT&T or Starbucks or anyone charging for wi-fi access. It is a service for which many people are willing to pay, and no one has an implicit right to free Internet. But opening the free wi-fi dour only wide enough for…
I spent last weekend with friends who use their matching iPhones to great effect. Though new in town, they were able to zoom in on (well, close) to my house with Google street view, and find a store we wanted to visit before I could complete my call to directory assistance. They also kept up with emails from home, and conducted searches just because they could, all while holding up their end of the conversation. Tap, tap, tap. I’m past the angry part. No iPhone for me. OK. I don’t really feel the need for a Google IV on a…
Kara Swisher writes today that a lot of people she surveyed while attending a wedding had not heard of Twitter. I’ll pause while you retrieve the beverage you just dropped on the floor in disbelief. Even more astonishing than the lack of Twit-hipness among Swisher’s acquaintances is that bloggers have been writing about this as if this news were revelatory in some way. It’s one thing for bloggers and new media types to live in geographical (Silicon Valley) or virtual bubbles, but it’s quite another when they don’t even realize they do. Come on, people! Are all of your friends…
Pod is a Dirty Word, Again
Posted in New Media and Tech, and Podcasting
PodShow, the “media company” founded by Adam Curry, and the recipient of millions in venture funding, has changed its name to Mevio. Has the ring of one of those wacky Web 2.0 startup names, doesn’t it? Just vague enough to allow for a completely flexible business model. Podcasting News linked to a video featuring PodShow co-founder Ron Bloom. In it, he described PodShow as a network of 15,000 shows. This, of course, includes the many externally-prdouced podcasts within the directory maintained by PodShow, along with the company’s own “entertainment properties”. Bloom went on to say, when asked about the name…
New Media Spring Cleaning
Posted in New Media and Tech, and Podcasting
Spring cleaning, as many people do it, is about throwing things away that you no longer need, and polishing those you want to keep, but which no longer look their best. Aside from the season, leaving a job is a pretty good reason to engage in some seasonal dusting and straightening. Ad editor of a magazine for bloggers and podcasters, I was conscious of a need to speak to the industry we were covering. As much grief as folks like me get for perceived pandering to advertisers, I’ve always been a notorious advocate of readers. Not a bad thing, of…
Bittergate
Posted in Politics and Public Affairs
I had an epiphany about all the hoo ha over Senator Obama’s remarks last week about rural voters in Pennsylvania. Yeah, yeah, I’m supporting Obama, so take my comments for whatever you think they’re worth. Obama’s clinical, detached explanation of voters’ motivations, which seem to have agitated the pundit class way more than they have the actual electorate, pretty much mirror the dismissive style of the very “journalists” who find this story so compelling. How many times have you heard voters lumped into categories like “angry white males” or “soccer moms”, and their feelings distilled down to simple, marginalizing language.…
Moving On
Posted in New Media and Tech, Podcasting, and Random Personal Nonsense
I have decided to leave my position as editor-in-chief of Blogger & Podcaster Magazine, effective April 11. I joined Blogger & Podcaster in January 2007 when we were preparing to launch the industry’s first digital/podcast/print hybrid publication. I was excited to be creating a magazine that would chronicle the podcasting world I knew so well after two+ years (more than three, now) publishing my own shows, along with the turbulent, more established blogosphere. Podcasting was and is a real passion for me. As with other loves in my life, the best way I knew to pursue that passion was to…