WH Now Partnering With Amateur 'iReporters' on First Lady's China Trip

    While the professional press corps has been frozen out of Michelle Obama's swing through China, one news organization is not entirely out of the loop.  CNN has partnered with the White House through the network's iReport program.  Katie Hawkins-Gaar, a CNN editor, coordinated the effort to solicit and accumulate submissions from "iReporters" interested in asking questions about the "importance of students learning from one another's cultures", Mrs. Obama's stated emphasis for this trip.
    The White House's webpage dedicated to the first lady's trip describes the "assignment" as follows:

CNN iReport Assignment: iReporters in the U.S. and around the world have submitted questions for the First Lady about study abroad. Stay tuned to watch Mrs. Obama answer questions from Beijing.

The link takes visitors to CNN's website where 19 iReporters signed up to participate with 349 iReports filed:

    All of the questions have been recorded and submitted to CNN in advance of the trip, and the public is invited to "[s]tay tuned to watch Mrs. Obama answer questions from Beijing."
    The White House also links to a PBS website which invites people to "Take a Virtual Trip to China with the First Lady," and in turn, links back to the White House website.
    Additionally, Discovery Education has joined forces with the White House as well, and "Jeff Wood, an American student from D.C. who is currently studying abroad in China, will pose questions to the First Lady on behalf of Discovery Education's online audience" while Mrs. Obama is in Beijing. Discovery links back to the White House website as well.
    Finally, the U.S. Embassy in China has arranged for two Chinese microblogging websites to solicit questions for the first lady to answer on her trip as well:

Q&A with Youth in China: The U.S. Embassy has invited their social media followers on Chinese microblogging websites Sina and QQ Weibo to post questions for the First Lady. While in China, Mrs. Obama will answer questions about her visit. The First Lady's responses will be posted in Mandarin on the Embassy’s social media platforms.

    The Obama administration has gone to great lengths to centralize available information about Mrs. Obama's trip to China.  Together with updates on Twitter and Instagram, the White House will be keeping a blog tracking the first lady's progress.  Since there will be few alternatives, these outlets, along with iCNN, PBS, and Discovery Education, will likely garner significant attention throughout the week-long visit.


Note: A version of this post first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

Under-employment: Then and Now

    As long as I am picking on CNN this week, here's a story on underemployment, the lesser known cousin of the more popular unemployment rate.  Here are some excerpts from "Under-employed and under the radar":

The economic crisis has taken a severe toll on the nation's workforce. But while much of the discussion centers around layoffs and unemployment, a growing number of Americans are becoming under-employed - struggling to pay their bills on a smaller salary, or completely giving up on finding any work. 

Unemployment claims have climbed to 7-year highs, but the number of people who have settled for part-time work or given up on finding a job altogether is the worst it's been in over 14 years, but isn't included in the official unemployment rate... 

The under-employment rate, which counts those without jobs who have become discouraged and stopped looking for work, as well as part-time workers who want full-time jobs, rose to 11% from 10.7%, the highest rate since April 1994, according to the Labor Department's monthly jobs report.

    Those paying careful attention to the numbers and dates in the preceding paragraphs will have figured out by now that this was not a recent article.  Rather, this tale of gloom and doom (justifiably so) was published on October 3, 2008, about five weeks before the 2008 Presidential election.  Fast-forward exactly four years to October 3, 2012, and CNN published another story on underemployment just five weeks before another Presidential election.  This time, it's titled "September jobs report probably won't sway election":

Only two monthly jobs reports remain before the presidential election, but don't expect either of them to swing undecided voters. 

That's because, in all likelihood, both reports will show more sluggish job growth... 

"If the report is close to my expectations then it should not have a meaningful impact on the election," [Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics] said.  

Following Friday's jobs report, President Obama will probably continue to say the private sector has been adding jobs for two-and-a-half years. Mitt Romney is likely to point out that more than 20 million Americans remain either unemployed or underemployed.

Both will be right.

The article never actually gets around to mentioning the underemployment rate which stood at 11% in September 2008.  Currently, that rate is 14.7%.  What a difference four years makes.  And who's challenging the incumbent.

CNN and the Ego Re-run

    On October 3rd, the date of the first Presidential debate, the following story appeared on CNN.com:

Michelle Obama: Anniversary debate double date isn't ideal

Denver (CNN) -- To the political world, October 3 is a high-stakes night in the presidential election. But for first lady Michelle Obama, it's the date night that wasn't.
"I told Barack, 'This, you know, attending a presidential debate on my 20th anniversary is probably the worst way for me to spend (it).' ... I get so nervous at these debates," she said in a recent interview alongside her brother, Craig Robinson.... 

Some observers have suggested that it is the first lady who grounds the president and keeps his ego in check, but [Michelle] Obama was adamant that this president is grounded on his own.
"Barack doesn't have a big ego," she said. "That would kind of be the last thing that I would think of when I talk about my husband is big ego, because he doesn't have that. So it's not much to check." [emphasis added]

    Fast-forward to today, the second Presidential debate, and we find this on CNN.com:

Michelle Obama: "Barack doesn't have a big ego." 

Michelle Obama to CNN's Jessica Yellin, "You know, Barack doesn't have a big ego.  You know, that's the thing.  I mean he is– you know, you– you see this in, you know, how he leads the country.  I mean he is very open to other people's opinions.  And he's always willing to compromise and he is always, always listening.  You know?  So that would– kind of be the last thing that I would think of when I– talk about my husband, is big– big ego, because he– he just doesn't have that.  So it's not much to check." [emphasis added]

    Unless Michelle Obama was using a tele-prompter or script, this must be the same interview.  So, interesting timing on these two releases, no?

A Different Kind of Sampling Error

    Jim Geraghty at National Review Online pointed out some puzzling results yesterday from a recent CNN poll:

Among those who describe themselves as “Tea Party Supporters,” 86 percent have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party, 4 percent have a negative opinion of the Tea Party, and 9 percent have no opinion on the Tea Party.
If you describe yourself as a Tea Party supporter, why would you have a negative opinion of it? Or how could you say you don’t have an opinion when you just told the pollster you support it?

Geraghty goes on to suggest professional help for those self-hating Tea Partiers.  But another kind of professional help might be in order for another demographic subgroup uncovered by the poll.  Page 16 of the poll records the results of the question: "We'd like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of these people -- or if you have never heard of them... The Democratic Party."  Responses are grouped in various ways, but the most interesting is the 1% of respondents who are listed as Democrats who "Never heard of" the Democratic Party:

So, how does that conversation with the pollster go?

Pollster: What is your party affiliation?
Respondent: Democrat.
Pollster: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party?
Respondent:  Never heard of 'em.
Pollster: Oooooookay.  Thanks for your time...

Maybe "Sampling Error" has more than one application.

Analogies That Kill

   On their Political Ticker, CNN highlights “Shocking Obama Comparison”:  Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus makes an analogy comparing President Obama to the captain of the cruise ship that recently sunk off the coast of Italy (no doubt an attempt to update the Titanic analogy as it is nearly 100 years old) and it is deemed “shocking” by CNN, and even other Republicans distance themselves from the comments.
    On the other hand, a prominent sitting senator, Barbara Boxer, says in December 2011 that GOP legislation will literally “kill people” and as far as I can find, CNN.com did not even report it. 
    I guess "shocking" is relative.