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Social Media Redeems Itself after Miss America

September 17, 2013 By WHC Insider

There’s no lack of support for the new Miss America Nina Davuluri two days after being crowned for 2014. When social media reactions were filled with racist tweets and condescending remarks, Nina found immediate support from people on YouTube and op-eds on CNN.

Roxanne Jones reminded any potential haters that the 2014 Miss New York wasn’t the first or last woman of color to be crowned Miss America:

“You are not the first woman of color to take the crown. It was 30 years ago that Vanessa Williams became the first black Miss America. Seven other black women and one Asian woman have won since then. And most went on to successful careers.
But whenever this happens, those pesky bigots climb out of their caves to rant and rave and spew their ignorance about why it’s not fair. Ignore them.
”

Anna Johns, on an op-ed for NPR, wrote specifically about those on Twitter who would go on to be shamed via Buzzfeed after deleting their tweets:

“It was exactly that sort of pushback that led to many of the most offensive tweets being deleted; there is a growing awareness that racist comments impulsively tweeted are likely to be challenged. Most people don’t enjoy being shamed, which is what happened as the worst tweets were favorited and retweeted in a bid to expose those who would flaunt their ignorance.”

Meanwhile Davuluri is already hitting the airwaves, teaching Kelly and Michael how to dance:

along with her full interview:

Filed Under: Causes, TV Tagged With: Miss America, Social Media

Washington Filmmakers Sean and Andrea Fine Win at Oscars

February 25, 2013 By WHC Insider


The Oscars had a few D.C. surprises last night ranging from the White House to Best Documentary Short. Michelle Obama came in from a remote shot to announce the Best Picture winner, Ben Affleck‘s snubbed-yet-beloved Argo. Keeping the presidency in spirit, Daniel Day-Lewis took home Best Actor for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. The full list of Oscar winners can be found here, but the other local surprise comes from a prominent Washington famil with a long film tradition. Sean and Andrea Fine won for Inocente taking Best Documentary Short.

Sean is the son of famed documentarians Paul and Holly Fine whose award-winning work was on 60 Minutes, Nightline and 20/20 as well as WJLA-TV. Paul Fine’s father Nate was the Washington Redskins photographer.

2008 White House News Photographers Dinner with Andrea Nix Fine, Sean Fine, Holly and Paul Fine, Bryce Fine

Co-directed by Sean Fine and his wife Andrea Nix Fine, the short follows a young undocumented girl struggling to become an artist in Los Angeles. They sourced funding through Kickstarter, making this the first project from the crowdfunding service to win an Academy Award. Fine truly rocked out his D.C. pride thanks to his RG3 socks. Fine tweeted out the photo at RG3 post-win:

@rgiii we just won an Oscar”no pressure no diamonds” #oscars #addidas #inocentedoc twitter.com/FineFilms/stat…

— The Fines (@FineFilms) February 25, 2013

And in case you thought social media wasn’t relevant, there were 8.9 million related Oscar tweets. As for how FLOTUS even became an idea as a presenter, it all goes back to–who else in Hollywood–Harvey Weinstein according to Deadline:

“The idea of getting the First Lady on the show first came from Lily Weinstein, who mentioned it to her big Obama contributor dad Harvey, who suggested it to the Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and Academy president Hawk Koch. The group flew to DC a week and a half ago to put the logistics together with the White House. The Oscar producers told Deadline’s Pete Hammond earlier this week that they “were being like the CIA” about a couple of surprises on the show, keeping things top secret. In towns like Hollywood and DC where people love to talk, they pulled it off. There was no indication on the show’s rundown and most of the people on the Oscars had no idea who the secret guest would be. ‘I knew we could do it and we did it,’ Koch told Deadline tonight about keeping Obama’s name under wraps.”

This came after FLOTUS and POTUS were at the National Governors Association’s Ball, complete with Chris Christie still recovering from his “hugfest.”

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Academy Awards, Andrea Nix Fine, Entertainment, Inocente, Michelle Obama, Sean Fine, Social Media

Foursquare Checks Into National Day of Service With 2013 Badge

January 16, 2013 By WHC Insider

Of course there’s an unique Foursquare badge for the Inauguration, but there’s also one for the Day of Service. The partnership between Foursquare and the Presidential Inaugural Committee announced the new badge today for those attending the January 19 event on the Mall. If you’re not in the District, PIC has information on nationwide service events.

“At Foursquare, we were so inspired by the idea of a lifelong commitment that we created the first Foursquare badge to reward volunteerism,” said Foursquare CEO and Co-Founder Dennis Crowley. “Along with the Presidential Inaugural Committee, we encourage all Americans to get out and serve in their own communities to celebrate the inauguration of President Obama and the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”

Besides, there’s a better chance to unlock this badge than the “I Tried to Check-In At the Inaugural Parade 2013 But AT&T Failed Us.”

Filed Under: Causes, Inauguration, News Tagged With: Day of Service, Foursquare, Inauguration, News, Social Media

Obama Would Probably Chose The Horse-Sized Duck

January 11, 2013 By WHC Insider


President Barack Obama made the toughest decision of his political career when he managed to break Reddit during the 2012 campaign. He’d fight the horse-sized duck. Maybe.

The answer is just as strange as the question, but since it’s a staple meme on Reddit it comes as a surprise to no one. Buzzfeed released another chapter from their upcoming campaign e-book, “Panic 2012: The Sublime and Terrifying Inside Story of Obama’s Final Campaign.” The chapter is dedicated to the day that Obama took to Reddit on his own AMA, or Ask Me Anything. The president showed the importance of “being yourself” on social media, but only days later did his digital campaign team notice one forgotten question: would he fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?
[Read more…]

Filed Under: 2012 Election, DC, Entertainment, News Media, The White House Tagged With: 2012 Election, Barack Obama, News, Reddit, Social Media

The Running Of The Who's Who for 2013

December 10, 2012 By WHC Insider

cure_224
The end of the year is for making lists and conjecture about who’ll be in charge come next term. Politico’s already started their weekly half-video/half column Behind the Curtain featuring Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei as they tackle the weeks that were–so far that means immigration and the rebranding of Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan.

Buzzfeed, however, seems to be focused entirely on 2013 with today’s list of the 23 People Who Will Be Running Washington Next Year. This service comes complete with headshots that tell us whether we’re looking at a daytime regular on MSNBC, Fox or CNN–or to provide photographic evidence of Paul Ryan’s Michael Steel, pictured above.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Correspondents, DC, Entertainment, News, News Media, Washington Tagged With: 2016 Election, Buzzfeed, Elizabeth Warren, Marco Rubio, News, Paul Ryan, Politico, Social Media, Washington

The Twitterati Search Political Media Women

October 26, 2012 By Tammy Haddad

As seen on The Huffington Post

Masters of search and the Twitterati in this election have obsessed about the real headline makers, Barack Obama‘s Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter and Mitt Romney‘s Barbara Comstock.

Cutter’s previously invisible hand has led many initiatives in her roles in the White House, Treasury, the Senate and, of course, campaigns. For those who have shot her to the top of Google’s search by putting her name alongside “husband” or “workout routine,” she is not just another Washington lawyer. She is a fierce, effective and engaging advocate for the President and that is why a lot of people on the other side have gone after her.

And she is not alone. For example, in one of the most politically important swing states, there is Barbara Comstock. The Virginia delegate and Virginia for Romney co-chair began her media career as Chief Counsel with the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. She has been successfully working the ground game, grassroots and coalition efforts throughout the Commonwealth — door to door — as well as the leading woman’s voice on TV, radio and media; she’s micro and macro. Known in the nineties as one-half of “The Barbaras,” she and the late great Barbara Olson were the toughest Republican advocates during President Clinton’s second term when everyone wanted to be a prosecutor or was being investigated by one. As the most effective female voice for Romney, I am reminded of her challenging role in the Justice department press office post-9/11.

Shattering the debate glass ceiling were two of the longest-serving Washington correspondents. Candy Crowley and Martha Raddatz hosted two of the most important debates and showed the world just how in command strong women can be. CNN’s Jessica Yellin won the booking war by being the only reporter to host primetime specials featuring separate one-on-one interviews with President Obama and the first lady. They all represent a generation of Washington women who have played critical roles on the political inside and now have a supercharged public face. And none of these women blinked in the face of endless searches and comments about their personal lives and clothing.

Finally, there is the tech world. The prominence of women in media and politics is happening in technology chiefly through two top players, Sheryl Sandberg and Kara Swisher.

Washington Post veteran Swisher built the most important technology event of the year, All Things Digital’s D Conference, into the must-attend event for techie street cred. Swisher’s iconic interviews are best represented by hertough questions and velvet glove treatment with Mark Zuckerberg through a hoodie malfunction.

Zuckerberg turned to another Obama Treasury Department veteran, Sheryl Sandberg, to help him run Facebook and she has made history. This January, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, she mesmerized world leaders just by walking through the main hall.

Notably, she is bringing Silicon Valley and top women from across the country out of the backrooms and into the boardrooms, and on to the public stage.

A group of us were inspired by Sandberg’s efforts and started the Washington Women Technology Network, which includes successful women from politics and government — former Congresswoman Susan Molinari at Google, Marne Levine at Facebook and Mindy Finn from Twitter. Another former congresswoman, Ellen Tauscher, who was most recently Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security in the Obama Administration, is the Vice Chair of the Brent Scowcroft Center at the Atlantic Council of the United States. She is promoting the role of women as political and business leaders in international security, diplomacy, and nuclear weapon non-proliferation.

So you can keep searching, pinning and tweeting but none of these women have been defined by or talk about who they date, what they wear or any food plan.

Filed Under: News, Washington Tagged With: Barbara Comstock, Candy Crowley, Jessica Yellin, Kara Swisher, Martha Raddatz, Media News, Sheryl Sandberg, Social Media, Stephanie Cutter, Twitter, Washington Women Technology Network

Pope Sends First Tweet

June 29, 2011 By WHC Insider

It looks like you can teach an 84-year-old a new trick. Pope Benedict XVI launched the Vatican’s news information portal via Twitter on Tuesday using, what else? An iPad.

This is the latest in a series of moves from the Vatican to improve communication both internally and with the public. But don’t be fooled by all the “Benedictus” handles on Twitter, the Pope does not have a personal account. The papal tweet was sent from @news_va_en.

Check out the pontiff working the touch screen in this video released on the Vatican’s YouTube Channel. Yes, the Vatican’s been on YT since 2005.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: iPad, news.va, Pope Benedict XVI, Social Media, SocNets, Twitter, Vatican, YouTube

Video Driving Facebook? We're A Fan of That

June 28, 2010 By WHC Insider

Why bother with emails when you can leave a video on your friend’s wall in the same amount of time?

Ok, so that’s not exactly the normal Facebook etiquette, but it could soon be due to the staggering amount of video being uploaded to the social networking site.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Media Strategy, News Media Tagged With: Facebook, iPhone, Social Media, SocNets, Video, YouTube

C-SPAN Checks In with D.C. History

June 24, 2010 By WHC Insider

C-SPAN taking its digital roots further into the District with Foursquare may not sound important, but it’s fantastic news for trivia nerds.

The cable channel’s reason for joining the geo-tagging service is simple enough: be ‘friends’ with C-SPAN. Check in at a certain D.C. venue and get a bit of history. If you check into the Washington Hilton, you’ll get a prompt to watch the 2010 White House Correspondents Dinner speech from President Obama. The plan, according to Fishbowl DC, is to further expand  C-SPAN’s Digital Bus to tag political locations across its U.S. Tour.

Of course, it’d be just as nifty to learn some history depending on where you’re near–such as getting a nudge to go past the old Yenching Palace address in Cleveland Park that closed three years ago and helped end the Cuban Missile Crisis. Or if you happen to be at Good Guys, find out about the Russian spy who escaped through a bathroom window and ran up Wisconsin toward the Russian Embassy.

So friend C-Span and hope they start adding more of the fun side from the Beltway gang.

Filed Under: DC, Media Strategy Tagged With: C-Span, Foursquare, Social Media

Fake AP(ps) and Reports are The New Attack Ad

June 23, 2010 By WHC Insider

So long Daisy and Demon Sheep; hello mobile phones and faux-reports!

The Washington Post reports on Robert Ehrlich Jr.’s recent advertising campaign to take back the governor’s seat this year. Instead of a generic spot airing on the cable networks, the former Maryland governor provides on-location briefings via YouTube “covered” by Andy Barth, a former TV reporter and now acting as his press secretary.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: DC, Media Strategy, News Media Tagged With: iPhone, Robert Ehrlich Jr., Social Media, SocNets, Twitter, YouTube

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About White House Correspondents Insider

Exploring “behind the scenes” of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

We track the White House Correspondents’ weekend and all the activities around it, from journalists and media companies to the White House and politicos.

Tammy Haddad is Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WHC Insider and CEO of Haddad Media.

White House Correspondents Insider is not affiliated with or approved by the White House Correspondents’ Association, which is a registered trademark of the WHCA.

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