Sunday, June 7, 2009

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Jeff Jarvis: Product v process journalism: The myth of perfection v beta culture Top
An alarm went off on some desk at The New York Times business section: Oh-oh, time to slam blogs again . But the latest assault reveals as much about The Times and the culture of classical journalism as it does about bloggers. Like the millennial clash of business models in media - the content economy v. the link economy and the inability of one to understand the other - here we see a clash over journalistic culture and methods - product journalism v. process journalism. In The Times, Damon Darlin goes after blogs for publishing rumors and unfinished stories, calling it a "truth-be-damned approach" and likening it to yellow journalism, the highest insult of the gray class. He hauls out the worst example again - just as bloggers trying to go after MSM reporters do: the Steve Jobs heart attack rumor and Times WMD reporting (or Jayson Blair or Dan Rather), respectively. Darlin leads with TechCrunch and Gawker sharing bogus rumors of Apple buying Twitter. He acknowledges that TechCrunch said in its post that it could not confirm the story. But still, he uses it to jump to the first of his broad-brush generalizations: "Such news judgment is not unusual among blogs covering tech. For some blogs, rumors are their stock in trade." Couldn't one say the same thing about political reporters who spread rumors and trial balloons, knowing they are just that, or business reporters feeding rumors and speculation about mergers or firings? Blogs are hardly alone in scoop mentality. Newspapers invented scoops. When I tweeted about the story, calling it a slap to bloggers, Times Sunday business editor Tim O'Brien - who'd just issued his customary long string of tweets flogging his stories, including this one - responded : "isn't about 'product vs. process' or 'old vs. new'. it's about people publishing things they don't believe to be true. standards." One word: standards. But which standards? Whose standards? The Times' standards, of course. They set the standard, don't they? Well, yes, they do, sometimes. Just not all the standards all the time. At my school , we say we teach what we call the eternal verities of journalism. But I also try to make sure the students are open to new worldviews and new methods and means of journalism. Those can come from bloggers and from the public we serve. Darlin touches on one such new view when he writes: [TechCrunch founder] Mr. Arrington and the other bloggers see this not as rumor-mongering, but as involving the readers in the reporting process. One mission of his site, he said, is to write about the things a few people are talking about, "the scuttlebutt around Silicon Valley." His blog will often make clear that he's passing along a thinly sourced story. To quote Gawker founder Nick Denton, when we put up "half-baked posts" we are saying to our public: Here's what we know, here's what we don't know, what do you know. I believe it is critical to clearly label that, giving caveats and context. The same is true of 24-hour cable news, where the viewer must become the editor, understanding the difference between what is known now and what what can be confirmed later ( see : the West Virgina mining disaster). In short: We who publish must learn how to say what we don't know at least as well as we say what we know. This is journalism as beta. I make a big point of that in What Would Google Do? - that every time Google releases a beta, it is saying that the product is incomplete and imperfect. That is inevitably a call to collaborate. It is - even from Google - a statement of humanity and humility: We're not perfect. Ah, but there's the problem: journalism's myth of perfection. And it's not just journalism that holds this myth. It is the byproduct of the means and requirements of mass production: If you have just one chance to put out a product and it has to serve everyone the same, you come to believe it's perfect because it has to be, whether that product is a car (we are the experts, we took six years to tool up, it damned well better be perfect) or government (where, I'm learning, employees have a phobic fear of mistakes - because citizens and journalists will jump on them) or newspapers (we package the world each day in a box with a bow on it - you're welcome). The posse of pros who jumped on me in Twitter this morning will say that they do make mistakes and corrections but first they always try to get it right - perfect - while bloggers instead spread rumors. But that's where the fundamental misunderstanding comes. It's a matter of timing, of the order of things, of the process of journalism. Newspaper people see their articles as finished products of their work. Bloggers see their posts as part of the process of learning. I believe the contrast in methodology will become even more stark as we start using tools such as Google Wave to create news collaboratively in present-tense. Online, we often publish first and edit later. We do that on blogs. One could say that 24-hour TV news does that, though I rarely see the editing. Even a division of The New York Times Company - About.com (where I used to consult) - does its work in that order. (That is why About had dozens of writers for every editor [I don't know the mix today], while The Times has three editors for every writer. That level of editing before publication is what makes The Times The Times - both from a journalistic perspective and, today, from an economic perspective; it may be what makes a newsroom like that unsustainable.) Online, the story, the reporting, the knowledge are never done and never perfect. That doesn't mean that we revel in imperfection, as is the implication of The Times' story - that we have no standards. It just means that we do journalism differently, because we can. We have our standards, too, and they include collaboration, transparency, letting readers into the process, and trying to say what we don't know when we publish - as caveats - rather than afterward - as corrections. The problem with this tiresome, never-ending alleged war of blogs vs. MSM (Arrington attacks The Times) and MSM vs. blogs (The Times attacks Arrington) - (Mark Glaser scolded me for rising to The Times' bait - is that it blinds each tribe from learning from the other. Yes, there are standards worth saluting from classical journalism. But there are also new methods and opportunities to be learned online. No one owns journalists or its methods or standards. Robert Picard writes that journalism is not business model; it is not a job; it is not a company; it is not an industry; it is not a form of media; it is not a distribution platform. Instead, journalism is an activity. It is a body of practices by which information and knowledge is gathered, processed, and conveyed. The practices are influenced by the form of media and distribution platform, of course, as well as by financial arrangements that support the journalism. But one should not equate the two. The pity is that there are Timesmen who already are using these new methods. I see bloggers there asking readers to help them with stories, admitting they don't know everything yet - which means they are publishing incomplete news. I wish one of those people had been assigned to this story (if it needed to be written at all) and that such an open-minded, curious journalist could have seen and explained these different worldviews and how they are clashing as they also merge. But that, apparently, was not the assignment. * * * I addressed the myth of perfection in the foreword of Craig Silverman's Regret the Error (now out in paperback ): Nobody's perfect - not even journalists . . . especially not journalists. Reporters and editors make mistakes. Indeed, they are probably more likely than most to do so. For just as bartenders break more glass because they handle more beer, so journalists who traffic in facts are bound to drop some along the way. Yet too often, they won't admit that. What is plainly obvious - even a matter of liturgical confession for people of many faiths - is heretical to the reporting cult: People are fallible. But journalists too often believe they are not. I was one of them. We were trained to seek and attain nothing less lofty than truth. Accuracy. Objectivity. We were the trusted ones. Impartial experts. Fair and balanced. Alan Rusbridger, editor of London's Guardian, said at a 2007 meeting of the Organization of News Ombudsmen at Harvard: "Since a free press first evolved, we have derived our authority from a feeling - a sense, a pretense - that journalism is, if not infallible, something close to it. We speak of ourselves as being interested in the truth, the real truth. We're truth seekers, we're truth tellers, and we tell truth to power." But then he quoted Walter Lippman saying in 1922: "If we assume that news and truth are two words for the same thing we shall, I believe, arrive nowhere." It is time for journalists to trade in their hubris and recapture their humanity and humility. And the best way to do that is simply to admit: We make mistakes. Craig Silverman's examination of the art of the correction in his blog and now this book could not come at a better time for journalism. For the public's trust in news organizations is falling about as fast as their revenues (and, yes, those may be related). One way to earn back that trust is to face honestly and directly the trade's faults. The more - and more quickly - that news organizations admit and correct their mistakes, prominently and forthrightly, the less their detractors will have grounds to grumble about them. But for journalists, to admit mistakes is to expose failure; corrections, in this logic, diminish stature and authority rather than enhance them. . . . But this discussion should be about so much more than just errors and corrections. This is about new and better ways to gather, share, and verify news. And it is about a radically different and improved relationship between journalists and the public they serve. These changes in the culture and practice of journalism will not just bolster journalism's reputation but expand its reach and impact in society.
 
Parking Meter Debacle Stirring Complacent City Council Top
Chicago's parking meter mess could be the tipping point that awakens the sleeping giant otherwise known as the City Council.
 
Blago: Brother's Taped Call With Burris Shows 'Nothing Inappropriate' Top
CHICAGO (AP) -- Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says a recently released phone conversation taped secretly by federal authorities shows his brother participated in "nothing inappropriate." Blagojevich spoke Saturday on Fox News to presidential candidate-turned talk show host Mike Huckabee. Blagojevich calls himself the "anti-Nixon" and says that when the truth is revealed about the federal corruption case against him, it'll be "historic." The recorded exchange captures Roland Burris promising Robert Blagojevich he'll "do something" for the governor's campaign fund. Rod Blagojevich later appointed Burris to President Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. Blagojevich Saturday said that "under the circumstances," Burris was the best choice he could make. -ASSOCIATED PRESS More on Rod Blagojevich
 
Willis Group CEO Talks Sears Tower Name Change, TIF Money Top
Now publicly traded, Willis asked for and received $3.8 million in tax-increment financing from the city to redevelop the Sears Tower space. "It's going to cost us about $17 million," said Plumeri. "We're bringing jobs into the city, and hopefully in the next couple of years it'll be 600, 700 jobs because we expect our business to grow rather strongly in the next three years."
 
Steve Rosenbaum: Sustainable Soda? Could Pepsi really be eco-friendly? Top
It's hard not to arrive at PepisCo with a chip on your shoulder. It's a pun, but it's also true. After all, Soda is bad for you. And chips (they own Frito-Lay) can't be healthy - they're just too darn good! So - when I was invited to tour the Pepsi R&D facility in Valhalla, NY - I came prepared to be assaulted with PR "Spin". What I discovered was something entirely different than what I expected. The trip to Valhalla, in the suburbs of Westchester, is 45 minutes from the City . There, the well-groomed corporate campus seems a world a way from the noise and hustle of Manhattan. In fact, a few times in the day I thought I'd gotten in time machine and gone back to 1952. The halls of the R&D center are spotless, tiled, and look vaguely like a midwestern high-school. The building is a working laboratory, with gleaming beakers and enthusiastic and upbeat Pepsi folks in white lab coats. The Ultra geeky protective glasses are required - adding to the high-school science ambience. Once inside - it's clear that Pepsi is far from a local, or even national company. In fact - the challenge of the place is the increasing need for localization of brands for a multi-national company. Localization, it seems, requires a hands-on understanding of cultures, tastes, and marketing that puts the Pepsi products worldwide on something of a collision course with customers increasingly demanding need for unique products, new flavors, and always changing brands and promotions. This change isn't just facing food manufacturers of course. Automotive, and even media companies are facing the opportunities and challenges of a fast changing global market. But while others may be griping about these changes - Journalists, for one, seem to be spilling a lot of ink bemoaning the end of their special kind of media - Pepsi seems to take it all in stride. Putting the politics of food aside for a second, the folks in the lab coats seem genuinely excited by the complexity of how color, smell, taste, and local customs create complexity (and opportunity) in the snack business. For example, one Pepsi Colorist (think Soda, not hair) explained that an apple flavored drink had failed in china when it was golden colored (it looked too much like liquor) but had taken off when it was changed to an apple-green color. Who knew? I guess they did. So, what about the pressure for social change? Well, first of all - whether you think it's Pepsi responding to a changing market or leading the way - sugar seems to be very much something that they're looking to reduce or replace. There were a number of new low sugar products on their way to market (Trop50, 50% less sugar in orange juice) and Pepsi has licensed a pure brand of a herb named Stevia (PureVia is the Pepsi brand name for this) to reduce sugar in many of their products. Pepsi people as a whole seem genuinely concerned about health related issues, the environment, and their ability to make a difference in nutrition and food safety. Ok, I know - eye roll here - but wait for a second. Pepsi is run by Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, the CEO since 2006. The Indian born Chemist and Yale trained MBA has been named one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes. So, she's got a global perspective, and is driving hard to create a company that has an impact. Besides the Pepsi soda brands, they own Quaker Oats, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, SoBe, Naked, Tropicana, Copella, and Mountain Dew. A snack company for sure - with a diverse mix of carbonated, non-carbonated, and so called 'salty snacks' brands. Confession, I'm munching on a swag bag of Red Sky Sea Salt 100% Natural Potato Chips as I write this - is that bad?( Love 'em - the salty snacks. ) CEO Nooyi's internal campaign at Pepsi is called Performance With Purpose. Ok, sure - this could be a corporate marketing campaign, but it doesn't seem like it from talking to the folks and seeing what they're doing. From 100% recyclable potato chip bags to sustainable urinals, Pepsi is thinking a lot about their impact on the environment, nutrition, health, sustainability and customer's changing expectations about how products impact their bodies and the planet. lame-O. LINK: Performance with Purpose Of course the proof is in the execution of Pepsi's corporate drive to be more eco-friendly, health conscious, and socially aware. And I fully expect the comments to be full of snack-food haters that think Pepsi can't be part of the solution so long as they produce Fritos. But I'm willing to be convinced otherwise. Potato chips aren't going to vanish off the planet - and unless they do - making them more healthy, and their packaging bio-degradable seems like a good thing. You could say this is just good business sense - but there seems to be more going on than that. Maybe you saw the "Dear Mr. President" campaign? Here's what it looked like if you missed it during the Inauguration: It was a Pepsi driven, user-submitted video 'letter' that captured passions of voters, and connected the Pepsi "refresh everything" campaign to the changing political climate. It was the work of Ami Irazabal, Pepsi's U.S. brand marketing director. The campaign got more than 700 video entries and 750,000 You Tube views. Hmm... is that just luck, or is Pepsi putting its marketing money where its corporate mouth is- and embracing and encouraging change? It's easy to believe that big is inherently bad. And I'm certainly a fan of the shift to slow food, small media, and handmade goods. But big could also allow a company to do big - good =things. There's no doubt that Pepsi has the global footprint to foster real change if they want to. The irony of all this is that when I arrived, I thought I had gone back in time. But came away from the Pepsi tour thinking about change, and the future, more than the past. Could bio-degradable potato chip bags be the start of something big? Stay tuned to the Salty Snacks channel to find out.
 
Tom Vander Ark: New edu-employment bargain key to good teaching Top
The 'good teachers make all the difference' research is now driving edu-investment. The theory goes: make good teachers, schools get better. I subscribe to the opposite theory: good schools make good teachers. Or, more specifically, get the employment bargain and job right, and you'll attract and retain high quality teachers. US education has employment all wrong. Here's how it works in most places and what good looks like. Hiring • Now: Most school districts recruit late and do little screening • Good: Early recruiting with extensive screening for aptitude and attitude Employment • Now: Lifetime employment • Good: one year contracts; 3-5 year contracts for master teachers Compensation • Now: lock-step, back-loaded, retirement oriented • Good: competitive and differentiated entry pay, rapid path to $75k for top performers that want more responsibility, $100k for teacher leaders Preparation and certification • Now: worthless university certification that has little to do with the job • Good: summer orientation plus job embedded coaching and training for two years Working conditions • Now: isolated and prescribed by minute • Good: do what it takes as team member in a place with a clear mission The 'good' conditions change the pool of candidates from bottom third to top third of college grads. High Tech High in San Diego gets top talent because it's a great place to work. The 'more good teachers' folks are about to get buckets of money from the feds and foundations--and that's not all bad but lots of new recruits are going to get stuck in dysfunctional schools, get frustrated, and leave. In the mean time, great charter operators are getting screwed. They're already reeling from budget cuts but are positioned to open hundreds of great new schools and model the 'good' employment bargain outlined above. You may have noticed that I didn't include performance pay or bonuses on my list. When Obama talks about performance pay, I think he means that good teachers should get paid more--I agree. Bonuses are trickier; we don't know how to do this in education. It's hard enough to get a bonus system right in the private sector where better performance yields more money to pay bonuses. I'm glad there are folks working on it but I'm not optimistic. Research seems to indicate that effective leadership and a sane environment are more important than bonuses. The place to work the teacher effectiveness issue is at the state level but I'm not sure there are any governors willing to take on the status quo and create the new education employment bargain (they've admittedly got their hands full fending off bankruptcy). They could at least let a few more successful charters expand so we have more examples of how good schools make good teachers. More on Barack Obama
 
Bruce Wilson: Video: Christian Martyr Movement Head Blesses Huckabee & Gingrich Top
On Friday, June 5, 2009, at an event featuring aspiring politicians Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich that was broadcast over the global media networks of GodTV, a rising leader in the rapidly reconfiguring Christian right who has publicly called for acts of Christian martyrdom prayed over and blessed Huckabee and Gingrich: TheCall founder Lou Engle. The June 5, 2009, Rock Church event has received some media notice but coverage -which has noted Newt Gingrich declared Americans are "surrounded by paganism" , and that he and Mike Huckabee made stump speeches calling for Christian conservatives to become more involved in electoral politics- has almost wholly missed the significance. Leaders on the Christian right have been giving such speeches for decades, but the two-day Rock Church conference was not business as usual. Rather, it showcased the rapid reconfiguration of the Christian right around the rising, highly militant but poorly understood charismatic wing of the new Christian right, a movement which includes both Ted Haggard and Sarah Palin .) One point of the spear for the new Christian right is an intense, raspy-voiced man who presided over the June 5, 2009 Rock Church event, layed hands on Mike Huckabee, and pledged the commitment of his prayer warriors to Huckabee and Gingrich was Lou Engle, founder of TheCall - which played a significant role in the push to pass the anti-gay marriage Proposition Eight in the lead up to the November 4, 2008 presidential election. Only days before Huckabee and Gingrich received Lou Engle's endorsement at Rock Church, on Sunday May 31, 2009, late-term abortion doctor George Tiller was gunned down in the lobby of his Wichita, Kansas church. The next morning CBS's Jeff Glor reported, "We did speak with the accused shooters' ex-wife yesterday. She said she was not surprised this happened and that she believed Roeder wanted to be a martyr for the cause." The November 1, 2008 TheCall San Diego event was the capstone event for the pro-Proposition Eight, anti-gay marriage push in California prior to the November 4, 2008 presidential election. Towards the end of the event, which attracted an estimated 30,000 attendees to San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium despite sweltering heat, TheCall founder Lou Engle, and his disciple Eddie Brown, as captured in footage taken at TheCall San Diego by documentary film-maker Michael W. Wilson made calls, from onstage before thousands of impassioned followers, for acts of Christian martyrdom. Engle has in the recent past declared that decades of legalized abortion since Roe v. Wade have incurred a blood debt which demands to be paid in blood. [ more on Gingrich, Huckabee and Engle ]
 
Dan Frommer: Apple's New iPhone: What To Expect Monday Top
Apple's (AAPL) Worldwide Developers conference kicks off Monday with a keynote led by Apple marketing boss Phil Schiller. Apple execs will show off parts of the new iPhone 3.0 operating system . And someone -- Phil; Steve Jobs ? -- is expected to show off a new iPhone . Most likely new iPhone features , as either we or others have reported: Faster processor . More storage capacity. Faster Internet speeds . Video recording. Better camera. Digital compass. More iPhone 3.0 software features, such as video editing, and potentially a new home screen that's better designed for organizing and launching dozens of apps. The phone will likely look very much like the current iPhone 3G. Some reports suggest a matte, rubbery back . But many "leaked" photos are fake . Then there's a slew of other potential features, some of which Apple could unveil Monday, too, such as a front-facing camera for video chat, background app processing , or multi-colored iPhones . But those are relatively unlikely. Just as important: What Apple announces regarding AT&T's iPhone service plans. Specifically, if AT&T will offer some sort of entry-level iPhone plan that is less than $70/month , or if it will at least make its plans a better deal by including unlimited text messaging. (Sprint is doing this for the Palm Pre.) The iPhone itself is still too expensive for many buyers. And the service plan is, too. And about pricing: It makes sense that Apple would keep its new, premium iPhones at the $199/$299 price levels. But it seems that a cheaper iPhone, perhaps will less storage or a few missing components, could show up for $99 or $149 . Photo: Nowhere Else See Also: CHART OF THE DAY: Apple, RIM Swallow Mobile Industry Profits Palm Pre Is Nice, But I'm Keeping My iPhone Retailer Computers List 16GB, 32GB iPhones For Sale More on Apple
 
Allison Kilkenny: New Photos Released of Conflict Between Peruvian Government and Amazon People (Warning: Graphic) Top
Thousands of Peruvian activists have been protesting against a series of laws that will threaten their land's natural resources. The Peruvians protest in a show of solidarity for Amazon tribes, who have been on strike more than month. Privatization is the heart of the conflict. The tribes object to presidential decrees that have opened up their natural resource sectors to private investors. Sadly, the protests have spiraled into violence, and more than 30 people have died with dozens more injured. A reader, Luis Andres Sendoya, sent me photos taken by volunteers in Peru of the conflict between the Peruvian government and the Amazon people. The photos can be viewed here , but I must warn readers that they are extremely graphic. Alan Garcia, the president of Peru, pleads for calm from his countrymen, but what he has not yet acknowledged are the rights of the indigenous Peruvians, which is really what this whole conflict is about. Cross-posted from Allison Kilkenny's blog . Also available on Facebook and Twitter .
 
2009 French Open Winner: Roger Federer Beats Soderling To Tie Sampras' Record Top
PARIS — Roger Federer beat Robin Soderling, tied Pete Sampras and won the French Open at last. Undeterred by an on-court intruder, Federer defeated surprise finalist Soderling 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 on Sunday to complete a career Grand Slam and win his 14th major title, matching Sampras' record. "It's maybe my greatest victory, or certainly the one that removes the most pressure off my shoulders," Federer said. "I think that now and until the end of my career, I can really play with my mind at peace, and no longer hear that I've never won Roland Garros." On his fourth try in a Paris final, Federer became the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam championships. "Now the question is: Am I the greatest of all time?" Federer said. "We don't know, but I definitely have many things going for me because I've finally won all four Grand Slams, and I'm particularly happy reaching Pete's 14." Sampras said Federer deserves to be at the top of the all-time list. "I'm obviously happy for Roger," Sampras told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where he lives. "Now that he has won in Paris, I think it just more solidifies his place in history as the greatest player that played the game, in my opinion." Midway through the match, a spectator ran onto the court and tried to put a hat on Federer. That only briefly delayed Federer's march to the title. When the stylish Swiss hit a service winner on championship point, he fell on his knees to the clay that had vexed him for so long, screamed and briefly buried his face in his hands. He was teary by the time he met Soderling at the net, and fans gave Federer a standing ovation as he raised his arms in triumph. The supportive crowd included Andre Agassi, the most recent man to complete a career Grand Slam when he won at Roland Garros 10 years ago. Agassi presented Federer with the trophy. "I'm so happy for you, man," Agassi said. "You're the last man to win all four Grand Slams," Federer said. "Now I can relate to what it really feels like. ... It feels good to be for once on the podium as the winner. It's a magical moment." Tears ran down Federer's cheeks as the Swiss national anthem played. "Roger, really, congrats to you," Soderling said. "You really gave me a lesson in how to play tennis today. And to me you're the greatest player in history. So you really deserved to win this title." Federer owed Soderling a thank-you for easing his path by upsetting four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round. "I kind of was relieved, because he was going to be the hardest one to beat," Federer said. Nadal defeated Federer at Roland Garros the past four years, including three consecutive times in the final. A matchup against the No. 23-seeded Soderling was much more inviting. The Swede had never previously been beyond the third round at a Grand Slam tournament, and he fell to 0-10 against Federer. "Yesterday, me and my coach were joking," Soderling told Federer during the trophy ceremony. "You've beaten me nine times in a row, and we were joking nobody can beat me 10 times in a row. But we were wrong." Playing in cool, windy weather and occasional rain, Federer raced to a quick lead and kept it. Soderling appeared nervous at the start of his first Grand Slam final, and Federer kept him scrambling with penetrating groundstrokes to both corners and an occasional drop shot. Then came the day's biggest surprise. The match was between points in the second set when a spectator waving a flag climbed through the photographer's pit and onto Federer's side of the court. "That gave me a fright," Federer said. "He looked at me, and I was not sure what he wanted. ... It was a touch scary." Federer backed away toward the backstop, but the fan caught up with him and tried to put a hat on Federer's head. Security personnel seemed slow to react before chasing the man to the other side of the court, and he was tackled, then carried out. There was silence from the stunned crowd, then the familiar chant of "Ro-ger! Ro-ger!" when the bizarre episode ended. Federer readjusted his headband, Soderling gave him a thumbs-up sign and play resumed. Soderling's strokes steadied, and he pushed the second set to 6-all. But Federer played a brilliant tiebreaker, hitting aces on all four of his service points, and Soderling could only smile ruefully. Federer broke again to start the third set and kept that lead the rest of the way. He never lost serve, and despite the difficult conditions, he had more winners than unforced errors _ 41 to 24. While Federer benefited from Nadal's surprising departure, the journey to the title wasn't easy. Federer rallied from a two-set deficit in the fourth round to beat Tommy Haas, and survived another five-setter against Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals. "I've had a tough draw," Federer said. "Of course, it's not Nadal on the other side of the net, but I beat him a couple of weeks ago on clay (in Madrid), so I really feel like I really deserve it." Federer won his 14th Grand Slam championship at age 27. Sampras, who never reached a French Open final, was 31 when he won his last major title. Federer will try for No. 15 beginning in two weeks at Wimbledon, which he has won five times. He has also won the U.S. Open the past five years, and he has three Australian Open titles. Besides Federer and Agassi, the other men to win all four Grand Slams tournaments were Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson. More on Sports
 
Evidence Suggests Obama's Speech Already Undercutting Extremists Top
RAMALLAH, West Bank — From Lebanese guerrillas to Saudi preachers, Islamic extremists have warned followers not to be taken in by President Barack Obama's conciliatory words _ a sign that some may be nervous about losing support if animosity toward the U.S. fades. But even moderates warn Obama will have to quickly follow his call for a new relationship with the Islamic world with bold actions to prevent a disappointed backlash. In his speech in Cairo Thursday, Obama listed confronting "violent extremism" as the top priority in addressing tensions between the U.S. and Muslims. He urged the Islamic world to reject radical ideologies and promised to work aggressively to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He also said the U.S. does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement in the West Bank and endorsed a Palestinian state. There are already some indications his words are having the desired effect of undercutting extremists. A militant leader in Egypt called on the Taliban to respond positively to Obama's gestures, and Hamas militants in Gaza say they are ready "to build on this speech." Obama may have managed to "plant the seed of doubt in some minds," said Robert Malley, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank. "There was enough ... that represented openings for those who wanted openings." Yet Obama's eloquent promises were seen as only a small step toward halting the region's drift toward militancy, accelerated in recent years by the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and Washington's perceived pro-Israel bias. He will be most closely watched on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly his push to get Israel to comply with a settlement freeze. That is something no U.S. administration before him has accomplished. "Extremists will only be disarmed when the U.S. takes a more neutral stand on Israel," said Abdel Wahab al-Qasab, a Qatar-based analyst. Obama has so far followed the Bush administration's policy of not talking directly to Hamas, which the U.S. regards as a terrorist organization. But in his remarks in Cairo, he seemed to suggest some basis for believing that Palestinian militants who rule Gaza might be drawn into the peace process. Obama's Mideast envoy George Mitchell is coming to the region this week to push the president's agenda with Israelis and Palestinians. He is tentatively scheduled to stop in Syria, where Hamas is headquartered. But a State Department spokesman said Mitchell has no plans to talk to Hamas. Obama's message also contained an assurance that U.S. troops in Afghanistan fighting al-Qaida and the Taliban won't stay longer than absolutely necessary. That too may have resonated with militants in that region, said Ahmed Rashid, a Lahore-based analyst and author of a book on the Taliban. "The extremists used to lie that the U.S. wants military bases in this region," he said. Essam Derbala, a leader of one of Egypt's largest militant groups, al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya Al-Qaida, told an Egyptian newspaper over the weekend that the Taliban should reciprocate by announcing they will no longer target Americans. That would ensure U.S. troops will eventually leave the region, he said. Still, many extremists remain wary of the U.S outreach. Two influential fundamentalist groups, Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Egypt's opposition Muslim Brotherhood, as well as a Saudi preacher, accused Obama of being deceptive. They said he offered soft words to hide unchanged anti-Muslim positions. But that could indicate their nervousness that Obama's strategy could undercut support for militancy. This week's elections in Lebanon and Iran could give an early indication of sentiments in the region. In Lebanon, Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies tried to unseat a pro-Western coalition in a vote on Sunday. In Iran's June 12 vote, hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is facing a pro-reform challenger likely to take a less confrontational approach with the U.S. if elected. But what many in the Muslim world will be waiting to see is whether Obama delivers on expectations of a tougher U.S. stance toward Israel. "If the Israelis continue with settlement activity and defiance and President Obama does nothing, the repercussions will be major," said Saeb Erekat, an aide to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "We're at a crossroads." While seemingly tougher on Israel than his predecessor George W. Bush, Obama has not said what, if any, action would take if Israel defies him on settlements. He also has made clear that he is not dramatically revising the fundamentals of past U.S. policy. Like Bush, he remains committed to Israel's security, is banking on the unpopular Abbas and refuses to talk to Abbas' rival, Hamas, unless the Islamic militant group recognizes Israel and renounces violence. Despite disappointment that the U.S. position had not shifted more dramatically, Hamas leaders praised Obama's shift in tone. Hamas is eager to win international acceptance of its rule in Gaza, and has gone out of its way to sound pragmatic. "We think we can build on this speech," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Saturday. "We can take positive things from the speech to open communications with Obama and the U.S. administration." In the end, many Muslims were heartened by Obama's speech because they saw it as a significant change in the tone of discourse with Muslims. They noted he did not use the word "terrorism" or "terrorist" once in the 55-minute address _ words that many thought had been devalued under the Bush administration and too often equated with Muslims. They also heard a more respectful U.S. leader who quoted from the Quran, or Islamic holy book, greeted them in Arabic, and removed his shoes when he toured a Cairo mosque. One militant Web site that often carries statements from al-Qaida had unusual praise for Obama after the speech, noting his quotations from the Quran demonstrated respect for Islam and branding him the "wise enemy." ___ AP reporters from across the Middle East contributed to this report.
 

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