Law And More

James, The Non-Murdoch - Transforming Media in Post-Trump Era

The end of the Donald Trump Political Phenomenon will likely mean a disruption of media.

Of course, a far right medium like Fox News will lost influence.

On the other hand, The New York Times could wobble badly, only kept alive through a foundation which parachutes in. Many (including Trump) contend the NYT has been kept alive by its signature push-back on Trumpworld.

In the ashes could rise a new kind of media presence: James Murdoch. Yes, he is the son of media tycoon Rupert.

In the NYT Maureen Dowd interviews James at length. (Both it and she could be on short time).

James had left the family business, labeling it as a source of disinformation.

His relationship with his father Rupert and his brother Lachlan is tense (understatement).

His pivot is to reforming fake news. That includes investing in startups whose mission is that. Also, he funds research studying the digital manipulation of society. In addition his wife Kathryn has a background in communications.

It wouldn't be a surprise if James and Kathryn evolve into the media power couple in a post-Trump world. They have the passion, knowledge, connections and money. 

The first collapse could come in gotcha journalism. Instead, as in scientific research, there will be a sincere effort to find the "truth." Not create sensationalistic headlines for their own sake or to manipulate human beings.

In the legal niche, Abovethelaw could face the need to change its tone and content. Having tipsters who share with ATL confidential material from law firms might no longer be saluted as heroic. The ethos of supposed whistleblowing could undergo a redefinition. Motivation could be factored in. Hey, why does this first-year associate, pulling down nearly $200k, have such a beef?

In general media, Buzzfeed could be "excommunicado" (to borrow that phrase from the film series "John Wick.") The fun could go out of exposes.

What more and more of us are aware of is that life is an existential tragedy. So, what relief do we receive from that through the unmasking of supposed miscreants? Bring on the lightness of being and we promise we will be able to bear it.

Actually, some of the unraveling is happening simply as a result of market forces.

Verizon is reported to be shopping around the far-left HuffPost. How predictable has been the angle on content. The tone is the exhaustion of MS. Magazine in its final days. The content is as stale as the plotting of "Desperate Housewives" when writers ran out of ideas. 

The conservative leaning (but toned down over the years) Drudge Report is said to be for sale or needing investors.

Simultaneously, paid newsletters like Substack, which strive for objectivity, are the new cool. Here is my article on that trend, published in O'Dwyer PR.

Therefore, obviously the world is ready for a James-type righting of the wrongs of media. 

In itself that could restore respect for the field of journalism. The sector could have a roaring comeback.

Help-wanted ads for journalists will multiply in number. Higher education will need to expand current journalism programs. In my career coaching for young people, I could encourage them to, yes, prepare for that vocation. It's not a job. - Download ReimaginingYourCareerWithJaneGenova.

You bet, a world suffering from COVID-19 and the worst of capitalism needs a fresh set of heroes. Kathryn and James could be among them.

In addition there are those in the legal community who already have the tools to assist with the carnage of the pandemic and to transform capitalism into a system that benefits all of us.

An example of that is the law firm Paul, Weiss, chaired by Brad Karp. It motivated the industry-wide collaboration creating the COVID Relief Center for victims of the pandemic.

Simultaneously, it has been an early adopter in The Triple Bottom Line, that is expanding capitalism from only chasing profits to the well-being of people and planet earth. That happens in its new practice:  Sustainability & Environmental, Social and Governance Advisory Panel (ESG).

Meanwhile global chairman of Dentons Joe Andrew has been on the front lines of media, looking out for the little guy. The earnestness mirrors the tone and content of a Frank Capra film. Give us more of that, Joe.

The legacy of the Black Plague, document historians, had been an era of regression. The Dark Ages.

It will take a fresh kind of leadership to avoid that globally after COVID-19 finishes with mankind. I have a hunch it is nearly in-place. 

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Post-Trump World: Legal Media Probably Won't Collapse (like general media could)

For more than five years the Donald Trump political phenomenon created what Tom Eliot calls in Vanity Fair the "gravy train" for media. That is, the general media, ranging from broadcast to old-line print. 

Trump himself understood his power in boosting viewership and even making some journalists stars. In essence, he warned them that if he goes away so do they.

Specifically he singled out The New York Times as transitioning from failing to failed. Incidentally, others share Trump's perception that NYT had been on life support before he parachuted into the scene and could be back there if he is no longer clickbait. A foundation might have to take over the funding for all the news that is fit to print.

But, those in legal media likely are not concerned about their future in a post-Trump world. So much of it is niche-oriented, exploiting the need for research, information, insight and connection in very narrowly defined space.

For example, Abovethelaw's audience primarily consists of law students and junior lawyers. The relationship is highly symbiotic. The digital-first publication relies on them for anonymous tips. They, in turn, derive extreme satisfaction from playing a role in having power brokers in the legal sector publicly shamed. A good time is had by all. As long as ATL can hang on to those sources it will be just fine.

Meanwhile, on broadcast television, the theatrical "Court TV" captures the eyeballs of laypeople fascinated with crime, trial and punishment. Panels explain and debate points of law. Established is a collective ethos of appreciating that miscreants get theirs. For many the programming is downright addictive. 

Syndicated legal bloggers like myself often had to struggle to identify a niche with staying power. My first one - lead paint as a public nuisance - eventually ran out of steam after four years. For a while I was in limbo. Not a good place to be.

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That was a gift from the universe since there is so much angst in the legal and myriad other sectors about how to earn a living.

So, those of us playing in the legal media sandbox will probably be able to keep our toys and keep playing. 

As for those in general media, they might experience a Stalin-like purge. The sector had already been downsizing significantly. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in the first six months of 2020 and only in the newsroom category, 11,000 jobs were lost, reports Axios.

Media, some contend, is the most powerful institution in the world. However, it is not immune to large-scale reductions in force. 

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Ellen DeGeneres - The Puritans Were Onto Something with Public Shaming

"Ratings for last month's premiere week of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' plummeted 38% from last year, suggesting the controversy over reports of a toxic workplace – which led to the firing of three top producers – has spilled over into dwindling fan support." - Gary Levin, USA Today, October 6, 2020. 

It is public shaming which is finishing off once-iconic comic and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. According to Nielsen, last year that first week of the season had an average of 2.67 million viewers. This year it was 1.66 million. 

The Puritans, who established the most powerful economy in the world, were masters at public shaming. Given the effectiveness of that mode of social control, they had almost total control over economic development. Only the mentally unbalanced would have dared not make work their core value.

Then, supposed progress intervened. Shaming was considered wrong. Parents, teachers, bosses and probation/parole officers pivoted to sparing miscreants humiliation. Instead, they "understood." However, that seems to have been another earnest experiment which didn't yield the expected outcomes. 

That seems to be in the process of being tossed. Twitter, documents Axios, has replaced broadcast television as the medium people in America go to for information and connection during crisis.

It was on Twitter that "Replace Ellen" kicked off last summer.

No fools, reformers get it, just as the Puritans instinctively knew, that showcasing supposed wrongs on Twitter (as well as other social networks) produces results. In addition, it's a lot of fun.

There is the old adage that professionals learn the most from failure, not success. A new meme could be emerging that human beings learn to do the right thing from being shamed, not being understood. 

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The President Is Sick - The Nation Turned to Twitter, Not Television

Digital platform Twitter has replaced broadcast television as where America collectively turns during national crisis.  

Axios documents that.

For example, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced he had been infected with COVID-19, it was on Twitter that those in America expressed their feelings, sought information and connected through likes, retweets and comments.

But, the medium has its problems. At the top of the list are:

It's vulnerable to all kinds of rumor. But, that's what makes it so much fun.

There are security dark holes.

Monitoring has gaps. 

However, it seems that Twitter is the best America has right now. For the most part, broadcast television is a one-way medium. It has many gatekeepers.

Twitter is a platform for conversations in real time. Sure, there are some rules but mostly anyone can hop on. 

Given the power of Twitter, someday soon even the top anchor - ABC's David Muir - could find himself obsolete. To remain relevant, the establishment media will have to create a super Twitter account for Muir. 

Legal marketers will have to get better than they currently are in getting the right kind of attention for their clients on Twitter. Some of them are succeeding on LinkedIn but not many.

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Staging - Expected

What made news and perhaps motivated compassion among jurors was the unique bit of staging in the Mary Winkler murder trial.

That "preacher's wife" was being tried for murdering her husband and the father of their three children. 

One of the defense attorneys Steve Farese had created a display in the courtroom. It was a tableau featuring the wig and platform shoes Mary had been forced to don during sex with her husband.

The visual impact of the staging was, you bet, amazing. After all, this involved a member of the clergy, a small southern community and a self-effacing woman. 

Essentially, Mary got off with a light sentence. She also went on to regain custody of her children. The world doesn't seem to view her harshly.

Farese's sense of staging seemed to influence not only the court of law but also the court of public opinion.

But Farese's genius was about how he staged. Not that he staged. Actually, it's expected in law. Pop culture, especially television fictional legal programming, has featured myriad versions of it.

That device of visual dramatics goes back to the saga of King Solomon. With sword drawn, he triggered the peaceful resolution of a dispute about a baby.

The challenge of the how has become more intense.

After all, jurors have been bombarded for decades in all mediums with clever lawyer dramatics. Classic had been how Perry Mason triggered spontaneous confessions in the courtroom. Some remember how on "Boston Legal" Denny Crane featured a bullseye on his butt. 

In real life, in the O.J. Simpson murder trial there was the theatrics of the glove.

Currently, lawyers have to come up with what will engage but not be perceived as raw manipulation.

Therefore, the legal world awaits how defense lawyers in the criminal trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes will set the whole scene.

How will the defendant dress and style her hair? 

If they are going with a psychiatric defense, how will they coach her to comport herself? 

Meanwhile, will the prosecution feature the supposed technology in the middle of the courtroom? 

A possible new variable for that particular trial is if it will take place via Zoom. That could require lawyers to confer with online-presentation experts. Zoom can distort.

In careers, the analogue to that kind of courtroom staging is personal branding. Yes, it's also expected. Don't play out those dynamics and you can be knocked out of the box because, obviously, you don't get the game. In itself, that designates you are possible trouble.

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Cardinal Timothy Dolan Fingers Parallels Between Ginsburg and Barrett

Both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Amy Coney Barrett have been victims of three of the same kinds of bias. That's what Cardinal Timothy Dolan observes, reports Law & Crime. 

The three kinds of discrimination are:

Faith. For Ginsburg that was her Jewish religion. For Barrett it's Roman Catholicism. U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein expressed in public "concern" about what she perceived as a spillover of Barrett's religious beliefs into her judicial thinking. 

Gender. Both struggled with gender issues.

Motherhood. Given that the legal profession is so demanding, the stigma associated with child-bearing has endured. 

Dolan himself has not met Barrett. However, he notes that he has picked up on his networks praise for both her professional competence and personal character.

What will be interesting for those of in personal branding is analyzing how Barrett presents herself during the U.S. Senate confirmation process. Given the prejudice against women and mothers, if Barrett is warm and engaging she could be written off as a lightweight. But if she is "all business," she could be condemned as "cold" and "lacking human compassion."

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Marketing & Its Discontents - "Justice for Don Lewis" Video Commercial

Timing is everything in marketing.

And, by its very nature, marketing is a controversial pursuit. That, former Harvard marketing professor Ted Levitt made clear in his iconic meme  "Marketing and Its Discontents." Inherently, contended Levitt, people hate to be sold to but love to buy. Meanwhile, the U.S. is recognized globally for its marketing genius. Otherwise, AMC's "Mad Men" wouldn't have been such a hit.

Well those in the Don Lewis loop put out there a video "Justice for Don Lewis." It was timed to air when Carole Baskin, Lewis' wife and an advocate for animals, was having her debut on hit reality show "DWTS." Lewis had vanished in 1997. Earlier the Netflix documentary "Tiger King" featured the suspicion that Lewis might be dead and Baskin the killer. 

Some perceive the timing of "Justice for Don Lewis" in bad taste. After all, Amanda Knox, who had been wrongly convicted of murder in an Italian court, then exonerated, hammers that people are innocent until proven guilty. So, hey, back off from Baskin.

Others smirk and admire the marketing coup. The Lewis supporters certainly received plenty of attention for their plea for information about the disappearance of the man.

Since social media became a force of influence w/o a lot of gatekeepers, marketing has broken out the boxes it had been in. It's not quite an era of everything-goes. But there's plenty more permissible in strategy and tactics.

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"Alan Dershowitz v. Cable News Network" - Alleged False Narrative Via Omission

In U.S. District Court of Southern District of Florida, iconic criminal defense lawyer and retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz filed a lawsuit against CNN. 

In it, reports Law & Crime, he contends that the news outlet created a false narrative about his arguments defending U.S. Donald Trump in his dealings with the Ukraine. That was by omitting parts of what he had said.

Essentially, Dershowitz had put out there the defense that the kinds of qui pro quos Trump engaged in represented what a sitting president can do in to seek re-election and was in the public interest. That is, as long as nothing was illegal. At the time, a number of legal experts indicated they did not agree with that stance.

A copy of the complaint is included with Law & Crime coverage. Dershowitz is asking $50k in compensatory damages and $250k in punitive damages.

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Preparing for Post-Trump World - That May Be Beginning at Fox, Disruption for Law Firms

Gabriel Sherman, the journalistic expert on Fox, speculates on how Fox is gearing up for a post-Trump world.

That analysis is in Vanity Fair. According to Sherman, Fox media tycoon Rupert Murdoch anticipates a Trump loss.

Meanwhile, although a Fox anchor, Democrat Chris Wallace is moderating the September 29th debate. Through the way he facilitates the debate, Wallace can inflict additional damage on Trump. This week has not been kind to him.

But, what's on the minds of law firms is what kind of fallout could occur from election day through a possible legal push-back  on results and then the transition to a post-Trump era. Along with that there could be negative undercurrents from a circling back of COVID-19. Expert opinion about how the economy will respond is just that: opinion.

So, law firms may or may not slide into the kind of abyss that characterized 2008 - 2009. However, that's a scenario they have to prepare for. If law firms panic, darkness could fall on the employment of associates and staff. There could also be rescinded offers replacing deferred start dates which now reach out to Fall 2021.

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Former Jones Day Associate, Fox/NBC Employee, Can Megyn Kelly Pull Off 3rd Career Transition

This time the platform for a shot at big-time success will be podcasting.

The first for Megyn Kelly had been as an associate in elite law firm Jones Day.

Then she became an employee in media companies Fox and NBC.

Now, reports The Wall Street Journal, her third try is as an entrepreneur. At the end of this month she is launching her own enterprise Devil May Care Media via podcasting. She indicates she wants full control over the tone and direction of content. No more superiors as middlemen.

Each podcast will be under an hour. The approach will be provocative but not unduly irreverent. No, this is not a kind of free-wheeling operation like that of a comic. 

However, already on Twitter, Kelly has attracted negative commentary about her struggle to orchestrate a comeback.

Also, she is already 49. No more The Young Woman. She has pushed back on that with a tweet about how important her three children and husband are to her. 

Had I been Kelly's career coach I would have recommended that she find another sandbox to play in. She could have loaded it with shiny new toys. In the media one she's already damaged goods. The NBC evening and morning shows were a disaster.

She could have invested her large severance into establishing a foundation with a worthwhile cause. That could have been permanent solutions for homelessness or reimagining capitalism.

Here is my article, published in OdwyerPR, on how I envision reputation restoration for Yale Law School professor Jed Rubenfeld.

In the volatile 21st century, we will probably all find ourselves on the wrong side of success. That's a given. Also a given is that it is possible in America to engineer multiple comebacks. 

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