PortsTube

I thought this was a really neat piece of local reporting on the use of technology in our home town, well deserving of a link and some props: Spotlight cover story: Portsmouth on YouTube; City and Seacoast presented to the world in variety of videos by Amanda Hamilton. It's a beginner's intro to YouTube, but it also highlights some interesting and unique uses for the site, from selling homes to keeping in touch with your family after a divorce. The article then links to 5 cool videos that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. Ironically, I first read the article in print, which made click-throughs a little difficult. But for you, since you're online already, here's the links!

Free Hugs in Portsmouth

Scuba Diving at the Isles of Shoals

2007 Portsmouth Fireworks

Water Slides at Water Country

(Shark) Fishing in Portsmouth

Dancin' in the Streets

And here's a bonus for you, my loyal readers... Our own YouTube video sensation: Herbert the Wonder Turtle! My girlfriend found this tiny newborn snapping turtle in a parking lot last year and we nursed him back to health and adopted him. This is his Internet video debut... Yet another use for this wonderful $1.65 billion technology!

Impeachment on the House Floor but not the Front Page

As a PR practitioner for nearly a decade, and as a voracious news hound my whole life (somewhere there's a picture of me reading the newspaper at age 7), I'm constantly fascinated by what makes the news and what doesn't. Today, I'm less fascinated and more saddened.

Last night, one congressman stood on the mostly-empty floor of the House of Representatives and read aloud 35 articles of impeachment of George W. Bush. He read for something on the order of 3 hours, pausing only to take an occasional sip of water as his words echoed and hung in the chamber. Taken in total, the articles are well-reasoned, detailed, annotated, and devastating.

And yet, the next morning, one must dig and dig hard to find any media coverage of the story online. The AP and Reuters broke the story as it happened, but then a funny thing happened, or didn't happen. The story failed to propagate.

These articles are a scathing indictment of a sitting president, highlighting the hubris and the incompetence that has pockmarked the past 7 years. From ignoring Richard Clarke's warnings of the impending 9/11 attacks, to grossly overstating Iraq's threat of WMDs, to awarding back-room billion-dollar no-bid contracts to Halliburton and Blackwater to operate above the law, to bungling the Hurricane Katrina response, to documented voter fraud and disenfranchisement, to firing US Attorneys for political reasons (and covering it up with "executive privilege"), to outing a covert CIA agent for political reasons (and covering it up with "executive privilege"), to the endorsement of torture and holding prisoners against the Geneva Convention and international law, to the systematic unconstitutional spying on Americans' phone calls and e-mails in ways that would make McCarthy blush, these articles of impeachment were ticked off eloquently and simply.

*Nota bene: None of the above is to say Mr. Bush is guilty of anything. He's innocent until proven guilty, of course. If guilty of any one of the 35 accusations, the president could be impeached. But to determine guilt, Congress must investigate, which is what the impeachment articles are asking to do. And to those who say Congress has "better things to do," I say what could be more important than maintaining the balance of powers our Founding Fathers held so dear and upholding the laws of the United States Constitution?

But regardless of the merits of the impeachment articles or of Mr. Bush's guilt or innocence, I am more concerned about the media's lack of response to them. If standing on the floor of Congress and calling for the removal of a sitting president doesn't rate as front page news -- and to most of the mainstream media outlets, it doesn't rate as any kind of news -- it makes one wonder. If they were baseless claims made in a reckless manner, would that constitute news? If they alleged sordid sexual dalliances of elected officials, would that constitute news? If they were delivered by someone taller or better looking, would that constitute news?

If the articles of impeachment were a vinyl LP record, the 35 tunes would read like the back of "Bush's Greatest Hits." Taken individually, each of these songs received tons of airplay. So why isn't the compilation album racing up the charts with a bullet? Because it's "old news?" Not with last week's Senate Intelligence Committee Report being issued, or with former White House Spokesperson Scott McClellan's book being released. In fact, at the same time the impeachment articles were presented, it was reported that McClellan will appear before the House Judiciary Committee to answer questions about the Valerie Plame case. So current, relevant news hooks certainly do exist.

Obviously, the media is betting on this being a "non-story," i.e., insofar as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says impeachment is "off the table," the proceedings won't proceed. But polls like this one show that the public is in favor of impeachment proceedings.

As I wrote this, a blog was just posted on USAToday that links to the PDF of the impeachment document, so now you can read it for yourself. But USAToday -- the newspaper and the "official" web site -- continues to offer no coverage of this historic event. Turn on the TV, and it's not even an item in the news crawler on CNN.

So what can we do about it?

1. Blog it. Buzz it up on Yahoo. Digg it. Share it on Facebook. Rate it up on YouTube. If the mainstream media won't report the news, then use our social media networks to spread the word.

2. Support independent and alternative media outlets by advertising and subscribing. Here in Portsmouth we've got the Wire and the grand-daddy of them all, the NH Gazette. (You know this will be front page news for their next issue!)

3. And while most of us don't feel comfortable calling our congresspersons, why not try your local paper. Ask them directly to cover the stories you feel are important.

Predictions

On the eve of the Iowa Caucus, KD Paine & Partners has released an update to their YouTube tracking data on the presidential hopefuls. Basically, this innovative Berlin, NH-based media measurement firm is tracking clicks on YouTube for insights into the minds of prospective voters. Katie gives a great overview on where the candidates rate on her blog. As you can see from the data, Barack Obama (pictured left, with my girlfriend Melanie) is surging. And now for my predictions:

Iowa tonight:

Republicans: Huckabee will beat Romney, with McCain a strong and surprising third.

Democrats: Obama and Edwards will finish a virtual tie, with Hillary trailing them. Biden might top the 2nd tier candidates.

New Hampshire next Tuesday:

Republicans: Again, I'm seeing a shift in support to McCain, who was left for dead in NH just a couple months ago. My sense is we New Hampshirites know Romney too well to fall for his act. Huckabee's contention that the earth is only 10,000 years old will not play here. Guiliani is simply not a Granite State kind of guy and he's seemed to mail it in here in acknowledgment of that. By process of elimination, we are left with McCain, who will win despite apparently aging 10 years in the past 4 and selling out his independent integrity by pandering shamelessly to the conservative base. Given the atrophy of support for the Republican Big 3, don't be surprised if Ron Paul taps the libertarian vein of the granite state and cracks 10%.

Democrats: Obama will win. Edwards and Hillary will be close behind 2nd and 3rd. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a solid 8-10% digit showing from a 2nd tier guy like a Richardson or a Kucinich (pictured at right, with yours truly), depending on whether the independent voters who register as Democrats for this go-'round go with pragmatic or progressive.

And yes, I do love living in New Hampshire. :-)

Now that we've got a date set for the New Hampshire Primary elections, the buzz around the Granite State is as much about politics as Christmas shopping lists. And with good reason. With the date set for January 8th--the earliest date ever--it's hot on the heals of the holiday season. Too close, some say. Retailers and candidates will be competing for media air time and shopper/voter mindshare over the coming weeks, at the risk of oversaturating a tight market for both dollars and votes.

Nevertheless, with the horse race in full stride, and the finish line now in sight, we New Hampshirites are engaging in one of our favorite sports: Handicapping. One way to handicap is by traditional polling--calling people up at dinner and asking them who they like. Hmmm... Not so good.

But KD Paine & Partners--a nationally renown media measurement firm based in Berlin, NH--is taking a more modern approach. They're tracking YouTube usage. Following the clicks as it were. Call it Polling 2.0 if you will. And they're getting some very interesting results. Let's just say Ron Paul's money bomb on Guy Fawkes Day wasn't all that surprising when you look at this data. Here's a link to the last batch of stats. The newest batch of stats, released today, has Ron Paul ahead by several lengths.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Katie Paine is available for comment. Please contact her directly for more info.

Further 2.o-ing politics, now tonight's GOP debate will be YouTubified, too, with candidates answering questions from YouTube videos like the Dems did a while back. Stay tuned.