YouTube As My Wingman

Summary

An older individual reflects on the benefits of modern technology after successfully using YouTube to view a recent interview and write a timely article for The Daily Beast.

Abstract

The author, an experienced journalist, initially skeptical of modern technology, recounts a personal experience where high-tech solutions proved invaluable. After receiving a late-night text from his editor about a televised interview with Paul Manafort, he used Google and YouTube to quickly access the content, enabling him to write an article for The Daily Beast. Despite initial doubts from his editor and some creative liberties taken by the publication with his words, the article was published, showcasing the positive impact of technology on journalism and changing the author's perspective on the value of high-tech advancements.

Opinions

The author begins with a critical view of modern technology, particularly its impact on younger generations.
He acknowledges the utility of technology after successfully using Google and YouTube to find and watch a relevant interview, which allowed him to write a timely piece for publication.
The author is pragmatic, willing to adapt and use technology to his advantage, despite his previous reservations.
He expresses mild frustration with his editor's initial skepticism and the editorial changes made to his article, including the addition of scatological references he did not write.
The author is ultimately appreciative of the role technology played in his success, admitting that his previous disdain for high-tech advancements was misplaced.
He is prepared to defend the integrity of his work to his former cellmate, Paul Manafort, should the need arise, distancing himself from the embellished descriptions added by the publication.

When high tech pays off

Being an old guy, I often view modern tech as a step back as much as I do a step forward. Like when I see millennials walking through the streets of New York stumbling over curbs and strolling into intersections obliviously as they’re seemingly glued to their phone screens, I have to wonder about the value of all these life improvements. But yesterday and today, I’ve seen a different side of high tech — and one that benefitted me.

About 10 PM last night, my phone pinged with a text from my Daily Beast editor. Earlier that night, Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s old campaign manager — and my old celly, had given his first televised interview since getting released from prison. Sean Hannity of Fox News was the lucky interviewer.

Harry thought that maybe I could riff for the Beast after watching that interview, given that Paulie had been forwarded to New York and placed in my cell awaiting a couple of appearances in State court back in 2019. One small problem: I hadn’t seen the interview. How was I going to comment? Ambitious individual that I surely am, I used a little high tech to see how I could rectify the situation.

First I Googled “Paul Manfort + Sean Hannity.” In an instant, a link sent me to Youtube, where a video of the interview had already been posted. Problem solved. I watched the 12 minutes and sent the link to my editor, an action that made him happy. In his words, “some dipshit” on his phone was trying to convey the content of the interview. Sending the link made me look like a good investigative reporter/journalist. Obviously, he hadn’t thought to do what I’d done to find a tape of the spot.

Unfortunately, Harry didn’t find the interview compelling and wrote that he doubted I could “find a way in” that would be worthy of publication in The Beast.

Figuring if I couldn’t convince him, I might make a sale elsewhere — or ultimately resign the piece to my Medium publication — I took 20 or 30 minutes to write 800 words on my reaction after watching the interview, and sent it of with a note “Please pass quickly so I can move on,” meaning he probably wouldn’t want what I’d written, but since he was the guy who hipped me to the interview in the first place, he earned the first shot.

Miraculously, Harry called back 15 minutes later to tell me it was going to run with edits — and to stand by to collaborate before posting on the site. And there it was: High tech to my rescue. Without Google and Youtube, I’m not sure it could have happened. So much for my disdain of everything high tech.

Oddly, the Beast featured an opening subhead that read “Trump’s guy is back talking with his old pal Sean Hannity and promoting a new book about how his shit doesn’t stink. But his farts sure did, writes his former cellmate.”

Those were not my words at all. I had once told Harry that “celebrity notwithstanding, Paulie snored and farted like the common man.” And at this point in time, he and/or other editors at the Beast opted to run with those old scatological references that were not mentioned in yesterday’s submission.

I told Harry that Paul did fart — but that the stink factor was not quite what the Beast was leading its readers to believe. But he wanted me to live with it as that was a theme the Beast wanted to run with. Far be it from me to look a gift horse in the mouth. I spread like the digital hooker I surely am.

But if I ever was to speak with Paul again — and he asked about the Beast piece — I’d be quick to tell him the smelly fart references weren’t my idea — while I would own everything else.

No links here for obvious reasons. But if you go to the Daily Beast site and search “Mersey,” — and you pay (it’s behind a paywall) — you can read what I more or less wrote. Alternatively, if you wait a few days, it will come out from behind the paywall and be free to read.

Anyway — that’s the story of how high tech made my day and convinced me that maybe, all these advancements really are improvements over life 30 years ago.