Another highly blogged about news item from last week has been the President and Tony Blair's secretly recorded conversation captured at the G8 summit. While many bloggers reveled in the unintentional humor of the candid camera antics, others were more concerned by the legal issues presented by broadcasting the private conversation between two powerful world leaders. One word, in particular, stood out. Bush said he was "tired of this sh*t" in reference to the acts of hostility between Israel and Hezbollah. QuizLaw wonders what would happen if the newsworthy clip were to be played unedited on the nightly broadcast news. In light of recent FCC changes, major fines can be levied for the mere utterance of a four-letter word. But if the President of the United States says it, by definition, it is infallible. Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine notes that had the originally proposed FCC bill gone through, Bush himself could have been hit with a fine for using the brown word.
In other news from the frontlines of the associate-salary war, Bruce MacEwen of the blog Adam Smith, Esq. has an analysis of what is driving the "war for talent" and why it's worse now than ever before. MacEwen identified a decade-old survey that claimed the retirement of the baby boomers would mean less eligible employees. He also points out that the free flow of information on the Internet makes it more likely that an associate would jump ship as soon as he or she spies a better opportunity on the horizon. Some say a lack of flexibility and dull law firm lifestyles are leading attorneys to leave their firms by the droves, but MacEwen isn't so sure. Turning back to the old survey, he reveals that flexibility and lifestyle aren't even in the top 10 on the list of contributing factors to low levels of job satisfaction. According to MacEwen, people leave their firms for reasons relating to:
- firm values and culture (58%)
- freedom and autonomy (56%)
- exciting challenges (51%)
- a well-managed firm (50%)
- career advancement and growth (39%)
- respect for lifestyle (14%)
- job security (8%)
- acceptable pace and stress (1%)
Finally, we have news from the Envy Files. Ana Marie Cox, formerly of the blog Wonkette, has been named the new Washington Editor of Time magazine's website. This news comes to us from The Huffington Post. I guess she technically wasn't a law blogger, but she was close enough to add to the growing list of law bloggers who were able to turn their modest Internet celebrity into prestigious legit gigs with huge salaries. The announcement comes on the heels of Anonymous Lawyer, Jeremy Blachman's novel, which has garnered rave reviews. Diehard fans of Blachman's website may be upset to find that most of the content in the book comes directly from his blog.
But the question on everyone's lips is, what does this mean for me!? Could I get a gig as some kind of pickle spokesperson or a job as a fluffer on 60 Minutes? I've got the x-factor, you know.
