Bypassing Journalism...

Yesterday morning I was listening to CNN with interest as it took a break from its continuing "Michael Jackson is still dead" coverage and reported that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was delivering a "major foreign policy speech" to the Council of Foreign Relations that afternoon.

My first instinct was to ask "What is she going to say?"

I don't remember hearing an answer to that question in the story. I did hear that President Obama has already given a bunch of major speeches on foreign policy and that this must mean that people in the White House are trying to marginalize Secretary Clinton's influence and don't you know they're rivals and don't really trust each other and gossip gossip gossip. Maybe they covered the guts of the speech later that day - I have no idea. I do know they reported on another video of Michael Jackson's hair on fire in 1984.

This is the kind of thing that drives me nuts. I'm sure that Obama v. Clinton story is catchy, but it's not news, at least to me. It's gossip - and frankly, it's not the least bit surprising that a new President would make major policy speeches when there's a change of direction in policy. It's pretty much what you do.

Thankfully, social media tools let you bypass this gossip and get to the actual source. I've heard a lot of talk lately about the death of the news "business model" and the frustration so many journalists have over "crazy bloggers" drawing attention away from their serious journalism.

When I watch CNN I want news. Often times CNN gives it to me. But if they're going to make the editorial decision that video of a dead pop star's hair catching fire 25 years ago deserves to be in "heavy rotation," I'm going to turn off CNN and get the news myself. Yes, CNN is covering real stories like the confirmation hearings for Judge Sotomayor, but shouldn't that be the top story?

Maybe as we focus on journalism's business model we should also focus on the product.

In case you're wondering, here's the speech Secretary Clinton gave. She's smart.

Great Idea, Madam Secretary

I like Secretary Clinton. I've always liked her. There, I said it.

But you have to admit, this is really cool. Have a great weekend.

Sustainable Communities

I'm back in the office and I had some ideas for posts that I haven't had a chance to get to but I did want to mention this.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is blogging about the new partnership between DoT and HUD on Sustainable Communities:

After housing costs, transportation takes the biggest bite out of the typical household budget. That's why a partnership between HUD and DOT can be so effective; we have the ability to ease the largest financial burden on many American families. We're talking about 60% of the average working American family's expenses. HUD Secretary Donovan and I can cut these costs by focusing our departments' efforts on creating affordable, sustainable communities.

It's great to see government working in a bipartisan way (LaHood is a Republican) to do something meaningful. This didn't get a ton of press - granted, there are some other newsworthy things going on - but if this is done right it's going to be a big deal.

Now I'm just wishing EPA was in on it. Make those communities sustainable from a financial AND environmental perspective.

More Wholesome Social Media Goodness from your Government-in-Waiting

ABC's Jake Tapper points out that Peter Orszag, the guy President-elect Obama is choosing to run the Office of Management and Budget has authored a blog since December 2007.

I do believe I mentioned his blog a while back.

Social Media: Government Bureaucrats Get It

Or at least Mark Story does.

Kudos to my old pal for being named Director of New Media for the Securities Exchange Commission. We don't work together anymore but I've enjoyed keeping up with him on Twitter and his blog. I don't typically say nice things about Republicans, but here goes:

Under Chairman Cox's leadership, Mark Story has helped usher in a new chapter of communication and accountability to a government agency that is widely perceived to be as "old school" as it gets. Mark is creative and dynamic and I think he's going to help companies make their financial information more clear and accessible.

There. I said it. And I meant it.

Mark also does a great job teaching Georgetown students about social media and has distinguished himself among his peers. I'm proud to call him a friend and I wish him every success in his new position.

He's also a fellow Red Sox fan. 'nuff ced.

I'm traveling for a while so you'll probably be looking at this virtual smooch for a few days. Enjoy.

SEC 2.0

Seems the Securities Exchange Commission (which I'm now following on Twitter) has some new ideas:

Washington, D.C., Aug. 19, 2008 — Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox today unveiled the successor to the agency’s 1980s-era EDGAR database, which will give investors far faster and easier access to key financial information about public companies and mutual funds.

The new system is called IDEA, short for Interactive Data Electronic Applications. Based on a completely new architecture being built from the ground up, it will at first supplement and then eventually replace the EDGAR system. The decision to replace EDGAR marks the SEC’s transition from collecting forms and documents to making the information itself freely available to investors to give them better and more up-to-date financial disclosure in a form they can readily use.

The Washington Post is on top of the story, and says the new system will change the way companies report their financials as well as the way journalists cover business news.

While advocates say the new system will eventually save companies money because of the speed and ease of preparing disclosures, some critics complain about the initial expenses of making the transition, a burden that is particularly unwelcome during an economic slowdown.

I'm certainly paying attention to how those regulated by the SEC are reacting, and I think it's fair to say that any such system will have growing pains. But this is certain: We're in a brave new world when it comes to financial communications. The SEC is absolutely correct to look at information technology tools to make sure investors have the clearest picture possible to make educated decisions. Chairman Cox is showing some leadership here, and his staff is thinking ahead.

We interrupt this presidential campaign...

First, many thanks to PunditMom and One Plus Two for naming my most recent rant about Facebook a "just post" for February. It's very rewarding when people from different walks of life can get together in some way and salute ideas.

Speaking of diversity and unity, It's no secret that the Democratic Party is having some serious difficulty speaking with one voice these days. So it's not surprising that this fissure has shown up in the blogs, and that online grassroots activists are having serious disagreements. I see Micah Sifry is on top of it. The online and offline discussions are integrating more each day, and that online discussions have a significant impact on mainstream debates. That's what that other blog examines, but it's an important point to make here as well.

Today, I'm much more interested in what the blogosphere has to say about Bear Stearns. I don't think I'd necessarily call this a "crisis," but it's sure sumthin', ain't it?

That blue line with the huge spike at the end of it represents online discussions about Bear Stearns. The green line is the talk about the Federal Reserve. The yellow/orange line you don't see is the talk about JP Morgan. It's very clear that the big story over the weekend and leading into this morning is the surprise negotiated sale of Bear Stearns to JP Morgan for less than ten percent of its listed price at the stock market's close on Friday - and the unprecedented action from the Federal Reserve to essentially guarantee the sale and to cut interest rates on a Sunday night.

Of course, the online discussion is mirroring the reporting in the mainstream and business trade media right now, and I think it's only going to pick up more.

I'd bet the blogosphere is pretty low on Bear Stearns' list of priorities right now. But if they ignore it they're ignoring a very important communications channel. Bear Stearns doesn't own its brand, its reputation, or its issues right now. That's not a slam on them - it's just their turn to be the focus of the news cycle. But if they're willing to look they'll find a wealth of opinion leaders and discussion drivers who are already talking about what's happening. If they had the foresight to build relationships with them earlier, they'd have a number of opportunities to get their messages quickly and efficiently into a place that we already know has some influence on the "big league" financial media.

I expect the market bloggers to do most of the writing today to talk about fallout, then the political bloggers will probably weigh in more - assigning blame, which is what they do best - and then the economists will try to explain to everyone what this all means. At each step in this story cycle, Bear Stearns and JP Morgan should be weighing in online. And frankly, so should the Federal Reserve's communications team.

And you thought MY blog was nerdy

The Director of the Congressional Budget Office enters the blogosphere.

Nothing fancy, just a straight-up wordpress template and a lot of large words. The economics bloggers are just giddy.

Seriously though, anything that can demystify the congressional budget process and make the economic information that Congress receives more accessible to the public is definitely a good thing. The uber-wonk in me would love to see the GAO start a blog.