Why did ABC Hire Amanda?

Have you seen Amanda Congdon's new show on ABC? Not much different than what she did with Rocketboom, eh? Now I remember what irritated me about the show: the faux perkiness, bad jokes and insincere mugging for the camera. But at least ABC knows what sells. Check out that screen capture that ABC is using to promote the show. Why do you think they chose that particular shot? A few months ago Jason Calacanis said that Ms. Congdon was at the "top of the talent pool on the Web." Take some time to watch her newest efforts and decide for yourself where here best assets lie.

Liberal Opinion Can Be Bought

Over at the Huffington Post we find a section in which Ariana and a handful of the site's celebrity bloggers endorse the Toyota's Prius, a hybrid vehicle. The section is sponsored by Toyota.

In the advertisement, Bill Mahr says that driving a hybrid is about "terrorism and the environment." Ariana says that driving the Japanese-made vehicle is "patriotic." Both of these ideas are reprehensible tactics intended to motivate the purchase of a consumer product.

It's pretty clear that these manipulative opinions have been purchased by Toyota's ad dollars, yet they are being presented as unvarnished opinion. After all there are other hybrids out there, so why endorse just one corporation's offering?

Unbiased liberal opinion, my ass. By doing this the HuffPo just looks like a shill for any company with deep pockets. Keep your eyes open.

CNN Watch: Two Races in the US

This CNN article which serves to fluff up Paula Zahn's 'Racism in America' program reveals something slightly insidious about the cable news giant. It seems to assert that the US is composed of only two races, a somewhat simpleminded and racist idea in itself.

What's more, the article goes on to say that survey sample was composed of 1,207 Americans "including 328 blacks and 703 non-Hispanic whites." From what races came the remaining 171 respondents?

I don't know if CNN realizes it or not, but this bifurcation is dangerous thinking, subtly turning racial perceptions into an us-and-them mentality when we should be looking at the racial composition of country in more holistic terms. It is deeply irresponsible for CNN to put ideas like this in front of the American public.