This Is An Ad For Something

Recently Buzzfeed has been criticized for deleting articles that were critical of its advertisers. And you may recall that Andrew Sullivan was critical of Buzzfeed advertorials that are hardly distinguishable from regular articles. Today Buzzfeed posted the below extended Puppy Chow commercial into its YouTube channel. (The splash screen shows the Puppy Chow logo, but the product placement doesn't occur until the 2:00 mark.) It's really a cute clip, but is further evidence of the continuing digital merger between advertising, editorial, and entertainment. Anyway, the subject interests me as I just ran my first-ever sponsored post earlier this month.

Buzzfeed: Why Hasn't Hillary Clinton Said Anything About SCOTUS And Marriage?

Chris Geidner writes at Buzzfeed:

In two weeks, the Supreme Court is due to consider whether bans on same-sex couples marrying violates the U.S. Constitution — an issue Hillary Clinton has not spoken about in almost a year, when she said a “state-by-state” approach was working. The Obama Justice Department has argued that such bans “cannot be reconciled with the fundamental constitutional guarantee of ‘equal protection of the laws.’” Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has not said whether she agrees with that position. Spokespeople for her campaign have repeatedly stated since Sunday that an answer is forthcoming on the question, but no answer has been provided.

In June 2014, Clinton told Gross, “I fully endorse the efforts by activists to work state-by-state. In fact, that is what is working.” Later, she reiterated that point, saying that, after she left her post as secretary of state, “I was able to very quickly announce that I was fully in support of gay marriage and that it is now continuing to proceed state-by-state.” After Clinton announced this week that she would run for president, BuzzFeed News asked her campaign whether she believe states can ban same-sex couples from marrying or she believes such bans are unconstitutional. The campaign hasn’t yet provided an answer.

Oral arguments before SCOTUS take place on April 28th.

UPDATE: Mere hours after the publication of the above-linked article, Clinton has indeed urged the Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage.

TRAILER: Brother Orange

Buzzfeed reporter Matt Stopera, whom I've met a couple times, had his cell phone stolen in an East Village bar in January 2014. What followed is probably the craziest and most amazing story about social media that you'll read this year. You might want to hit the link before watching the trailer as the many photos there set up the coming documentary beautifully.

Why Pronouns Matter For Trans People

600K views in four days.

Obama Gets Goofy For Buzzfeed

Via the Washington Post:

The #Millennial-friendly Web site BuzzFeed has taken over for Zach Galifianakis as the White House's preferred video venue for encouraging young people to sign up for health insurance. You remember the Galifianakis video, of course; Obama's self-deprecating appearance on the fake interview show last year was credited with a big boost in traffic (however short-lived) to HealthCare.gov. In 2015, it's BuzzFeed, with this number. Again, self-deprecating. And actually more so; last year the target of the jokes was mostly Galifianakis. Here it's just Obama being a weirdo. You know, just like us, or whatever. Someone somewhere -- someone who already doesn't like Obama -- is going to isolate some part of this as perfectly encapsulating How Obama is Diminishing the Presidency, just as he did in his Glozell interview and just as he did with Galifianakis and just as every presidency in the modern media era has done in some way, according to his opponents.

Obama Welcomes Coming SCOTUS Ruling To End "Patchwork" Marriage Laws

Via Buzzfeed:

President Obama Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s signals that marriage equality is on the verge of becoming the law of the land, adding that he expected local Alabama officials resisting the shift to be swept aside by federal courts. The Supreme Court Monday morning refused to put on hold a federal court ruling striking down Alabama’s ban on same-sex couples’ marriages while the ruling is appealed, with Justice Clarence Thomas making clear in a dissent that the court’s action would be seen as a sign the court will soon rule that the Constitution requires equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

“My sense is that the Supreme Court is about to make a shift, one that I welcome, which is to recognize that — having hit a critical mass of states that have recognized same-sex marriage — it doesn’t make sense for us to now have this patchwork system,” Obama said in an interview with BuzzFeed News. “It’s time to recognize that under the equal protection clause of the United States [Constitution], same-sex couples should have the same rights as anybody else.” Obama’s comments came on the second day in which same-sex couples were marrying in Alabama, the 38th state to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Watch the below video interview  in which the president discusses Roy Moore, whom Obama says will have to answer to the federal courts.

Buzzfeed: Nancy Reagan Rejected Rock Hudson's Desperate Request For Help With Experimental AIDS Treatment

Buzzfeed reporter Chris Geidner tonight revealed that official White House and Reagan documents show that Nancy Reagan rebuffed Rock Hudson's plea for help in getting access to experimental treatment as he lay dying of AIDS in Paris. The request was made through publicists Yanou Collart and Dale Olson.

Three days after Hudson’s collapse, he still lacked permission to go to the French hospital or to have Dormant see him in the American Hospital. His team’s initial attempts on the ground in Paris were not working. So they started working higher up: Collart would work her contacts with French defense officials. Back in America, Olson would ask for help from the American government.

In a desperate telegram sent at 12:22 p.m. ET on July 24, 1985, Olson made his case directly to the White House in a message addressed to Mark Weinberg — a special assistant to the president and deputy press secretary in the White House.

“Doctor Dominique Dormant specialist treating Rock Hudson in Paris, reports only one hospital in the world can offer necessary medical treatment to save life of Rock Hudson or at least alleviate his illness. This hospital is Ministere du la Defence Centre d’Researches du Service de Sante des Armees Percy Hospital in the city of Clamart,” the telegram read, with Olson going on to give the phone number to the hospital.

“Commanding general of Percy Hospital has turned down Rock Hudson as a patient because he is not French. Doctor Dormant in Paris believes a request from the White House or a high American official would change his mind. Can you help by having someone call the commanding general’s office at the Percy Hospital at the above number,” the telegram stated.  “Please advise what can be done.”

According to Buzzfeed, the former First Lady was "very sorry" to hear of Hudson's condition but advised staffers that the Reagans shouldn't give the appearance of pulling strings for their celebrity friends. She agreed with their suggestion to forward Hudson's request to the US Embassy in Paris.

Noted AIDS activist Peter Staley told Buzzfeed: "I’m sure if it had been Bob Hope in that hospital with some rare, incurable cancer, Air Force One would have been dispatched to help save him. There’s no getting around the fact that they left Rock Hudson out to dry. As soon as he had that frightening homosexual disease, he became as unwanted and ignored as the rest of us.”

Ronald Reagan finally made his first major address on AIDS nearly two years later at a May 1987 American Foundation for AIDS Research event. By the end of that year over 41,000 Americans had died of the disease. Buzzfeed wryly observes that amfAR was launched in 1985 with a $250,000 donation by Rock Hudson.

I strongly recommend you read Chris Geidner's full report. The excerpt above does not do his work justice and there are copies of telegrams and White House correspondence in his story.

Chris Geidner On Fifth Circuit Court

Buzzfeed reporter Chris Geidner recaps today's action:

After three hours of arguments, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals appeared poised to strike down bans on same-sex couples’ marriages in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas — joining all but one of the other appellate courts to consider that matter. More than halfway through the morning’s arguments, an exasperated Justin Matheny, the assistant attorney general in Mississippi charged with defending the state’s ban, tried to change his tune during his rebuttal arguments.

It being clear that the three-judge panel was leaning against upholding the bans, Matheny told the judges that although the “trajectory” on marriage rights for same-sex couples is “undeniable,” he argued that “it’s not there yet.” Judge Patrick Higginbotham, born in Alabama almost eight decades ago and appointed to the appeals court by President Reagan more than three decades ago, spoke up. And though the older judge was hard to hear at times, he spoke up and spoke clearly when he responded to Matheny: “Those words, ‘Will Mississippi change its mind?’ have resonated in these halls before.”

Hit the link and read the rest.

Top 10 Names Of Worst Behaved Boys

Today's silliness via Buzzfeed:

An annual survey from the company School Stickers has collected data on which children’s names are the most common for kids who are well-behaved, and ones who could use a time-out. School Stickers, which tracks children’s behavior and digitally rewards ones for behaving well, collected and analyzed data based on one million entries and released a “naughty list” of names.

In elementary school I pretty much earned straight A's, but I always did get poor grades in what was then called "citizenship." Best behaved boys: Jacob, Daniel, Thomas, Adam, James, Harry, Sam, Oliver, Ryan. Hit the link for the girl results. By the way, my mother sent us this story.

Pew Ranks "Trusted" News Outlets

From the Pew Research report:

Those with consistently conservative political values are oriented around a single outlet—Fox News—to a much greater degree than those in any other ideological group: Nearly half (47%) of those who are consistently conservative name Fox News as their main source for government and political news. Far fewer choose any other single source: Local radio ranks second, named by 11%, with no other individual source named by more than 5% of consistent conservatives. Those with mostly conservative views also gravitate strongly toward Fox News – 31% name it as their main source, several times the share who name the next most popular sources, including CNN (9%), local television (6%) and radio (6%) and Yahoo News (6%).

On the left of the political spectrum, no single outlet predominates. Among consistent liberals, CNN (15%), NPR (13%), MSNBC (12%) and the New York Times (10%) all rank near the top of the list. CNN is named by just 20% of those with mostly liberal views, but still tops their list, followed by local television (11%) and NPR (9%). Both MSNBC and Fox News are mentioned by 5% of those who are mostly liberal. Those in other ideological groups name the New York Times, NPR and MSNBC less frequently as top news sources.

Respondents with a roughly equal mix of liberal and conservative values also have a diffuse mix of news providers. CNN (20%) and local television (16%) are the most frequently-named top sources, with a long list of other news sources named by fewer than one-in-ten. Fox News (8%) is among the most-named sources in this “long tail,” along with Yahoo News (7%) and Google News (6%), both of which primarily aggregate and highlight news produced by other outlets.

For the record, I highly trust last place Buzzfeed's Chris Geidner.

Sarah Palin Calls For Buzzfeed Boycott Over "Hit Piece" On Donald Trump

Via Donald Trump's publicity team at Breitbart:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has a message for Donald Trump about BuzzFeed blogger McKay Coppins, and it's one that other Republican officials might heed when liberal journalists come looking to "humanize" them. "This nervous geek isn't fit to tie the Donald's wingtips," Palin told Breitbart News after Trump ripped Coppins for lampooning him with what he alleged were out-of-context quotes and boorish behavior at Trump's Florida resort. "Don't ever give him attention again." Coppins tricked Trump's advisers into thinking he would profile Trump as a potential "major" GOP 2016 presidential hopeful.

His access secure, Coppins attended Trump's speech at New Hampshire's famed "Politics and Eggs" breakfast, which has hosted nearly every major presidential candidate. The resulting piece, "36 Hours on the Fake Campaign Trail with Donald Trump," was one of the most venomous hit pieces in recent memory. Coppins trashed Trump as a joke, with all the preconceived notions, snark, backhanded compliments, innuendo, and mockery that those like MSNBC's Chuck Todd, a notorious Trump hater, and Coppins' editor, Ben Smith, have been throwing around for years.

In case you missed it, here is the hilarious Buzzfeed piece.

Trump Vs Buzzfeed

Zero credibility because they wrote something he doesn't like, of course.

Buzzfeed Writer: I'm In Bieber Hell

Buzzfeed writer Ryan Broderick took a screenshot of his TweetDeck feed, which today is almost entirely Justin Bieber mugshots. (Via Business Insider)

Boehner Rescues The Hate Groups

A follow-up from Buzzfeed's J. Lester Feder:

The office of House Speaker John Boehner secured meeting space for the World Congress of Families after their original sponsor, Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, canceled their space in a Senate office building following an outcry from LGBT activists, the group’s leader said. World Congress of Families President Allan Carlson praised Boehner’s intervention at in opening remarks at the event, which is focusing on what “pro-family legislators” can learn from foreign laws like Russia’s ban on “promoting non-traditional sexual relationships to minors.” “At least in the House of Representatives people have not succumbed to the great fear” of LGBT activists, Carlson said, likening the situation to developments in Germany, France, and Italy as fascism took hold of Europe. “A great fear seems to be descending over what has been called the world’s greatest deliberative body … ideas are being suppressed, debate is being shut off, and minds are being closed.”

More from Right Wing Watch:

Another speaker, Concerned Women for America’s Janice Shaw Crouse, who is also on WCF’s board of directors, blamed the change of plans on “a group of radicals” – an odd accusation since there had been no organized effort to prevent the event from taking place. Finally, Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute’s Austin Ruse declared that Sen. Kirk’s action made him less friendly to free speech than Russia – whose law criminalizing pro-gay-rights speech has the vocal support of C-FAM and WCF.

RELATED: Ruse, not incidentally, is a columnist for Breitbart, which never identifies his work for anti-gay hate groups. Similarly, Breitbart does not identify columnist Ken Klukowski as a vice president of the KKK-affiliated Family Research Council.

Buzzfeed's US House Religions Map

From Buzzfeed:

There are 31 religions represented in the House, including 26 different sects of Christianity. Catholics make up the largest group with 136 members, followed by Baptists with 66 members, Methodists with 45 members, Anglicans/Episcopalians with 35 members, Presbyterians with 28 members, and Jews with 22 members. There is only one atheist. The majority of Catholics and Jews are Democrats, and the majority of Anglicans/Episcopalians, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Mormons. and Presbyterians are Republican. Among religions with more than more than five seats, Jews are the most partisan; 21 of the 22 Jews are Democrats. Mormons are the second most partisan; seven of the eight Mormons are Republicans.

Hit the link for maps that one show one religion at a time.

If Famous Websites Were People

John Aravosis wonders how well-known gay blogs would be portrayed in this style.

(Via AmericaBlog)

Soda Vs Pop

Buzzfeed today posts a number of maps that note where some terms are more widely-used than others. 

GOProud Haz The Fake Outrage

Shortly after Buzzfeed's Chris Geidner reported this morning on GOProud's feeble half-change of heart on same-sex marriage, another Buzzfeed staffer fired out the above tweets, which he almost immediately deleted. But that wasn't good enough for Chris Barron and Jimmy LaSalvia, who spent the day angrily forwarding screenshots to everybody in Teabagistan.  The "story" has already been picked up by Daily Caller, Instapundit, Pajamas Media, and Michelle Malkin's Twitchy.  What a terrible, horrible outrage that somebody said something nasty to GOProud on the Twitters!11!!

Come with me into the time machine:

There are dozens of more examples, of course.

60 Reasons To Be Proud In 2012

Click over to Buzzfeed for Stacy Lambe's 60-item recap titled Reasons To Be Proud In 2012. Lambe's list ticks off landmark moments from pop culture, to sports, to politics. This really was our best year. SO FAR.

Buzzfeed Posts 2012's Top Photos

Today Buzzfeed posted 45 photos in a recap titled "The Most Powerful Images Of 2012." The compilation, which runs the gamut from horrifying to mournful to hopeful, includes two LGBT-related images, both of which appeared on JMG earlier this year. In the top photo, masked assailants stomp a Ukrainian gay rights activist. In the second, two Maryland women get engaged on election night. Those two images appear far apart in the Buzzfeed list, but for us they do provide vivid bookends to a year marked by domestic triumphs but increased dangers overseas.