How is New Media impacting the 2008 presidential election? A forum hosted by the Huffington Post takes a close look. Moderated by Joe Scarborough the panel includes Arianna Huffington, Peggy Noonan, Frank Luntz, Tony Blankley and Representative John Shadegg. It also features lively exchanges with surprise audience members Tucker Carlson and Joe Klein.
Bio
Tony Blankley
For seven years, Tony Blankley served as press secretary to then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich. In that role, he not only helped create messages which shook the country, he also helped create policy. Blankley’s knack for appetizing soundbites (which he calls his "poor-man’s poetry") and sound political strategy made him one of Washington’s premiere sources of ideas and insights.
Working for the most renowned Speaker in decades, Blankley became one of the leading spokesmen for the Contract with America. Prior to his career on Capitol Hill, Blankley served President Reagan as a speechwriter and senior policy analyst.
After leaving Gingrich’s office in February 1997, Blankley joined the staff of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s George magazine. As a contributing editor, Blankley’s monthly column "Between the Lines" featured his inside-the-beltway insights. Blankley also appears regularly on CNN’s Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, as well as CNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, Rivera Live, The News with Brian Williams and MSNBC. In June 1999, Blankley joined The Washington Times as a weekly political columnist. In June 2002, he was named editorial page editor.
The same depth of knowledge and sharp wit that kept reporters turning to him during his time on Capitol Hill have made Blankley one of today’s leading media commentators. His opinions and analysis of political events have been featured on the front pages of The New York Times, USA Today, and other major publications, and he was a syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
Blankley has quickly become a favorite speaker of corporate and association audiences around the country. He uses his background in both the executive and congressional branches to design speeches which provide insight into today’s headlines, and the issues that will fill tomorrow’s.
In addition to being a popular speaker, Blankley is an accomplished debater. Clients have paired him with the likes of Bill Press and Bob Beckel, among other noted Democratic pundits, to create a uniquely informative and provocative program. Whether delivering a keynote or debating, Blankley gives his audience more than just analysis. Focusing on the personalities and stories which make politics interesting, he helps audiences remember the information long after they leave the event.
Mika Brzezinski
Mika Brzezinski is a co-host of "Morning Joe" and an MSNBC anchor. Brzezinski also reports on "NBC Nightly News" and is an alternating news anchor for "Weekend Today."
Prior to joining MSNBC in January 2007, Brzezinski was an anchor of the "CBS Evening News Weekend Edition" and a CBS News correspondent who frequently contributed to "CBS Sunday Morning" and "60 Minutes." Brzezinski joined CBS News in 1997 as the anchor of "CBS News Up To The Minute," but took a short hiatus in 2000 to co-host MSNBC"s weekday afternoon program "Homepage." In September 2001, she returned to CBS to become their principal "Ground Zero" reporter for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Brzezinski began her journalism career in 1991 in Hartford, Connecticut, as a general assignment reporter at WTIC. A year later she joined WFSB, also in Hartford, and quickly became the weekday morning anchor.
Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson is a conservative political commentator currently best known for formally being co-host of Crossfire, CNN's once-popular and lively political debate program. Crossfire aired nightly before a live studio audience from George Washington University's Jack Morton Auditorium in Washington, D.C. In 2002, Crossfire celebrated its 20th anniversary. Carlson left Crossfire in January 6, 2005 and the show was canceled on June 3, 2005.
Carlson is also a political analyst for CNN, based in the network's Washington, D.C., bureau. Before The Situation, Unfiltered and Crossfire, Carlson was co-host of CNN's Spin Room.
Carlson currently hosts The Situation with Tucker Carlson, a light hearted news-themed show on MSNBC. On The Situation a stream of recent headlines are brought before Carlson and his two panelists, each of who reside on opposite ends of the political spectrum. This leads to fast paced, thought provoking discussions although far from comprehensive.
John Fund
John Fund is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal and writes the "On The Trail" column for the paper’s OpinionJournal.com.
He is also a contributor to the 24-hour cable new channels CNBC and MSNBC. He joined the Journal in 1984 as deputy editorial features editor. In 1986, he became an editorial page writer specializing in politics and government, and was a member of the editorial board from 1995 to 2001.
A former staffer for the California State Legislature, Fund is author of several books, including Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy and Cleaning House: America's Campaign for Term Limits.
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington is a nationally syndicated columnist, author of eleven books and co-founder and editor of the HuffingtonPost.com. She is also co-host of "Left, Right & Center," public radio's popular political roundtable program.
Her weekly commentary is syndicated in newspapers across the country by Tribune Media Services. Huffington's many books include On Becoming Fearless...in Love, Work, and Life, Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend, Picasso: Creator and Destroyer, Pigs at the Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption are Undermining America, and Fanatics and Fools: The Game Plan for Winning Back America.
Laura Ingraham
Laura Anne Ingraham is an American radio host, author, and conservative political commentator. Her nationally-syndicated talk show, The Laura Ingraham Show, airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network.
Joe Klein
Joe Klein is a columnist and senior writer at TIME. He joined the magazine in 2003 to write a regular column, In the Arena, on national and international affairs. He is the author of The Natural: Bill Clinton’s Misunderstood Presidency and several other nonfiction books. As “Anonymous,” Klein wrote the critically acclaimed novel Primary Colors, a best-seller inspired by the 1992 political race. Klein is an occasional contributor to The New Yorker, where he formerly served as Washington correspondent. He has written articles and book reviews for The New Republic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, LIFE, Rolling Stone, and other publications. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a former Guggenheim fellow.
Cyrus Krohn
Cyrus Krohn is the former publisher of Slate, an online political news magazine. Krohn now is in charge of the internet aspects in the eCampaign Department of the Republic National Committee
Frank Luntz
Frank Luntz has been called the "hottest pollster" in America by The Boston Globe, and was named one of four "top research minds" by Business Week.
He was the winner of the coveted Washington Post "Crystal Ball" award for being the most accurate pundit in 1992. Luntz has written, supervised, and conducted more than 1,500 surveys, focus groups, and dial sessions in more than two dozen countries and four continents over the past decade, and is the pioneer of the "instant response" focus-group technique. He consults Fortune 100 companies — from General Motors to Federal Express, Disney to American Express, AT&T to Pfizer, Kroger supermarkets to McDonald's and the entire soft-drink and motion-picture industries, as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Business Roundtable — on communication and language.
He also served as a consultant to the award-winning NBC hit show The West Wing. He is the author of Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear (Hyperion, 2008)
Peggy Noonan
Peggy Noonan is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal and the best selling author of seven books on American politics, history and culture. Her essays have appeared in Forbes, Time, Newsweek, the Washington Post, the New York Times and other publications. She is a frequent guest on political talk shows. She has also been nominated for Emmy Awards for the writing of a post-9/11 television special and for her work on the television drama The West Wing. Noonan is a member of the board of the Manhattan Institute.
Joe Scarborough
Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) serves as host of "Morning Joe," weekdays from 6-9 a.m. ET on MSNBC. "Morning Joe" features interviews with top newsmakers and politicians and in-depth analysis of the day's biggest stories.
Previously, Scarborough hosted "Scarborough Country," in primetime on MSNBC.
Prior to the launch of "Scarborough Country" in April 2003, Scarborough was the publisher and editor of the award-winning newspaper "The Florida Sun."
John Shadegg
John Barden Shadegg American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995, representing Arizona's 3rd congressional district. The district, numbered as the 4th District before the 2000 Census, includes much of northern Phoenix.
Tony Blankley, co-host of Left, Right and Center, and Peggy Noonan discuss old media's responsibility in moderating rumors and scandals that take hold in the new media, such as the rumors swirling around Sarah Palin in recent days.
Political commentator Laura Ingraham says, "the old media blew it", which made room for independent media such as the Drudge Report and The Huffington Post. Ingraham says the old landscape will never be the same , and a lot of people that should be out on their butts will be out on their butts, and the new gate keepers will appear.
John Fund of the Wall Street Journal says that while new media has mastered a twenty first century technology, old media still has something to teach the new media about investigative reporting.
Reporter from Time Magazine Joe Klein recalls when he was berated by left-wing bloggers when he was the first to report on progress in Al-Anbar province. Klein also comments on how he also reported on the unequivocal reconciliation between Shiites and Sunnis.
Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington discusses her economic model to fund more investigative reporting on the Huffington Post. Huffington also discusses mainstream media's tendency to feature a story and abandon it whcich she calls the "attention deficit disorder of the old media" which is compensated by the "obsessive compulsive disorder of new media."
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