Media Bullseye

Tomorrow's presidents and congressional leaders are today's governors and state legislators. What is going on at the state level towards embracing new media venues, increasing governmental transparency and encouraging constituent advocacy?

MySpace has launched a new political news portal, dubbed Decision '08, which features content from NBC and MSNBC. The site includes regularly updated video and news feeds and will showcase the television networks' biggest stars.

I have been delighted to see so many female-centric social media projects launching this year, from Yahoo's Shine to Women on the Web. Toby Bloomberg highlights some of the best of these. Also: the Wall Street Journal is now available in print form in the United Kingdom, is this a sign print is still alive and kicking? And a journo ends up at a supporter-only Obama event; was his campaign truly surprised at the result?

This week we were delighted to welcome PR pro and SNCR fellow David Parmet to the Media Bullseye Weekly Radio roundtable. We had a host of interesting topics to cover this week, and it was terrific to have someone with David's experience throw in his two-cents. Listen in on our thoughts on the China Olympics and PR, a "virtual book tour," and April Fools Day on the Internet.

If you think the media is slow to understand the dramatic changes taking place in their own industry, you may not be surprised to know that Congress is even more in the dark. Recent reports suggest that some politicians would seek to handcuff the American media at a crucial juncture in the industry's history.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been under fire lately in the French press for, of all things, hiring an advisor to monitor the blogosphere. Mark Story wonders what the French are up in arms about, wouldn't you want to know the president was paying attention?

When you sign on to the latest and greatest 2.0 tool, are you just riding the bandwagon craze? Chris Lynn reminds us that PR ought to be first about building relationships, and less about jumping on the latest bandwagon. Also: Steve Rubel predicts a decline in 2.0 jobs. Will flacks vs media ramp up? And Chinese spin control pre-Olympics 2008.

Trust communities have evolved into consumer-generated media, which is now what many believe to be the backbone of the Internet. You Tube, Facebook, MySpace and 130 million blogs have demonstrated that as communicators, aren't really in charge any more. And yet, governments are still attempting to control the message.

It's a girls-only week on the Radio Roundtable this week, and luckily we were able to convince two of the Web's smartest ladies, Laura Fitton and Anna Farmery, to join me on the show to discuss SXSW, Spitzer and Bebo. Listen here!

Some great reports from SXSW panels in today's jots, as Kami Huyse discusses the future of the corporate blog and Rohit Bhargava susses out the ten things that drive bloggers the most crazy. Also, a review of Barack Obama's poorly named social network.