Photo: Brian Nguyen

The Atlantic interviews Brian Nguyen, a first year UC Davis student and school newspaper photographer who took the now infamous picture. Nguyen tells The Atlantic that he tried pitching the photo to many newspapers, sites and his contacts in the industry, but most were uninterested (also, it was 1 a.m., so few were around). While The Atlantic’s James Fallows picked it up, the photograph really took off when he posted it on Tumblr:

I didn’t actually realize that it was going to get national attention until it got national attention I suppose. I spent that night emailing different photo editors and my contacts in the industry, but at that point it was too late, around 1 a.m., to really get any traction. A couple of news organizations weren’t interested. I gained traction on Tumblr first, submitting my photos to The Political Notebook, then to James Fallows. I suppose that’s when it went viral.

After the pepper-spraying pic/videos went viral (and you know things really go viral when people begin creating memes), then all the big big news organizations picked it up. Another example of the power of the internet masses.

FYI, The Political Notebook is a blog that mixes real-time news submissions (from pictures to articles to documents) with analysis and opinion with a liberal/progressive bent. It was started by a journalist named Torie Rose DeGhett who began it as a site to showcase her work and it “morphed into a fairly full-time news and analysis blog.”

Herman Cain has called the media’s response to unearthed sexual harassment allegations a “high-tech lynching.” Whether or not you agree with that, the Republican candidate is fighting back with high-tech strategies. As the bombshell allegations that Politico scooped almost two weeks ago are overshadowed by Rick Perry’s viral flub for the moment, here are several ways in which Cain’s campaign is battling accusations that could potentially destroy his campaign — but haven’t.

On one front, the Cain camp responds by targeting keywords, The New York Times reports. A Google search for  “herman cain sharon bialek” or “herman cain scandal,” yields a link to CainTruth.com, which is a paid ad placement. Located just above the latest news articles, the link takes you to a blog that aims to “bypass the media filter,” with arguments against the allegations, an investigator’s report in favor of Cain, a detailed press release about accuser Sharon Bialeck’s lawsuits and financial struggles among other similar posts.

CainTruth.com

The New York Times also found that Herman Cain bought an ad on Twitter shortly after the sexual harassment story broke on Politico. Those who searched for the candidate on the social networking site came across this:

From Team HC: Sadly, we’ve seen this movie played out before. Mr. Cain and all Americans deserve better http://bit.ly/uU0j7a

Cain’s Twitter  and Facebook followings continue to skyrocket ahead those of his competitors; an OhMyGov study found that the pizza magnate gained 6,000 new Twitter followers since the scandal broke and at least 12,000 Facebook fans on November 1.

But as OhMyGov points out, high numbers don’t necessarily indicate popularity. A lot of Americans could have started following the GOP hopeful out of curiosity, to watch the train wreck. But the polls show otherwise; RealClearPolitics.com put together this fantastic graph that shows Cain’s polling average topped Romney in the days after the scandal at about 25% to his 23-24%. Only recently, on November 11, did it dip 22% to Romney 22.5%.

Cain also unveiled a brand new website on Friday. HermanCain.com looks much sleeker, with a dashboard-style home page featuring a calendar, blog posts, video and Cain’s Twitter feed (Rick Perry is the only other candidate with a Twitter feed on his front page).  Business Insider called the launch a “new phase in Cain’s upstart White House bid,” including the hiring of two Atlanta-based companies, Washington Political Group tech consultancy and designers Studio 223. Insider reports that the two firms were responsible for “95%” of the website as well as Cain’s social and digital re-branding, but left the campaign two weeks ago.

Cain’s social media mastery reminds me a little of Barack Obama’s in 2008. Obama and Cain both have a similar understanding and appreciation of digital presence. As I wrote about in a paper during my last semester at NYU, the press and politicians can now compete for the attention of their audience. And Herman Cain is wasting no time in challenging the media in that race.

On another note, more OhMyGov research finds that Newt Gingrich is in another “stratosphere” in the rate of his social media output, tweeting more than any of the other GOP hopesfuls. Another candidate getting his shot as the anti-Romney, rising in the polls after an embattled campaign… but maybe more on that later.

I had the privilege of interning for Wayne as in the Fall of 2009. He sparked my interest in political journalism, and it’s something I continue to be passionate about. His knowledge, skill and dedication are inspiring, and I wish him the best.

Wayne is moving to the Nation Institute, a media nonprofit connected to “The Nation” magazine. Whether it’s articles for the institute, or a book, or whatever, I’m looking forward to a masterpiece soon.

This paragraph in Wayne’s farewell blog post pretty much sums it up:

The greatest prize I’ve ever won for the work I’ve done in these pages was when Al D’Amato called me a “viper” in his memoir. Chuck Schumer, who ended D’Amato’s reign after 18 years, ascribed his victory in a 2007 memoir to a story I’d written a decade earlier that devastated the incumbent Republican. What Schumer didn’t say was that as soon as Hank Morris, Schumer’s media guru, went up with an ad based on my revelations about D’Amato, Arthur Finkelstein, who was running D’Amato’s 1998 campaign, aired a commercial about Schumer’s near-indictment and flashed my nearly two-decade-old clips breaking that scandal on the screen as well. I was the maestro of a commercial duel.

Read the rest of it here.

Good luck, Wayne and Tom!

Sunday night: Drag Queen Marti: Intolerance in Our Country is “Devastating”

Broadway Speaks OUT co-founder and delightful drag queen Marti Gould Cummings stopped to chat with Niteside at Vig 27 before his fun song-and-dance show with a serious theme. His weekly gig at the Flatiron bar donates 10 percent of its profits to mostly LGBT organizations – this time around to the Human Rights Watch.

Tuesday night: GOP Gay Rights Group Tries to Move On from Paladino’s Gaffe

GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino’s anti-gay gaffe was not on the agenda at a fundraiser for the state’s top Republican gay rights group last night, where patrons tried to change the subject rather than dwell on the controversial comments.

Thursday night: SJP Crowned “Gay Queen” at LGBT Fundraiser

Sarah Jessica Parker was crowned “gay queen” at the Empire State Pride Agenda’s Fall fundraiser dinner Thursday night, as she marked herself as a celebrity leader in the gay rights movement with other top politicians.

I caught the NYC police commissioner while he was leaving the 9/11 Memorial and Museum fund-raiser at Cipriani Wall St and asked him about the Florida Pastor who planned to burn Qurans on Sept. 11th (this was before he suspended it today). He said it was “dangerous” and “Un-American.”

I apologize for the poor quality of the audio! I did the best I could with a flip cam…

NYPD Top Cop: Planned Quran Burning is “Dangerous”

When Chiddy says “put your hands up in the air,” you put your hands up in the air.

That’s exactly what happened when the alternative hip hop sensation took over the stage at the Highline Ballroom in Chelsea last night, and bouncing arms did not go back down for the rest of the show. The up-and-coming Philly-based duo sold out the venue for their first headliner in New York — and it probably won’t be the last time.

Continued at:

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/blogs/niteside/NTSD-Chiddy-Bang–101457894.html

Rangel Keeps Up Appearances As Ethics Trial Looms,  August 9, 2010
Video credit: all Broll and sound of Rep. Rangel at the Willis Ave Bridge, the Plaza Hotel and Grace Rauh’s stand-up.

Also:

New Proposal Would Require Bouncers Be Licensed, August 9, 2010
Video credit: SOTs with Taj Lounge owner Dave Casey and NY Nightlife Assoc. Pres. Paul Seres. Erin Billup’s stand-up and all Broll of Taj Lounge.