Dean Rotbart's Blog
Eyewitness Heaven: What Do You Think the Almighty Had to Say to Leona Helmsley?
I would like to be the heavenly correspondent who witnessed Leona Helmsley when she went to meet her maker last year, at the age of 87.
I doubt that He would probe her deeply about her 1989 conviction on federal income tax evasion or even on her haughty disposition when it came to employees and others less fortunate than she.
But I do think the Almighty would have some important questions on why Mrs. Helmsley wrote indigent people out of her $5 billion to $8 billion will in favor of directing that all the money go to the care and welfare of dogs.
No doubt Mrs. Helmsley loved canines and no doubt dogs deserve our respect for their companionship and loyalty. But I seriously doubt that God has the kind of sense of humor that would appreciate Mrs. Helmsley's total disregard for the good her funds -- which she earned by the grace of God -- could do for two-legged humanity.
Perhaps, in our capitalistic system, we have no right to tell the über rich how they should allocate their estates. Perhaps. But I doubt that heaven shares our free-enterprise sensibilities.
No, my suspicion is that all her money did not buy Mrs. Helmsley a first-class ticket to eternal bliss. Quite the contrary, if there is justice in the afterlife, she will be spending eternity picking up after the canines she was so devoted to in her mortal life.
Making the Routine Extraordinary: Wall Street Journal Karen Richardson
Writing a stock market column for the Monday edition of a business newspaper always requires a certain amount of creative imagination. A journalist can't really report on what happened during the previous (Friday) trading session -- that's old news -- and how much can one freshly forecast about the upcoming Monday morning trading session? By the time most readers crack open their Monday morning financial dailies, the markets will have rendered moot any forecasts anyway.So that is why I always teach my public relations clients that one way to help measure how savvy a financial columnist is, is by reading his or her Monday morning offering. Based on that formula alone, I think The Wall Street Journal's Karen Richardson is one sharp scribe.
Her most recent Ahead of the Tape column, on Monday, June 9, is a fine piece of financial journalism. Karen points out that so far every all-star private equity or sovereign-wealth fund that has ponied up billions of dollars to bolster distressed U.S. financial institutions has watched a serious portion of their balance sheet evaporate.
In Where Will U.S. Banks Beg Next?, Richardson notes that rescues from Corsair Capital, TPG, Temasek Holdings, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, China Investment Corp. and Warburg Pincus have left all would-be heroes with a lighter wallet.
"Given the performance of these investments so far, how much worse does it have to get before pension trustees and university endowments and the top-tier private-equity firms they back ask whether it makes sense to keep doing this?" Richardson asks. "How long before rich overseas funds stop giving cash to Wall Street firms that lose their money?"
Those are good, insightful questions and ones investors and securities firm executives need to weigh. If the A-team funds do get wary, Richardson suggests State investment funds in less politically 'pc' places such as Algeria, Angola, Libya and Zimbabwe may be the only true alternative.
"Selling stakes to funds of authoritarian or unstable regimes in frontier markets doesn't quite mesh with Wall Street's lofty image of itself," Richardson concludes. "But it created this mess, and beggars can't be choosers."
Now that is just plain, good writing!
Time to Give CNBC's Dennis Kneale His Own Show
Memo: Roger Ailes, Fox Business News and Mark Hoffman, CNBC
Although Dennis started out with media and technology as his core beats, he's expanded that role significantly -- and now is a go-to commentator on every variety of business and economic story from early morning to late night. He's often showing up on Kudlow & Company and periodically hosts the show when Larry is off.
Subject: What Are You Guys Waiting For?
Perhaps the two of you über news craftsmen didn't get the memo, so I'm resending it. Step up and give Dennis Kneale, currently Media and Technology Editor at CNBC, his own show.
Dennis is bright, funny, telegenic (he's gotten better having traveled from the print world) and enthusiastic. He used to be managing editor at savvy Forbes and before that was a top editor at The Wall Street Journal. So he's not only entertaining, he knows business and financial news.
When Dennis joined CNBC in October 2007, Jonathan Wald, CNBC senior vice president for business news, said it himself: "He's one of the best connected journalists in the business."
Although Dennis started out with media and technology as his core beats, he's expanded that role significantly -- and now is a go-to commentator on every variety of business and economic story from early morning to late night. He's often showing up on Kudlow & Company and periodically hosts the show when Larry is off. Dennis gets it wrong sometimes and he gets it right a whole lot of the time. Is that any different than Jim 'Mad Money' Cramer? What I like so much about Dennis are his reportorial skills and his willingness to bare-knuckle fight with anyone and everyone who disagrees with him. CEOs and other reporters get no slack from Dennis.
When Dennis used to show up regularly on Forbes on Fox, he was impossible not to watch. Just the kind of host television networks covet.
I suspect the question of whether or not to place a bet on Dennis has crossed both your minds. Perhaps you think he needs a little bit more on-camera seasoning. Perhaps. But having watched the best and the worst on both your respected networks, I am convinced that Dennis is already closer to the top than the bottom.
So get with it gentlemen. One of you needs to give Dennis his own show. And I'd say better hurry. Business news is not the only venue where Dennis could thrive. The other news networks, without a doubt, could use a journalist of Dennis' caliber, too.
H.C. Chatfield-Taylor's Coverage of the World's Columbian Exposition
At a used book store the other day I picked up a hardbound copy of The Century Magazine from 1925 and found within it a wealth of early 20th century journalism -- most of it lost to the dusty stacks of libraries and their microfiche rooms.
One article that was too good to let lie in obscurity was When the World Came to Chicago, a reminiscence by Hobart C. Chatfield-Taylor of his time spent as a host of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago. The great fair drew 27 million visitors, including some real characters who Chatfield-Taylor saw up close.
Anyone who loves Chicago and especially anyone who loves its rich literary and art history, really will enjoy reading this 83-year-old feature. It includes mentions as well of local and national politicians, doyennes, and actors.
I was particularly struck by the timelessness of a letter that Chatfield-Taylor quoted written to him in 1891 by Eugene Field, the essayist and children's author. Field, after whom many public schools in Illinois and Missouri have been named, served as editor of the defunct Denver Tribune for two years.
"If you intend to follow writing as a profession, you must cultivate your skin until it becomes hide - the hide of a pachyderm," Field told Chatfield-Taylor. "I believe it is better to be antagonized than to be patronized. Go right along doing the best work of which you are capable and you are bound to succeed in spite of the ill will of some people. There are in the midst of us many who, incapable of ambitious endeavor, themselves, envy and hate those who do try to do somewhat and to be somebody. Do not let these creatures worry you. After a while they will be only too glad to fawn upon you."
Sadly, Field died in November 1895 at the age of 44 and Chatfield-Taylor served as one of his pallbearers.
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| H.C. Chatfield-Taylor in 1897 |
One article that was too good to let lie in obscurity was When the World Came to Chicago, a reminiscence by Hobart C. Chatfield-Taylor of his time spent as a host of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago. The great fair drew 27 million visitors, including some real characters who Chatfield-Taylor saw up close.
Anyone who loves Chicago and especially anyone who loves its rich literary and art history, really will enjoy reading this 83-year-old feature. It includes mentions as well of local and national politicians, doyennes, and actors.
I was particularly struck by the timelessness of a letter that Chatfield-Taylor quoted written to him in 1891 by Eugene Field, the essayist and children's author. Field, after whom many public schools in Illinois and Missouri have been named, served as editor of the defunct Denver Tribune for two years.
"If you intend to follow writing as a profession, you must cultivate your skin until it becomes hide - the hide of a pachyderm," Field told Chatfield-Taylor. "I believe it is better to be antagonized than to be patronized. Go right along doing the best work of which you are capable and you are bound to succeed in spite of the ill will of some people. There are in the midst of us many who, incapable of ambitious endeavor, themselves, envy and hate those who do try to do somewhat and to be somebody. Do not let these creatures worry you. After a while they will be only too glad to fawn upon you."
Sadly, Field died in November 1895 at the age of 44 and Chatfield-Taylor served as one of his pallbearers.
<< MORE >>
Bob Dole Calls Scott McClellan a 'Miserable Creature,' 'Weasel,' and 'A Total Ingrate'
Hurray for former Senator Robert Dole, who doesn't mince words in his email (below) to former First Spokesman, Scott McClellan.
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Scott,
There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don't have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues. No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique.
In my nearly 36 years of public service I've known of a few like you. No doubt you will "clean up" as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, "Biting The Hand That Fed Me." Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years.
I have no intention of reading your "exposé" because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high profile job. That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively. You're a hot ticket now but don't you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?
BOB DOLE
Scott McClellan Shames the PR Profession
The public relations profession should be outraged by former White House press secretary Scott McClellan and his newly awakened sense of righteousness.
As spokesman for the President, McClellan served effectively as First Spokesman, the most visible and most influential public relations practitioner in the world. That he would stand daily at the pressroom briefing podium and espouse a position that he, himself, came to disbelieve and then wait to act upon it until he had the time to write and publish a book is inexcusable.
Too many people already think that the public relations profession is a polite form of prostitution – that is, we’ll say just about anything for money. Now McClellan comes along and confirms our critics’ worst suspicions.
For the record, McClellan is NOT worthy of the designation of spokesman or public relations professional. There is nothing professional about his abuse of his former position of trust to enrich his own career and bank account by betraying those who trusted him and were led by him to believe that he shared their values.
When President Gerald R. Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, Ford’s press secretary, Jerald F. terHorst resigned in protest. Which reflected well on the PR profession. Ms. terHorst told Associated Press this week that she believes “it’s unethical to carry our a job and then turn around and kiss and tell.”
I couldn’t agree more.
As a media relations consultant, I’ve encountered more than my fair share of corporate scoundrels. When I see that my clients lack the kind of ethics and standards that behoove good corporate citizens, I quietly resign.
Sure, I could then turn around and issue a news release highlighting what scum I had worked for. But I believe as a profession – just like lawyers, accountants, and physicians – PR executives are entrusted with client confidences that they must never betray – short of being compelled to do so by court order.
Really, what McClellan should have done if he had any loyalty, professionalism or ethics whatsoever was to strongly and privately argue his position to members of the Bush administration. He was more likely to change the Administration’s viewpoint from the inside – if his aspirations were noble -- than two years later hawking his book on the Today Show as a disgruntled and morally ambiguous former spokesman.
Writing on the subject, AP’s Deb Riechmann noted “presidential spokesmen traditionally have worn cloaks of loyalty to their graves.” Which is how it should be.
In this case, McClellan wore it only to his professional grave. For while I know that some will defend his actions and others will hire him for his experience and insights, in my mind he is stone cold dead as a communications professional.
In my mind, anything he does from this point forward is just intellectual prostitution, gussied up to look legitimate.
As spokesman for the President, McClellan served effectively as First Spokesman, the most visible and most influential public relations practitioner in the world. That he would stand daily at the pressroom briefing podium and espouse a position that he, himself, came to disbelieve and then wait to act upon it until he had the time to write and publish a book is inexcusable.
Too many people already think that the public relations profession is a polite form of prostitution – that is, we’ll say just about anything for money. Now McClellan comes along and confirms our critics’ worst suspicions.
For the record, McClellan is NOT worthy of the designation of spokesman or public relations professional. There is nothing professional about his abuse of his former position of trust to enrich his own career and bank account by betraying those who trusted him and were led by him to believe that he shared their values.
When President Gerald R. Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, Ford’s press secretary, Jerald F. terHorst resigned in protest. Which reflected well on the PR profession. Ms. terHorst told Associated Press this week that she believes “it’s unethical to carry our a job and then turn around and kiss and tell.”
I couldn’t agree more.
As a media relations consultant, I’ve encountered more than my fair share of corporate scoundrels. When I see that my clients lack the kind of ethics and standards that behoove good corporate citizens, I quietly resign.
Sure, I could then turn around and issue a news release highlighting what scum I had worked for. But I believe as a profession – just like lawyers, accountants, and physicians – PR executives are entrusted with client confidences that they must never betray – short of being compelled to do so by court order.
Really, what McClellan should have done if he had any loyalty, professionalism or ethics whatsoever was to strongly and privately argue his position to members of the Bush administration. He was more likely to change the Administration’s viewpoint from the inside – if his aspirations were noble -- than two years later hawking his book on the Today Show as a disgruntled and morally ambiguous former spokesman.
Writing on the subject, AP’s Deb Riechmann noted “presidential spokesmen traditionally have worn cloaks of loyalty to their graves.” Which is how it should be.
In this case, McClellan wore it only to his professional grave. For while I know that some will defend his actions and others will hire him for his experience and insights, in my mind he is stone cold dead as a communications professional.
In my mind, anything he does from this point forward is just intellectual prostitution, gussied up to look legitimate.
A 'Grimm' Welcome to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers RAPID 2008 Conference
This post was originally published on the Low-Volume Manufacturers Association web site: www.l-vma.org. I plan to continue to probe my "welcome" and try to better understand what turf Todd is so anxious to protect.
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Orlando (May 22, 2008): In his official pictures Todd A. Grimm of T.A. Grimm & Associates looks so friendly. He has a warm smile and an earnest disposition. So I was taken by surprise this morning when I went up to Todd to introduce myself face-to-face and discovered a less smiley facade.
Grim, indeed, was Todd's assessment of me and the Low-Volume Manufacturers Association, which I founded and work for as a volunteer. Todd told me flat out -- just an instant or two before he turned his back on me and walked away -- that he views me as "the competition" and doesn't like my style of business.
Fair enough. Todd is entitled to pick and choose who he associates with and if he doesn't want to speak with me it is his option.
The one nit I have to pick, however, is with the fact that Todd also is a senior representative of the SME's RAPID conference and Vice Chairman of its RTAM community. Indeed, next year, Todd will become chairman of the RTAM community steering committee.
Will he choose not to speak to anyone he competes with or anyone who competes with those he consults with during his tenure? I wasn't approaching Todd because I wanted his rapid prototyping consulting and marketing services. I approached him because I wanted to greet him as a highly regarded leader of SME's RTAM. (Indeed, Todd was honored as one of this year's keynote speakers.)
Todd can tell you directly what his problem is with me and L-VMA. You may agree with his views or may not. But as best as I can ascertain, he is most concerned that I may one day find a way to make money from my work with the L-VMA. Not that he, as a respected RTAM leader, makes any money from the high visibility his volunteer work for the group brings him!
In all trade associations I've been affiliated with in the past, the fact that one member competes with another is not grounds for an official snub. I do wonder how Todd can justify this unusual position and who else he has blown off in his role as a RTAM leader because he doesn't approve of their style of doing business?
What do you think is the likelihood that RTAM will give me a speaking opportunity at a future RAPID conference so long as my "competitor" is in charge of the community and won't even stand still to speak with me?
Officially, I am a paid member of SME and don't think it right to be excluded because I may -- at least in Todd's view -- compete with him. Tough.
Douglas B. Mitchell, who currently chairs RTAM and works for Ford, seems to have no problem working alongside Thomas A. Sorovetz of Chrysler in a civil fashion. Why would Todd treat me any differently?
Todd, who provided me a telephone interview for L-VMA some months back, told me he went so far as to call SME members he knows and speak poorly of me and L-VMA, suggesting that somehow I am up to no good. I pointed out that I did free PR for him and promoted his interview without charge -- an offer I extend to any company or individual in the RAPID industry. (Does T.A. Grimm & Associates make a similar free offer for its marketing services?)
Todd would have none of this. Even as I asked him to recall how much I invoiced him for my work on his behalf -- a big fat zero -- he just skulked away.
More about Todd and his consultancy in the coming days.
Photo: Todd A. Grimm by Dean Rotbart
Grim, indeed, was Todd's assessment of me and the Low-Volume Manufacturers Association, which I founded and work for as a volunteer. Todd told me flat out -- just an instant or two before he turned his back on me and walked away -- that he views me as "the competition" and doesn't like my style of business.
Fair enough. Todd is entitled to pick and choose who he associates with and if he doesn't want to speak with me it is his option.
The one nit I have to pick, however, is with the fact that Todd also is a senior representative of the SME's RAPID conference and Vice Chairman of its RTAM community. Indeed, next year, Todd will become chairman of the RTAM community steering committee.
Will he choose not to speak to anyone he competes with or anyone who competes with those he consults with during his tenure? I wasn't approaching Todd because I wanted his rapid prototyping consulting and marketing services. I approached him because I wanted to greet him as a highly regarded leader of SME's RTAM. (Indeed, Todd was honored as one of this year's keynote speakers.)
Todd can tell you directly what his problem is with me and L-VMA. You may agree with his views or may not. But as best as I can ascertain, he is most concerned that I may one day find a way to make money from my work with the L-VMA. Not that he, as a respected RTAM leader, makes any money from the high visibility his volunteer work for the group brings him!
In all trade associations I've been affiliated with in the past, the fact that one member competes with another is not grounds for an official snub. I do wonder how Todd can justify this unusual position and who else he has blown off in his role as a RTAM leader because he doesn't approve of their style of doing business?
What do you think is the likelihood that RTAM will give me a speaking opportunity at a future RAPID conference so long as my "competitor" is in charge of the community and won't even stand still to speak with me?
Officially, I am a paid member of SME and don't think it right to be excluded because I may -- at least in Todd's view -- compete with him. Tough.
Douglas B. Mitchell, who currently chairs RTAM and works for Ford, seems to have no problem working alongside Thomas A. Sorovetz of Chrysler in a civil fashion. Why would Todd treat me any differently?
Todd, who provided me a telephone interview for L-VMA some months back, told me he went so far as to call SME members he knows and speak poorly of me and L-VMA, suggesting that somehow I am up to no good. I pointed out that I did free PR for him and promoted his interview without charge -- an offer I extend to any company or individual in the RAPID industry. (Does T.A. Grimm & Associates make a similar free offer for its marketing services?)
Todd would have none of this. Even as I asked him to recall how much I invoiced him for my work on his behalf -- a big fat zero -- he just skulked away.
More about Todd and his consultancy in the coming days.
Photo: Todd A. Grimm by Dean Rotbart
Airlines to Install Pay Toilets to Help Bolster Bottom Line
Beverly Hills, CA -- In the effort to bolster their bottom lines, some air carriers have begun to charge passengers extra to check their baggage. In the spirit of giving, this site's editors have devised some other steps the beleaguered air carriers might test in order to offset the rising costs of fuel.
"Not everyone who flies needs the bathroom in-flight, so why should everyone on board have to pay," asks HopelessUtopian.com. Instead, the website suggests the airlines could install credit card swipe devices on each toilet stall, allowing passengers to be charged a minute-to-minute rate depending upon usage.
A second popular idea on the HopelessUtopian.com site is to charge extra for experienced pilots. "Just as better hitters in baseball get paid more, those pilots with more experience are worth more than those who just emerged from flight-training school," HopelessUtopian.com writes. "If you want a pilot who knows what to do in an emergency, you should be willing to pay more. It's kind of like life insurance: some people want a lot, some only a little, and others none at all."
The editors at HopelessUtopian.com fielded numerous related suggestions from their readers. Among other frequent suggestions: Charge extra for fat customers and pregnant flyers; make seat belts a paid amenity just like headphones; create seated and non-seat sections on board, charging more for those who don't wish to stand the entire time; make passengers pay extra for on-time departures; and offer bus service for those who can't afford to actually lift off.
In recent years, the airlines have struggled to remain viable, fighting to offset rising fuel prices, stricter security measures, and record new levels of flight attendant dissatisfaction and surliness. Since air transportation is vital to the global economy, HopelessUtopian.com said it believes consumers must carry a larger share of the responsibility for corporate mismanagement and lack of vision.
"Why should airlines take it upon themselves to operate with more efficiency and imagination when their passengers are a captive audience upon whom they can push pretty much any absurd idea?" HopelessUtopian.com asks. Indeed, the web sites thinks the airlines may well serve as role models for other cash-strapped industries, such as hospitals. "Would you like your surgery with (extra cost) or without anesthesia?" may indeed be the next question we all hear.
"Not everyone who flies needs the bathroom in-flight, so why should everyone on board have to pay," asks HopelessUtopian.com. Instead, the website suggests the airlines could install credit card swipe devices on each toilet stall, allowing passengers to be charged a minute-to-minute rate depending upon usage.
A second popular idea on the HopelessUtopian.com site is to charge extra for experienced pilots. "Just as better hitters in baseball get paid more, those pilots with more experience are worth more than those who just emerged from flight-training school," HopelessUtopian.com writes. "If you want a pilot who knows what to do in an emergency, you should be willing to pay more. It's kind of like life insurance: some people want a lot, some only a little, and others none at all."
The editors at HopelessUtopian.com fielded numerous related suggestions from their readers. Among other frequent suggestions: Charge extra for fat customers and pregnant flyers; make seat belts a paid amenity just like headphones; create seated and non-seat sections on board, charging more for those who don't wish to stand the entire time; make passengers pay extra for on-time departures; and offer bus service for those who can't afford to actually lift off.
In recent years, the airlines have struggled to remain viable, fighting to offset rising fuel prices, stricter security measures, and record new levels of flight attendant dissatisfaction and surliness. Since air transportation is vital to the global economy, HopelessUtopian.com said it believes consumers must carry a larger share of the responsibility for corporate mismanagement and lack of vision.
"Why should airlines take it upon themselves to operate with more efficiency and imagination when their passengers are a captive audience upon whom they can push pretty much any absurd idea?" HopelessUtopian.com asks. Indeed, the web sites thinks the airlines may well serve as role models for other cash-strapped industries, such as hospitals. "Would you like your surgery with (extra cost) or without anesthesia?" may indeed be the next question we all hear.
There Is a World Outside the Media Snow Globe
It sure is chilly in here. Perpetually gloomy in fact. From where I sit, I see a world in which a large percentage of the population is anti-business and believes that government and increased government regulation is the best answer to the ordeal of their lives.
To this vocal group, life is an ordeal. The planet is overheating due to greedy energy companies. Their health is diminishing due to conspiratorial fast food and pharmaceutical companies. Their right to Internet access is threatened by Internet Service Providers who are not willing to lose money to deliver more high-definition pornography to them. Their privacy - both online and off - has been sold to the highest bidder. And their tea is cold.
These whiners and malcontents, like bacteria, thrive in the enclosed world of the blogosphere, where fresh air and logic are about as jarring as a large meteorite crashing through our planetary atmosphere.
Forget for a moment that their presumptions and facts are warped at best, downright sick at worst. This is a wonderful time - perhaps the greatest time ever - to be alive, and a large part of that thanks rests with the very businesses that these bellyachers disdain.
Their blog posts come courtesy of the ISPs they revile. The furnaces and air conditioners that keep them comfy are delivered via the energy companies they pummel. Those extra pounds around their waists are due to the fact that we live in a marketplace of plenty. What they know of the world - news, music, entertainment, etc. are all provided on demand from the companies they so much enjoy pillaring.
All of this would be laughable - a small brigade of Archie Bunkers in the 21st century - but for the fact that the mainstream media (who never could resist a good sound bite) pay these ne'er-do-wells attention and bestow upon them a veneer of credibility.
Now, the inmates run the asylum.
The mainstream media, forgetting that they are the ones who propped up these faultfinders in the first place, begin to quote them in their stories and link back to their blogs. Opportunists in all walks of life - but especially politicians - seize upon this as evidence that more government and, in particular, their brand of government is urgently needed.
The media write about the politicians, the blogosphere writes about the media, the politicians quote the media who quote the politicians who mimic the blogosphere. Bad enough.
But the worst of this is that the companies who are the targets of all this mythmaking themselves begin to buy into the fantasy world. They become defensive (which is natural). Companies know what the media say about them is often untrue, yet when snowglobers rant about a potential vendor or business partner, many companies become wary of getting too cozy with another company that has run afoul of the blogosphere.
Soon, the companies are playing by and responding to the rules of the snow globe, rather than recognizing the process for the absurd, insulated, isolated, deliberately manipulative universe that it is.
Inside the snow globe, at least for business, it is always snowy. That is the nature of snow globes.
That leaves businesses two very clear choices. Play by the rules of the snowglobers and submit to their tariffs - no matter how illogical. Or make your decisions based not upon the over-inflated views of the few and concentrate instead on the needs, opinions and wishes of the vast majority of people who pay zero attention to the snow globe.
In the outside world, where fresh air and reality are in abundance, this is -- to steal a quote from George Bailey -- a wonderful life.
To this vocal group, life is an ordeal. The planet is overheating due to greedy energy companies. Their health is diminishing due to conspiratorial fast food and pharmaceutical companies. Their right to Internet access is threatened by Internet Service Providers who are not willing to lose money to deliver more high-definition pornography to them. Their privacy - both online and off - has been sold to the highest bidder. And their tea is cold.These whiners and malcontents, like bacteria, thrive in the enclosed world of the blogosphere, where fresh air and logic are about as jarring as a large meteorite crashing through our planetary atmosphere.
Forget for a moment that their presumptions and facts are warped at best, downright sick at worst. This is a wonderful time - perhaps the greatest time ever - to be alive, and a large part of that thanks rests with the very businesses that these bellyachers disdain.
Their blog posts come courtesy of the ISPs they revile. The furnaces and air conditioners that keep them comfy are delivered via the energy companies they pummel. Those extra pounds around their waists are due to the fact that we live in a marketplace of plenty. What they know of the world - news, music, entertainment, etc. are all provided on demand from the companies they so much enjoy pillaring.
All of this would be laughable - a small brigade of Archie Bunkers in the 21st century - but for the fact that the mainstream media (who never could resist a good sound bite) pay these ne'er-do-wells attention and bestow upon them a veneer of credibility.
Now, the inmates run the asylum.
The mainstream media, forgetting that they are the ones who propped up these faultfinders in the first place, begin to quote them in their stories and link back to their blogs. Opportunists in all walks of life - but especially politicians - seize upon this as evidence that more government and, in particular, their brand of government is urgently needed.
The media write about the politicians, the blogosphere writes about the media, the politicians quote the media who quote the politicians who mimic the blogosphere. Bad enough.
But the worst of this is that the companies who are the targets of all this mythmaking themselves begin to buy into the fantasy world. They become defensive (which is natural). Companies know what the media say about them is often untrue, yet when snowglobers rant about a potential vendor or business partner, many companies become wary of getting too cozy with another company that has run afoul of the blogosphere.
Soon, the companies are playing by and responding to the rules of the snow globe, rather than recognizing the process for the absurd, insulated, isolated, deliberately manipulative universe that it is.
Inside the snow globe, at least for business, it is always snowy. That is the nature of snow globes.
That leaves businesses two very clear choices. Play by the rules of the snowglobers and submit to their tariffs - no matter how illogical. Or make your decisions based not upon the over-inflated views of the few and concentrate instead on the needs, opinions and wishes of the vast majority of people who pay zero attention to the snow globe.
In the outside world, where fresh air and reality are in abundance, this is -- to steal a quote from George Bailey -- a wonderful life.
Milken Institute's Global Conference 2008: Market Movers by Felix Salmon
I like the rules Portfolio.com's über-blogger, Felix Salmon plays by. Basically, as Felix views it, among those who are pure bloggers, there are no rules. Anything goes.
"Blogging is not a craft which is honored by the good bloggers and sullied by the bad," Felix writes in a May 7th post responding to a proposal I floated. "It's a medium, a conversation, a babble. Its very variety is its strength."
Or, as I see it, its undoing.
On Felix's Internet, bloggers' only obligation is to themselves and possibly to their readers and/or sponsors. He is not alone in that view.
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| Portfolio.com Blogger Felix Salmon at Milken |
On our Econobloggers panel at the 2008 Milken Institute Global Conference, Paul Kedrosky was real clear in stating more than once that he doesn't care who reads his blog, whether they like it, whether they act on it, or anything about them. Reciting the bloggers anthem, Paul says he writes for an audience of one, himself.
Frankly, I think that is double bunk. If he is the only one he cares to please, why not keep a personal journal or a diary? Why bother to vomit your views on the world wide web?
I offered to Felix a proposal to set some standards for econobloggers and even help fund a non-profit group to encourage and recognize the best econobloggers. Felix thinks the idea sucks.
Okay.
His view is that I'd push to honor journalist-like bloggers: "the ones with disclosure and accountability, the ones without gossip and rumor and snark." Ah yes, the three virtues of the blogosphere -- gossip, rumor and snark. What was I thinking?
Look, there is room in the world for The Economist and for the National Enquirer. And, yes, once in awhile, the NE actually gets a scoop that turns out to be factual, although its batting average is far from major league.
Still, I think the public -- especially the investing public, will only have an appetite for the National Blogging Enquirer for so long. There is only so much gossip, rumor and snark that anyone can willingly consume without some solid intellectual nutrition to go along with it.
Economic thought and reporting has needed a livelier delivery for a long time. And the bloggers out there have enlivened the dialogue to great effect. Yet some of what I read, in fact much of what I read, is all snark and no substance.
If the blogospher is a medium, a conversation and a babble, over time it has to be a number of additional things: pertinent, informative, factual (sorry, Felix) and accountable (double sorry, Felix).
You can go to a dinner party and be amused by the slightly inebriated guest who speaks of his financial and sexual conquests. He is certainly more lively than the staid insurance salesman. But after a steady diet month in and month out of hearing about the lush's financial and sexual adventures, I think most people will grow wary. Especially when the boaster shows up night after night in shabby, worn clothes and no date.
There are far more examples in the old dead-tree world of journalism of financially successful credible news organizations than their are of gossip rags such as the National Enquirer. There is a reason for this. The marketplace votes with its wallet and its feet. Over time, serious, well-researched, accountable writing (dare I say 'journalism') has won out repeatedly over gossip, rumor and snark.
There is room in the world for a Matt Drudge. There is room for a National Enquirer and for a Paul Kedrosky. But those shoes are filled. In the inevitable shakeout that will come down the road, most bloggers will go back to keeping journals or shooting the breeze at their neighborhood watering hole. Only quality will survive. And my offer to help nurture those quality blogs and bloggers stands.
I hope Felix will reconsider my invitation to be a part of this movement, although I know that he won't.