Having conquered TV, radio, book publishing and now live events, Glenn Beck is looking to expand his media empire into a new arena – the web (obviously GlennBeck.com is thriving too).
Mediaite has the exclusive details about a news and opinion website Beck is launching tonight. Here’s what to expect.
Beck’s new site is called TheBlaze.com, and will be edited by Scott Baker, formerly of Breitbart TV and host of “The B-Cast”. In an exclusive statement, he tells Mediaite:
Our hope is that everyone who comes to The Blaze finds original reporting, insightful opinions and engaging videos about the stories that matter most. We are excited to launch and I look forward to keeping Scott and his team busy by sending countless ideas at 3am every morning.
We talked to Baker today about what readers can expect from the new site, the team behind it and more. “It’ll be news and information,” he told Mediaite. “Some commentary and opinion stories we’re interested in that are being under-covered or not covered.”
People will inevitably make the comparison to Arianna Huffington – whether Beck’s role as figurehead behind the site will make The Blaze into a conservative Huffington Post. “The one thing pretty clear around Mercury [Beck's company] is that Glenn is not short on ideas or hesitant on input,” Baker said. “His input is already evident in how the site looks, and that’s what will continue. It will be a continual flow of tips and suggestions and encouragement.”
The “small scrappy staff” behind The Blaze include Baker as well as Jon Seidl, formerly of the Manhattan Institute and American Spectator, and Meredith Jessup, formerly of Town Hall. Also, Pam Key of Naked Emperor News will contribute as a video editor. Baker moved over to Mercury at the beginning of June and began shaping the site. He will continue hosting “The B-Cast” the daily web show, with Liz Stephans.
Baker says there “seemed to be a lot of synergy” between what Beck was doing and what he did at The B-Cast. But now Baker is working with another conservative media mogul – he worked with Andrew Breitbart in his last role. “Obviously I worked with Andrew for a long time and have great respect for him and his sites and what he’s doing,” said Baker. “They emphasize different things. Also Glenn is a broadcaster and my background for 20 years was in broadcasting. There’s a shared sensibility from that end.”
Baker recently experienced the Beck influence first-hand – down in D.C. at the Restoring Honor rally, which he called an “extraordinarily remarkable event.”
Ultimately, like any site launch (I remember ours just 15 months ago), the true test will come in the weeks and months as the audience gets used to coming on a regular basis and the tone and style take shape. “We’re going to be what we are, and others will judge what we’re like,” said Baker.
If it’s like past Beck media ventures, it’s probably headed for major success.
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Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, December 17, 2009
NEW : Obama's Copenhagen stopover
The White House has announced that Barack Obama will travel to Copenhagen for the beginning of the UN summit on climate change next month. Obama will make an appearance at the negotiations on 9 December, a pit stop en route to pick up his Nobel prize in Oslo the following day. There, he plans to tell delegates that the US will commit to cutting emissions to 17% below 2005 levels by 2020.
The move that comes after months of lobbying on the part of citizens concerned that global warming has not gotten due attention. And while many are cheering his decision to attend the summit, the development should be put in its appropriate context. Obama is not planning to return for the end of the summit, which runs until 18 December. That's when approximately 65 other heads of state and government are expected to attend. He's coming early, a visit that will be more geared at setting the tone of the summit rather than sealing a deal at its conclusion – animportant distinction.
This shouldn't be seen as a problem; it was already clear that there's not going to be a final treaty in Copenhagen, so the presence of heads of state is not quite as important as once hoped. The real work is still to be done by negotiators, who spend those two weeks in December hashing out the litany of specifics that must still be hashed. If Obama were to show up at the end it would merely be symbolic anyway.
Though it would be nice to see him there alongside other world leaders, his presence would not change the outcome. So while groups like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, the most aggressive of the United States environmental organisations, are basically calling Obama out for treating the summit like a photo-op, that would probably be more true if he showed up at the end to shake hands and pose with other leaders, declaring victory over a non-binding political agreement.
Appearing later – when it wouldn't influence the conversation one way or another – might only lead to a repeat of October's Olympics debacle, wherein Obama showed up in the very same city to much fanfare. His presence didn't change the outcome, and only created bad press. Remember the conservative glee at that failure?
Instead, he is showing up early to set the tone and, for the first time, putting a solid target on the table for emissions cuts. Obama will promise that the US will commit to cutting emissions "in the range of 17% below 2005 levels by 2020," according to a White House official. His presence demonstrates high-level engagement on the issue in the US (even if he should be doing more), and perhaps even shows a desire to go on and earn that Nobel he'll receive the following day.
Let us not underestimate the influence of a real commitment on near-term emissions cuts – a commitment for 2020 that, for the first time, involves actual numbers. That alone is expected to help move the climate talks along. Of course, the 17% figure is not nearly as high as the reductions called for by the European Union, Japan, developing nations, and basically everyone else in the world. It's far from the 25%-40% below 1990 levels that many science and other world leaders acknowledge is necessary. But the hope is that if the US puts out real figures, other key players like China and India will also start talking in real numbers.
And it looks like it might have already prompted that. Today, the Chinese government made an announcement about its ambitious climate policy and action plan (China plans to slow emissions growth by up to 45%). Of course, it was a big deal back in September that China was even willing to talk about specific climate goals. Their announcement will likely be another major development for both the country and international negotiations – and the announcement helps that along.
NEW : RIM Says BlackBerry E-Mail Service Is Interrupted
Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry phone, said some North American consumers using the device are experiencing interruptions receiving personal e-mail messages.
Technicians are working on the outage, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. Phone service and Web browsing aren’t affected, RIM said.
The outage is affecting all BlackBerry users, regardless of their carrier, who rely on RIM’s Internet-based service for e- mail delivery instead of corporate servers, said Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile carrier. That means large corporate customers aren’t affected.
Sprint Nextel Corp. customers are also experiencing disruptions, said Crystal Davis, a spokeswoman for the third- largest U.S. mobile-phone company. AT&T Inc. is also affected, said Michael Coe, a spokesman for the second-biggest U.S. wireless carrier. Rogers Communications Inc., Canada’s largest wireless operator, is having interruptions as well, spokeswoman Odette Coleman said in an e-mail.
Businesses and governments worldwide rely on BlackBerrys to communicate with mobile workers. RIM, which competes with devices such as Apple Inc.’siPhone, had about 32 million subscribers globally at the end of August.
RIM fell $1.14, or 1.8 percent, to $63.53 at 12:33 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The stock had gained 59 percent this year before today.
Consumer Push
RIM is targeting consumers with models that have cameras and music players to boost sales as corporations curb spending amid the economic slump. The company, which gets about two- thirds of its revenue from North America, is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings today after the market closes.
Non-business customers made up more than 80 percent of RIM’s newsubscribers in the second quarter, compared with 50 percent two years earlier. The company said in September that more than half its total subscriber base was outside the business world.
RIM’s BlackBerry Curve was the top consumer smart phone in the U.S. in the third quarter as price cuts drove up sales, according to research firm NPD Group Inc. Apple’s iPhone 3GS and 3G took second and third place.
NEW : Royce White leaves Minnesota men's hoops
MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Freshman forward Royce White, who pleaded guilty to shoplifting and is a suspect in a dorm room theft, has left the University of Minnesota basketball program.
The 6-foot-8, 250-pounder, a Minneapolis native and the Golden Gophers' top recruit this year, announced his decision Thursday in a YouTube video entitled "The Last Interview."
The Minneapolis city attorney's office was considering whether to bring charges against the former Hopkins High School star for allegedly stealing a laptop computer.
White, who was suspended by Coach Tubby Smith, has said he is innocent and will not transfer elsewhere.
"I want to play for the Gophers," he said. "I still wish I could (but) the wheels of justice aren't turning fast enough. I wish I could be a great teammate. This is nothing between me and Tubby. He's been a great teacher for me, more than anybody that I've ever been taught by in basketball."
White pleaded guilty Dec. 2 to misdemeanor shoplifting and fifth-degree assault charges stemming from an Oct. 13 incident at the Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis.
source : I forgot it !!
NEW : skygrapper , what is it ??
Skygrabber Review: What is Skygrabber? Hot in theinternet search today and most of the internet lovers are asking what this Skygrabber all about? Skygrabber is a software for military operations for spying. It is an offline internet downloader. Yes, it doesn’t need internet connection to use it. It can download without it.
Skygrabber Review: What is Skygrabber? Skygrabber intercepts satellite data including movie, music, pictures etc downloaded by other users and saves information in your hard disk. This is a software that is new to many but it can be used wonderfully.
NEW : Cincinnati Shocked by Chris Henry’s Death
As you know , we always get the latest interesting news :
To describe the life of former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry as turbulent is to engage in understatement. Henry’s brief NFL career featured five arrests, three NFL suspensions and a host of second chances. At age 26, Henry seemed finally to be straightening things out off the field while contributing steadily on the field before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 9. On Wednesday, news broke that a domestic dispute with his fiancee somehow led to Henry falling or being thrown from the back of a pickup truck and suffering serious injuries. Henry died of those injuries on Thursday morning, leaving Bengals fans and teammates to puzzle over the confusing legacy of his short, troubled life.
- Reuters
- Chris Henry, seen during a playoff game against Pittsburgh in this 2006 file photo.
There surely will be more to read about Henry and his strange story in days to come, but for the time being we have to substitute emotional response for context. “I saw a tall, lean, quiet, kid who wanted to get better as a football player and was doing all the right things to make it happen,” the Cincinnati Enquirer’s John Erardi writes. “A kid.”
Longtime Bengals beat writer Chick Ludwig writes at Cincinnati.com that he’s having a hard time maintaining journalistic detachment this morning. “I’ve never come across an athlete as talented or as troubled as Chris Henry,” Ludwig writes.
Garey will have more on this topic tomorrow.
* * *
Only the most ardent and blinkered of college-football loyalists are under the illusion that their coaches of choice are particularly admirable people. There are exceptions to the general rule, of course, but for the most part football coaches — leaders of men and master strategists though they might be — are as flawed as any/everyone else. While it’s not necessarily surprising to hear about college-football coaches being brutish or churlish, the scandal currently surrounding University of South Florida coach Jim Leavitt stands out. That’s partially because of the allegations against Leavitt — that he throttled and twice struck in the face a sophomore walk-on named Joel Miller at halftime of a Nov. 21 game — but more notably for the way the story has changed shape in recent days.
Former Tampa Tribune reporter Brett McMurphy based the FanHouse story that broke the whole thing on quotes from five eyewitnesses as well as Miller’s father and Miller’s high-school coach. The story raised some eyebrows because of Leavitt’s alleged bad behavior and what McMurphy described as the coach’s subsequent attempt to snuff the story out.
- Getty Images
- Jim Leavitt
The confusing part came later, as Miller and his father — who, remember, was a quoted source in the original story — disavowed the whole thing. (Leavitt has always denied any wrongdoing.) On Wednesday, McMurphy reported that Miller’s brother was not entirely willing to toe the family’s new line on the incident, and stuck to a version of the incident in which Leavitt was decidedly the villain.
So, what actually happened? We may never know, in large part since Miller’s football life depends on him continuing to stick to his latest story. In the Tampa Tribune, Martin Fennelly hopes that the truth in this strange tale will out. “There needs to be a real investigation here,” Fennelly writes. “There are coaches, bigger names, longer legends, who have been fired for doing what Leavitt is accused of doing. … It’s hard to imagine something more serious than a coach bullying his players. It’s hard to imagine why any university would want such a coach, or why any parent would send their son to such a university.”
Elsewhere in the Tribune, Joe Henderson decries South Florida’s stonewalling on the story. “The longer everyone waits for a resolution, the more likely that positions will be hardened,”Henderson writes. “The damage to the football program and university, while already substantial, will get worse. Then when USF finally does have something to say, you wonder if anyone will be listening anymore.”
In the St. Petersburg Times, Gary Shelton argues that only a thorough inquiry into the charges can repair the damage to Leavitt’s reputation. “At this point, only a vigorous, determined investigation will convince everyone that Leavitt’s side of the story is the truth,” Shelton writes. “And at this point, only such a truth can clear Leavitt’s name.”
* * *
The Fix picks the NFL’s Thursday game, ahead of its Friday picks for the weekend:
It’s a nice debate to face: Should you turn your perfect regular season over to the scout-teamers and headset-wearers while resting the stars for the postseason, or gun for the win? The New Orleans Saints could be mired in their own Cajun-inflected version of this debate if they keep winning and clinch home-field advantage in the playoffs over the Minnesota Vikings. In Indy, the debate has arrived early, because the rest of the AFC didn’t put up much of a fight for the No. 1 seed.
Indianapolis (-3) at Jacksonville: Indianapolis hasn’t lost yet this season, as you might’ve heard. But Jacksonville might be the more admirable team in this game. The Jaguars’ roster is loaded with rookies, their home stadium is regularly half-empty and their fate seemingly was sealed before the season’s first coin flip. But the Jags have worked their way into the playoff picture by beating teams worse than them while losing to more talented teams with such predictability that it’s hard not to admire the extent to which they have fulfilled — if never really surpassed — their potential. The bad news for Jacksonville is that the Colts are also playing up to their potential, and are by far the better club — and one seemingly inclined to follow the pundits’ decree and play their stars down the stretch, record be damned. The good news? The Jags are officially this year’s NFL working-class heroes. That counts for something, right?
Pick: David: Indianapolis, Garey: Indianapolis, Al Toonie: Jacksonville
* * *
That the NFL has a head-injury problem is news only to those who went out of their way not to know it over the last decade or so. But while the NFL has acknowledged and addressed that problem recently — breaking from a years-long “more research needed” slow-walk that was impressive even by congressional standards — the National Hockey League has generally ducked its own concussion issue. In the San Francisco Chronicle, Ray Ratto suggests that the NHL address its serious and seriously under-addressed brain-trauma problem as soon as possible.
“People are in just that sort of mood on skull shots — even football fans, who grew up worshiping them as the highest form of entertainment, are getting the message,” Ratto writes. “The NHL needs not to get the message, it needs to give it, and it needs to give it with a knee right to the nethers, so that no owner, general manager, coach, player or fan can mistake it for anything other than what it should be.”
* * *
So much sports journalism is about reaction and overreaction: trashing players, calling for the heads of coaches or GMs, over and over and over. While that stuff can be entertaining sometimes, none of us would be following sports — or reading the Fix, most likely — if the bigger narratives of sports didn’t matter to us at least a little bit.
While ESPN’s 24-hour news cycle does much to keep the more unsatisfying elements of the sports discourse front and center with its ginned-up debates and facile controversies, it’s worth taking a moment to credit ESPN.com’s E-Ticket, a unique Web feature that allows ESPN’s stable of writers to stretch out and write long features on stories that don’t fit within the instantaneousness that defines ESPN. Wright Thompson’s fascinating story on Jimmy Robinson, a boxer who fought Muhammad Ali before facing some much scarier demons later in life, is a fine example of just how good E-Ticket can be. It’s a great, sobering read.
source :
http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2009/12/17/cincinnati-shocked-by-chris-henrys-death/
- Reuters
- Chris Henry, seen during a playoff game against Pittsburgh in this 2006 file photo.
- Getty Images
- Jim Leavitt
NEW : Redskins shakeup: Bruce Allen is GM, Cerrato quits
Look at the latest news :
ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Redskins overhauled their front office Thursday morning, hiring Bruce Allen as general manager after the resignation of Vinny Cerrato.
Allen becomes the first person hired by owner Dan Snyder to hold the general manager title, a notable milestone after a decade of various front office arrangements that usually centered around Snyder and his good friend Cerrato.
But changes were needed for a team that is 4-9 this season, and Cerrato has been widely criticized for his roster decisions since getting the title of executive vice president of football operations two years ago.
Snyder is also expected to be hiring a new coach in a few weeks, and Allen could be the bridge to that change as well.
The son of legendary Redskins coach George Allen, Bruce Allen was the general manager for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for five seasons. He and Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden were fired in January, and the pair could renew their association if current coach Jim Zorn is fired as the end of the season.
For players, the news was just the first of many anticipated changes.
"That's a start — that's a change right there," cornerback Carlos Rogers said. "There's going to be change in personnel. There's going to be change all over. It'll probably be more changes coaching-wise, so I guess that's the first change right now. You never know what Mr. Snyder got up his sleeve. Personally, I'm worrying about me, and that's all I can worry about."
Tampa Bay won two division championships under Allen. He previously worked for nine years in the Oakland Raiders' front office.
"Bruce Allen is the personification of an NFL winner," Snyder said in a statement released by the team. "Our fans know his heritage; we know his abilities. He is the right person to lead our club."
The Redskins said Allen would begin work immediately.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity with one of the world's most successful sports franchises," Allen said. "I love everything about this assignment; I know what it means to be dedicated to the Redskins. I can't wait to get to work."
Cerrato has been Snyder's right-hand for most of the last 10 years, but even their tight friendship couldn't overcome the team's recent struggles.
"We agreed that the franchise needs someone different in this position," Cerrato said in a separate statement released by the team. "I'm thankful to Dan Snyder and other members of his ownership team for the opportunities I've been given over the years. Of course, I am disappointed with this year's results, but I strongly believe that with outstanding draft picks and encouraging performance by our younger players, we have laid a strong foundation for the franchise."
Cerrato added that he has "had the pleasure of working with some great coaches such as Joe Gibbs, Greg Blache and Sherman Lewis" — notably leaving out Zorn.
Cerrato has been a favorite punching bag for fans in recent years, receiving criticism often in tandem with Snyder. One fan infamously used a pair of signs to refer to the pair as "Dumb" and "Dumber" at a game this season.
Cerrato was one of the first major hires after Snyder bought the Redskins in 1999. He was fired in 2001 by coach Marty Schottenheimer after Schottenheimer was given control of football operations. A year later, Snyder fired Schottenheimer and rehired Cerrato.
Although Cerrato's title changed over the years, he remained a significant front office voice in player decisions. The results have been far from encouraging: The Redskins have won only one playoff game since 2000.
Cerrato's power within the organization increased after coach Joe Gibbs' resignation two years ago, and there have been plenty of hits and misses among his player choices.
This year, Cerrato gave Zorn an offensive line without a single reserve who played in the NFL last year — even though two starters were coming off significant injuries. Both of those starters soon were out for the season, and the resulting scramble for a starting five hampered the development of the offense.
"He is my friend, and he has always been there for me and the Redskins," Snyder said. "He's the consummate optimist and has always made decisions based on what would be the best for the team."
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