Back in March 2007 I received an email from a friend telling me about the plight of Eric Volz. If you remember, he was sitting in a Nicaraguan jail accused of murdering his girlfriend. Although this bit of news happened to be true, I was initially unconvinced and it took me a fair amount of time to figure it out. I chronicled this episode on my blog in an article entitled, “Searching For News.” The thesis was simple, we live in the information age and unbranded information, even if received from a trusted source may not be true.

“Now we are entering (some would argue that we have been in one for a decade) a world where emails from friends with seemingly real news stories and seemingly real references may be casually passed along and consumed as facts. We’ve always trusted our friends as good sources of info. We’ve grown up (even the digital natives) in a world of trusted news brands — why shouldn’t we be conditioned to believe what we read if formatted like news, is, in fact, news?

This is just the beginning. UGC as video content has made all the news this year, but the real story is just bubbling under the surface. The moulin of user generated news is about to seep under the branded news glaciers we believe will never melt or fall into the sea. Let’s just hope the melting ice doesn’t redraw the map to the point where we won’t recognize the coastline.”

In recent weeks there has been an inexplicably high amount of misinformed news … seemingly more than normal. While this is nothing new (Remember Jayson Blair?), the nomination of a relatively unknown politician as John McCain’s running mate has spurred all sorts of unsubstantiated rumors; from the baby factor, to drug use, drunk driving, guns, political kick backs, affairs, the list goes on and on. It would make a good soap opera but for the fact that the story is too trite and the characters are too stereotypical.

First, there were blogger accusations that Mrs. Palin had covered up her daughter’s pregnancy by claiming it to be her own. Some claimed that four-month-old Trig, who was born with Down syndrome, was Bristol’s baby, not Sarah’s. As we all know, Bristol is five-months pregnant, which debunks this rumor. However, the rumor hasn’t evaporated and there are certainly thousands, if not more, who still believe Sarah was covering for her daughter.

It’s not just bloggers getting in on the action, “real” reporters (whatever that means) can’t get enough either. So much so that the fine folks at Bloomberg have hosted several rather comical, absurd articles in the past few weeks. First was their inclusion of the Steve Jobs obituary on August 27th. . While it is commonplace for major news outlets to pre-write obituaries of famous people, Mr. Jobs opened his speech at Apple’s “Let’s Rock” event this week by proving he was not dead. If that’s not bad enough, Bloomberg also had a hand in publishing the Sarah Palin drunk driving report, which, it turns out, isn’t true. It was her husband, Todd, who was arrested for a DWI, 22 years ago. .

In a similar instance, a 2002 story from the Chicago Tribune on United Airlines filing for bankruptcy was mistaken as new by Income Securities Advisors Inc. and subsequently picked up by Google News and, you guessed it, Bloomberg News. The story effectively tanked United Airlines stock, causing a 76% drop in share value. All this just two years after United emerged from bankruptcy protection.

One of the most popular of the Sarah Palin stories, and there are a handful of good ones, is the infamous American flag Bikini/AK-47 photo. This photoshopped masterpiece spread through the web like wildfire, so much so that CNN reporter Lola Ogunnaike commented that Palin “looks good in a bikini clutching an AK-47, but is she equipped to run the country?” Too bad it’s not the Governor and it’s not even an AK-47!

Another piece of Palin intrigue was the open letter written by Wasilla, AK resident Anne Kilkenny, who has supposedly known Palin for years. The letter highlights Sarah’s rise to power and her actions along the way. Kilkenny is objective, and honest in her assertion that she herself has sparred with Palin in the past, specifically over the banning of books in the town library. This letter was picked up for publication by The Nation, The [Illinois] Daily Journal and the Anchorage Daily News. But, as with the Eric Volz story, I received an email about this letter from a friend in Upstate New York who told me that he had received it from two different people that morning. Were his sources credible? Was this letter real?

My imperfect solution was to check the letter out on urbanlegends.com and snopes.com. They said the AK-47/bikini pic was fake, the list of banned books was fake and the letter from Anne Kilkenny as partially true. The open letter from Ms. Kilkenny, a lifelong Democrat who supposedly attended every city counsel meeting during Palin’s first year in office, was even featured as part of an article in the New York Times. Partially true?

We media professionals have slid down the slippery slope of journalistic integrity much farther than I could ever have imagined. Some of our most trusted news sources are using User Generated Content as source material and have no more ability to check their facts than average Internet users do.

Mistakes happen, UAL was serendipitously taken out to the woodshed and their share price with it. It could have happened to anyone. But having a CNN reporter think, for a second, that the picture of a woman in a bikini holding a rifle could actually be Governor Palin and reporting it as such is truly inexcusable for a professional news organization. Anyone with a minute of training could tell you that the weapon was not an AK-47 and that the picture was most likely “fun with Photoshop.”

In these times of ubiquitous communications tools, video production, audio production and graphic arts capabilities, it is incumbent for professional news media outlets to exercise above average judgment and demonstrate a higher standard of editorial decision-making. Otherwise, it will all just be noise.

Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes a daily news show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment, Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2006, Focal Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy® Awards). He is the Vice-Chairman of the National Academy of Media Arts & Sciences an organization dedicated to education and leadership in the areas of technology, media and entertainment. Palmer also oversees the Advanced Media Technology Emmy® Awards which honors outstanding achievements in the science and technology of advanced media. You can read Shelly’s blog here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net

Last week Senator Obama was channeling Aaron Sorkin when he challenged Senator McCain to a debate about which of them had the temperament and judgment to be President of the United States. Parts of his speech read like a page out of Sorkin’s pre-The West Wing movie script, The American President. “John McCain doesn’t get it!” It made for great television. So much so, that it was the highest rated television hour this year. Obama’s acceptance speech pulled in 38.4 million viewers across the channels in the 10PM hour. It beat the opening ceremony of the Olympics (34.2 million), the Oscars (31.6 million) and the American Idol season finale (21.7 million). Just remember, all of the network show’s air on only one channel, the Senator’s speech was on NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, Fox News, MSNBC, CSPAN and a few more. Alexander Gittleson at ABC reminded me that the Nielsen numbers do not include CSPAN, PBS or BET for that matter so Senator Obama’s viewership was probably closer to 45 million.

Is there an hour of television in the recent memory of man or beast where CNN has beaten ABC by 1.5 million viewers? It happened during Senator Obama’s speech. CNN’s coverage was the number one program on basic cable (8.1 million viewers,) besting TNT’s cop drama The Closer with 7.4 million.

This week, Governor Palin was channeling Gary Ross and Ivan Reitman when the self proclaimed, “pit-bull with lipstick” went right after Senator Obama with a hockey stick. It was like a scene out of the movie, Dave — a little sleeper from 1993 staring Kevin Kline. The tag line from the movie was, “In a country where anybody can become President, anybody just did.” No matter what you think of her politics, Governor Palin’s coming out party was compelling television and compelling television drives ratings! The Governor’s numbers were extraordinary. Preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research shows that Palin’s broadcast television audience of 37.2 million viewers edged out Senator Clinton’s and decimated Senator Biden’s audience of 24 million viewers.

By comparison, Senator McCain’s acceptance speech was low-key. And even though public speaking from a teleprompter is not his thing. His speech topped Senator Obama’s for total viewers (38.9 million). But remember, the actual number is probably higher for the same reasons Senator Obama’s number are probably higher. In any event, Senator McCain’s repositioning of his brand strategy will be what people take-away from the event. “Maverick” and the “Pit-bull” are going to change Washington the “right” way.

Sarah “The Pit-bull” Palin, Senator McCain’s VP pick, has been “the” topic of conversation for most of this week. While speaking with CNBC’s Jonathan Wald about the biz, he said, “Obama was the new guy, but Palin is the new, new guy! This is going to be quite a fight.” Jonathan’s right, this is going to be a fight. But look at what they’re fighting over – Women 18-49. Interestingly, according to Nielsen, Governor Palin pulled in more women (19.5 million), than Mrs. Clinton (14.3 million). This might as well be P&G vs. Unilever. Not politically, of course. Just looking for market share. Women make up 54% of the voting public. Whichever camp gets the most Women will win. It’s a little sad to reduce the campaign for POTUS to similarities with share points and adjusted case volumes, but that’s how it’s going to be.

Which brand of female-friendly politics will you buy? The Democrat’s tax and spend, government-run, universal healthcare plan or the Republican’s lower tax, reduced cost health insurance plan? Etc., etc., etc. The biggest challenge for each side now is to properly package their brand of government to the swayable, undecided voting women of America.

Of course, the real winner this week was the media industry itself. Sure the Republican’s scolded the media for the way they handled Governor Palin’s personal issues, but it was grist for the mill and it drove ratings. Controversy and conflict are the key elements to a compelling story and nobody in the media business could have written a better script than the one that evolved this week. The “Maverick” and the “Pit-bull” against the “Change Agent” and the “Washington Insider.” The pundits loved it. And, when there was no new news, the media created all the conflict it needed and produced hours and hours of intense, emotional arguments by booking zealous advocates from both sides of the aisle.

This is the news cycle of the year — commercially friendly, fully sponsored and completely sold out. Which begs the question, what’s going to happen to the media industry after the election? Where’s Aaron Sorkin when you need him?

Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes a daily news show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment, Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2006, Focal Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy® Awards). He is the Vice-Chairman of the National Academy of Media Arts & Sciences an organization dedicated to education and leadership in the areas of technology, media and entertainment. Palmer also oversees the Advanced Media Technology Emmy® Awards which honors outstanding achievements in the science and technology of advanced media. You can read Shelly’s blog here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net

While the cable networks are doing their best to cover every aspect of the activities at the DNC, they simply can’t cover everything. And, certainly nothing but the biggest names are covered by the broadcast nets. However, there is one place where you can see and experience absolutely everything you might want to see in HD. Even if you don’t have an HD television set or a DVR. www.demconvention.com.

The site uses a technology from Move Networks that will deliver HD-quality video to your computer and, in fact, it adjusts the video automatically to take advantage of the combination of the speed of your Internet connection and the quality of your computer. The video is brought to you commercial free and, more importantly, commentary free. It is just like being in the hall.

Rich media websites come in all shapes and sizes. Some are focused on video clips, some on interactivity, but they all have one goal - great UX. That’s trade lingo for user experience. The DNC is about a great many things, but the speeches are front and center - and there are plenty of them. As far as UX goes, demconvention.com is excellent. Want to see President Clinton’s speech, Hillary’s, Joe Biden’s? All just one click away. Interested in some of the interstitial material, the mini docs or some of the lesser-known speakers … maybe two clicks away.

Is demconvention.com cannibalizing the traditional television audience or just making the party’s message accessible to a younger, more tech-savvy voter? I think the later. And, I also think that millennials, digital natives, digital immigrants and even digital tourists are enjoying the ability to watch video of this quality on demand. This site truly delivers on the WIWWIWWIW (what I want, when I want, where I want) advanced media consumption promise.

Kudos to the convention organizers for putting together an excellent rich media website and for giving everyone access to both live and VOD full screen, high quality video. It just one more technical tour de force from a campaign that has mastered advanced media in this, first-ever, online presidential race.

Shelly Palmer is the host of MediaBytes a daily news show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment, Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2006, Focal Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy® Awards). He is the Vice-Chairman of the National Academy of Media Arts & Sciences an organization dedicated to education and leadership in the areas of technology, media and entertainment. Palmer also oversees the Advanced Media Technology Emmy® Awards which honors outstanding achievements in the science and technology of advanced media. You can read Shelly’s blog here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska is facing a seven-count indictment accusing him of accepting more than $250,000 in unreported gifts. The Washington Post reported that many Alaskans “greeted the news of Stevens’s indictment on corruption charges as if they were condemned to a pauper’s death, fearful that they will no longer be able to depend on the largess of ‘Uncle Ted.’

I never knew the Senator’s nickname was “Uncle Ted.” That name was given to him by the friends and constituents he hooked up with over $3.2 billion in earmarks over the past four years. My nickname for Senator Stevens is, and always will be, “Tubes.”

With all of the hoopla surrounding the Senator’s indictment for “making false statements,” people are forgetting that he should have been indicted for the same crime directly after his infamous speech on June 28, 2006.

My favorite quote from the speech is:

“Ten movies streaming across that, that Internet, and what happens to your own personal Internet? I just the other day got … an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o’clock in the morning on Friday, I got it yesterday [Tuesday]. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the Internet commercially.”

But, “Tubes” Stevens got his nickname from this salient quip:

“… the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It’s not a big truck. It’s a series of tubes. And if you don’t understand, those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it’s going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material …”

You just can’t make this stuff up. Not to put too fine a point on it. If the good Senator had just made the “tubes” quote, nobody would have come down on him. I call it a “fat pipe,” he calls it a “tube,” no biggy. But - it’s not the tubes that get clogged and when you couple that with his remarkable quote about getting an “Internet” from his staff, you just want to scratch your head.

This would be funny if he wasn’t an elected leader, Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and a member of the Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Innovation.

Two other stories caught my attention this week and, although you may not see them as immediately related, they caused me to stop and think.

The International Olympic Committee was unable to get the Chinese government to allow unfettered Internet access for press and tourists during the upcoming Olympic games. And, Senator McCain put out a seriously pejorative advertisement asking the audience if Senator Obama was “… ready to lead?”

Taken together, I started to wonder how would our current presidential candidates describe the Internet and its associated technology? Do they have a firm grasp on the issues surrounding our telecommunications future? Do they know what the technical limitations of the medium are? Is either candidate ready to lead us past the information age into the age of cloud computing, reduction mapping and explosive data?

As much as the world has changed this year, it is nothing compared to what is about to happen. Tubes Steven’s indictment may be metaphoric. By this time next year, an average high school student will be able to run a reduction map algorithm on every score posted on Xbox live using cloud processing and some cloud storage. What will he do with the data? The question is rhetorical, don’t email me. I’m just pointing out that we are about to enter an era when kids, business people, moms, criminals and terrorists will all have access to that kind of computing power and the tubes really won’t fill up.

Is the elected leadership ready? Are the candidates? Tubes … enjoy the big house.

Shelly Palmer is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2006, Focal Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy® Awards). He is the Vice-Chairman of the National Academy of Media Arts & Sciences an organization dedicated to education and leadership in the areas of technology, media and entertainment. Palmer also oversees the Advanced Media Technology Emmy® Awards which honors outstanding achievements in the science and technology of advanced media. You can read Shelly’s blog here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net