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“We have so lost the messaging”

“We have so lost the messaging”

That pesky Constitution. It’s really old, you know, and gets in the way of Obama’s agenda.

As a follow up to my USA Today column, Constitution’s horrible, no good, very bad year, I was interviewed on the Steve Malzberg Show on NewsMax TV, with Betsy McCaughey guest hosting.

I need to figure out the Skype thing a little better. What do you think?

Maybe I’ll buy a fake backdrop of the D.C. skyline so it appears I’m important.

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Comments

legacyrepublican | January 5, 2015 at 2:03 pm

First thing that comes to mind about you using Skype: Will Net Neutrality attack your use of Skype as a means to use your free speech in the media?

Yeah, ya better ditch the curtains in the background. Get a fireplace. Skype isn’t doing you any favors. Talk to Reynolds and see how he sets up Instavision.

Happy New Year!

Oregon Mike

    Another Voice in reply to Oregon Mike. | January 5, 2015 at 2:29 pm

    Yep, time to fix ya up as you’re beginning to be picked up more and more in media outlets. You’re much more daunting than Skype can convey.

Wish you hadn’t been cut off!!! We needed to hear all of what you had to say.

Yes get a background, wall of books, forest scene through a window anything better than what you have now. Second get a separate camera so you are staring down at your Laptop. look into the camera not down.

Ed Driscoll or Bill Whittle could whip up a virtual studio that would be KILLER in about ten minutes.

Amazon has whole video packages you can buy for less than $500 bucks.

Midwest Rhino | January 5, 2015 at 2:44 pm

Newsmax has done pretty well. I get them on Dish Network, which is still in contract dispute with Fox. They’ve replaced Fox with Beck, but I prefer Newsmax.

Your Skype is certainly adequate, but needs the camera at eye level I’d guess. And you need lights on both sides of the face. Someone that works in the field could probably come up with some ideas on best kinds of lighting, microphone placement, best camera, etc. A quality stereo mike would probably help, and they have gotten pretty cheap.

If you set up your own mini-studio, the better quality would also attract you more to the bigger networks. DC in the background would be cool, or maybe a big LED TV could you put you on the scene anywhere … “We have Professor Jacobson live now, reporting from the pyramids” … lol

oh, and the interview was good … I like Betsy’s straight talk. She talked over you a few times but you handled it well and kept the focus.

Henry Hawkins | January 5, 2015 at 3:05 pm

Get creative.

Place a movie screen behind you showing traffic and a fake steering wheel in front of you and pretend you’re skyping while driving.

Same thing, only Alaskan scenery with grizzlies behind you.

Jail cell background.

Background of posters of Elizabeth Warren in full photo-shopped Liawatha Indian get-up.

Place convincing fakes of whatever weapons or mags are illegal in your state/city, see how long before some lib outfit takes the bait.

Will financing the backdrop require abortion of around 2 million Americans annually; will it require financialization of the medical sector (i.e. “reform”) a la Fannie and Freddie; will it require importation of tens of millions of unwanted men, women, and children to secure democratic leverage; will it require implementation of a global warming scheme to extract private capital; will it require classifying people, then provoking confrontations, and sponsoring prejudice; will it require assassinating any foreign leaders, regime changes; will it require watching any videos? Perhaps it’s not worth the personal sacrifice.

I judge a man by the content of his character, not the quality or sophistication of his backdrop.

    Midwest Rhino in reply to n.n. | January 5, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    “The medium IS the message”.

    Not sure if that exactly applies, but a better quality presentation subtly indicates a better quality message. At the least, the medium should not distract/detract from the intended message.

    But if entertainment sells, and people need continuous “action”, I like Henry’s idea … get a green screen and put the professor in action scenes.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrktxWUgcyA

heh a backdrop of obama with halo would freak people out 🙂

At the very least, stack some books or something under the laptop so the camera is at eye level, and you’re not a giant peering down on us. 🙂 A simple white screen or even sheet in the background can work OK, then lots of easy tricks with lighting if you control the environment.

–Andrew, @LawSelfDefense

That substitute interviewer is as annoying as heck.

Just get a flag stand and a large portrait of Clarence Thomas.

“That pesky Constitution. It’s really old, you know, and gets in the way of Obama’s agenda.”

My parents and grandparents wished there was a really old, pesky Constitution in their native Vietnam when the communists confiscated their property and sent them to reeducation camps in the very modern time of 1975.

I’ll take Old Pesky over Modern Tyranny, thank you.

Inexpensive suggestions for your next Skype interview: Position the cam at eye level. Additional floor lamp to reduce shadows. Use filled bookcase as backdrop. Or a $50 4’x6′ NYState flag. And wear a jacket.

Put up a mural of the Supreme Court building. Maybe some smart Republican presidential candidate will remember you when he wins. We can only hope.

I would recommend Greek Columns, but I think that has been done. 😀

Use duvetyne:

http://www.csirentals.com/12×12-black-duvetine.html

— and raise the camera at least a foot higher.

We’ve lost the messaging because we tolerate corrupt, incompetent buffoons hogging the leadership positions of the GOP.

Boehner should be punished by having headphones nailed to his skull that broadcast an audio loop of this Newsmax guest hope screaming at her husband.

Midwest Rhino | January 6, 2015 at 10:46 am

Cornell needs their own little studio … available to all faculty. But a nice home or office version could surely be done for $600 instead of $40,000 you mention in this morning’s “Quick Hits”. The below list would all fold up and fit in a carry case.

$90 Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920
$350 Rode Podcaster Booming Kit: Podcaster, PSA1 Arm,
…. and PSM1 shock mount
$120 Lights/diffusers/green screen

http://www.amazon.com/Fancierstudio-LS69BWG-Lighting-Backdrop-Background/dp/B004TSBZ5S/ref=lp_3109892011_1_5?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1420557259&sr=1-5

Xsplit is free software, and there are tutorials and help sites like this one. Or maybe better software.
http://community.skype.com/t5/Windows-desktop-client/Skype-with-Xsplit/td-p/1668629/page/2

It would be nice if a local student tea party activist could work out the kinks for you, without directing you to the full $40K option. Doing green screen doesn’t look that hard, but any normal background could work.

Even FOX has put up some pretty crappy Skype, so these few items would take you to 90% of the studio look, imo. Any real A/V person could refine these items … I just got them from reading low end recommendations from A/V folks, and watching a few Youtube vids on doing green screen. My little Zoom H4n recorder ($300) and directional Sennheiser mic (used $300 Ebay, with Ricote wind sock) is just for wildlife and the occasional cello player, but the upgrade in quality from entry level is huge.