TMZ Got It Wrong! So did I!

Just a few days I go, I was lauding TMZ for earning such a great reputation of getting it first and getting it right.  And then they go and get it wrong — and I mean REALLY wrong with the John Edwards’ announcement.  They reported before the press conference that he was going to withdraw — the only big media outlet that predicted it before the conference.  And with TMZ’s rep behind the reporting, it was the speculation by everyone.  

Makes me wonder…TMZ is said to be starting a D.C. insider gossip site because of the old Hollywood saying that politics is Hollywood for ugly people.  This episode is gonna hurt. 

Elizabeth Edwards

Okay, so the Edwards’ insist that cancer won’t get the best of them — at least not yet.  And it’s obvious that they are getting some very good PR advice.  Giving their first interview to 60 Minutes was a very savvy move.  No one can say they went for a softball interviewer.  (See previous post about Katie’s line of questioning.) 

I’ll bet Edwards’ PR team is now encouraging the Edwards to give more interviews.  Won’t be surprised to see them pop up on Larry King tonight, although that will cut into the insightful analysis Larry’s panel will undoubtedly offer on the Anna Nicole Smith autopsy and DNA tests. 

Also look for photos of Elizabeth rollerblading or riding a roller coaster or something.  A picture says a thousand words and right now, they need pix of Elizabeth doing healthy things like working out, or ordinary fun things, like taking her young kids to Disneyland.  Pix that show her vibrant and alive. 

We’ve come a long way since the days when people would never say “cancer” out loud, for fear that the dread disease would come after them.  But it will take a lot to get Americans to widely subscribe to the attitude that the Edwards are demonstrating. 

Katie Couric / Elizabeth Edwards

Great interview between Katie Couric and John and Elizabeth Edwards on 60 Minutes last night.  For everyone who thinks Katie is just a bubbly morning gal, here are some of the questions she put to the candidate and his wife: 

Viral Videos – Katie Couric on 60 MINUTES aggressively questions John and Elizabeth Edwards after announcement that Mrs. Edwards has cancer and that he will stay in the race:

“Some people wonder if you are in denial.”

“Some have suggested that you’re capitalizing on this.”

“You’re putting your work first, and your family second.”

“The president can not be distracted by caring about his wife’s situation.”

Teresa Heinz Kerry

Did Teresa Heinz Kerry have a major fight with her husband before they went on the Today Show this morning?  Boy, she looked p.o.’d.  She was looking everywhere BUT at her husband when he was talking to Meredith and she seemed reluctant to participate in the interview, even when Meredith questioned her directly and her husband encouraged her to talk about the book they co-wrote that is newly published. 

In the MT 101 playbook, Teresa blew it.  She had a chance to show the TV audience a good side of herself and instead, came off haughty and oddly disinterested. 

Leaking Anna Nicole

How much you wanna bet that somebody is going to leak the Anna Nicole death investigation findings before the press conference?  My money is going to be on Harvey Levin and TMZ getting the scoop.  In such a short time, Harvey and his team have earned a rep for getting it first AND getting it right. 

Pitching the Media

Spending the morning making phone calls to reporters who might want to cover a major announcement at a major university.  I just don’t get why some reporters get all huffy, acting like I have some nerve to call them.  And this story is honestly newsworthy.  Aren’t they news reporters?  Aren’t they supposed to WANT to know what’s going on before it happens?  Even if they don’t want to cover it, where is their curiosity? 

Elizabeth Edwards

The AP is reporting:  CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) – Democrat John Edwards is forging ahead with his second bid for the presidency despite the sobering news that his wife, Elizabeth, is battling an incurable reappearance of cancer.

This isn’t going to play well with political pundits, who don’t like it when any candidate appears too aggressively ambitious.  That’s exactly what they will say about Edwards continuing to campaign while his wife battles incurable cancer, even though Elizabeth Edwards insists that the cancer is contained and more like a chronic condition rather than a life-threatening disease.   That might be true, but the American public probably isn’t ready to view cancer so benignly.  Get ready for the inevitable pundit soundbite, “If it were my wife…”  

Besides, the conservatives, who hate John Edwards for making money as a trial lawyer, will point to his previous statements pledging to drop out of the race if his wife’s cancer returned. 

Michael Baisden

If you want to know what is really going on in the African-American community, tune into Michael Baisden’s syndicated radio show.  I’m getting hooked on the self-proclaimed Bad Boy of Radio and I can’t believe I haven’t heard of him until now.  In L.A., Baisden’s syndicated show is on V100.3, a new-ish R&B station.  Baisden’s show is best when he’s doing something like hosting a quiz on African-American history.  Today he’s talking rather graphically about intimate health problems and he’s asking every female caller if she’s doing her exercises.  

Duke Lacrosse Case

Fox News is reporting that all charges may be dropped against the Duke University lacrosse players who were accused of raping a stripper at a team party.  If this is true, former DA Mike Nifong better brace himself for even more negative press and bar investigations and big, big trouble. 

Nifong played the media just right in the beginning of the case and reporters were too eager for the juicy story to question and investigate.  Spoiled jocks at an elite school raping a a minority at a sleazy party with underage drinking.   These days, the media is so eager for tabloid-ready stories that they just latched on to Nifong’s version of what happened, which, as we now know, is simply not borne out by the facts, including the DNA. 

But now that the truth is out, reporters will leave no stone unturned before throwing it at Nifong.  They feel like Nifong spun them and used the media to further his election prospects, facts be damned.  In the eyes of reporters, that is unforgiveable.  As one of the best reporters I know says, “He must be punished.”   

Heather Mills’ PR Prowess

Catching up on my TiVo, so I caught Heather Mills’ interview on Larry King and boy, has she had some good media training.  Non-defensive, states the facts calmly.  When she’s asked about all the ugly stuff that’s come out since she and Paul McCartney separated, she calmly states that it’s all rubbish and how she’s more concerned about saving baby seals and raising money for charity and converting everyone to veganism.  Of course, the British news reports through the past year have displayed quite a different message about Heather’s notorious past, with fellow call girls and former clients coming forward right and left.  But you have to hand it to Heather — she’s going on a dancing show with a prosthetic leg, for heaven’s sake.  Americans love redemption stories.  Heather is going to be a big hit on this side of the
Atlantic. She herself said it best when she told Larry “I could have been Mother Theresa and I would have been vilified” just like Yoko Ono and Linda McCartney were when they married their Beatles. 

She’s got a point.  And she’s smart enough to deliver it well.   And no denying it takes guts to dance with a fake leg.  Guts are so irresistable to us Americans.  Watch.  She’ll  bag a book deal and an endorsement contract while she’s here. 

Any guesses as to companies that would hire her for a spokesmodel?  What about Dove and their everyone-is-beautiful campaign?