“Digital media” on The Daily Caller

NewsBeast isn’t ready to come out of the cage quite yet. (more)

Whether or not it was intentional, CBS News made a poor “desision” on Sunday when it broadcast a fake cover of former President George W. Bush’s new memoir, “Decision Points,” during a book special. (more)

Every once and a while, we stumble upon an especially bad television show. (more)

By now every observer of American politics is familiar with the phrase “Fire Nancy Pelosi,” especially the soon-to-be-former speaker herself. But even the wonkiest of political creatures will be surprised to learn how a software algorithm led to that meme entering the political landscape. What is bound to shock data-driven technology people is that many Republican insiders completely disagreed with the data, and thought that a campaign targeting Speaker Pelosi wouldn’t ignite public ire. This is the inside story of how Speaker Pelosi found herself the target of the brand of politics she has practiced for years, and how this may well be the year that consumer technologies chose a winning political message; it is also a warning tale to people in the public opinion and mobilization businesses. (more)

With the New Year fast approaching, YouTube has introduced a new channel, ‘Rewind,’ so viewers can relive the videos, performances and moments that defined the site in 2010. (more)

YouTube founder Chad Hurley has decided to end his day-to-day involvement in the development of the platform. (more)

In a tight midterm campaign season full of neck-and-neck races in which even the smallest benefit can change a loss to a win, Matt Drudge is once again putting his stamp on the election. (more)

Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Basil Marceaux — the same guy who injured himself making sausage — appeared this week on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (more)

Andy Griffith of the “Andy Griffith Show” — which was popular in 1965 when Medicare was first enacted — is shilling for Obamacare ahead of the midterm elections in a new television advertisement aimed at addressing supposed false allegations about the sweeping health-care reform law. There’s just one problem: In a rare investigative screwup, Matlock made some claims about Medicare benefits being ‘guaranteed’ when, by any traditional understanding of the word, they just aren’t. (more)

The same week that video surfaced showing Rep. Ciro Rodriguez banging some papers and yelling a bit in the name of defending his dignity,  a handheld video from a July 12 town hall shows New Jersey Democrat Steve Rothman ripping into a constituent who interrupted him during his answer to a question on healthcare. (To be fair to Rothman, it seemed pretty clear the questioner had no real interest in hearing an answer from him — he even admits he doesn’t want Rothman to address the part of his question that pertained to Obamacare and opts instead to heap on a few ad hominems. ) (more)

Carrying on the grand tradition of chief executives promising that they won’t rest until everyone can find a job with good benefits — an economic impossibility on its face — President Obama this week told Americans that he won’t take time off until they’re all receiving steady paychecks. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the president, like all presidents, has been saying that for months. October of 2009: (more)

The Department of Justice under Attorney General Eric Holder may have backed off a slam-dunk voter intimidation case it had prosecuted against two New Black Panther Party members — more on that here — and this handheld video shot on Election Day 2008 only raises more questions among ‘crackers’ as to why. (more)

Justin Bieber fans looking to check out the 16-year-old singing sensation on YouTube yesterday were left panting — for all the wrong reasons. (more)

Speaking Thursday to reporters on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged an extension of jobless benefits, calling them “one of the biggest stimuluses to our economy” and saying it “creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative.” Strangely, Pelosi also argued that “it’s impossible to think of a situation where we would have a country without unemployment benefits” — even though the debate in Congress now is over whether to extend benefits, not get rid of them for every  American. (more)

About the last thing left to ponder in the whole affair surrounding the departure of blogger David Weigel from The Washington Post is whether the snark that proved his downfall is inherent to digital media, or just to his generation. I’m grabbing this last point. (more)

With a copy of the Federalist Papers in hand, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) launched a desperate but valiant attempt to make Wednesday’s confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan remotely interesting. Coburn asked the nominee whether the Congress could tell Americans what to eat “every day,” but Kagan refused to categorically answer the question, saying only that such a requirement could be “dumb.” (more)

During a town hall meeting last Saturday, a sarcastic Congressman Pete Stark (D-Calif.) asked a self-described minuteman, “Who are you going to kill today?” in response to a question about border security. “If you knew anything about our borders…our borders are quite secure,” he added as the crowd reacted with disbelief. When asked by the minuteman why he did not appear to be taking the issue of border security seriously, Stark replied: “I don’t have to make fun of you,” Stark continued. “You do a fine job of that yourself.” (CLICK FOR FULL STORY) (more)

Viewers are accustomed to watching Hulu, the service that shows network TV programs over the Internet, for free. But a version of Hulu that will charge viewers for access will launch as early as this week, according to people with knowledge of the matter. (more)

As Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan droned on about “no one” having a “monopoly on truth or wisdom” and about how “we make progress by listening to each other across every apparent political or ideological divide” — or whatever — Senator and Judiciary Committee star Al Franken decided to do the reasonable thing and just fall asleep during yesterday’s superbly boring confirmation hearing. (more)

Florida Senator George LeMieux, who has repeatedly criticized the lack of oil skimmers available to help in the Gulf, said during an interview this week that President Obama does not seem to “know” the ability of foreign nations to provide their own skimmers. LeMieux says that the president implied that not all available skimmers — both foreign and domestic — could be deployed to the Gulf because they might be needed “elsewhere,” a position he described as “beyond comprehension.” (more)