Bloomberg memes, Pelosi shrugs and new muzak
Issue #9
Welcome to the NINTH edition of the Lazy Desperado newsletter! This week we take a look at oddly stilted coverage for presidential candidates, Bloomberg spending big on memes, and fresh tracks from new albums that dropped this week.
I’ve been trying to get a grip on my work-balance life and it’s not going great, but there is always hope. I end up working through the night on my own writing after working overtime at my day job only to stay up watching true crime documentaries knowing damn well I have to wake up around 5 a.m. I either do that, or fall asleep immediately on the couch before 10 p.m.
For anyone else writing independently, or working with a busy schedule: how do you balance your passion with daily life? What helps you get motivated before you work on what you really love even if the bags under your eyes are dragging on the floor?
Thank you for subscribing, and as always SHARE THE HELL out of this newsletter through your favorite dating app, conversations with your doctor, snail mail, private jet, whatever you prefer. If you have any suggestions for the newsletter, respond to this newsletter or email me at cpryce@protonmail.com. Let’s get into it:
Nancy Pelosi is just a boneless shrug emoji 🤷🏻♀️
Here is a post from last week discussing the theatrics and absence of effect from Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, ripping up President Donald Trump’s SOTU speech on camera for clout and pretend pats on the head. Politicians should actually politic, not do … whatever this was.
Check out the full article at ChevallPryce.com and drop a comment on the website. What did you think about the speech rip? Was the symbolism enough or was it just another distraction from Pelosi’s lack of trying?
New series: Vetting the Vets on ChevallPryce.com
NEW SERIES! In order to stay focused on specific topics, I have begun the Vetting the Vets series on my personal website. This first post covers the odd coverage of Joe Rogan endorsing Bernie Sanders compared to similarly problematic relations other candidates have. Check out the description for the series and a couple of excerpts:
Welcome to Vetting the Vets, a new blog series for ChevallPryce.com. For this series, I will analyze news media coverage of trending, significant, and eye-grabbing events from the present and the past while critiquing the overall coverage and ethics surrounding articles and pieces based on the events.
Did CNN ask the right questions? Was MSNBC giving interviewees softball questions instead of getting to the point? Are tweets just iffy clickbait? Did the Washington Post or the New York Times put the spotlight on the wrong person? These questions, and more, will be answered over the course of Vetting the Vets.
“Reactionaries on Twitter reacted, as their namesake implies. Some Sanders supporters said they were no longer supporting the candidate, while supporters of other candidates wagged their fingers at Sanders supporters, feeling smug and superior for no reason at all. Understandably, it would be disappointing to hear a presidential candidate say they agree with someone who does not care to understand the plight and lives of transgender people and other minorities. Except, this is not what happened at all. It was a tweet, probably put together by a staff member, to announce an overall positive from the campaign’s perspective that had nothing to do with the clips people were circulating.”
Check out the full post here:
Bloomberg v.s. Instagram
Mike Bloomberg launched a massive, money-fueled, tone deaf, literally rule breaking meme-based ad campaign last week. Long story short, he paid large meme pages on Instagram (fuckjerry, grapejuiceboys,kalesalad, etc.) to post guerilla-style ads in the form of memes. Not only were the memes tone deaf, but Bloomberg went completely around the standard Instagram rules for posting ads.
What resulted was not only bad press for (and a large amount of eyes on) Bloomberg, but also bad press practices. Some reporters and news anchors really showed how aged their media and internet literacy is. Take, for instance, this interview with New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz on CNBC where she tries her hardest to explain memes to an older reporter who clearly does not take the situation seriously:
From the dated lingo to the inability to just let the situation explained, it’s no wonder why people are not watching as much TV news.
Lorenz also wrote an excellent article about Bloomberg’s quest to be a meme lord with money for NYT and I highly recommend checking it out for a good grasp on the situation and how it is problematic. Also, if you were wondering about Instagram’s actions concerning Bloomberg circumventing their entire ad system:
Roundup 2/14/20 (sorry, no love songs)
This week the Roundup includes tracks from the insanely good (and short) Denzel Curry/Kenny Beats tape, some bangers from A Boogie and DaBaby, a return for form for Grimes and brand new grooves from Tame Impala’s first LP in five years. Enjoy and follow the playlist! It lets me know if you actually like it and if we should keep this portion in the newsletter.
That’s it for this issue! Thank you for reading and don’t forget to get to SHARE the newsletter, COMMENT on anything you like or dislike and SEND ME IDEAS FOR GUEST ARTICLES. Block Bloomberg memers.
See you all next week - Chevall P.