Message from Michael - Barack Obama - Jan 20th

THE BARACK OBAMA INAUGURAL EDITION


We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael. But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.

OVERVIEW: AdWeek says Franklin D. Roosevelt was the “radio president”, John F. Kennedy was the “television president” and Barack Obama will be the first “Internet president.” Media newsletter Cynopsis calls it, “Camelot for the digital age.” It may be “THE” media event of the year. In a paroxysm of hyperbole, some are calling it the media event of the decade and more. And it may not be hyperbole. The head of research for Horizon Media says it will be the most watched “video event ever” and is being made available on more channels than the media-saturated Olympics. Researcher Brad Adgate adds, in an article in AdWeek, that as a result, no-one will know for sure just how big it was because of its three screen delivery in home and out of home. General manager K.C. Estonson of CNN.com says he thinks it will probably be “one of the most watched events in Internet history.” It may give some indication of the size of the viewing that Obama’s victory speech in Chicago has had more than 4.3 Million views on YouTube. All that said, let’s look at some of the media implications of the Obama inauguration and presidency.

IT’S BIBLICAL IN SIZE: That’s the description used by CNN’s Washington bureau chief David Bohrman in describing the coverage plans for the inauguration. With a crowd estimated at 2 Million or more, he and other network executives say the public interest is higher than any other inauguration they’ve seen and they have to match that interest with their coverage. CBS executive producer Rick Kaplan only half jokingly told TVWeek that it seemed like the network had every camera it owned at the inauguration. Of course all four networks and the cable news channels will have extensive television coverage, but all of them are also supplementing, or complementing, it with equally extensive online coverage. CBS will have live streaming video on its recently re-formatted TV.com website but will also provide it on Joost’s Everything Obama page. NBC will, of course, live stream on MSNBC which also has a special inauguration day page with past inauguration’s footage. Fox will live stream on Hulu which has a special Obama Presidency page.

MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS: Even more interesting are the partnerships between media entities. Cnet.com writer Stephanie Condon cites the partnership between CNN and Facebook, with the network streaming its coverage on the website where viewers can also share their thoughts. In turn, the Facebook stream will be carried on the CNN site. Current TV is partnering with Twitter to add “real time tweets” to its broadcast. But then again even C-Span is getting in on the Twitter act with a partnership. Even the official websites have forged partnerships. The Presidential Inauguration Committee (yes, there is such a thing) is partnering with new (only 13 months old) blogging site Tumblr (no, I never heard of it before) to provide “a feed of content.” And if you don’t like that official site, you can go to the other official site (yes, there are two.) The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugurations will not only stream live coverage of the event, but also provides such interesting tidbits such as what not to bring to the inauguration (firearms, knives, your leatherman, bags of any sort and laser pointers) and what’s on the luncheon day menu (seafood stew followed by pheasant and duck in sour cherry chutney and a desert of apple cinnamon sponge cake.)

ESTABLISHMENT EMBRACE OF NEW MEDIA: If you want a litmus test of how the ‘establishment’ has embraced new media, there are websites on YouTube specifically provided for your elected representative to communicate with their constituencies about the inauguration and their agenda. It’s an interesting exercise to see if your Congressman or Senator is on the site. Equally interesting (again, as always, to me) it seemed that Representatives are more likely to take advantage of the YouTube site than Senators. The introduction to the YouTube inauguration site has “bi-partisan support.” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi telling the youtubers that “we may not see eye to eye on everything but one thing we can agree on is the importance of utilizing technology to communicate with constituents.” House Republican leader John Boehner says “new media tools let us provide you with a level of access and transparency never seen before in government.” And there is interest in the site. When I last checked, the introductory inauguration video had 247,231 views. Of course, it says something that Nancy Pelosi’s “cat cam” video (don’t ask me – I don’t get it) on the same site had two thousand more views – 249,410.

A VERY CRITICAL TIME IN TECHNOLOGY: Those words from law professor and Common Sense Media founder James Steyer in talking about the expected appointment of Julius Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commission. He could just as easily be talking about the incoming administration. To state the obvious, more critical than what is going on with media and technology today in Washington, D.C., is what the future holds for media and technology under the Obama administration. Some of that can be seen from the website, change.gov, mentioned in a previous MfM. (Interestingly, there are now two change sites – change.gov and change.org.) But it can also be seen in the $825 Billion stimulus bill proposed by House Democrats. The bill includes $6 Billion to expand Broadband access “so businesses in rural and other underserved areas can link up to the global economy.” Another $10 Billion is earmarked for ‘scientific research’ ranging from the National Science Foundation getting $3 Billion to expand employment opportunities in fundamental science and engineering to meet environmental changes and improve global economic competitiveness; $2 Billion for the National Institutes of Health Biomedical Research; $1.5 Billion to renovate university research facilities, also in biomedical areas. Do you begin to see a pattern here? Actually, there are several, including an emphasis on the global economy. Of course, that’s not all. The bill also calls for several measures to stimulate technology usage in small businesses. We’ll have more on this in future MfM’s.

The technology section of the government change site is a must read for anybody interested in media. It starts with a quote from Barack Obama’s 2007 Presidential announcement speech: “Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age.” Topping his agenda is the same topic that tops the Democratic stimulus bill – Broadband access. But there’s more. Here is just a partial list of the items on the President’s agenda: Support network neutrality; encourage diversity in broadcast ownership; strengthen privacy protections; use cutting-edge technology to create a new level of transparency, accountability and participation; make the R&D tax credit permanent; protect American intellectual property at home and abroad; and “restore scientific integrity to the White House. The so-called TIGR Team (Technology, Innovation and Government Reform) says it will offer citizens a “Seat at the Table.” Look for the presentation of the so-called Citizens’ Briefing Book to President Obama.

The Change.Org website lists a series of causes ranging from: global warming, global health, gay rights, animal rights, women ’s rights, ending homelessness and ending human trafficking. Interestingly there are a number of ‘side’ websites, including whitehouse2.org, where the leading issue that visitors want the new President to address is replacing the income tax with the ‘fair tax’ concept, followed by “defend the Constitution.”

COCKTAIL CHATTER: Despite the broad support cited by many in the media, Barack Obama only got 52% of the popular vote. And despite the high interest cited for this election cycle, more than a third (38.4%) of eligible voters didn’t cast a ballot for President, according to website factcheck.org. That’s only slightly less than the number who failed to vote in 2006 (39.9%). The list of inaugural events put together by the ConklinScott political consulting firm runs 52 pages in length and includes such events as the Hip Hop Caucus, the Georgia State Society gala (where sponsorships run from $10K to $100k), and my favorite, The Spirit of 92/ Clinton-Gore alumni reunion bash. An architectural group has created a competition with the idea of how would the symbol of American power, The White House, be built if it were designed today. You can see some of the myriad of weird and wonderful designs at whitehouseredux.org. And as a side note to this, I will be curious to look at the official White House website after the inauguration.

If you want a completely different perspective on the inauguration, website Livestation will carry inauguration coverage from around the world, including Al Jazeera, BBC, CSpan, Euronews, France24 and Russia Today.

Finally, in case you were wondering what one drinks with the pheasant and duck mentioned in the luncheon menu earlier, the wine being served was a Goldeneye 2005 Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley. The seafood stew was paired with Duckhorn Vineyards 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley and the desert was topped off with Korbel Natural “Special Inaugural Cuvee” California Champagne. (And if you’re truly OCD, the recipes are available on the congressional inaugural site.)