Weekend Digest: The Chelsea Had A Baby Edition

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & ELECTIONS
On this week’s edition of Talk Business & Politics, AEDC director Grant Tennille talks about his recent Asian trade mission. He’ll also explain what’s happening with the string of job announcements that have come out lately and what’s in the pipeline.

Plus, Andrew DeMillo of the Associated Press and KATV’s Janelle Lilley and TB&P host Roby Brock break down the week in Arkansas politics: Congressional District 2; the Governor and Senate races; and the ad spending bombarding the state — all part of our political roundtable.

We’ve also unearthed some classic video footage of the 1986 Gov. debate between Bill Clinton and Frank White. Believe it or not – they debated whether or not Arkansas and ASU should play each other in football. How did they answer 28 years ago? Tune in to Talk Business & Politics Sunday at 9 am on KATV Ch. 7 to find out.

For our weekend business and political readers:

YAHOO AND KATIE COURIC
The former “CBS Evening News” anchor is now Global News Anchor for Yahoo. “So how’s Ms. Couric doing on Yahoo?”, asks CMO Today.

It’s sure hard to tell.

When Ms. Couric anchored the “CBS Evening News” a few years ago, her ratings were constantly scrutinized. But it doesn’t work that way on the Web. Neither comScore nor Nielsen, which release figures on traffic for Web sites, can report how many visitors or video views Ms. Couric’s Yahoo channel – news.yahoo.com/katiecouric – regularly generates.

But Yahoo did see a big spike in one area according to CMO Today. Is this huge jump all about Katie? Go to this link to learn more.

MASSIVE ADVERTISING TRENDS FOR 2015
Inc. reports on “3 Massive Ad Trends You Won’t Ignore in 2015.” These online trends are likely to dominate, according to the entrepreneurial business pub, so business owners need to plan accordingly.

In 2014, advertisers saw how the changing face of the internet affected their consumers and stepped of their game. With an increase in attention towards more targeted methods, such as native advertising, many are beginning to see how streamlining ads and creating user-specific content generated higher ROI.

So what’s next? Click on this link to find out.

INSIDE INFO ON HOW TOP CEOs REALLY THINK
Inc. releases its annual check-in with the nation’s top private-company CEOs. This article shows how owners got their start and how their views on innovation and social media have changed.

Judging by the results of our annual survey of Inc. 500 CEOs, the first 12 months of these companies probably won’t go down as the very most fun they have ever had. Forty-two percent of the CEOs worked more than 80 hours a week, and 37 percent didn’t take a paycheck for at least the first year.

Go inside this infographic as the CEOs are surveyed on things like what inspired them, where they blundered, how they embraced technology and social media, and much more.

HOW TO MASTER THE ART OF NETWORKING FOLLOW-UP
You attended that all important networking event, and “So now what?”, asks Forbes.

You have a pocket full of business cards and no idea what to do with them.

Business cards have no value if you don’t use them, so let’s go over some simple ideas to help you maximize the initial interaction you had with someone.

A networking event is just the jumping-off point for starting a new professional relationship — your follow-up is the key to developing it. And since the clock starts ticking as soon as you meet, it’s best to start at step 1 within 24 hours.

Go to this link for step one plus seven more to become a master networker.

ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER RESIGNS
This past Thursday Attorney General Eric Holder called it quits after more than five years as head of the Justice Department.

It’s oddly fitting that Attorney General Eric Holder – a stubbornly independent career prosecutor ridiculed by Barack Obama’s advisers for having lousy political instincts — would nail his dismount.

Holder, described by associates as President Obama’s “heat shield” on race and civil rights, sprung it on the president over the Labor Day holidays.

Obama didn’t bother to push back as he has in the past, even though staffers say he winces at the prospect of a long confirmation battle, whomever he chooses for the nation’s top law enforcement job.

So why did Holder quit, and why now? POLITICO has the analysis at this link.

WORST-RUN CAMPAIGNS
Calling them “doozies of the worst-variety,” POLITICO takes a look at 2014 election campaigns that have certainly struggled.

The 2014 election is being driven by sweeping national forces — an unpopular president, a shaky economy and, increasingly, national security.

Yet for candidates, the fundamentals of running a strong campaign matter as much as ever.

From repeated gaffes to destabilizing staff shakeups to unearthed skeletons from the past, all that and more is in POLITICO’s look at the worst campaigns of 2014.

INTERNET ACTIVISM
The Economist asks, “Can it turn into a real political movement?”

When dozens of countries refused to sign a new global treaty on internet governance in late 2012, a wide range of activists rejoiced. They saw the treaty, crafted under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), as giving governments pernicious powers to meddle with and censor the internet. Their lobbying was sometimes hyperbolic. But it was also part of the reason the treaty was rejected by many countries, including America, and thus in effect rendered void.

The Economist says, “The internet is nothing if not an exercise in interconnection. Its politics thus seems to call out for a similar convergence, and connections between the disparate interest groups that make up the net movement are indeed getting stronger.”

How strong? Follow this link for the full story.

YOUTH AND POLITICAL NEWS ONLINE
“The young pass it on,” reports The New York Times.

It is not news that young, politically-minded viewers are turning to alternative sources like YouTube, Facebook and late-night comedy shows like The Daily Show. But that is only the beginning of how they process information.

According to interviews and recent surveys, younger voters tend to be not just consumers of news and current events but conduits as well — sending out e-mailed links and videos to friends and their social networks. And in turn, they rely on friends and online connections for news to come to them. In essence, they are replacing the professional filter — reading The Washington Post, clicking on CNN.com — with a social one.

The Times says, “In one sense, this social filter is simply a technological version of the oldest tool in politics.”

What is it? Find out and more by clicking this link.

MAMA CHELSEA, GRANDMA HILLARY & GRANDPA BILL
Chelsea Clinton has given birth to a daughter, according to a message posted on her Twitter account announced early Saturday. Bill and Hillary Clinton retweeted the message.

The baby, named Charlotte, is the first child for Ms. Clinton and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky.

“Marc and I are full of love, awe and gratitude as we celebrate the birth of our daughter, Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky,” read the Twitter message.

Read more at this link.

WEAPONS OF DAILY ATTIRE
Or “how America armed itself long before guns became a political issue.”

At an interesting time in our history, folks started wearing weapons as a part of their daily attire, to work and to play. In the 1830s, citizens of the Mississippi River Valley, in such communities as New Orleans, Natchez, Vicksburg, and Little Rock, armed themselves.

They chose small weapons popular at the time — single-shot pistols, sword canes, and knives — as business accessories. Unlike some weapons advocates of today, they had no particular wish to make a point regarding “open carry.”

Click on this link for Washington Post contributor and director of Little Rock’s Historic Arkansas Museum, Bill Worthen’s expert historical look back at the arming of America.

THE BILL SIMMONS SAGA
ESPN’s Bill Simmons was suspended last week for derogatory comments about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who Simmons called a “liar.”

The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza asks whether it’s a sports story or a journalism story?

But, really it’s a journalism story – a telling example of not only how the balance of power is shifting between big, faceless corporate media organizations and the increasingly high-profile individual brands they employ but also of how the definition of what constitutes reporting and journalism is undergoing a huge change.

Simmons is a prime example of the journalist-as-brand, a relatively new construct in the media world. Known for the early part of his career as the “Sports Guy,” he was hired by ESPN and quickly became a name brand for them thanks to his willingness to offer “regular guy” takes on sports and the people who cover it.

The Post says, “Simmons grew so big that ESPN was willing to fund an entirely separate site – Grantland – as a way to make him happy and keep him tied to their larger brand.”

So what happens when the loyalty of followers clashes with Simmons’ “opinions being somehow inconsistent with ESPN’s journalism?” Click on this link for more on the dust-up and evolving story.