Killfile Interview On MSNBC - Video

Hopefully the media will dip into our coffers more often! Great job, Killfile and thanks Calvin.

I almost forgot-
Calvin,Thanks to you too-
Your a real "macher"[mover n shaker]
an a "mench"[good person] as well.

I was wondering the same thing. I wish I got MSNBC...

I agree, I think it's pretty low of them to not make full disclosure (if it is in fact true that they didn't, and that we didn't just miss it after the clip ends.)

But I also wonder how realistic it is to expect full disclosure on everything reported by mainstream news channels these days. For example, do movie reviewers at ABC doing a review of a Disney movie disclose that the companies are related? Or does MSNBC do it every time they do a story on General Electric or Bill Gates?

If full disclosure were made mandatory (hypothetically), it would take up a third of any news program with all the intricate corporate connections there are.

OK. Sounds like I need a lesson in American Corporations family relationships (I am Canadian).

Are you saying that MSNBC.com and MSNBC are two arms-legnth companies? Is there any relation to Bill Gates anywhere in this?

MSNBC is a joint effort between MicroSoft and NBC (and you'll notice msnbc.com is hosted by msn.com MSN = Microsoft Network.)

"I watched it on msnbc as it was being broadcast, and I didn't see any disclosure being made."

I didn't either.

"If full disclosure were made mandatory (hypothetically), it would take up a third of any news program with all the intricate corporate connections there are."

Every time they mention GE on CNBC they say "parent company of this network," so routinely that I once saw a guest say, "GE, the parent company of your network," which everybody got a chuckle out of, and the anchor said, "Oh, you've watched us so often you have the lingo down?"

I don't think this is such a big deal - who needs to know that Newsvine is affiliated with MSNBC? It wouldn't have benefited the feature in any way, shape or form to outline this, nor was it something that was denied or implied this wasn't the case.

Networks advertise their own products within shows all the time; when a Cartoon Network presenter talks about how good an upcoming episode of Dexter's Lab is, you don't expect him to side off into all this legal spiel about how Dexter's Lab is a show affiliated to Cartoon Network...

...or maybe you do. I hear American's are big on this legal crap and will sue at the slightest misconduct (not that I'm suggesting anyone here is of that nature).

"I don't think ..."

The point is called full disclosure. Sure perhaps you don't care, and the example you give is nonsensical to the extreme. Let's look at a slightly less nonsensical example ... you go to the doctor because of a pain in your side, the doctor says your kidney is infected, he suggests you buy such-and-such medicine. You buy the medicine, you don't get better, you die.

Now let's look at the background: the drug your doctor recommended only worked 50% of the time, whereas another drug worked 80% of the time, but he didn't tell you about that other drug because he gets a percentage of the profit from the drug he told you to buy.

Actually, as I said, the example I gave is also fairly nonsensical, and that circumstance would also be called conflict of interest [requiring full disclosure]. In your example there is no deception, omission or conflict of interest because it is on the Cartoon Network and you are already watching the Cartoon Network; you have already made that choice, you don't have to go to another station, your computer, or a pharmacy.

What people are concerned with here is a supposed news network, which people rely on for information, presenting Newsvine as an outside source when in fact, MSNBC is getting a percentage of the profits from the drug website they are featuring. So, actually, to many people, it would have improved MSNBC's credibility to have just said quickly, within her introductory sentence: "Newsvine, a subsidiary of MSNBC, is a social news website that..."

This does indeed appear to be slightly unethical; but their out is that they didn't recommend that anybody actually visit Newsvine. (But as oth points out above, not disclosing might make it more likely for people to believe that Newsvine is independent from corporate influence and MSNBC is just reporting on citizen journalism and then people might actually visit the site because of that implied independence.)

The reason they insist on full disclosure on CNBC is because there they are sometimes actually recommending stocks, which has to do with money, which is important, like your health (but news, and the information you base your vote on, isn't really important; heck, they even relaxed media ownership laws so that now-a-days a foreigner, heck, an Australian even, can buy up a TV network and feed any propaganda he pleases to the US electorate ... thereby helping corporate friendly administrations to get elected.)

[The irony is that Killfile mentions corporate influence and is being presented as an independent citizen involved with social media which discusses politics [and the corporate influences] in depth, but is actually, in a very round-a-bout way, paid by MSNBC. Not that I mean to detract from Killfile in any way or question his ethics; just pointing out the irony. I did notice the anchor give an awkward pause, though, after Killfile mentioned corporate influence ... perhaps her conscience hic-upped.]

_{(Yeah; I can't believe I actually wrote all of this and actually posted it here either, but I seriously feel that our young British friend might learn something, and that there are some important topics in here. I am really, really, really sorry if I have polluted this thread Killfile, Calvin.) [And I probably should've put all of this into an article and made a few bucks ...]}

My point was more that people shouldn't be concerned over such an unimportant and trivial subject; it's not like they were faking competition winners.

(I dont have much more to say on the matter.)

oth,

Thanks, I think (wondering if that was a compliment or a veiled dig at my verbosity ;-)

Mentioning that there is a link between Newsvine and MSNBC might actually harm Newsvine, but I digress...

I was actually taking a playful jab at MSNBC there, and while I agree with you (though I don't really find it that concerning), the real ethical angle in this would be if there was a possibility that the connection hurt MSNBC.

A couple of points on why I agree that MSNBC should disclose it but don't really consider it a problem:

1. MSNBC may cover Newsvine from time to time - do we really expect them to mention it each time?

2. Should NV provide disclosure each time MSNBC is mentioned? For instance, if I Seed an MSNBC article, do I need to mention the connection somewhere in my Seed?

and 3, the biggie: What's the down side to disclosing it? Do some of us think that they purposefully made sure not to mention the connection and if so, why? Add to that, as discussed somewhere in the Comments here, it's not the tv channel but rather the website that has direct ties to NV. The cable channel may have enough distance between them and NV to safely cover each other without the need to make announcements each time.

On the flip side, is there an upside for Newsvine? Has anyone considered that maybe MSNBC and Newsvine have an agreement that dictates how this is handled? While msnbc.com is one of the best mainstream Internet news sites out there, I have a few problems with the cable channel - maybe the management at Newsvine is leery of overtly publicizing the connections. I think it's fair that NV might want to be affiliated with the website and not the cable channel.

Has MSNBC acknowledged the NV/msnbc.com connection in any capacity?

Did anyone notice that at the beginning of Viki's interview she also said that Viki goes by the name "Vikibabbles" on Newsvine ? Or was I hearing things.......I kinda thought that was Calvin's pet name only..

Vikibabbles was her handle before she changed it to Viki Gonia and then to Viki Babbles Gonia.

OK thanks !

ah ha ! Noted and documented.....

his jacket was fine, the tie, well, this is not about fashion, KF you were doing great, these silly folks just can't think of anything bad to say, so they are attacking your wardrobe. kind of silly, but I think it still means they liked it.

these silly folks just can't think of anything bad to say,

You forget, we have comment edit now. : )

Ok -- I wore the jacket because I was trying to communicate that I wasn't the standard talking head but an independent citizen journalist. I was trying to play up my status as an amature by wearing a leather jacket.

The tie was unfortunate. The whole thing was filmed at the University of Virginia and I'm a graduate of the same. I realized that the set would probably be festooned with UVA stuff (it was) and I thought my UVA tie would be appropriate given that.

Unfortunately the colors got all screwed up and it looked like... well... a Virginia Tech tie on my TV.

Killfile, the a voice of on NV.

There we go. All fixed for you.

I could not believe how calm you looked ! It looked like you you have done this a million times before. I was kinda wondering where that was filmed. It did look very much like a University setting. Man you did one heck of a great job !

Good show, Killfile!
Well done.

Good show, Killfile!

Bodhi1
Killfile, a voice on NV.
There we go. All fixed for you.

No fix necessary

Saying Killfile is the voice of Newsvine is absurd. He does not speak for everyone here.
Let's not pretend he does. I don't want to threadjack, but let's get real.

No one can speak for everyone here Bodhi1, not even Tom. Nonetheless, on camera at least I tried my best to speak for the community and not for myself. Rest assured that, given the opportunity to insert my own agenda, I'd have had a few things that I would have liked to see addressed.

Bodhi1
Saying Killfile is the voice of Newsvine is absurd. He does not speak for everyone here. Let's not pretend he does. I don't want to threadjack, but let's get real.
5!#11.8 - Wed Oct 31, 2007 2:15 AM EDTKillfile
No one can speak for everyone here Bodhi1, not even Tom. Nonetheless, on camera at least I tried my best to speak for the community and not for myself. Rest assured that, given the opportunity to insert my own agenda, I'd have had a few things that I would have liked to see addressed

I didn't hear him mention my name either....
[ Maybe he's tilll POed about my jumping on him about the AWAC's?]....Lol...
Damn!
"I coulda been a contender"
{M.Brando}...

He [Killfile] spoke for us all at NewsVine...without adding his own agenda....an did a swell job.

I saw one mistake though... he didn't mention Newsguru ... just kidding, KF's a true journalist.

Wow, for a couple of minutes I saw a dude named Chris speaking on behalf of a thing called Newsvine. Then I made simple comment about it. You guys can be way too serious. Or maybe you just don't like KF. Either way, get a grip. When I see you on another major media venue, I'll give you the credit also. It's just a term.

And if you see me speaking on behalf of anything, I'll be the voice of anything. : )

Everyone on Newsvine, the voice of Newsvine. Just doesn't have the same ring, does it?

Great job though, I would have made embarrassing jokes, and then dragged off screen screaming, "Ron Paul, Ron Paul."

So...you're just like every other Ron Paul supporter!

I kid, I kid...

Reminds me of the CDB song, "Just lay your hand on a Steelers Fan...."

Oh they're not going to do anything about it but I'd like to see someone try to pin them down on it.

If I were able to ask these Democratic Pander Bears any one question, it would come in the form of a demand. Put every bill you sign on the Internet for two weeks before you sign it, so we can see what you're up to with that pen of yours.

What a bloody good idea BlaiseP Very inspiring and it should be placed into international law.

If I were able to ask these Democratic Pander Bears any one question, it would come in the form of a demand. Put every bill you sign on the Internet for two weeks before you sign it, so we can see what you're up to with that pen of yours.

Stellar idea! I would like to see those bills placed as seeds on Newsvine as well, where we could take 'em apart, analyze them, and discuss together. Transparency, accountability, and interactivity between the people and the pols that are elected to represent them - what a novel idea!

Make it bipartisan - make the Pubs do the same thing.

Yes, Benno, very nice, and I'll even vote for your comment [jab, jab]

It's certainly an interesting issue, but I don't think it's actually figured in more than 0.01% of the political discussions I've personally been in here on Newsvine. It's not in any of the stories currently on the Politics page for instance. Am I missing out on some good articles?

All that time and he didn't mention me

Its the thought that counts...

No, it's the free plug that counts. :)

Plugs do count way more I agree.

You want in? ;)

in?

Maybe on

Vote http://teddri.newsvine.com/ (please)

Hey I'm all for boobs.

I thought you were married ??? Plus they don't allow those in the Commonwealth of VA do they ?

Plus they don't allow those in the Commonwealth of VA do they ?

Hillary's, unfortunately, yes.

I'm married, not dead.

As for the Commonwealth, we do still regrettably suffer the influence of the late Rev Jerry Falwell. We're moving along though, and in a few years the women-folk will even be able to go outside without a burka on provided we can keep a Democrat in the Governor's mansion.

Rev Jerry Falwell.
Believe me I know...I used to work in Lynchburg..Or I should say my company has its US HQ's there and I was in "Jerry Land"

Actually I was kidding about the Commonwealth. My daughter went to UVA and I grew up in Fairfax, so I know the place rather well.. Almost ended up at VA Tech. myself.

Well we talked a lot about corporate influence but the problem was that I didn't see how that was tied to an issue that I could articulate in a few sentences. The link to Campaign Finance reform was my own and my own inference. No, I don't think we're going to see any of these candidates fall on that sword but I wanted an issue that the MSNBC viewers would recognize with which I could connect the issue of corporate influence.

Yea -- it probably could have been better. Personally I'd have liked to talk about election fraud but I was there as a spokesman for the community and that's one of the most voted upon from Calvin's "you can ask anything" thread.

I thought you did a bang up job non-the-less. You're probably right about connecting to the MSNBC crowd with the campaign finance reform thing. I just wondering if you scared off everyone, thinking all us NV'ers are heady people like yourself. On the other hand, that may not be such a bad thing. Meaning, if you come to NV looking to push some kitchen knifes, you will probably get "Ganked," sorry for using a Player verses Player online Gaming term. For those NV who don't play, it means getting ambushed in a very unforgiving way.

I think "ganked" is a lovely word in this context.

To gank: To ambush in a particularly unforgiving manner. To brutalize. See also pwnt.

.......

LOL

My only guess is Britney wasn't running over anyone's foot, so there is always Killfile around :-)

I was a joke, folks. I do that from time to time.

Bodhi1
Why is MSNBC interested in Newsvine all of a sudden?
Weird.
7!#22 - Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:28 PM EDT
Killfile
.......
4!#22.1 - Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:35 PM EDT
Spooky Boyfriend
LOL

Maybe cause .....It's Halloween?

I thought that too - you looked like a past master of TV commentary