Brian Bolter's Blog

I’m seeing the future of news. And let me tell you, the giddy blogosphere euphoria over ‘user generated’ content replacing MSM is as nauseating as it is misguided. Human nature leads to piling on. As the newspaper industry disintegrates before our eyes, a huge swath of New Media types are doing just that. Running up the score. Dancing on the graves. Shouting to the mountain tops. But I urge you to consider the naivete of two urban Mainstream Media myths perpetuated by the forerunners of Web 2.0.  As they climb the news media hierarchy, it’s your own sanity and self-preservation we’re talking about here.

Myth #1. The death of the newspaper means the death of journalism and journalists. Nu-uh. Not gonna happen. Farcical on its face. A wishful, self fulfilling prophecy many bloggers hope will make them and their content more relevant. By cloaking this myth in euphemisms like ‘user generated’ content they’re trying to make you an accessory to this crime of ignorance. Don’t fall for it. Don’t endorse it. And don’t just take that from this professional journalist. (Who happens to blog regularly ... for the record.) Here’s why.

Just because I have a hammer doesn’t mean I’m a contractor. You do NOT want to live in a house I built. Just because I can speak publicly doesn’t mean I’m a lawyer. You do NOT want me to argue for your freedom in a courtroom. And just because someone has a wifi connection doesn’t make them a journalist. Professions have standards. Contractors. Lawyers. Journalists. Those rules separate sloppy from conscientious. Research from a wiki search. Sourced information from imagination. Equal time from lazy one sided rants. 

Where are bloggers getting their information from? It’s important. Real important. Because that’s where they want YOU to get your information from. Do they have real news sources? Are they actually picking up the phone and calling people? Asking questions? Taking people at their word or digging deeper to call bull? Even worse. Are they enjoying a ‘pay for post’ relationship from the subject they’re writing about? The newspaper vehicle ... the actual ink stained paper plopped on your door ... may be a living media relic. But the yeoman’s work done by the actual journalists sets the base level of knowledge allowing those giddy bloggers to hopscotch, loosey goosey with the facts as they look to suffocate the very industry that provides their own oxygen. News corporations have a staff of lawyers which stands behind the reporting of their organization. Willing to pay to fight big business, corporate intimidation to get the truth. A blogger gets one cease and desist from a real lawyer? They’ll fold/retract like a social network startup these days.

Insert usual disclaimer here. There are stunning examples of professional journalistic standards dictating blog content across the web. The first and best example I can cite: Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish. I can’t get through the day without his RSS feed. An immensely talented writer and thinker who reaches exponentially more readers through his blog than in The Atlantic.

Myth #2. There’s an army of citizen journalists chomping at bit to record, report, upload user generated content as free labor. Uh. Not even close. There’s an army of ‘witnesses’ ready to share their experiences on Twitter/Facebook/Flickr/Wordpress. And as a journalist, I love every single one of those multi-media news warriors. Yet think back as recently as the Mumbai terrorists attacks. In this digital age, there were less than a handful in that army of ‘user generated content’ uploading from the front lines. And while they did admirable work documenting the scene, did those tweets replace real news reporting or supplement it? Did you check your Twitter to learn the nuts and bolts of who claimed responsibility? If you did, I’ll guarantee you that information was being repeated ... not reported. Is this mythical army of free labor walking the front lines of Baghdad? Are they reporting from Wall Street as your life savings goes up in recession flames? 

The blogosphere has become a compost dump of twisting quotes to fit agendas. Of opinion not news.  Blathering pontification with little sources or basis in fact. Tools give us all the means to contribute. While you might not want me to build your house or defend you in court, you might actually trust me to give you the news. Yes MSM has enormous hurdles of trust it’s constantly striving to overcome. Yes many cable news outlets have blurred the line of agenda driven content we just discussed. But just as I cited one of the best news blogs, look to the best news outlets. Whatever they are in your mind. Please. Otherwise we could become a nation of idiot zombies. We ‘think’ we know a story. But really, we only know the headline and few catchy phrases written by some guy with little if any accountability. Worse yet, little if any desire to find the truth.

If the UAW is right. That the reason bailout talks for the Big 3 failed is because the Republican caucus in Congress wanted to bust the union then thanks again for nothing. Leave it to this ‘do nothing congress’ to blindly focus on treating symptoms of a deadly plague instead of just delivering a taste of bad medicine to buy a little more time.

Do not get me wrong. The UAW is a huge reason the american automobile industry is a dying patient that will ultimately pass away. They have killed their workers future and picked up a shovel to bury their industry simply via success. It is absolutely possible to price yourself out of a job market. There are millions of ‘underemployed’ professionals, people who are working for less than they’re worth because they simply made too much money at some point in their career and got whacked by budget constraints and market conditions. The average UAW employee in Detroit brings home $70/hour. The Toyota worker in Alabama brings home $40/hour. Capitalism is based on earning what the market can bear. The UAW successfully stretched that tenet for generations. But there is no inalienable right to earn more than others. When the market changes, companies have to adjust. The UAW priced themselves and by nature of their employer contracts, priced their product OUT of the market.

But congress? Their sole duty in embarrassing the Big 3 CEO’s on Capitol Hill ... in forcing Ford, Chrysler, GM back for round two of begging ... in demanding a business plan ... was to protect OUR investment. Get guaranty’s the 25-35 Billion would get re-paid. Provide a line of credit ... make sure it’s not getting thrown into the fire ... ensure that we get something back while easing this dying patient off life support. And instead ... you go union busting? The Big 3 goes over your head to the White House. The vast majority of the TARP funds are sitting there unused, just ready to get doled out. And now that’s what will happen. Congress can’t fulfill its obligation to its constituents so Detroit is about to get its cash anyway ... only this way ... with few if any strings attached. 

Nice job guys. Two weeks of negotiating wasted. Thousands more jobs lost. And you get put in your place by the UAW. By place I mean ... where pure incompetence and irrelevance goes to get ridiculed. That’s exactly what we all thought we were watching during those congressional hearings. Instead, like cliffhanger Friday in a soap opera it turns out there IS a body more incompetent and irrelevant in the american automobile crisis than the Big 3 or the UAW. It’s the United States Congress.

As the Big Three drive fly coach  jet-pool their way back to Capitol Hill to beg once more for the never ending Treasury spigot of printed paper to get turned their way, here's what Tiger Woods should do. Step up and help bailout General Motors too. We, the taxpayer, are going to lend the disastrous GM management 25 billion dollars. As President-elect Obama has made clear, we the taxpayer, are going to have to "do our part". Yet we, the taxpayer, didn't make a single penny off the Buick Rendezvous SUV. Tiger Woods made 40 million dollars.

So here we are. Struggling. Cutting back. Bracing for more. Breaking news right now on CNN ... we are officially in a RECESSION. And the richest athlete in the world, publicly and happily tied to GM since 1999, realizes his latest 5 year $40 million dollar contract won't get renewed? How will that hurt a man who makes $100 million/year in endorsements alone? Hardly. But here's how he can help.

Tiger Woods should embark on a Buick advertising blitz right now ... PRO BONO. Free. Show up. Smile. Hit a couple golf balls in front of a GM product. Keep the logo on your golf bag. Call it "your part" in helping this troubled economy and one of your best supporters the last decade. In a time when we're all being asked to sacrifice, that's the least Tiger could do. Give back.

Who knows if Tiger even drives the Buick Rendezvous SUV which is the key vehicle GM brought him onboard to pitch. My guess is there's one buried behind his Range Rovers, Maybachs and private jet hangar. But if Tiger does actually believe in American cars, even better. Stand there and tell the world why we, the taxpayer, should bail out your sponsor. Detailed, expansive reasons from one of the shrewdest athlete-businessmen of our time. Tiger Woods needs to step up and make that 'hard sell'. It would do more for the Big Three than this latest round of CEO panhandling. And Tiger should do it ... for free. 


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I wanted to post a few observations after todays meeting with a group of 10 Norwegian journalists (including @nedrelid) and Dr. Mark Drapeau (@cheeky_geeky) blogger at Mashable! among other things. The lead on this gathering came from Olie Orset, a journalist from Norway leading a group of colleagues on a tour of media organizations that have embraced social networks in delivering their mainstream news product. He found us on Twitter.com/fox5newsedge. Contacted our News Director. Five days later we were all in the Fox 5 News conference room sharing/learning/brainstorming all things social networking in general ... Twitter in particular.

Full disclosure: Between live promos, taped promos, filling in as anchor for the 5pm today, plus the Fox 5 Newsedge at 6 duties ... I meandered in and out of the meeting quite a bit. I'm hoping Mark Drapeau articulates a more thoughtful encompassing take in a blog post myself. But I did come away with a few thoughts.

- Twitter is a largely untapped, enormously powerful communication tool between media and their consumers. The meeting reinforced my belief that social networking platforms could be what helps save the precipitous drop off in viewership across the channel spectrum. Twitter, in particular, is helping us at Fox 5 get back to our roots and basis for existence. To connect with and stay connected to our audience as people who also live here, care about the community and want to inform as well as stay informed.

- Social networking takes work. A lot of work. There's the learning curve for each new "Twitter" out there. Ie. Facebook etc. In using the portals to stay in the loop with our viewers, we have to feed the beast. That means regularly checking the platforms. Thinking about the content we're providing and not wasting our consumers time. Keeping it real.

- Delineating content via Twitter streams creates added value. Like any team, there are many personalities. I can keep the 'edgey' tweets coming on @fox5newsedge because it accurately reflects the mentality behind the daily NewsEdge product. Extrapolating that, I also update @brianbolter as a news anchor 'with a life.' Meaning content based on my personal takes. @shawnyancy provides her own takes. @levansfox5 her own. @tom_fitzgerald his own. Members of the team who relate to Twitter in their own ways, giving much needed diversity for viewers to cherry pick what they like.

- Our stations 'news' value to Twitter followers is only as good as the community itself. In other words, more people from different backgrounds with different interests need to get on Twitter to ensure our usage is well rounded and fully realized. Imagine another major catastrophe in Washington. The value of us live tweeting information as it comes in combined with receiving your live tweets from all four corners of the region create the Ultimate News Network.

The Norwegian journalists were planning to meet with more media outlets in NYC as they continue on their learning tour. I'm grateful to have the chance to bounce ideas off an early adaptor in @cheeky_geeky and fellow journalists willing and able to spread the momentum.

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History, nostalgia and refusal to change are driving this lame duck congress into yet another spending frenzy. 25 billion now. That's what the US Auto industry is begging for with General Motors at the front of the line, hat in hand. Our country was built on the automotive industry. The Model T became the genesis for generations of employment. Hundreds of thousands of workers, their suppliers, even perhaps the jobs of television news employees whose checks come in part from american auto advertising are dependant on the industry. But it's so broken. So lost in the development dust. If we ... and by that I literally mean you and me ... bailout out this flailing industry we'll never see the money again and be right back where we started.

Time to rip the band-aid off. Detroit is dead. It hurts. I know. But congress ... just because it has historical signifiance doesn't mean it is relevant any longer. Congress ... just because Ford and Chevy have been a part of our country's very fabric doesn't mean Toyota isn't the best selling vehicle in America now. And congress ... the Big 3's refusal to change in the face of competition makes it a 'them' problem not a 'you' problem.

Name ONE modern American vehicle that stands as testament to Detroit quality, ingenuity, technological advances, design vision? The Cadillac Escalade? Really? That's all you got? Exactly. In light of it's stock dropping to a 65 YEAR low, GM announced it's scrapping plans for the Cadillac CTS Coupe and Buick Lacross sedan. I already see the clamoring public crying in the streets over the loss. The culture at GM became so utterly corrupt, there's a reason the vast majority of it's profits come from GMAC. They became a bank. Not a car builder. Cared more about your loan than your ride. And it's shown for 20 years.

Circuit City  ... done. Why? Best Buy is better. DHL ... done. Why? Fed-Ex. UPS do it better. Linen's & Things ... done. Why?  Bed Bath & Beyond does it better. Not one of those companies is getting a taxpayer backed bailout. Thousands of their employees, their suppliers, even people whose jobs rely on their advertising are out in the cold. Hey ... Detroit? Cars are too expensive to put out crap. Other countries do it better. And here with American workers!

If YOU had 25 billion dollars, would you loan it to Detroit? What leads you to believe that one single thing will change in the American auto industry? What one single peg can you hang your hat on that indicates American cars will suddenly be relevant again? I don't see it. When I close my eyes and think of Detroit you know what images dance in my head? The VCR. The 8 track. Steam locomotives. Black and white film of fast walking men with top hats and canes. The Model T.

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The presidential campaigns are calling these waning days on the trail: Closing Arguments. How lofty. How succinct. How appropriate they're being delivered though the metaphor of a children's cartoon. Both campaigns have clearly and unabashedly embraced 'identity politics.' And so if undecided voter will only cast that crucial ballot in Virginia, Ohio, Florida, Colorado for the candidate who most looks, sounds, acts like them ... enter Bob the Builder. I mean Joe the Plumber. Or as of today Tito the Builder. Not Joe the Brother. Vicki the Realtor. Definitely not Joe Momma.

There is clearly merit to Joe the Plumbers situation. He's a working guy getting soaked in taxes. Will Obama's plan cut him a small business break? Will McCain's cut him an even bigger one to hire, grow, earn more therefore pay more? Ask Joe. Actually, don't ask Joe. Apparently he's mulling a run for Congress now. But to extract Joe's relevancy and dress it up in (insert name here) The (insert occupation here) formula for Bob the Builders success with children worldwide is niche politics. Who wants to be a cartoon character in this time of uncertainty. We get it. Blue collar professions can generate $250,000+ incomes. Will you solely cast your vote on one issue?

We only have days left to understand if Obama is really interested in a class warfare. Playing Robin Hood. Dressing it up in paltry tax cuts for the "middle class." Just like our archaic and often punitive tax system, the label of middle class is grossly out of date.  (Ie. How far did that Economic Stimulus check go in bettering middle class lives?) Days left to figure out how McCain can freeze government spending in a time when it's giving away hundreds of billions to inept, greedy, arrogant corporate fat cats. (Ie. At some point aren't we just printing paper at the Treasury?) Understanding how he can say with a straight face in his latest ad, "The last 8 years haven't been so great. I'm the guy who can change that." And that's just on the economy! 

I for one would like Bob the Builder to go back where he belongs. A learning tool for ages 2-12. Here's to hoping both campaigns get back to explaining our overall future in THEIR administration. Protecting against terror. Stem cell research. Supreme Court screening. Middle East relationships. Sparking economic growth to offset this doomsday spiral. Because one of these two men is just days from hanging new drapes in the Oval Offfice. And I guarantee, neither will be thinking about Joe the Plumber. 

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My text message alert sounds. Check it. Journalist I read regularly and appreciate just sent a Tweet. Something to do with new Obama poll numbers in swing states. Goes off again. Check it. Same journalist remarking about his son's latest and greatest life observation. Funny. In the span of half an hour, I take a walk in a gifted writers stream of conscience. We've never met. But his experiences. His insight. His Twitter.com 'tweets' allow me into his world.

I've recently come to the conclusion, social networking platforms are a must for local news to stay relevant in our viewers lives. Sure Pop Pop isn't getting on Twitter anytime soon. "Too much time!" I hear. "I never check that site" from a tech savvy Pop Pop. "I don't get it" echoes across the digital divide. And it's not just the Pop Pops of the world. Many a computer literate friend who grasps the concept of "new media" has refused to embrace that platform and many others. But I'm blogging here and now to tell you ... I believe it's the future.

Maybe not Twitter. Maybe not Facebook. The portals and their popularity wax and wane. But social networking does what local TV news has dropped the ball in doing. Keeping it real. There was a time when our industry aired the "On Your Side" segments and showed up at neighborhood festivals to shake hands and share stories. Rarely anymore. Budget constraints. Fragmented markets. It's almost impossible to respond and interact with viewers through traditional modes the way local TV used to.

But now we can. And it's our responsibility to take advantage of the cutting edge communication platforms to do so. Our lifeblood has always been a two way street of exchanging information. You give us stories, contacts, pulse of the people direction. We direct our considerable resources, talent and energies towards making sense of the maddening information flow (or lack thereof). But now, with so many ways to get your information. So many opportunities to get it on your own terms ... your own timeframe. There's a void of interaction. Here's the thing. On Twitter.com/fox5newsedge you get more than just the nuts and bolts. We offer behind the scenes thinking. A two way street to talk about what you just saw and where you'd like to see the story go from there. A dialogue with the anchor. A 24/7 stream of news updates with links to more information. As I say on the air when we push to the Twitter site, you talk to us ... we talk to you. Where else do you get that in Washington DC?

At Fox 5 we are content providers. Social networking platforms allow us to distribute content to you in a laid back form on your terms. No text messages? Turn 'em off. Check when you can. Happy to have you! Not interested in pithy reflections on the day to day grind? Steer clear of twitter.com/brianbolter. The point being ... we're trying harder. To find you where you are. Let you know what's going on where you live and work. And keep it real. Hope you'll join in the conversation.


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I've only known one stockbroker. Nice guy. Even keeled. So I'm not basing this on any firsthand knowledge. But Wall Street ... you're a bunch of melodramatic, manic depressive, adrenaline chasing, insecure, co-dependant greed mongering followers. Do me and fellow little guy investors like myself a favor ... don't drag us into your nightmare!

Case in point, the binge you went on last week. Oh I'm so low. No ... I'm so high! Low. High! Ahh ... it's Friday let's go home and reflect. The tortuous, headline making trip left the Dow off just 30 points from where it started Monday morning. Meanwhile, the adults in the room where nauseated, borderline vomiting from watching their nest eggs get thrown around the room from junkie to junkie.

And now this week ... so far. HISTORIC FREAK OUT! DOWN 777! Google down 50% in 6 months. Apple down 45% in three weeks! Sell. Sell. Sell. Wall Street sulks and lashes out when they don't get THEIR government rebate check. But wait ... today ... the drug of despair wore off. It's a new morning. You ARE good enough, pretty enough, strong enough, smart enough ... time to buy. And back the market comes. UP 485.

So please, from a worried community member who can't organize an official intervention. Get some help. Seriously. Get some help. The addiction. The personality disorder. The God complex. If I could, I'd leave the party and let you regularly self destruct in peace. But you're part of our collective financial family. So we have to deal. Tough love would be my choice. But I'm afraid you'll burn the house down.

 Join me and the interactive news experience everyday at 6,10 & 11 on www.twitter.com/fox5newsedge

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I'm getting a familiar feeling about this $700 Billion economic bailout plan hatched in less than a week, getting steamrolled through Congress and accompanied by vague, ominous "Act Now" warnings from President Bush. There's a certain, slimy Used Car sales pitch quality to it all, preying on a core fear in human nature .. that we'll get screwed and miss out if we don't act now. I get the US financial markets are teetering on breath taking plunges because of greedy, arrogant Wall Street leadership. I've looked at my portfolio too ... just like any investor. But with all the cards on the table. Iraq. Afghanistan. Healthcare. Social Security. Obama. McCain. Russia. Forgive me for no longer going along with the "trust us ... we know better than you" wrapping paper.

Are we, the taxpayers, paying over value for these distressed assets? Are these ridiculously incompetent CEO's getting a profit windfall for their egregious misdeeds? Did I actually hear Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson warn if Congress tried to scale back golden parachutes for these CEO's, they might choose not to take part in the bailout ... dive bombing their 'can't fail' companies because we won't buy their macmansions? Does Congress get any oversight in how these funds are spent and who profits?

You and I put our nose to the grindstone everyday to eek out some scratch ... our reward is handing over a blank check to Wall Street. I have no doubt Paulson, a Harvard MBA, is smarter than the vast majority in the room for these conversations. But so was Alan Greenspan right? And look where we are now.

I wouldn't mind Congress taking this week to test drive that used car. Kick the tires. Tell the over-eager, overbearing salesmen to take a seat in their faux wood panel office with a window a/c unit and cool their heels. Make a good decision. Please. This is another moment in time where the ramifications of a pressure forced decision could last decades. And will cost even more in more taxes that may never get rolled back.

Do you TWITTER? Us either. Had no interest. Too much work. Learn ANOTHER social networks in's and out's. Find MORE friends to hit up like a panhandler. No thanks. But ...

Then came the simple moment of clarity. The whole point when we sat down to create Fox 5's NewsEdge franchise ... to stay ... on the cutting edge. Content wise. Presentation wise. Technology wise. Now let's keep it real. There is amazing corporate red tape in our business as in most others. The leap from creative idea to implementation seems like an Evil Knievel jump across the Grand Canyon at times. But there are those behind the scenes here who trust in our vision for the show, and can fast track the cheap ones. Twitter is a cutting edge communication platform. It puts the NewsEdge decision making, story selection and accessibility in you ... our viewers hands. And it's free. For everyone.

Here's the deal. Simple. Log on to www.twitter.com/fox5newsedge. Right away you can lurk and soak in the postings. I'll do most if not all the updates for now. Our producers, writers and web team will hop in as it gets off the ground. Better yet, you can use the portal for what it's designed for ... communicating with us. Sign in by creating a username and password ... go to our page ... click follow ... and you won't miss a tweet. Get it on your phone. Sign up for text updates. Ask questions. Make suggestions. Whatever. We're jumping in with both feet and giving away a free backstage pass to our newscasts. Hope you'll give it a try.

 

 

Every once in awhile I get to ask real newsmakers real questions that really matter to the lives of our viewers. Today turned into one of those days. I had a one on one interview with Barack Obama.

Why Barack ... for the partisan crowd out there? Because he said yes. John McCain said no ... for now. We'll keep trying.

I had 5 minutes. Timed on a stopwatch by the Obama handlers. He was gracious. Not into small talk. And very kind to the behind the scenes people like my photographer Stephanie. I've included some pics from before the interview and my work will start airing tonight at 5 through the News Edge at 11.

In the same spirit as my previous "If I were ..." posts, here are the four questions I got to ask in my five minutes.

1. When it comes to your comment about "lipstick on a pig" and the ensuing uproar, your response seems much more pointed and aggressive as if you're fighting back harder than in the past. You even mentioned the swiftboaters. Are the gloves off?

2. DC has some of the wealthiest suburbs in the country. You're essentially asking those voters to pay the next four years with a vote for you. Are you trying to start a class warfare with your tax plan?

3. What do you say specifically to northern virginians who will have to carry you if this state turns blue for the first time since 1964?

4. Any advice for the second most powerful and revered man in Washington .. Head coach of the Washington Redskins Jim Zorn?

First ... let me twist my arm way around and pat myself on the back for calling out the ludicrous Burmuda Triangle of TV lately: Keith Olberman - NBC - Political Coverage. NBC announced today it is yanking Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman off its political coverage immediately and replacing them with newsman David Gregory. The spin is in full effect. Olbermann claims the conversation about being removed began at his behest. NBC seems to be allowing that story to float. My sources say Tom Brokaw walked into Jeff Zucker's office at NBC-Universal and said ... "Enough." Regardles of reason or impetus. Thank you NBC. Thank you for recognizing this horrible 5th grade science experiment was about to blow and take down the entire house!

Now ... speaking of Mr. Brokaw ... my latest installment of "If I Were ..."

If I were Tom Brokaw I'd ask John McCain ... By choosing Sarah Palin after meeting with her just ONCE in your life for 15 minutes ... and all insider accounts point to your handlers talking you out of your first choice Joe Lieberman ... is this the kind of "gut" decision politics we can expect if you become Commander in Chief? While choosing a running mate is not what makes a man a President, it is the biggest executive decision in this process John McCain has made to date. Imagine a CEO choosing his COO after ONE 15 minute meeting.

"Gut" politics seems an awful lot like code for "gambling". Choose a winner out of the blue that noone ever imagined (like the New York Giants beating the New England Patriots outright in the Super Bowl as I did last year) can make even the novice appear more Nostradamus. But over time .... your "gut" betrays you. Your collective experiences, deducing skills  and risk-reward analysis ... much more reliable. Sarah Palin may be a giant W in the win column. Or a season ending L. But is that the kind of decision making you're asking voters to choose come November?

 

 

 

 

(Howard Alan Kurtz - a conservative American journalist, blogger and media writer for the Washington Post.)

If I were Howard Kurtz I'd ask NBC brass, MSNBC brass and anchor for both ... Keith Olbermann this: How can you allow a journalist to actively write for, promote and identify with the far left wing blog Daily Kos while anchoring your political coverage in a 'newsman' role for both the cable network MSNBC and political broadcasts on NBC?


 In addition, why would you allow ANY employee to publicly contribute to a website community that viciously spread false rumors about Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin? Specifically, that she wasn't the mother of her Down Syndrome child Trig, but his grandmother who hid the birth by her teenage daughter? Is that the kind of reckless, character assassination you passively support/encourage from your "news" anchors? 


Or are you really watering the seeds of your own Bill O'Reilly cable counterpunch, but allowing him to wear the Journalism Jacket as a stick in the eye to Fair and Balanced?

There are two hurdles in blogging for Fox 5 that are set so high ... they're almost impossible to cross. 

1. As a local news anchor, I'm expected to be non-partisan with no political leanings. That in and of itself is actually NO problem. I'm a registered Independent. (Which ... for the record ... is a burden as a Maryland voter because it automatically disqualifies me from voting in either primary. A law that should be changed immediately.) But when questioning, calling out or praising one side or the other in this political season, I'm chastised by the opposite side of the aisle in this forum, usually with personal attacks and abusive language. Which leads me to ...

2. Thoughtful ... High Road ... Respectful threads are borderline impossible to generate. No matter how the blog posts are framed, they are either largely ignored or an ignition for 'flame wars' between bloggers.

After giving it some thought, here's what I've come up with for my blog. Since I largely don't have access to daily newsmakers, but have constant questions for them ... about them ... about their circle of influence ... I'm going to pose a topic from a figure in journalism who does have that kind of access. Both hurdles ... overcome. The baggage of suspicion placed on someone else's political foundation. The hope for higher brow discussion unfurled in every bog posting.

In all honesty, I hope this experiment gains some traction. I have a lot of questions. And you have a lot of answers.

Broke down this morning. Two weeks of waiting, stalking and obsessing led to me ... at the mall ... getting the iPhone this morning. The following are my blog entries while in line.

7:20am - i show up for an ealy 8am opening at the westfield mall apple store. first one there ... so i thought. told they only have 16gb white iphones. wanted black. can i live with white? store employee tells me i'm the first and she'll set up the outside stantons to mark the line. i walk two stores down to grab some starbux and settle in. come back ... now i'm 4th. great. note to self ... how much time did that grande latte just ad to my day?

7:42. just tried to load an industry website on my current motorola q with verizon service. nother reminder why i've got such high hopes for this iphone. slow. choppy. and ultimately a partial web page comes up that is unusable. why is the guy with brown loafers staring at the line .. the store ... the line and not just going to te back? 6 of us waiting now.

7:53am - employee breaks the 16gb white only news to the crowd. grumbling. one casualty. sadly she's just behind me so i don't move up. arggg that starbux! tells us the apple website has all the updated stock info but that's clearly wrong b/c i checked last night and it claimed my store had all 3 models. interetingly ... she also claimed shipments don't come in the morning. that we are all getting what's left over from night before. so mabe apple website shows the shipments for later that day. which ..by deduction ... means our best sot at getting what you want is by coming later in the day and waiting much longer in line. sounds like a supply control gimmick apple .. not a fan.

8am - current at&t customer pre-approval starts. not one. more waiting.

8:12 - non att customers ... ie me ... get a ticket stub inviting me to return to the store for my personal setup later today. more grumblng. lots of 'uneccesary anxiety' type phrases getting thrown around. oh ... dayn is the thus far unnamed apple employee. cruising in on an hour in line so far. got minor disappointment and a ticket stub to show for it. HOLD THE PRESS ... DAYNA SAYS ALL MODELS ARE NOW AVAILABLE. why? noone cares to ask. new ticket stub and spirits are lifted ... mine and the grumbling crowd. still waiting.

8:24 - start the clock. first guy in line(should have been me) just left with his iphone in one hand ... iphone box in the other. giddy goofy christmas morning smile on his face. even turned the wrong way out the door he's so delirious.

** I finally walked in the door at 8:37am. Walked out 23 minutes later with my 18gb black iPhone, carrying case, car charger and that same goofy Christmas smile. 4 hours of syncing, tinkering, CHARGING (ugh the battery life complaints are so true) and adjusting ... it finally started to feel real. Was it worth the effort? Yes. Will I endure needling, scorn and ridicule for my fixation? Yes. Is it the little things in life that put a smile on people's faces? Yes. :)