Social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Andrew Breitbart’s Big sites (ahem, like the one you’re reading right now) have replaced the average news junky’s old school fixes of newsprint and the 5 o’clock news.

Why not? It’s a fast, easy, and mostly free way to communicate and share information. Anyone can contribute, and everyone else can choose to listen, watch, or read at will. It’s a beautiful free market system – anyone can try and anyone can buy.

The mainstream media has paid attention, and bloggers like Erick Erickson, Dana Loesch, and Andrew Breitbart himself are now regular media fixtures. They are informed, they have opinions, they share share them, and have gained a following. Media outlets saw the demand for their insight, and offered them CNN commentary jobs, radio hosting opportunities, and book deals.

The mainstream entertainment industry is paying attention too.

One of my favorite channels for both informative and entertainment purposes is the Food Network. Come on, who doesn’t love the fierce competition of Chopped, or Alton Brown’s scientific explanations of why yeast rises using sock puppets? Pure enjoyment, my friends! (more…)

On January 3 the usually non-partisan Food Network had its closest brush with politics, with predictable results. Bait and switch, Washington style.

Food Network aired a two hour Iron Chef: America featuring Michelle Obama. Our choleric FLOTUS was there to provide a message about Childhood Obesity and tell the chefs what the secret ingredient for the competition was.  And the ingredient? Why, produce from the celebrated White House garden:

The chefs included White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford and star chefs Bobby Flay, Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse. Mrs. Obama showed up in an orange dress that looked like it would be very fashionable on runways. The kind planes land on. You half expected her to bust out some flags to wave at some passing aircraft. Then she declared they had to harvest the ingredients from the garden in order to create “five ultimate American dishes.” (more…)