The Rant Rolls On…Line
By now, everyone has heard of the on-air brouhaha between Rosie O’Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck on The View last week. At first glance, there’s not much to talk about, right? Republicans and democrats debating politics again…
Beyond the questionable fact that this firestorm happened during May sweeps (hmmm), the interesting part of this story is Rosie O’Donnell’s online commentary.
Almost immediately after the show, Rosie started answering reader inquiries on her blog and called into question her return to the show before it was publicly announced that she would not be fulfilling the final three weeks of her contract.
In the days following, Rosie went on to post poems, research and commentary supporting her point of view, and two videos. The first video, set to the tune of Cyndi Lauper’s Sisters of Avalon and entitled “True Colors 2007,” featured a quasi-sentimental scrap book of Elizabeth, Barbara Walters and Rosie.
On Saturday, three days after the incident, Rosie openly discussed her “shock” at the show and its producers for “split screening” her and Elizabeth in the heat of the argument. She also responded to rumors on her trashing her dressing room, confirmed that a colleague drew a mustache on posters of Elizabeth when leaving the studio, and said that she’s never worked harder on being someone’s friend than with Elizabeth. Oh…and did I mention that she is openly drinking alcohol during this post?
Using her blog, not only did Rosie comment on industry speculation, she added fuel to the fire by making it personal. Rosie sensationalized the story further and continued to generate headlines. Media across the nation showed images from her blog and even excerpts of the videos picured above.
If she hadn’t continued to comment, especially in the unique manner that she did, the story would have been over by Thursday. It’s a situation that shows how new media can be used to anyone’s advantage…for any personal or professional gain.