Brendan Nyhan

Paltrow: “Almost everyone” has a cell

This year’s Hollywood is out of touch moment from the Oscars — Gwyneth Paltrow’s (pre-written) award introduction began with “Thanks to cell phones, almost everyone in the world is now a cinematographer.” Um, “almost everyone”? There are approximately 2.2 billion cell phone subscribers worldwide, but how many of their phones can take video? More importantly, World Bank estimates show that approximately 1.3 billion people make less than $1 a day and another 1.6 billion make $1-$2 per day. Call me crazy, but I don’t think many of those people are taking video with their cell phones.