UPDATE: Holly Hunter Interview - The Spin

I recently wrote about the really bad Holly Hunter interview from the ABCNews.com segment called What's the Buzz. I originally wrote about this interview and linked to the video as my video of the week but it turns out this story is becoming a case study for web 2.0 cluelessness (if that's even a word).

Now ABC News is playing this story up like the interviewer, Merry Miller, is an Internet celebrity like the Evolution of Dance guy when in reality this is more akin to the Star Wars kid (video here for the uninitiated) brand of celebrity. Steve Bryant over at Reel Pop nailed this whole thing on the head. He said, "Miller's celebrity isn't positive, no matter how much she or ABC tries to spin it. Her appearance was a series of simple mistakes, good for a laugh. But by conflating notoriety for celebrity, ABC reveals they're just as out-of-touch as Miller."

So what's the lesson here? If you're going to venture into these new waters try to get some people on board who know the culture. It's not enough to find people who can execute technically. There's an entire culture shift around the new media. ABC is on the right track going the You Be the Anchor angle and they could have played that up more. Unfortunately, ABC's lack of new media understanding shines brighter.