Obama CMU Rally Coverage...Until the Networks Got Bored

Via Facebook

Well, MSNBC and CNN covered the first few minutes until the President started repeating what he said in Ohio earlier this morning. President Obama did mention (in this order): Senator Bob Casey, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (I wonder if he showed?),  Congressman Mike Doyle, Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald, and Democratic Party State Chair Jim Burns.

He also mentioned that both the White Sox and the Pirates were in first place and he'd have a problem if they were up against each other in the World Series. Then, they switched over to other news and I need to head out to work (which is why I couldn't attend in person in the first place). 

I'm sure the local media will have lots of coverage later.

On the way to Pittsburgh: Obama Campaign buys cookies from bakery that Romney dissed

If you recall, Mitt Romney dissed Pittsburgh cookies back in April:

"I'm not sure about these cookies," Mr. Romney said during a staged roundtable meeting at the Bethel Park Community Center Tuesday, where a platter of Bethel Bakery cookies were among the trays of food laid out on a picnic table. "They came from the local 7-Eleven bakery or whatever."  

The resulting firestorm on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter was instant, with insulted fans of the 57-year-old bakery taking to local talk radio shows and Internet blogs to express their outrage.  

Among them was Republican congressional candidate Evan Feinberg, who summed the miniscandal up on Twitter: "Huge mistake. Bethel Bakery is an institution around here!"

Via Pool Report (Timothy McNulty, Post-Gazette):

BEAVER – Cookies are the cheeky theme of the day as POTUS rolls along toward Pittsburgh for the final stop of his “Betting On America” bus tour.  

Mr. Obama’s motorcade stopped traffic in the Beaver County seat at 12:44 EST, as car drivers leaned out their windows to shoot cell phone video of the passing caravan of SUVs, buses and armored cars. About 75 locals pressed against police tape as the president climbed out of his black tour bus at 12:51 outside Kretchmar’s Bakery on Third Street. “I’ll be right back. I just have to get pie first,” POTUS said.  

On the way to Beaver from Poland, Ohio, the president’s campaign announced it would provide cookies from Bethel Bakery to the press, cookies that Mitt Romney had briefly snubbed during a campaign visit in the spring. Outside the bakery in this old industrial town – full of union-friendly Democrats – Mr. Oboma’s chief political advisor David Axelrod said “there are good cookies in Pittsburgh. We like the cookies in Pittsburgh.”   

Here's a taste of the waiting crowd:

Via Facebook

Via Facebook

Photos and video from Justice for Trayvon Martin Rally in Pittsburgh

Here are photos and video from the Justice for Trayvon Martin Rally which was held today in Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University (click on each photo to enlarge).


Photo by Kesha Silver


Photo by David Chang


Photo by Joy Sabl


Photo by Joy Sabl


Photo by Joy Sabl


Photo by Joy Sabl


Photo by Joy Sabl


Photo by Joy Sabl
Speakers included Brittany Claud, Ricky Burgess (Councilor Burgess' son) and Kimberly Ellis (Dr. Goddess) seen here:

How Technology is Changing the Aesthetics of the News

Via Carnegie Mellon News:

Event: How are innovations like the iPad and smartphone, and platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr affecting the "art" of the news industry?

Carnegie Mellon University's Center for the Arts in Society (CAS), a research center within the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences and College of Fine Arts that investigates the role of arts in societies, is hosting six prominent members of the Pittsburgh media to discuss how technology and social media are changing the aesthetics of news. Topics will include how their roles have evolved due to technology innovations, what the changes mean for consumers of news and where the media industry is headed next. The panelists are:

•John Allison (@John_M_Allison), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette opinion editor;
•Deanna Garcia (@eprdeanna), Essential Pittsburgh Radio reporter;
•Maria Lupinacci @maria_in_pgh), award-winning blogger and media watchdog at 2 Political Junkies;
•Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist;
•Chris Potter (@CPotterPgh), Pittsburgh City Paper editor; and
•Martha Rial, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

When: 4:45 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 15
Where: Steinberg Auditorium, Baker Hall A53, Carnegie Mellon University
Hashtag for Event: #CMUmedia

More info here.