The Arkansas Project

Fisher vs. Brummett: The Next Round

By David Kinkade - December 3, 2008 4:58 pm

John Brummett vs. Kristin Fisher: It's on.

As I noted in a post last night, KATV’s “Choose Your News” whiz kid Kristin Fisher and Arkansas News Bureau veteran John Brummett had agreed to a friendly debate on new media and its role in news-gathering and reporting. It’s to be hosted by the good folks at the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, who continue to be nice to me despite my complete lack of journalistic ability, professionalism and sociability.

Just got word of the official time and place for The Big Event: It’s Tuesday, December 9, at the Arkansas Press Association Building in Little Rock (411 S. Victory St).

I’ll note that Ted Dancin’ at the Fayetteville Flyer weighs in on the dispute today, worth reading in its entirety, but here’s a taste:

KATV’s ‘experiment’ isn’t all that innovative in terms of being the first up to bat, but it gets serious props from us here at the Flyer for at least doing something to try and engage its audience and bring some relevance back to local news. It might not be the perfect way to engage a community around a new business model but it certainly doesn’t deserve to be blasted.

And seriously, I now hope to give this issue a rest for a few days.

Stuff From Around Arkansas

By David Kinkade - December 3, 2008 12:57 pm

Hey look, it’s a bunch of random stuff:

Rowr

The Lil Spark Plug That Could: Gov. Mike Beebe will name Northwest Arkansas banker and man about town Dick Trammel as the next highway commissioner, the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas’ Doug Thompson reports. Noted: Thompson’s story has two separate people referring to Trammel as a “spark plug.” “Spark plug”? What the hell is that? Is it supposed to be a compliment? Beats me.

Camera Shy: Rep. Donna Hutchinson of Bella Vista will intro a bill to toughen penalties against video voyeurs who secretly tape or photograph people and post the images online, reports the AP’s Andrew Demillo. I suggest we call it “Tina Sherman’s Law.”

Victoria’s Secrecy: If you wanted to watch CBS’s annual Victoria’s Secret lingerie show, you’re out of luck in much of Arkansas, because KTHV won’t broadcast it, the Arkansas Times reports. Memo to Max Brantley: These trashy sexy stories are supposed to be my territory, so back off. Get back to writing about the Little Rock School Board, pal.

P.S. In an earlier version of this post, I tried to include both a photo of Dick “Spark Plug” Trammel and that shot of Victoria’s Secret model Allesandra Ambrosio, but I couldn’t get them to fit together on the page, so I just went with the one photo. I sure hope I made the right choice.

New Reps Speak at GOP Lunch, Friday

By David Kinkade - December 3, 2008 10:53 am

Jane English, Ann Clemmer and Allen Kerr

Newly minted state legislators Jane English, Ann Clemmer and Allen Kerr will speak to the Central Arkansas Republican Club at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 5, at the Little Rock Club in downtown Little Rock.

For reservations, contact Bonnie Davis at (501) 835-6004 or Jim Davis at (501) 352-2515 and be prepared to cough up $20 for lunch.

Huck Tour Shirts Only $50

By David Kinkade - December 3, 2008 6:37 am

Via the K. Ryan James blog, I see that Team Huckabee “Do the Right Thing” book tour shirts are now on sale. (You can see them in action here.) So if you’ve got a spare $50 in your pocket and a yen to wear an absolutely ridiculous looking shirt that looks like it was designed by an 11-year-old, now’s your chance to order, but don’t blame me when the other kids kick your ass for being an incredible dork.

Sanders: Pryor Squishy on Union Vote?

By David Kinkade - December 3, 2008 6:25 am

Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln: Key votes on union bill

Arkansas News Bureau columnist David Sanders notes that Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor’s support for the “Employee Free Choice Act,” the union-backed “card check” bill that may be a Dem priority in the coming Congress, seems to be moderating a bit:

The usually soft-spoken junior senator angered many in the Arkansas business community last spring when he forcefully claimed that those in the state Chamber of Commerce, as well as other business leaders who lobbied him against card check, were simply doing the bidding of their leadership in Washington.

But when I interviewed Sen. Pryor last week on my television program, gone was the vitriol, which had angered so many. Instead, Pryor mollified his position. When asked if he would again line up as a co-sponsor of the legislation, he indicated he wouldn’t.

In fact, he attempted to alleviate concerns that the bill would be on the fast track that union leaders had hoped for in the new Congress. He predicted that a President Obama wouldn’t push the measure in the first six months of his administration and that he might wait until 2010 to bring it up.

And this one’s a couple of days old, but Sanders’ colleague John Brummett suggested in a Monday column that President Barack Obama would do well to hold off on pushing for the controversial labor bill for now. Brummett suggests the bill may be “too polarizing” for immediate action.

More from the Fort Smith City Wire’s Michael Tilley, who offers a more in-depth examination of what the bill would do to ease unionization efforts.

It’s On: Brummett, Fisher to Debate New Media

By David Kinkade - December 2, 2008 7:32 pm

David Kinkade and Kristin Fisher on the KATV Daily Debrief (photo courtesy of The Tolbert Report)

Just finished the Daily Debrief with KATV’s Kristin Fisher, and I was, of course, just awesome, thanks for asking.

But I come back with a little nugget that may be of interest to those of you following the dispute between Fisher and newspaperman John Brummett as to the relative merits of new media in the news-gathering and reporting process: The local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has confirmed the two combatants for a friendly debate on the issue at their next meeting (time and location to come).

Incidentally, the dispute got a little national attention today with a link from the Romenesko media blog, a top source for media watchers.

(Thanks as ever to Jason Tolbert of The Tolbert Report, who grabbed the little screen capture shot of me and Fisher you see above).

Arkansas Project on KATV Daily Debrief

By David Kinkade - December 2, 2008 8:51 am

I’ll be tonight’s guest (Tuesday, Dec. 2) on Kristin Fisher’s Daily Debrief webcast, part of KATV’s “Choose Your News” package. We kick off at 6:15 p.m.  and go to 6:40 p.m. with lots of talk about Arkansas media, blogging and more. I might even field a few e-mailed questions from all you unwashed masses out there. Seriously, when are you gonna wash?

To watch, go to the “Choose Your News” page here, if you’re a fan of watching people on tiny little screens having conversations.

Don’t miss it, because they don’t archive the videos, so once it’s over, it’s over—a fact that will be terribly frustrating to future historians of The Arkansas Project.

Saltsman Gaining Steam in RNC Push?

By David Kinkade - December 2, 2008 7:32 am

(Image: Wall St. Journal)

We’ve checked in occasionally on former Mike Huckabee presidential campaign manager Chip Saltsman, who steered a candidate with no money and little name recognition to a series of surprise successes in the 2008 GOP primaries and is now making a bid to be the next chair of the Republican National Committee.

Is Saltsman picking up steam in his quest?:

The former gov is full-bore behind his man.

Blogging political operative Tim Griffin reports on his meeting in Little Rock with Saltsman, who’s making the rounds of the region in his single engine plane. (Griffin also suggests that the “conventional wisdom” is with one of the other hopefuls.)

Blogger Jason Tolbert looks at Saltsman’s plan for action and likes what he sees.

The Arkansas Project doesn’t normally cover these D.C. issues too extensively, but should Saltsman take the helm at the RNC, it would certainly strengthen Huckabee’s hand as a player in party politics. Obviously. It’s a long-shot bid, but one to watch.

‘20 and Counting’: Duggar Book Drops Tuesday

By David Kinkade - December 1, 2008 5:55 pm

Did you know that the Duggar family has a book, “20 and Counting,” hitting stores tomorrow? I didn’t. How come you never tell me these things?

MSNBC has excerpts.

Brummett to New Media: ‘Drop Dead’ (Updated!)

By David Kinkade - December 1, 2008 9:08 am

Eight days ago, KATV’s Kristin Fisher invited columnist John Brummett to come on her Choose Your News Daily Debrief webcast to talk about news-gathering in the age of new media—and Arkansas media watchers are held hostage as they anxiously await his answer!

Oh, wait—never mind. We have his answer, which is that he has no intention of accepting. In a Sunday column, Brummett writes that Fisher and the rest of the new media gang—all you bloggers, Twitterers, Facebookers and other assorted riffraff out there—can go hang as far as he’s concerned.

Brummett’s mighty skeptical of all this flashy technology and user-generated content, which is fair enough. People have a tendency to get a little hyped up over these amazing technological tools, so his questioning as to whether all this technology is in and of itelf a good thing is well-taken. In fact, it’s an inherently conservative gesture on Brummett’s part, though I don’t think he’d like being called that.

What’s difficult to understand is Brummett’s cranky dismissal of all these new turns. Sure, the “Choose Your News” segment that Fisher hosts on KATV may be kind of gimmicky, but a great many worthwhile innovations start out as gimmicks. And in difficult times for traditional media properties, KATV should certainly be credited for trying something new to engage viewers.

And of course, don’t tell Brummett, but this train has already left the station. For example, within minutes of reading Brummett’s column, I caught this through Google Reader: Business Week magazine runs a regular “What’s Your Story Idea?” blog feature that focuses on collecting ideas from readers on business stories they’d like to see covered.

Brummett himself has dipped a toe into the new media world in the past, experimenting with blogging back during the 2007 legislative session, and he says he’s getting ready to start up again when the Arkansas News Bureau launches its new website soon.

So why the reactionary dismissiveness against other media practitioners who, like him, are simply trying out new innovations in an effort to find the way forward in this new media terrain? It’s puzzling.

Update: Max Brantley at the Arkansas Times blog, who is incidentally an object lesson of one old newspaper dog who’s willing to learn new media tricks, offers a thoughtful response to Brummett’s grumpy outburst.

Update to the Update: Kristin Fisher responds to Brummett with a post at her blog. It’s much more impressive than my response, as she includes actual statistics, which means that she has now officially blinded me with science.

Another Update: Blake Rutherford at the Think Tank weighs in with some additional context on how the BBC is embracing viewer input to improve news coverage.

Kane Webb’s Big Box o’ Books

By David Kinkade - November 30, 2008 5:29 pm

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Kane Webb published his annual “Best Books of 2008″ compendium today in what has become an annual tradition. Webb solicits submissions from various luminaries around Arkansas as to what they enjoyed reading in 2008 and why.

If you wanted to read it online, you could go here, but you have to be a subscriber to get past the firewall, because the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette hates you and doesn’t want you reading their content.

Or you can go here and read it in the Northwest edition, where much of the content is free online, but then they didn’t bother to post the entire article, cutting it off about halfway through, because the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette hates you and doesn’t want you reading their content. You probably won’t be able to make heads or tails of it anyway, because the formatting and paragraph breaks are all over the place, since they don’t bother formatting the text for an online environment, rendering it virtually unreadable. Do you know why they do it that way? Because the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette hates you and doesn’t want you reading their content.

Or, if you’re only interested in what I submitted, then I’ll just publish it for you here, because I generally like you and appreciate that you bother reading my content:

What I’d Say to the Martians and Other Veiled Threats, by Jack Handey.

If you were sentient in the 1990s, you probably remember Jack Handey’s “Deep Thoughts” on Saturday Night Live, back when that show was still funny, in which Handey would offer surreal and absurd bits of comic philosophizing. What I’d Say to the Martians collects some of Handey’s finest humor writing, including numerous essays, sketches and, yes, some of his favorite “Deep Thoughts.” There’s something to make you laugh out loud on every page.—David Kinkade, TheArkansasProject.com.

Also recommends: Flash for Freedom, by George MacDonald Fraser; Spy: The Funny Years, by Kurt Andersen, Graydon Carter, and George Kalogerakis; The Road, by Cormac McCarthy; Liar’s Poker, by Michael Lewis.

By the way, I’m adding all these books to that little Amazon widget over in the sidebar, and if you should happen to click through and buy them that way, The Arkansas Project will get like, I don’t know, maybe a nickel.

Over at the Think Tank blog, lonely misfit Blake Rutherford has also listed his best reads of 2008, and he and I apparently agree about the merits of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.”

Huck Book #5 on New York Times Bestseller List

By David Kinkade - November 29, 2008 10:37 am

Mike Huckabee (file photo circa 2005)

I’d missed this earlier, but Mike Huckabee’s new book “Do the Right Thing” hit number five on the New York Times best-seller list this week. Here’s the full list.

In other Huckabee news, the special guest tonight on his FOX News show is Ashley Smith, who persuaded an escaped prisoner to give himself up after a killing spree by talking to him about religion. Remember that? Remember? No? It happened back in 2005, if that helps. It was a really big deal at the time, I swear.

In other timely “Huckabee” news, he’ll feature an up-to-the-minute special segment tonight focusing on whether or not New Orleans is prepared to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. I’m on the edge of my seat!

Your Help Needed: Media Player Test

By David Kinkade - November 28, 2008 7:55 pm

It doesn’t happen frequently, but every so often we’ll feature audio files on The Arkansas Project (for example, during political season we had a few radio ads and such from various campaigns).

I’m trying out a new media player, but need to confirm that it works properly with the blog. That’s where you come in: Give the link below a click and then drop a note in the comment section to let me know if it played the (awesome) song, or if you encountered problems. Thanks.

Click here to test Yahoo media player

Update: Many thanks to the Arkansas Project team for helping out. Sounds like the new media player feature worked nicely for everyone but Fourche River Rex, who really should break down and buy a new computer, for crying out loud. That TRS 80 you bought from Radio Shack in 1982 just isn’t getting the job done, Rex.

Huntsville: Anti-Obama Rebel Flag Display Stirs Debate

By David Kinkade - November 28, 2008 8:25 am

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s John Krupa offers up some fine reporting from the Faubus Motel in scenic Huntsville, Ark., where owners James and Linda Vandiver hoisted the Confederate flag on electon night as a protest against big government:

The Vandivers said they didn’t raise the Rebel flag to protest a black man moving into the White House, as many of their neighbors assume. Instead, they did it because they believe the country has abandoned the principles of its founders by electing Obama.

Linda Vandiver said the Democrat is a Marxist who wants to turn America into a socialist country.

Obama wants to redistribute wealth by raising taxes on the rich, create a universal healthcare system and institute a global tax aimed at eliminating worldwide poverty, she said.

“We think socialism is deeply rooted in him, and we’ll see it manifest in all areas,” Linda Vandiver said. “This doesn’t have anything to do with despising Mr. Obama’s color. We’d like to celebrate the fact that for the first time we have a black president. But we can’t.”

Rebel Rebel

The Vandivers’ protest has sparked sharp debate in tiny Huntsville (pop. 2,000ish), with the editor of the local paper, Kyle Mooty of the Madison County Record, saying he’s received some 20 letters to the editor on the issue in the last three weeks. (And whaddya know, Mooty has a little blog of his own over at the newspaper’s website, where he weighs in on this very issue.)

Meanwhile, Krupa’s story notes that local Methodist minister Heath Bradley has urged his congregation to write in asking that the flag be taken down. Bradley makes the case as to why he thinks the flag should come down on his blog.

The Arkansas Project first noted this story from a local TV station on November 6. I wasn’t able to find a photo of the offending flag online, so I put up that shot of a chick in a rebel flag bikini over there for your enjoyment. I figure if you’re reading this, it’s probably because your jackass of a boss is requiring you to be in the office on the day after Thanksgiving, so you could use some good news.

Huckabee: Early Iowa, NH Primaries a Good Thing

By David Kinkade - November 27, 2008 3:02 pm

Here’s Gov. Mike Huckabee sucking up to Iowa and New Hampshire voters explaining why it’s a good thing that Iowa and New Hampshire are the first in the nation primaries (or in the case of Iowa, caucuses) for presidential politics. The reason: Folks in the two early states are “seasoned political veterans” on account of all the time they’ve spent encountering candidates:

Every aspect of the argument here is absurd, of course. If there’s one thing I love about the fact that we’re three weeks past a presidential election, it’s that I know that for the next couple of years, I won’t have to listen to the wise pontification of those flinty New Hampshire voters, or watch clips of presidential hopefuls wandering around some random county fair in Iowa eating pork chops on a stick and shaking hands with those good salt of the earth Iowa voters. They just don’t want to move the early primaries somewhere else because if we did, no one one would ever have any reason to visit their stupid states. Don’t get me started on Iowa and New Hampshire.

Update: On the other hand, here’s good video from the same sitting with Huck calling the financial sector bail-out “the dumbest thing that Congress has done in a long time.” He notes that, had John McCain come out against the bail-out during the 2008 campaign, it might have changed the outcome of the election—or at the very least, would have “changed the dynamic.” Indeed.

And here he is talking about the coming Barack Obama administration: “My guess is that Barack Obama will more disappoint his supporters on the far left than he will enrage his critics on the far right.” He compares Obama to Bill Clinton, and suggests that Obama learned from Clinton’s early mistakes.

From the Archives: Thanksgiving Memories

By David Kinkade - November 27, 2008 7:57 am

For all you Arkansas Project history buffs out there, a rare photo from the archives: Arkansas Project founder and publisher David “Dapper Dave” Kinkade proffering his traditional pardon of the Thanksgiving turkey at the original Arkansas Project World Headquarters, November 24, 1949.

Witnesses to the event included popular Arkansas Project regular Democratic Rally Wiener Dog (front, center) and a dour looking bald guy (far right) who Kinkade always forced to hold the turkey, just to remind Mr. Harvard Law School Graduate who was boss.

Later that day, in a drunken fit of magnanimity, Kinkade also pardoned some yams with marshmallow topping and a plate of corn muffins. Sadly, there were limits to his sense of mercy, and he declined to pardon his younger brother John, who knows damn well what he did, and two pecan pies.

Suspect Nabbed in Pressly Murder

By David Kinkade - November 27, 2008 7:08 am

Curtis Lavelle Vance, 28, of Marianna, Ark., was arrested last night for the murder of Ann Pressly, the Little Rock television news reporter/anchor who was found beaten in her home last month and who died several days later. More from FOX 16:

More from the AP’s Tom Parsons and from Max Brantley at the Arkansas Times.

Senator Bocephus?: Hank Jr. Eyes Senate Run

By David Kinkade - November 26, 2008 11:20 am

The gentleman from Tennessee

This has nothing to do with Arkansas politics or media or anything, but there is a segment of the Arkansas Project readership who will want to know (Bill from Sheridan, I’m looking in your direction) that Hank Williams, Jr. says he’s planning to run for U.S. Senate in Tennessee in 2010, according to this CMT report.

What, you don’t get all your political news from CMT? Loser.

Update: Bill from East End notes that there’s no Senate race in Tennessee until at least 2012, so I’m not sure where the hell I got that wacky “in 2010″ idea.

Huck Book Tour Hits Little Rock

By David Kinkade - November 26, 2008 6:55 am

Got a robocall last night featuring the dulcet tones of one Mike Huckabee, who wants me to come to the Barnes and Noble in West Little Rock this evening at 6 p.m. so that he can sign my copy of his new book, “Do the Right Thing.” Problem is, I don’t have a copy of the book, and I refuse to pay full hardback prices, so I’m in a real quandary here. I wonder if I can steal one from the library.

Another option would be to show up with this book and ask him to sign it, but Huck probably wouldn’t find that as funny as I do. In fact, he might just leap across the table and lodge that pen in my windpipe, so maybe that’s not such a hot idea.

Update: The schedule says he’ll be in Fort Smith at the Books-a-Million at noon, for you Sebastian County Huckabistas.

Update to the Update: KFSM in Fort Smith offers a brief report on Huck’s appearance there. The indefatigable Jason Tolbert promises a report on his blog this evening from the Little Rock appearance.

Thursday update: Arkansas Project commenter DumbArkie provides a little video from the signing in the comments section, and Steve Harrelson offers a report from the Under the Dome blog. Harrelson notes that his legislative colleague Dan Greenberg was there. Now, Greenberg is supposedly an Arkansas Project contributor, according to this blog’s masthead, but failed to contribute a report on last night’s festivities. Hey, you know what I’m thankful for today? Not my blog contributors, that’s for sure. Harrumph, harrumph.

Arkansas Project Most Handsome Blogger

By David Kinkade - November 25, 2008 7:54 pm

Arkansas Project publisher "Dapper" Dave Kinkade in an undated file photo

It’s official: Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times has dubbed me more handsome than Think Tank blogger Blake Rutherford. The truth came out in a webcast interview with KATV reporter Kristin Fisher this evening, which you could watch here if there was a video archive, but there’s not, so you’ll just have to imagine it. (Rutherford pouts about it here. There’s no shame in coming in second to a face like this, Blake.)

I asked Arkansas Project Girlfriend (APG) how it felt to know that she’s with the most handsome political blogger in Arkansas, and she just snorted and said “that’s kind of like being voted most likely to succeed in a terminal cancer ward.” There are times when I really wish APG would just shut up and let me savor my victories.