Palin is changing corporate media

Wednesday, September 03, 2008 by Dave Winer.

There's a big change brewing in the MSM in the aftermath of the Palin nomination. Really impressive how the reporters are challenging politicians now, and it's good. 

The first sign things were crumbling was an interview Monday on CNN with McCain aide Tucker Bounds and reporter Campbell Brown who asked Bounds what international experience Palin has. He kept trying to change the subject to Obama, which I've seen work with these reporters for years. It's a very typical Republican tactic. 

As a result, McCain pulled out of Larry King that night, but CNN stood its ground. 

Then Wolf Blitzer of all people pressed Rudy Giuiani on the same subject and wouldn't let up. Rudy is the best skater out there, but Wolf cornered him. Lovin it!! 

I just saw former Republican governor of NY George Pataki try to bullshit Nora O'Donnell on MSNBC and she (smiling all the way) wasn't having any of it.  

I don't know what happened to give these reporters a backbone, finally -- but whatever it is -- don't let it go! This is how you do it. Let's push these guys until they start talking sense. Let's get our national conversation grounded, at least a little, in reality. 

When I wrote the title for this piece I may have understated it -- the Palin story is not just changing corporate media, it may be revolutionizing it. 

Why has the press all of a sudden declared its independence? I don't know. I'd love to find out. I have a couple of theories. 1. McCain broke an unspoken rule, he didn't use the press to vet this candidate, and that was enough for them. They're saying, in unison, "We know how to do this" -- finally they have a real role in the electoral process, not just to be bullshitted by everyone, so get out of our way while we do our jobs. I'd like to think this is the primary drive. But there's also this... 2. They are American citizens too, and they're horrified by the way McCain made this decision, and want to send a message to him and all other politicians in the future -- if you screw up like this, we're going to push you until you admit it. If that's true, then I would bet that no matter how good a speech Palin gives tonight, she has no future on the national ticket.  

Update: Another possibility. 3. They learned from the National Enquirer beating all of them on the Edwards scandal, and made a decision not to accept non-answer answers to serious questions, like How well did you vet this candidate? 

As I said yesterday, I think McCain screwed up, he should have gone with the boring predictable choice of Romney. They might have lost the election, but it would have been close. Now, with Palin, I don't think it will be close. It could be they make it through this process (but I doubt it) but everyone's had a look at how McCain uses all his much-touted experience. Get this -- He's turning Obama into the safe, conservative choice. Key point. Obama was going to have a hard time making that case, but McCain just made it for him. All Obama has to do is smile and give a few speeches and show up at the debates. He'll do well at all of that. 

BTW, I'm posting regular updates to my FriendFeed and Twitter accounts, which if you're following the Palin story, you may want to tune into. FriendFeed has all of both of them.