Awarding Obama the Nobel peace prize seems emblematic of the triumph of celebrity over substance. I’m an Obama fan, but the reality is that his achievements lie ahead of him not behind him, and you can’t help thinking that the Nobel judges were more than a little ‘previous’ in awarding the prize to a guy [...]
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OBAMA
Zadie Smith on Obama
Zadie Smith, who is an extraordinary novelist and critic, has some fascinating things to say about Obama in this lecture given last month at the New York Public Libray. “Speaking in tongues” is an entertaining speech and insightful on identity in today’s world.
READ MOREAn excellent lecture on the Internet and democracy
This was a lecture given by Stephen Coleman, professor of political communication at Leeds University at the RSA in London at the end of last year. It includes discussion of the Obama campaign and a very good Q&A session. Here is the blurb from the Princeton site: Coleman believes there is a disconnect between government and the [...]
READ MOREDodson’s ‘invasion day’ debate is a step backwards
Australian of the year, Mick Dodson, has called for a national discussion of the idea that Australia Day should be moved, Prime Minister Rudd has quickly cut Dodson’s idea adrift before it did him any collateral political damage, as has Malcolm Turnbull. The problem with Dodson’s idea is that it is essentially divisive. What Dodson, [...]
READ MORESome glimmers of hope
The crowd in Willunga on Saturday was fabulous. The Tour Downunder is as much community carnival as it is a bike race. There was a wine and food festival and the cafes and pubs were doing a roaring trade and the weather was wonderful. People get talking, after a bit of a chat to establish [...]
READ MOREJohn Howard: “universally reviled” say US critics
Talk about not happy! It’s doubtful that any Australian politician has ever got the sort of attention John Howard is getting in the USA today. A friend in NYC just emailed me the link to this non-equivocal opinion piece: Well now we know who’s staying there: hated former Australian Prime Minister Yahoo Serious John Howard. John Howard, [...]
READ MOREWhere’s the purple cow? A marketing perspective on union membership decline
Here is the text of my remarks to a union conference in Sydney this afternoon: Union membership is in decline around the western world. There are many reasons for this decline but my topic is whether marketing can help reverse the trend? So, I’m going to ignore the free rider problem and the problems of [...]
READ MOREObama’s ‘networked’ presidency
It worked so well in the campaign, why stop now: Transition officials call it Obama 2.0 — an ambitious effort to transform the president-elect’s vast Web operation and database of supporters into a modern new tool to accomplish his goals in the White House. If it works, the new president could have an unprecedented ability to appeal [...]
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George Negus and the ‘boy’ comment
Some people have got a bit excited about Negus referring to President-elect Obama as ‘boy’ on last week’s Dateline election show. According to the transcript, it’s not even clear that Negus is referring to Obama singular or his administration more broadly. But, anyway, so what? It’s clear that Negus is using it in an Australia [...]
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