"We Are Family And They Are The In-Laws"

For our last day of site visits we went to Allbritton Communications Company and visited with representatives from “TBD” and “Politico.” “TBD,” which stands for to be determined, is a combination of a website and two television stations (WJLA and ABC 7). They are trying to make “TBD” the central hub of all local news by aggregating from dozens of community news sites, newspapers, and blogs. They are focusing on the information that is relevant to the consumer. Both the website and the television stations go hand in hand with one another because they have the ability to do things instantaneously, unlike television and print reporters.

“Politico” is more of a distinct operation than “TBD” and the television operations. “TBD” and “Politico” only share the text staff. However, there is sometimes an overlap. For example, there is a Glenn Beck rally this weekend at the Washington Mall. “Politico” will cover the politics part of the rally, whereas “TBD” will cover the local issues such as traffic concerns and where you should eat. “TBD” also utilizes social media by asking their twitter followers to send pictures and updates of what is going on. I found this to be interesting. There seems to be a common theme among the majority of companies that we have gone to visit. Those with a social media plan have developed a relationship with there audience and ask frequently for their help. They get a lot of information from people on twitter and blogs.

One of the representatives that we spoke with from “TBD” explained to us that the social media tools are most effective when you know the people that you are following or that are following you. He said it helps to have a relationship with them.

Jim VandeHei, one of the founders of “Politico,” then joined us. One of the most fascinating things that he shared with us was the simplicity of the business model he used when developing “Politico.” Moving from the “Washington Post,” Jim and John Harris decided to take the best reporters in politics and pay them substantially more than they were making—essentially compiling a dream team of political reporters. “Politico” has a niche audience and is extremely focused on one area, but this simple model has proven to be rather effective.

Due to the fact that it has been so effective, “The National Journal” is now trying to become “Politico’s” competition by using the same model. That is why “Politico” has to keep reinventing itself and constantly be one step ahead of everyone else. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the most important and influential people wake up in the morning and read Politico.

I wish we could have talked to Jim for hours, but sadly we had to be on our way. Like always I had hundreds of questions still spinning around in my head. I wanted to ask how they created the logo for TBD. I also wanted to ask questions about how “Politico” will continue to reinvent itself and where it will go in the future. 

The Essential Global News Network

Associated Press is the leading wire service primarily because it has been in use before the Civil War and it has positioned itself as a wholesaler, not a retailer (although we would find out that they are moving away from such positioning). They use real-time reporting and the latest technology to keep in the forefront of people’s minds. They are used in hundreds of newspapers, news programs, and magazines. AP also remains as a leading wire service because they have more than 1,000 reporters all over the world.

When we arrived at the Washington Bureau of the Associated Press we sat in a boardroom and were shown a video about AP that had been prepared for the White House at the start of the Obama Administration. AP reporters write stories that cover the government, governmental policies and how they impact the world.

The AP representatives focused on something that I found to be interesting. They discussed how the news delivery system was changing rapidly and how the news will not be of any use unless it is presented in a way that people want to receive it. They have trained 110 text reporters and still photographers to shoot video over the past two years. There is a convergence of format. They are trying to train all of the print reporters to do radio and be on camera. They want to be able to cover news in all formats because people want to be able to see raw video footage on the Internet. It does not make sense to interview the same person at separate times when one person could be trained to do all different formats. It allows people to operate more efficiently.

One thing I particularly enjoy is First Amendment rights and intellectual property rights. While the Internet allows information to be shared easily, it also makes it easy to steal. AP has long standing relationships with many news organizations, but its membership is also the largest cost to them (other than salaries). Therefore, in some cases reporters and news organizations stop paying for the use of the material that AP produces and illegally uses it instead. 

This brought about several questions that I did not get a chance to ask. I wanted to know more about how they handle situations when someone uses their material without paying for it. Also, I wanted to know how frequently they found other news organizations using their information as their own. 

Hello To My New Internship

According to dictionary.com a think tank is a research institute or organization employed to solve complex problems or predict or plan future developments, as in military, political, or social areas. Some think tanks such as The Heritage Foundation have an extremely partisan viewpoint, however The Center For Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan think tank that specializes in foreign policy. Due to the fact that CSIS is a bipartisan think tank, third parties do not have a say in what their scholars do.

Government has become increasingly complex and there is a void in policy work. The people who would be best at creating policy are too busy to go in depth and study policy. So think tanks like CSIS are used as a resource to do research and formulate policy. As a result of third parties developing research and policy, the government and specific industries have formed a close bond and influence each other. For example, President Barack Obama used 28 out of 33 recommendations that were put forth by CSIS for the federal government’s cybersecurity policy.

One particular program that stood out to me was Smart Global Health. CSIS’s Global Health Policy Center established the Commission on Smart Global Health Policy. This Commission, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, brings together leaders from both the public and private sector and helps to bridge the gap that exists between them.

The Commission helps to put global health concerns like AIDS and malaria into the forefront. There is a strong emphasis on the prevention of these diseases as well as a focus on women and children’s health worldwide. This group of leaders helps to provide a set of recommendations that can be used in solving some of the global health problems.

Overall, I learned a tremendous amount of information about think tanks and how policy decisions are made. While we touched on the direct relationship that CSIS has with policy makers, I would have liked to ask some more questions. However, I will have plenty of time to learn about it in a couple weeks when I start my internship. 

Three Cups of Tea

I woke up this morning excited to go to The CBS Washington Bureau to watch the taping of “Face the Nation” and meet Greg Mortenson, the author of Three Cups of Tea. Also scheduled to be on the program was General Odierno and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

We had a rough start before arriving at the Bureau due to a Metro delay, but a taxi was there to save the day. We were greeted at the door and escorted to the control room, where we had previously watched the filming of “Washington Unplugged.” Bob and Greg meet us there shortly after and we all go into the green room to discuss the show. Greg seemed nervous and shy, which was disappointing because we all had so many questions to ask him.

The day moved by quickly. It seemed like only 30 seconds went by before we had to be taken back into the control room so Bob and Greg could go onto the set. As we all sat in the control room, the director and producer of “Face the Nation” spoke with us briefly about what they did and how it all worked together to complete the show.

As the show began, the director and producer were screaming and yelling. For the entire duration of the show, the control room was incredibly stressful. However, after the show had finished things calmed down and we got to visit the set and talk to Bob and Greg. Greg’s book is about how he ended up finding his meaning in life after almost dying while trying to climb K2. Some villagers in Pakistan saved his life and nursed him back to health. Greg was so grateful to these people that he decided to help build a school.

Since then he has built more than 150 schools. The majority of the children that attend these schools are girls, which is extremely interesting considering how different the culture is. When we had a chance to speak with Greg he told us that many people he has come into contact with have actually become more accepting of girls going to school and that he even hears success stories. For example, one young girl graduated high school and for $800 received pre-natal and post-natal training. After she returned to the village where she grew up, she used her training to help completely eliminate the number of deaths related to childbirth.

Greg left shortly after finishing the story and before we had a chance to ask him questions. I wanted to ask him more about how he got the people residing in the village to become accepting of sending their girls to school. I also wanted to ask him more about the feedback that he gets from the children that have graduated.

Bob then talked with us briefly about the episode and how The White House had called earlier and asked him not to show an interview that he had previously recorded. This clearly showed what powerful parties come into battle when public image is concerned. 

Most Interesting Man Alive

Today made up for any disappointment that we had yesterday. We went to Pew Research Center and had a wonderfully engaging conversation for about two hours. We spoke with Tom Rosenstiel, the Director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, and as Courtney mentioned, walked away feeling as though our IQ went up ten points.

Tom spoke with us about the changes in the media landscape. During this discussion he mentioned that in the 90s people and the press were concerned with infotainment, at the turn of 2000 there was a big media consolidation, and now the Internet has radically changed the news system. At the turn of 2000 people were worried that three or four corporations would control everything. Now, most of the corporations that had merged together are splitting apart and budgets are being cut. For example, Time Warner and AOL split and ABC has reduced its news budget by 25 percent.

We then shifted topics when Tom introduced a quote: “the old media doesn’t have an audience problem, it has a revenue problem.”  The newspapers today have bigger audiences than they have ever had before, but the problem is advertisers no longer want to buy space in the newspapers because it is such a poor delivery system. They have found ways to narrow down their target demographic and directly deliver to them. Additionally, as more news is being consumed online, people view advertisements as a nuisance. Advertising is no longer as complimentary to the news content because people go online to look for a specific piece of information. Advertisers have refined their demographics and people no longer need to wait for the newspaper to read the classifieds. Technology has made the press almost unnecessary to transfer ads because people can do it themselves. They can go online and look up a product or service that they want or go to the store.

As a result of losing money, these news organizations are using the apps for the iPhone and the iPad as a second chance to help raise their revenue. They are making people pay for the convenience of having it directly on their phone and the efficiency of it. Tom also mentioned that people’s values have not changed and what they want in their news has not changed; it is just that the mediums in which people get their news has evolved.

What was perhaps the most interesting part of our discussion was toward the end. Tom began to talk about what he believes will happen to newspapers and what will happen in regard to television and technology. He believes that we will just have a Sunday newspaper or possibly a newspaper that runs on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday because those are the days that the news corporations make most of their money. He also believes that there will be a marriage between television and technology as people are watching a majority of the television on their computers. He said that there would be the iPhone, the iPad, and a large iPad that will be a wireless television with Internet capabilities. 

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. I was left with more questions I wanted answered. For example, when Tom mentioned the fact that people are consuming news 24 hours a day, I wanted to ask him how that is shifting and segmenting society. Also I wanted to ask him how he feels that has changed people on a more personal and psychological level. Just being in D.C. for five days it already feels as though there is not a normal seven-day week, but an eight-day week.

Tom was one of the most interesting people that I’ve gotten the pleasure of listening to and it was fascinating to learn that the companies who are interested in the Pew data do not do any of their own market research. Furthermore, the research conducted helps these companies shape their long-term plans. 

Rain Rain Go Away

After the wonderful day that we had yesterday I had high expectations for today. I was sadly mistaken. I woke up this morning to gray skies, pouring rain, and possible flooding. Walking to The Washington Center I almost fell several times and there was not a Starbucks in sight, which is strange because it seems that when I am not looking for one, they are on every single block. 

Our first stop was to TechAmerica, which is a trade association that represents the IT industry. Jason Langsner, Vice President of Marketing, and Charlie Greenwald, Vice President of Communication greeted several of us, while we waited for the others to arrive. I’ve noticed a common theme among many of the people we have talked with over the last several days—they are young, savvy, and incredibly knowledgeable. At TechAmerica I learned and began to understand what exactly a trade association does, however it was hard to comprehend everything that Jason was saying because he was talking a million miles an hour.

It was interesting to learn that there are so few people actually representing such a large industry. At TechAmerica they have a budget around $30 million a year and a small number of employees. This forces each employee to have a greater number of roles and to be able to perform a variety of tasks. While it should not have been surprising that Jason agreed that all press is good press because TechAmerica is such a small company, I was still a little taken back by his statement.

I was interested by Jason’s comments about how they try not to demonize technology. He gave the examples of how there was controversy regarding the implanting of chips in people and how they lobbied for it because laws were already in place preventing that from happening. Furthermore, he gave the example of how they lobbied against placing warning labels on the packaging of cell phones that indicated that the cell phone would cause cancer. When Jason gave this example I wanted to ask him more questions about why he did this when there has been new research that has recently been conducted that shows that radiation emitted from cell phones has been linked to brain cancer. As we finished our discussion I was impressed by how much influence TechAmerica has on IT legislation. 

After lunch at The National Press Club we went to mCapitol Management, a private lobbying firm. Overall, we got great advice about our future, but we were not given much information about their firm or what they did. We did not need to ask questions because they were apprehensive about talking about their clients, most likely this was due to the fact that they are a private firm.

The best part of the day was Smith and Wollensky for dinner and taking home our delicious leftovers. 

CBS News

Today began much better than yesterday. We did not get lost for hours and our shirts were not drenched with sweat, which helped make our adventure to CBS News rather successful. I got an extra cup of coffee before heading into the bureau, which allowed me to sit for more than five seconds without yawning.

Immediately the nicest security women, who kept calling us “baby,” welcomed us into the building. We were escorted up to Bob Schieffer’s office, which was elegantly cluttered with pictures and memorabilia from his life. Once we all sat down we were greeted by several CBS employees, which included the impressive Bob Schieffer, Bob Orr, Justice and Homeland Security Correspondent, and Jan Crawford, Chief Legal Correspondent.

We had an incredibly insightful conversation, which at times was overwhelming. I was trying to absorb so much information that it could not all possibly fit into my head. I enjoyed hearing about each of their individual stories, how people look to them for the day’s top stories, and how information will not be released until it has been confirmed. For example, how 9/11 was the longest the news has ever been continually run and how one of the reporters abandoned his car to run to the Pentagon to investigate what was going on. I found it interesting that he immediately started to count all the dead bodies when he discovered them. Perhaps it is because I am not on the journalistic side of things, but this was something I could not relate to. I just could not understand how someone could leave all of the emotions behind during such a horrific event. I had the same reaction when Mr. Schieffer added to the story by saying it was just “journalistic instincts” and how he realized that he became void of all emotion.

As each person told their story, I was disappointed that Mr. Orr did not get to share as much as the others. However, Ms. Crawford was fascinating to listen to, probably because I want to follow a similar path. I wanted to ask her about why she went back into journalism after law school and what course she took. Also, I wanted to ask why most of the people we spoke with left and went to ABC and then came back to CBS. Everyone we talked to was warm and open with us. They all wanted to share their life experiences and encourage us to be the best. However, this was not without warning.

During lunch, Mr. Schieffer was exceptionally candid about his relationship with his children and how he was not the best father and how it was one of his biggest regrets. Both him and Ms. Crawford told us of the sacrifices we will have to make in order to reach our goals. While it is a harsh reality, I guess each of us is going to have to decide what is most important—having amazing careers or having a balance between our personal and professional lives. 

First Day Festivities

I did not know what to expect on today’s excursions to the headquarters of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). I originally thought that both committees would be similar, but right away from looking at their websites last night I knew that it was not the case.

When arriving to the RNC Headquarters, the bright red posters in every single window that read, “Need a Job? Fire Pelosi,” took me by surprise. As I walked in the dark wood paneling and memorabilia of past Republican presidents created a stiff environment.  The two representatives that spoke to us were dressed formally and were rigid in their mannerisms. They avoided most of the tough questions and focused on the idea that any press is good press and that they support any and all of the policy that comes from the Capitol. They also concentrated on how they support any candidate who wins a post-primary election. As we wrapped up our discussion I wished I asked questions about their website, such as why they did not have a mission statement or any goals of the organization. Furthermore, as I walked away I was still unclear on what exactly the RNC did.

After a relaxing lunch at the Newseum we wandered over to the DNC Headquarters. Immediately, the building fostered a more welcoming and open environment. The atmosphere was much more casual--people were walking around in jeans and t-shirts. We had a discussion with two representatives that work mostly with traditional and emerging new media. These representatives were open and honest with us. They answered our questions directly and when they didn’t know the answer to a question, they said that they didn’t know. They told us about how they handled bad press and how they tried to push certain stories. For example, how they took one unfavorable paragraph from an article about the Republican Party and sent it to newspapers creating a sensation in the media. They spoke about the Accountability Project, which is a grassroots volunteer project in which people can upload videos and recordings of Republican candidates to show them in an unfavorable light. Overall, I was pleased with the visit and the information I learned. I felt more comfortable asking questions because of the lax environment and therefore did not have any additional questions.

Both organizations try and push for a unified message and unified party beliefs. They also push for stories that represent their party positively. I noticed that the representatives from the RNC talked mostly about print media, whereas the representatives from the DNC were more progressive as far as media outlets. The DNC focus is mostly on the President whereas the RNC focuses on other Republican candidates who are in the State level. Both organizations have a tremendous impact on what stories the media will address and consequently what people will read and hear about. They also can make a candidate successful by giving them their full support.