A Little Of The Old In And Out



(image via iht)

In: Diplomacy with Iran. The pendulum swings. President Obama has recorded a video for the Iranian people (with Persian captions), titled 'A New Day.' Clearly, the gesture is intended to influence the soi-dissant Under 30 Crowd -- a demographic the President is expert at impressing. And, of course, the "carrots" offered by the video video must be backed with "sticks." Persia, as many generations of diplomats have found out the hard way, is expert at tying governments in knots -- for further reference see the EU and the Quartet -- while it pursues, extra-diplomatically, it's end goals, in this case: nuclear weapons. We cannot allow that to happen here. The introduction of "A New Day (not to be confused with the Russo-American "Reset")," to the Iranian people, particularly the young, the moderate, is the kind of bold thinking that will, at the very least, throw Achmadinejad, who is used to anticipating the one-dimensional strategy of the Bushies, off balance. From Foreign Policy:

"As American audiences tuned into his appearance on the 'Tonight Show with Jay Leno,' President Obama tonight issued a notable video message aimed at the Iranian people and their leaders on the occasion of Nowruz, the traditional New Year's celebration in Iran and across much of Central Asia.

"'In this season of new beginnings I would like to speak clearly to Iran's leaders,' Obama says in the English-language recording, which is subtitled in Farsi. 'We have serious differences that have grown over time. My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community.'

"'This process will not be advanced by threats,' Obama continues. 'We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.'

"'This is huge,' said Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, a group that supports U.S. engagement with Tehran. 'First of all, he is addressing the people and the government, which has not been done before. At one point he talks about the Islamic Republic. He's signaling he’s not looking for regime change; he’s recognizing Iran’s system.'"

This invites Iranian moderates on board. And it neutralizes Achmadinejad's use of the United States as a distraction from the fact that their GDP, so dependent upon oil being around $70 a barrel, is in bad shape. Without the distraction of a "Great Satan" -- the same way, incidentally, Mugabe uses the British royal family and the Prime Minister -- the domestic political scene could become a lot more complicated for Achmadinejad.



Out: CNN. What is CNN doing wrong? They certainly have the starpower -- Christiane Amanpour and Fareed Zakaria are the brainiest, coolest and most respected internationalists based in the United States. The universally beloved Anderson Cooper, that silver fox, is the Most Likely To Become An Anchor, if the genre holds. And Larry King = A List Guests (who, we cannot fail to note, don't want to be asked tough questions). With a roster like that how CNN it be trailing? And yet it is. From Jeff Bercovici of Portfolio:

"More evidence that CNN is going to have to find a new strategy fast or risk becoming a cable news also-ran: In the month of March so far, the Time Warner-owned network has come in fourth place in prime time among adults 25 to 54, the key demographic for advertisers, more often than not.

"Through March 17, CNN trailed not only Fox News and MSNBC but also its own sister network, Headline News, on nine out of 17 days. On one day, March 13, CNN even drew fewer 25-to-54 viewers than CNBC -- the first time that's happened since November 2007. And of the eight days it finished higher than fourth in the demo, five were either Saturdays or Sundays, typically the lowest rated nights for the news networks.

"Asked about the trend, a CNN spokeswoman offered a statement that emphasized the network's long-term ratings growth -- while ignoring the even sharper gains made by Fox News and MSNBC -- and its claim to being No. 1 in total reach. (As I've noted before, that claim is based on CNN's 'cume,' or cumulative audience, a measure generally considered less important to advertisers.)"

More here.



(image via bostonist)

In: IFC's Media Project. Does anyone else watch this smart and hip show covering the intersection of the media and politics? Obviously someone else does because it was picked up for a second season by IFC. From TheHollywoodReporter:

"IFC has ordered a second season of its documentary series 'The IFC Media Project,' which goes behind the scenes of how the news gets made.

"Hosted by correspondent Gideon Yago, the five episodes will premiere in May and are produced by Meghan O'Hara and Nick McKinney ('The Daily Show,' '30 Days').

"'This is a truly important series that reveals what's really going on in our world today versus what the news media feeds consumers,' O'Hara said. 'In the new season we will take our exploration of news media even further as we venture across the globe to get the real stories behind current events, conflicts and disasters that may have made headlines, but the entire story was never told.'

"Season 2 will cover the conflict in Georgia, the 'clean coal' debate and President Barack Obama's press relations and more."