April 10, 2012
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Google’s Washington Night. Correspondents Annual Dinner
Fabian Bimmer/ReutersGoogle and its executive chairman, Eric E. Schmidt, played a leading role in defeating antipiracy legislation last year
APRIL 8, 2012APRIL 8, 2012, 4:56 PM
Google’s Washington Night
By BROOKS BARNESFabian Bimmer/ReutersGoogle and its executive chairman, Eric E. Schmidt, played a leading role in defeating antipiracy legislation last year.LOS ANGELES — The annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is Hollywood’s big night in Washington.
Movie and television stars arrive by the private jet load. Cable channels like MSNBC spend lavishly on parties. Moguls like Rupert Murdoch and Robert A. Iger endure banquet food in hopes of rubbing an important political elbow or two.
This year, however, a new face — Google — will be in the crowd, and some show business players are less than thrilled.
A few media executives, still smarting over the leading role Google played in defeating antipiracy legislation this year, see the technology giant’s sudden presence as a victory lap.
Google and its executive chairman, Eric E. Schmidt, will co-host an event in Washington on April 27, the night before the correspondents’ dinner and its fancy after-parties, including one sponsored by Bloomberg and Vanity Fair.
Asked what he thought about Google’s decision to plant a party flag on what had traditionally been Big Media turf, the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, Christopher J. Dodd, said dryly: “Maybe this is a sign. Maybe Google has decided content is important.”
The grouchiness does not end there. The Hollywood Reporter, an industry trade magazine, is Google’s co-host for the party. The Reporter cozying up to Enemy No. 1? “It did not go unnoticed in the community,” The Los Angeles Times reported.
The trade magazine has been feistier in its industry coverage since Janice Min took over as editorial director two years ago, but it remains dependent on studios and networks for ad dollars.
Adding insult to injury, at least for some in Hollywood: the Motion Picture Association decided to forgo a party entirely. Mr. Dodd, who staged one last year (complete with little cupcakes frosted with the M.P.A.A. logo), cited his group’s continuing event series as a reason. It recently held a “Titanic” screening, for instance, and an evening party involving Secretary of StateHillary Rodham Clinton is planned.
A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.
Ms. Min, speaking by telephone, seemed amused about the attention her event was receiving, even if it was for reasons she deemed silly — especially suspicions of Google gloating.
“The policy disputes that have made headlines don’t reflect the day-to-day working relationship between Hollywood and Silicon Valley,” she said, noting that five major studios now had formal video streaming deals with YouTube, a unit of Google.
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Copyright. 2012. The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved
Comments (1)
This type of cross pollination is altogether inevitable, the nature of things being what they are. A massive economic presence, the ubiquitous Google would be conspicuous by it’s absence at events like this. Google is forever written into the history of the United States, and will be a force to be reckoned with for the remainder of the lifetimes of almost everyone alive right now.