Media Navel-Gazing: March 7, 2011
The Week Unpeeled
Well, this was the week of "winning," "warlocks" and "goddesses," not to mention "tiger blood." Some of those winning and losing, with or without the benefit of Charlie Sheen:
- Jobs seekers: The US unemployment rate fell below 9 percent to 8.9 percent and non-farm payroll rose 192,000 (jury out on how positive numbers were, as one month does not a trend make);
- Jobs watchers: Apple unveiled iPad 2 (thinner and faster), introduced by Steve Jobs, who has been absent from public view on medical leave;
- Twitter highpoint: JP Morgan Chase was supposedly in talks to buy a tiny URL of Twitter, which would value the whole company at approximately $4 billion;
- Twitter not-so-highpoint: Charlie Sheen begins tweeting and sets Guinness World Record by gaining 1 million followers in a day;
- Dior fired Galliano for his anti-Semitic remarks;
- Frank Rich left The New York Times for New York magazine after 30 years at the paper; and
- The Dow eked out a very small gain to end the week at 12,169.
Bloomberg Talk of Opinionated Talk Heats Up
Talk of Bloomberg's new venture into editorial publications with his Bloomberg View venture has increased in recent weeks amid reports of new hires such as Peter R. Orszag (former Obama budget director) and others joining the masthead. Those leading the charge include David Shipley, op-ed editor of The New York Times, and James P. Rubin, Clinton's assistant secretary of state. According to The Times last week, the venture has an estimated budget of $5 million with top editors earning a half million a year. To keep peace between the current news organization and Bloomberg View, the op-ed editors will be uptown on East 78th, perfect for lunchtime huddles at The Carlyle. More interesting, backed by money, reach and the Mayor, the introduction of a new source of opinion writing will be strong, with a meeting of the minds with NYT, WaPo and WSJ, to name a few.
Really Don't Get It?
What didn't seem very winning was the new pork industry. Long gone is "the other white meat" to be replaced by Pork: Be Inspired."ÂÂ Don't know how pork or the slogan is inspiring or if the new slogan will cause others to bring home more bacon. How about this:Â Pork: the new six degrees of bacon. 