- I mentioned that I was in Asia on this trip thinking about the economy, when I sat down for a round of interviews. Not one of them asked me about Asia. Not one of them asked me about the economy. I was asked several times about had I read Sarah Palin’s book. (Laughter.) True. But it’s an indication of how our political debate doesn’t match up with what we need to do and where we need to go. – Barack Obama
This cracks me up:
Columbia University announced Monday that POLITICO Executive Editor Jim VandeHei has been elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board.
VandeHei , who co-founded POLITICO in early 2007, becomes the first member of the Pulitzer Board from a primarily online news outlet. The print edition of POLITICO is distributed daily in Washington when Congress is in session.
“In many ways, the Pulitzer Board is on the same mission as POLITICO: to embrace new media while fighting to protect the highest standards for writing, reporting and accuracy. I am honored to be a part of this effort,” VandeHei said.
I guess Drudge and Big Hollywood’s Andrew Breitbart were just too busy.
geg6
And thus ends any credibility the Pulitzer ever had.
John PM
I guess we know whose “biography” is going to win the Pulitzer for “non-fiction” in 2010.
drunken hausfrau
wow… and so ends “journalism” ….
Jim
Jeebus H Warren Christmas.
This just defies snark. I guess Dickie Cohen will finally get that Pulitzer for Concern Trooling.
Short Bus Bully
This IS good news for John McCain…
Why oh why
“In many ways, the Pulitzer Board is on the same mission as POLITICO”
For the first time, POLITICO tells the truth! (see Maureen Dowd’s Prize for Clinton Penis commentary)
dmsilev
He added, “it really is a shame that we completely fail at that mission.”
-dms
4tehlulz
I’m sure the Washington Times and Drudge can look forward to their Pulitzers.
Legalize
And the final season of the Wire officially attains documentary-after-the-fact status.
The Republic of Stupidity
Good thing I didn’t have a mouth full of coffee when I read that, or I’d be cleaning off my keyboard right now…
And no doubt, Vandehei will be nominating Glenn Beck for a Pulitzer any day now…
Bill H
@The Republic of Stupidity:
Damn, I did have a mouthful of coffee.
Just Some Fuckhead
Josh Marshall’s invite must have gotten lost in the email.
Library Grape
and yet another stake is driven through the heart of the kind of journalism we used to have in this country. it’s like perez hilton sitting on a panel of folks giving out oscars.
sigh.
JenJen
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that quote from the President, and I’m not sure I’ve ever been more pissed off at the little Heathers that run our media discourse.
Kryptik
Just Some Fuckhead
Anyway, I blame all of you for this travesty. You’ve been linking to and discussing Politico since its inception as if they were something other than a cleaned up version of Newsmax.
DCPlod
I know this is Politico (aka Dick Cheney’s asslickers) but the brazeness of the wankery still astounds me.
Also, thanks very much Politico for single handedly ruining one of Roger Ebert’s greatest reviews.
I now hate Politico with the heat of a thousand fiery suns.
freelancer
@Legalize:
No shit. ‘Cause in the ending montage, didn’t they actually show Templeton and his POS editors accepting a Pulitzer?
We are all Snot-Boogie now.
The Grand Panjandrum
Since when did stenography count as new media?
cleek
@Just Some Fuckhead:
ding ding ding
still liberal
I see Obama using the Bush strategy in Afghanistan, turning over the financial crisis to those that created it, no clear plan for energy in the future, and economic and political power ever increasing in China and India. It would seem that the level of questions from pundits should not be something the President needs to dwell on.
The President ran one of the most compelling campaigns in memory, but is frighteningly clumsy in the office he sought so brilliantly. There is time to turn the first term around, but it looks increasingly clear that a new set of advisers and policy are in order.
Martin
So what will be the new category? Excellence in Starbursts? Excellence in Steganography? Excellence in Goin’ Rogue?
We need a contest.
Redshirt
Let’s just do away with this illusion of “journalism” and look at all this for what it is: Opinions. You’ve got opinions, I’ve got opinions, everyone’s got an opinion. And gosh darn it, your opinion is just as good as those elitists with the arugula, amirite?
Everyone gets a trophy, no one wins (except the league owners).
Shawn in ShowMe
Such monumental self-parody is yet another sign that the American empire is in decline. The future is up for grabs.
This is good news for Hari Seldon.
arguingwithsignposts
From the pulitzer site
What model would that be? Drudge-bait?
The Republic of Stupidity
@BillH:
Heh… learned my lesson the hard way… NO liquids near the keyboard…
JenJen
@Just Some Fuckhead: Makes me miss the Democratic Underground days when they would insist “Don’t link to a Drudge piece and he’ll go away!!”
I, for one, think the Juice is doing a service in pointing out a) that Politico exists and b) they are dipshits. But I’ll stop just (just) short of blaming Cole for the Pulitzer Prize Board’s idiocy.
Elizabelle
That is so damn sad. Politico is a travesty.
arguingwithsignposts
@JenJen:
Like the Pulitzer board, composed completely of old-media types, would ever read BJ.
geg6
@still liberal:
Shorter: Where’s my pony?
I honestly don’t know who you think you were voting for.
kommrade reproductive vigor
(That sound you hear is hundreds of unemployed reporters jacking a shell into the shotgun.)
Man that’s sad. Heh. Gotta go make our resident P.P. winner scream like a banshee…
valdivia
it’s over. close the shop. civilization cannot be saved anymore.
valdivia
@Legalize:
FTW!
arguingwithsignposts
As if on cue, a Politico reporter contacts the GOS.
freelancer
@geg6:
I’m still an O-bot, but still liberal has a point, at least about the financial advisors. I don’t want a pony that used to be on the board of Goldman Sacks.
Also, if I were gay, I’d be pissed. But I’m straight, and plagued with ennui, so it all works out.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@geg6:
Exactly. Holy shit. Jim Fucking Vandehei? One of the worst.
That’s it folks, the 4th estate is dead.
To quote C3PO: “We’re doomed.”
Danton
They could have picked Josh Marshall, if stuff like credibility and integrity and maybe good journalism were factors.
Midnight Marauder
@arguingwithsignposts:
I saw that. Definitely gave me a good laugh to start the day.
Politico Clown:
Kos:
I give the Pulitzers another 5-7 years of “relevancy” if they keep on going down this track.
Shawn in ShowMe
You can connect any major player in the economic world to Goldman Sachs in two hops. They’re like Kevin Bacon on steroids.
geg6
@Danton:
Obviously, they are not.
tamied
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage: Honest to god, the first thing I thought when I read this was we’re doomed. Things are not going to get better, they’re going to get worse and worse. We’re trapped in a vortex going down further into the abyss (slap!)- sorry, I’m a little bummed
PeakVT
Journamalism.
ETA: Ugh, beaten to the punch, twice.
DCPlod
To sum this sad state of affairs up, I give you Toby Ziegler:
His rant was directed at a Russian tabloid reporter, but boy does it apply to the American media today. This is when I really miss the West Wing.
JenJen
@PeakVT: Perfect illustration of the President’s comment, isn’t it? Jeebus, we’re so screwed.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@tamied:
Possibly but as Redshirt sez at #23, we should now stop looking at journalism as some neutral bystander reporting on all and holding the powerful accountable. That aspect of journalism in ‘Murkin history is really only a construct of the 40 or so years that preceeded this decade.
A look back before that and journalism was pretty much like Redshirt sez: I had my papers, you had your papers. We “reported” and slanted the news as we saw fit.
Funny how the modern Republican party (at least the corporate wing) wanted to take us back to the Gilded Age. We’re just about there when it comes to media.
DCPlod
This is to the Pulitzer Prize what Henry Kissinger was to the Nobel Peace Prize.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@DCPlod:
You sir, win the internetzes for today.
JK
This is the worst decision by the Pulitzer Prize Board since giving an award to that moron Maureen Dowd.
ricky
From his award winning Wiki bio (soon to be abbreviated on Twitter)
“He is married to Autumn Hanna VandeHei, a former staffer for House Republican Leader Tom DeLay of Texas.”
ET
Did the Pulitzers just jump the shark?
DCPlod
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage:
Fixed : )
Comrade Darkness
Hm, someone is trying to hasten the death of the news media with this move. Good riddance.
Warren Terra
They’re famous for infinitely shallow overhyped “stories” on the web, but the Politico makes most of their money from selling lobbyists ads in a little-known paper version given away on Capitol Hill.
Warren Terra
For the people citing Dowd’s Pulitzer, remember her Fresh Air interview: she bragged about being an awful, disinterested White House correspondent, promoted to columnist to stop her from “reporting”.
C Nelson Reilly
Roxanne Pulitzer winces in shame…
Ash
@Warren Terra: I was just in DC this weekend and saw a paper version being sold on the street. However, the cover story looked interesting and relevant and therefore I assumed that no way could the paper version be connected to the intertubes one.
Sadly, I was apparently wrong.
Edit: ZOMG this is the first time I’ve been able to edit anything in months, praise the Flying Spaghetti Monster!
Noonan
There are times when I miss journalism. Then I read something like this.
Notorious P.A.T.
This is one of those rare times when I’m at a loss for words.
Peter Principle
I was asked several times about had I read Sarah Palin’s book . . . it’s an indication of how our political debate doesn’t match up with what we need to do and where we need to go. – Barack Obama
I Wonder if he realizes that could end up being the epitaph for his presidency.
Rhoda
So cool. Josh Marshall and his Polk award winning online news site don’t rate; but Drudge trolling beltway bottom dwellers are always welcome.
dweb
For the last three years I have believed strongly that Josh Marshall should have gotten a Pulitzer for TPM’s work on the US Attorney’s story and that Digby and or Glenn Greenwald should have been recognized for the consistent quality of their commentary.
But it is plain to see that when it comes to membership in the treehouse, they’re not “real” journalists like the folks at Politico.
SFAW
Why stop there? He should nominate Beck for Nobel Peace Prize for Crazy.
Somewhere, Hunger Tallest Palin is crying.
catclub
“Roxanne Pulitzer winces in shame…”
Heck, Lilly Pulitzer the catalog merchant does as well.
Jamey
As a member of the Pulitzer family (who has nothing to do with the awards board), I apologize.
Sheesh.
Brian J
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Yeah, really. Hell, JMM’s toenail clippings might have made a more valuable contribution that this guy.
Brian J
@Warren Terra:
Huh? Is that really true? Why would she be promoted instead of fired if her reporting was so bad?
Brian J
@DCPlod:
This.
You know, I remember reading that Sorkin was talking to HBO about doing a show after his last NBC show failed. I also remember reading that he should have done a show about the news media instead of a late night comedy show, although I can’t remember whether that was his own suggestion or that of someone else. But I think he’d absolutely nail a show like that. I mean, Christ, the last year alone would give him enough material to last a few seasons.
geg6
@SFAW:
Ha! I was at another site commenting about this and said that Beck and Douthat will be the next Pulitzer winners and another commenter came and replied why was I comparing the awesome, brilliant Douthat to Beck. I just said that Chunky Reese Witherspoon pretty much says it all for me in regard to Douthat.
Anne Laurie
@Brian J:
Same reason Sarah Palin became a political “star” — dumb people would rather look at a passably attractive woman saying the stupid shite they want to believe. It used to be that wrinkly old guys like Cronkite were supposed to have the ‘gravitas’ that noozveeyouers craved, but that was when we were still pretending there was some kind of objective, neutral reality factor to our news. If we’re just reading/watching infotainment to bolster our preexisting prejudices, why not demand cuter journamalistes to perform the set pieces?
jl
So, the Pulitzer committee is too high and mighty to consider internet media for their prizes. But now they pick one of the most conventially minded reporters we have, who has often allows his personal political beliefs to interfere with his reporting, and whose current claim to fame is founding one of the most stale tired, conventionally minded, and trivial internet political sites of all, to be on their board.
Cool.
SFAW
Well, I’ll sacrifice myself by offering to “interview” and “screen test” the babes.
HRA
@Just Some Fuckhead:
“You’ve been linking to and discussing Politico since its inception as if they were something other than a cleaned up version of Newsmax.”
Win!
chrome agnomen
@Anne Laurie:
in some way you’d think it would be the opposite. through the wonders of the internet, people can access all the porn they care to, on whatever level. or, if they don’t wish to descend to that, merely gaze on endless images of attractive women in various poses. one might suppose that this would satisfy that side of their id, and permit the ‘wrinkly old guys’ to have the gravitas stage. alas, it seems that ‘teh hawt’ must be served 24/7 in all venues. there is a massive failure to disconnect objectification and objectivity.
just sayin’
SFAW
chrome –
That’s because in their world, i.e. the world of the morally upright, God-fearin’, gun-totin’, “real” Americans, it’s evilevilevil to look at naked wimmins, but getting a hard-on from watching the latest blonde weather girl, and thinkin’ about ravishin’ her, is about as red-blooded as a ‘Murican man can get.
There’s an old joke about a guy who goes to the shrink, the shrink shows him a series of ink blots, and the guy always sees some nekkid woman in a provocative pose, and boy, what he’s going to do to her! When the shrink comments that the guy seems fixated on sex, the guy points out that it’s the shrink showing him all the dirty pictures.
Also.
MrGronkle
Some of you are only now discovering that the Pulitizer is a worthless travesty? Spend a few minutes researching how Walter Duranty, writing for the NYTimes, covered up the Ukrainian famine engineered by Stalin and was dutifully awarded a Pultizer for his efforts. Since then a Pulitzer has been a mark of shame.
theod
The Pulitzer is an insider award that has lost its clout for the reading public for many reasons but mostly the sheer number awarded every year. It doesn’t seem exclusive, and it doesn’t make anybody buy more papers. An industry in serious, forced transition will make a lot of noise about it, however, because (a) it still can and (b) it seems like good news where so little exists. Don’t worry about it, as you can’t name last year’s Pulitzer winners anyway, unless you got one yourself. Worry more about the infantile media that Obama references above.
JayDee
Real journalism is approaching extinction in the US for the very same reason that many animal species become extinct.
Isolation and inbreeding exacerbates undesirable genetic traits which eventually destroy the population.
In the case of journalism, it’s “intellectual” isolation and inbreeding, but the result is the same.
William Kristol – Need I say more?
JayDee
Real journalism is approaching extinction in the US for the very same reason that many animal species become extinct.
Isolation and inbreeding exacerbates undesirable genetic traits which eventually destroy the population.
In the case of journalism, it’s “intellectual” isolation and inbreeding, but the result is the same.
William Kristol – Need I say more?
SFAW
That’s already too much.