Dan Rather, Jane Mayer, and emptywheel, NYC, September 23

rather.jpgA number of you have already gotten notice of this event. But I’m really looking forward to it, so I wanted to pitch it here.

The Nation presents a conversation on the future of news, featuring legendary newscaster Dan Rather, investigative reporter and best-selling author Jane Mayer, pioneering blogger Marcy Wheeler, and longtime editor and publisher–now publisher emeritus–of The Nation, Victor Navasky. Hosted by Katrina vanden Heuvel.

What will the media look like in five years? The discussion will explore the shape and consequences of fundamental shifts in the media landscape. There will also be ample time for audience questions. A cocktail reception with food will follow the discussion. Take this opportunity to hear from and meet some of the most influential journalists of our time.

All proceeds benefit The Nation. Admission includes the post-show reception, a one-year subscription to The Nation, and a signed copy of The Nation Guide.

Wed, Sep 23 at 7 pm
Leonard Nimoy Thalia
$200; Members $150; Day of Show $250

It’s a lot of scratch, but for those who are in NY and have some spare change to benefit the Nation, here’s a code that will save you 50% on the tickets: RAC102

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36 replies
      • hackworth1 says:

        You’re better and much more principled than Rather. Mayer is a contemporary of yours. Congrats on the gig. I saw it in The Nation last month. I was excited and happy to see your name and photo. Best Wishes!

        There is a big ad on page 23 in the current (September 14th) issue of The Nation.

  1. Boston1775 says:

    I’m so happy for you, New York and The Nation.
    Dan Rather gets more interesting by the day. And Katrina shares a similar energy with Samantha Power. Jane Mayer and Victor Navasky are people I would love to listen to.
    I got to see your presentation at BC last year. That was a fascinating event.
    I have more challenges than money now, so go there and continue to contrast torture/murder with blowjobs.

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      One more echo on the ‘video’s please’ topic. And one more echo that Rather gets more interesting over time — and for completely unexpected reasons.

      Congrats; the invitation is very well deserved, and someone at the Nation was certainly shrewd to assemble this panel.

  2. hackworth1 says:

    Dan Rather, has been an outstanding journalist. There is a dark moment I shall never forget when I heard on FM radio, Dan Rather cheerleading the awesome buildup in the Gulf and the eminent attack on Iraq.

    Hans Blix had been asking for more time for weapons inspections. Blix had been getting cooperation from Saddam to do further inspections. The ships were in the Gulf and the President and his men had their minds made up to attack a defenseless country.

    Rather supported the attack at that point.

  3. NCDem says:

    Congrats on this acknowledgement of your many talents. Have you gotten a message from A Huffington yet? I know she considers herself the guru of bloggers and its expanding base.

  4. ANOther says:

    Congratulations, Marcy.

    “… some of the most influential journalists of our time”

    might not be the best venue to mention “blow jobs”

    • emptywheel says:

      Dunno, last time I was in such an esteemed crowd (if you ignore Todd Purdam), I said blow job a lot. It was me, Purdum, Joe Lockhart, and Alan Brinkley moderating.

      We of course spoke about Monica a lot. Lockhart admitted he wished he could have said blow job.

      Blow job blow job blow job!!

      • person1597 says:

        Great Job!

        Say, Why don’t you put together a short media presentation with a little help from your dfh friends here. You know, a timeline to the future or something. I know that you can!

        Oh, there’s a recent snippit from the ether about the year 2014. I think they’re comparing apples to the kitchen sink, but it is a bit of a clue about how things go from here.

        Just because the link fairy is still obdurate with me, here is the URL…
        http://www.kitco.com/ind/Wilson/sep012009.html
        You know the drill…cut and paste, URL no go to waste…

  5. njr83 says:

    say it like it is, marcy

    you were recipient of my very first contribution to a blogger
    your excellence has been evident for quite some time

    keep saying it like it is

  6. person1597 says:

    Woah, 2014 is all the rage now…(via Raw Story)

    Job market unlikely to recover until 2014
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32…..nd_economy
    2014: The year Moody’s Economy.com predicts the unemployment rate will finally dip toward 5 percent, considered to be the “normal” level.

    Sounds optimistic with the S&P at 400 eh? Mebbe more like 50% unemployment!

  7. Jeff Kaye says:

    Wish I could be there to see this. What a great panel, and so glad you are there! I’d love to hear what the thoughts are about where the media will be in five years. I veer between morbid pessimism and zealous optimism.

    Please write something up on this afterwards.

    • person1597 says:

      I veer between morbid pessimism and zealous optimism.

      A thought: The MSM could be characterized as an “information battlespace” wherein competing factions vie for “mind-sway”. Rings true nowadays, and stands to further develop along the lines of a war for hearts and minds here at home.

      The Repukelickens, dominating the MSM under Rove, were dislodged by the likes of Jane, Christy and EW (to name a few). When the crashing economy washed Bush overboard, the Red Thrall recoiled from prostrate servility unmasking its native limbless suborder with a spasm of disingenuous histrionics. Who doesn’t expect a coup? Bachmann uber alles!

      Anyway, news is supposed to empower decision making by providing access and display of relevant data, so a future modulated by Moore’s law suggests that in five years laptops will harbor 40 cores, and 3-D presentation graphics will pull the viewer into an interactive political civil war fought by heroes and rogues of the left and right.

      Asking the public to assimilate terabytes of news and assessments following a possible coup and deflationary depression (not to mention the end of the Mayan calendar) well, that’s a tall order. Just think of all the cute little theme jingles the networks will have to create to segue into the next sound byte.

      Selling that scenario to a public with no money may require more of what FDL is all about — blogs as progressive partners for continuity. Assuming the internet survives all this, it should be quite a ride!

      • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

        Wow, what a brilliant, absolutely fantastic comment (!).
        I rather suspect ‘__futureMediaMashups’ might look a bit like:
        – the Guardian’s Datablog
        or this:
        – Wolfram’s Computational Knowledge Engine
        or this:
        – New York Times databased SOTU analysis
        –- or like Gapminder’s video + database-driven overviews

        And within that framework, might I echo Jeff Kaye’s comment @21:

        I veer between morbid pessimism and zealous optimism.

        with a little database-and-visualization veering to the ‘zealous optimism’ end of the spectrum.

        • person1597 says:

          Blush! As a DFH, I stand in awe of FDL…

          …Enough to take your suggestion and run with it…

          with a little database-and-visualization veering to the ‘zealous optimism’ end of the spectrum.

          We could hack an open source music visualizer and add some rendering tools with a MIDI controlled parameter bus and tcp port interface. Plug ins to include text and image manipulation along with 512 the point FFT of the audio. Then, add a dash of RSS or other feed source and run it through a Bayesian filter to ascertain semantic polarities and map it all on the tail of a comet. All to the tune of “Nothin like Tomorrow” by the Supreme Beings of Leisure. (Or “Lunatic Fringe” by Red Ryder.) (Or the “Duck and Cover” jingle.)

          Entertaining? You Betcha!

          [And that secular equivalent to amen…..]

          Also.

  8. posaune says:

    Congrats, EW.

    The Thalia — one of my favorite places. Remember when it really was a dive, too. leaky roof and Bloomsday readings with Frank McCourt. Now, of course, it’s a classy place.

    • prostratedragon says:

      Umm, first saw a badly faded print of Vertigo there, and another friend and I recovered from getting mugged for our bikes in Central Park at Lust for Life, among other treasures. I think a movie ticket was $1 or $2 and you went in for the Thalia around the side.

      Congrats, Marcy, I’ll bet you like the venue almost as much as the panel itself.

      • posaune says:

        my most remarkable memory of the thalia: a hoot midnight showing of Wizard of Oz with the whole place stoned. full house cheering when Toto jumped out of the wicked witch’s basket.

  9. fatster says:

    EW, is there going to be a video of this stellar event? I do hope so. I guess it’s too much to hope that someone would be live-blogging it. Oh, heck, I’ll hope anyway. Thnx.

  10. fatster says:

    O/T Friday update on bank closures–none in Jawja this week. Wow.

    Five more banks fail — 89 so far in 2009
    Regulators close banks in Arizona, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.

    Source.

  11. TheraP says:

    Kudos on this, Marcy! It’s a worthy cause. And it gives you a worthy venue. This is just wonderful news.

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