THE NEWS HACK'S CREED:
I know more than you.
I make lots more money than you.
I'm smarter than you.
I'm sexier than you.
I appear on TV all the time.
I work ten minutes a day.
I rule the universe.
I'm going to live forever.
You are an idiot.
THE NEWS HACK'S CREED, No. 2:
A lie isn't a lie when it tells THE TRUTH.
THE NEWS HACK'S CREED, No. 3:
I've come to realize that the looseness of the journalistic life, the seeming laxity of the newsroom, is an illusion. Yes, there's informality and there's humor, but beneath the surface lies something deadly serious. It is a code. Sometimes the code is not even written down, but it is deeply believed in. And, when violated, it is enforced with tribal ferocity.
--JOHN "OMERTA" CARROLL.
THE NEWS HACK'S CREED, No. 4:
News isn't news when we don't report it.
PERMALINKS:
THE NEWS HACKS' DICTIONARY
THE EUGENE DAVID GLOSSARY
AMERICA'S MOST UNINTENTIONALLY FUNNY WEB SITE!
Blogroll Me!
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PepsiCo finally was forced to release her speech [Link added. --ED] after much hemming and hawing. In it, Nooyi is funny (if a little forced) and quite measured in her analogy. All the fingers have to work in harmony, she points out. Africa may be small from an economic standpoint but "when our little finger hurts, it affects the whole hand."
Asia, the thumb, is "strong, powerful, and ready to assert herself as a major player on the world's economic stage." Europe, the index finger, is the cradle of democracy and pointed the way for Western civilization and laws. Latin America, the ring finger, is "hot, passionate and filled with the sensuous beats of the mambo, samba, and tango." She even apologizes to Antarctica and Australia for leaving them out.
That leaves North America, or more specifically, the U.S. Sure, being dubbed the middle finger instantly evokes a certain attitude. But Nooyi almost bends over backwards in her political correctness, noting that "the middle finger anchors every function that the hand performs and is the key to all of the fingers working together efficiently and effectively." Her message: "It's not enough just to understand that the other fingers co-exist. We've got to consciously and actively ensure that every one of them stands tall together, or that they bend together when needed."
Such prose essentially borders on pablum in this country of raging opinions. Yet, because of the noise in cyberspace, Nooyi felt compelled to issue a statement saying, "I have come to realize that my words and examples about America unintentionally depicted our country negatively and hurt people." Furthermore, she claimed to appreciate the "honest comments" that had been shared with her before reiterating once again her love of America.
Better to err on the side of caution, perhaps, especially in a company that hawks soft drinks and potato chips to young people. But it's a shame that one executive's carefully worded opinion at a college speech should prompt such a backlash, then a mea culpa. In today's world of blogs and instant communications, though, even mild criticism can become fodder for a cyber-conflagration.
Meantime, BLOGGERS OF THE MILLENNIUM, back for more SCALPS.