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1. Facts And Opinions About This Gwen Ifill Drama | afrobella on 02 Oct 2008 at 12:14 am

   [...] Gwen Ifill hubbub. Click here to read opinions from The Daily Voice, Write Black, and Stereohyped. Carmen from Racialicious discussed it on NPR today, too! Afrobella Issues [...]

Comments

1. Jim wrote:

   Hey Carmen,
   Today was cool, sorry I dodged your volley. But to carry on…you seem to be missing the connection between popular writing and speaking/appearance fees. I certainly use this, in part, to motivate me to slave-away into the night writing, as do the people you mentioned. And your forgot Eric M. Dyson at the head of the line.
   Jim Collier

   Posted 01 Oct 2008 at 3:47 pm ¶

2. Kim Pearson wrote:

   Gwen Ifill is neither a gimmick nor a racial activist. She shouldn’t be compared to Mike Dyson — Bob Woodward would be a better comparison. She is a non-partisan journalist with a track record that goes back more than 20 years. She moderated the 2004 VP debate and did a great job. She never made a secret out of the fact that she was writing a book, of which Obama is a small part. The campaigns knew about it when they approved the list of moderators. This is a false issue and it’s insulting to a great reporter.

   Congrats on your appearance, Carmen. I blogged about the effort to scapegoat people of color yesterday for BlogHer.

   Posted 01 Oct 2008 at 5:28 pm ¶

3. NancyP wrote:

   It’s Gwen Ifill. She is among the most professional and self-effacing TV/radio top tier journalists out there. She reminds me more of the no-nonsense BBC World News types than the average member of the current top tier journalists. We aren’t talking Michael Moore or John Stossel here – we are talking about a woman that knows how to keep her own political opinions to herself during her reports, interviews, and moderations.

   Frankly, there aren’t that many people out there who would want to write a book about the McCain campaign’s effect on politics (although there might be a few now that he has selected Palin, since the “woman with realistic chance of gaining Presidency or VP” bit hasn’t occured in 24 (28?) years, and there have been major social changes since then).

   Of course an experienced journalist would be interested in writing about the first black person to have a realistic chance of becoming President, and what this event says about the state of racism in America, the state of politics in black America, and in white America, generational shift in the presidency, etc. This is a more novel topic than McCain (McSame, as far as type of candidate). A well known and respected journalist might actually make money on the book (speaker’s fees, etc). After all, Woodward made money on his recent two books on the Bush presidency.

   Posted 01 Oct 2008 at 9:21 pm ¶

4. Jim wrote:

   Carmen/Kim,
   I did not say Ifill or her book effort was a gimic, but rather that the inaugral release date was ‘gimicky’ and the only source of conflict. By choosing that date, the publisher is betting that more books will sell if coincidentally Obama is taking the oath, which gives her a financial stake in that result – therefore a conflict. My only reference to Dyson is that books in and of themselves may not generate large profits, but related fees can be quite lucrative for some.
   Jim

   Posted 01 Oct 2008 at 10:21 pm ¶

5. Erik wrote:

   Hi Carmen,
   I just wanted to say it was nice hearing you mention the whole concept of people voting for Bush based on him being someone people would like to drink a beer with. I have brought that same point up to others. As you said, this is what happens. It’s time for an intelligent person to step into the white house, and take the wheel for a while.
   Thanks again,
   Erik

   Posted 01 Oct 2008 at 10:27 pm ¶

6. CJsDaddy wrote:

   I like Ifill a lot, and I think a lot of conservatives do as well, until now. She’s affable to everyone, direct, and fair. She was universally for her moderation of the 04 VP debate (at least as much as one praises such things).

   Unfortunately, given the title of her book, and the timing of the publication, she’s in a tough spot. I’d blame that on her publisher. I mean – the tentative title of the book is The title of the book is “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama”. I read her defense of the situation this morning and it wasn’t real strong. Even if you ARE impartial, it’s kindof hard to argue that when you use terminology like “Age of Obama”.

   Can she still do a great job? Absolutely and she probably will if she stays on. Some part of me says she should just step aside and blame the publisher. On the other hand, I’d hate to see her leave the debate, and I hate to see a good person in a hard position like this. I feel like she can’t win no matter what she does.

   Posted 02 Oct 2008 at 9:51 am ¶

7. Nina wrote:

   The Gwen Ifill issue is an attempt by the Republican party to steer the public away from the fact that Sarah Palin is not right for the VP position. It also sets the stage for them to cry foul if Ifill is remotely “tough” on Palin. They can’t cry sexist due to Ifill’s shared gender so now if the debate goes poorly for Palin, they can claim that Ifill was sabotaging Palin for her own personal gain-the sale of her book. It’s just sad. Palin may indeed crash and burn, or she may surprise us all and soar (cough, cough). Who knows. But let her do it on her own terms without excuses made for her by the patronizing McCain camp. With all this pre-setting (a term commonly used to describe parents attempts to prepare their toddlers and pre-schoolers for what lies ahead), it is impossible not to be completely disgusted by the GOP. I’m with Campbell Brown -FREE SARAH PALIN.

   Posted 02 Oct 2008 at 1:02 pm ¶