'Chicagoland' Emails: CNN, Emanuel Aides Coordinated to Showcase Mayor as 'Star'

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By John Nolte

 

The Chicago Tribune gained access to over 700 emails between Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office and CNN. The emails detail a cozy relationship between the Democrat's office and the cable news network during the production of "Chicagoland," a low-rated eight-part cable series pitched to viewers as an unvarnished look at the city. [The emails are posted here.]

The emails tell the story of a cable news network coordinating with the mayor of a failing city who is also a rising Democrat star. The apparent goal of "Chicagoland" was for CNN to use its resources as a way to portray the "mayor in a positive light" at a national level and showcase Emanuel "as the star he really is."

According to the Tribune, details were coordinated down to camera angles:

If it seemed as though some scenes of CNN's documentary series "Chicagoland" were coordinated by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's City Hall and the show's producers, that's because they were.

More than 700 emails reviewed by the Tribune reveal that the production team worked hand in hand with the mayor's advisers to develop storylines, arrange specific camera shots and review news releases officially announcing the show.

Producers asked the mayor's office to help them set up key interactions in what the cable network has billed as a nonscripted eight-part series, including Emanuel's visits with the school principal who emerged as a star of the show, emails show. …

The production team for the series, whose final episode aired Thursday night, told Emanuel's staff that particular scenes would present the mayor in a positive light, with one of the producers expressing a desire to showcase the mayor "as the star that he really is."

"Chicagoland's" executive producer is Robert Redford.

CNN has yet to comment on the scandal, but this is yet another black eye for Jeff Zucker, who has been in charge of CNN for just a little over a year. Under his leadership, CNN has become a laughingstock, even among its left-wing colleagues in the mainstream media, for its bungled attempts to cover serious news and bizarre obsessions with whales, missing planes, and ferry disasters.

Just last year, CNN was caught using its network to push anti-gun legislation.

CNN presents itself as an objective cable news outlet.

UPDATE: CNN issues non-denial-denial. 

Time Magazine and the Enshrining of Mayor Rahm Emanuel: Can a Media Hero Do Any Wrong?

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By Rebel Pundit 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, at the helm of arguably the most corrupt city in the nation, has an image challenge. He has created enemies left, right, and center in the name of budget cuts while racking up spending on pet projects for the 1% like a maze of protected bike lanes through the city. His notorious temper and connections to the embattled Obama “Chicago Way” Administration risk forever tainting his turn in charge.

Enter Time magazine, whose June 10 cover story on Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel presents a controversial figure who, though under attack, is made of heroic mettle, and therefore impervious to petty questions about school closings and massive government expenditures. No, with Time’s help, Rahm will be protected by the media in the same way so many others before him have: through a sort of enshrinement afforded to a “character” like him.

Time’s piece, “Rahm’s Kind of Town,” opens by posturing Emanuel in a battle of biblical and epic proportions against fellow Democrats, comparing it to the likes of “Cain and Abel, the Yorks and Lancasters, and Michael and Fredo Corleone.” The latter is perhaps a nod to his nickname, the “Godfather.”

The Time piece is replete with references to his “Godfather” image, referring to him as “the guy who has picked the fights his predecessors avoided.” Time’s cover is equally bold, presenting him as a tough guy in black and white, dominating the gritty city scene behind him.

Mayor Daley was always said to “get the roads plowed,” and with this, he was issued a monumental pass for his mobster-like rule over the city. A tactic that worked, and that Rahm appears to be pursuing aggressively.

Time provides a factual account of the trials and tribulations of Emanuel’s first two rocky years, from the seven-day teacher strike in 2012, record-high homicides and violence, to the furor of black communities against him, so many of whose children’s schools are shuttered by the Mayor’s School Board. However, Time misses a beat when it comes to dealing with devastation and ongoing plight in Chicago’s poorer-urban-black communities, and the foreclosure housing crisis within.

Rahm must be more than aware that positioning himself as making epic decisions will work to his advantage, telling Time: “the decisions we make in the next two to three years will determine the face of Chicago for the next 20 to 30 years.”

Decisions like his massive infrastructure plan “Chicago Forward,” funded by a public-private trust, which is estimated to reach at least $7 billion as the city faces an annual $650 million deficit under his management.

Time moves from detailing the tough decisions Rahm faces to setting him up as even worthy of consideration for the highest office in the land. Time questions the Mayor on whether or not he will run for president, to which he responds, “No. I'm not. Never. It is not happening. I don't know how else to say it. No.” 

"I'm done with that," he said of Washington's gridlock and posturing. "I worked eight years in the White House for two great Presidents. They talk about things they want to do--I'm doing it. This is the happiest I've ever been in public life. I've always wanted to be mayor.”

Never mind the fact that in no way would any Democrat operative in their right mind impose yet another Chicago wastrel on the nation at this time; this is about setting Rahm up as a heavy hitter, a man who turned down the presidency of the United States, no less.

Throughout the piece, Time continues to beat the presidential drum, referring to Rahm’s presidential qualities that “evoke Clinton, in the way he rattles off statistics… and like Clinton, he knows how to schmooze to get what he wants.” Time continues [emphasis mine]:

At the same time, he has taken on some very large issues, the kind Presidents give speeches about: education reform, job creation, unsafe streets. Revealing the stripes of a pragmatic, pro-business New Democrat, the mayor lengthened the school day for Chicago's elementary and high school students, reorganized the city's enormous system of community colleges to emphasize job-skills training and established an infrastructure trust to allow private investment in public-works projects. All of these are popular ideas among some Democratic policy mavens, but no other mayor has taken them so far, so fast.

Rahm says he “is a wonk trapped in a hack’s body.” This, Time posits, “blends into a 21st century version of the classic urban boss,” alluding to time spent working for former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who was known for continuing the legacy of his father Richard J. Daley’s “political machine,” which others called an organized crime syndicate.  

If Rahm is seeking the same media protection Daley received, his description of a very Daley-like tactic will help things along. He explained to Time how he got Chicago universities to partner with local high schools:

"Each of those college presidents has construction projects they want to complete," he explains. "I just told them if they would help me, I'd have someone walk their plans through the permit process." They all assented, though he didn't have to say what might happen to those permits should they refuse.

Time finishes off its piece with a quote from the Chicago mobster movie, The Untouchables: “you wait until the fight is over. One guy is left standing. And that's how you know who won."

Perhaps you wait to see who writes the story of who won, and that’s how you know just how far Chicago’s tentacles have reached. Witness: Time.

Rahm Emanuel wins Chicago mayoral race

By Aaron Blake and Chris Cillizza

Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor of Chicago on Tuesday, winning a simple majority of the vote in a six-candidate field, according to the Associated Press.
The latest results -- with more then three quarters of precincts reporting -- show Emanuel running well above the 50 percent he needed to avoid an April 5 runoff. CNN projected Emanuel the winner shortly before 9 p.m. eastern time.

Rahm Emanuel elected Chicago mayor

Jefe de despacho de Obama renunciara manana viernes

Emanuel el chico malo de la administracion Obama, renunciara manana a su puesto de jefe de gabinete de la White House, y seguramente iniciara su campana para la plaza de alcalde de Chicago que segun el, ha sido siempre su sueno. No hay que olvidar que en el sistema politico norteamericano el puesto de jefe de despacho es equivalente al de primer ministro en los sistemas presidencialistas.

Hijo de judios y con entrenamiento para participar en triatlones, Emanuel es bien conocido por su estilo de no tomar prisioneros. El joven bailarin clasico que fue alguna vez se convirtio en politica en Rahmbo,  el individuo que le envio al mejor estilo de un verdadero Godfather un pescado muerto en una caja a un encuestador solo porque este se demoro en entregarle los resultados. O cuando con un cuchillo en la mano lo incrustaba en una mesa cada vez que se mencionaba a alguno de los enemigos politicos de Clinton despues de las elecciones de 1996.

Sources: Rahm Emanuel to resign Friday

Quien podria reemplazar a Rahn Emanuel?

Who might replace Rahm Emanuel?

The smart money in Washington and Chicago, Illinois, says it's all but a certainty that within weeks Rahm Emanuel will throw his hat into the ring to replace retiring Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. So the parlor game over who will replace Emanuel as White House chief of staff has already kicked into high gear.

FULL STORY