Monthly Archives: November 2007

Anderson Cooper channels John Stewart

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This is an old clip but a goodie. It’s the end of the year story from last year’s AC360° regarding the Trump/O’Donnell feud. What is hilarious about the clip is Cooper breaking character and doing the popcorn, soda and snacks bit that is often a shtick of John Stewart’s on The Daily Show when a story is particularly ridiculous, gossip-laden or full of celebrity hubris.

People often criticize TDS’s methods as a “fake” news organization, something it makes no apologies for, and that it dilutes the news. When a real news organization adopts some of their methods, tongue-in-cheek as they are, it further validates The Daily Show as an important ingredient in the stew of news and information.

I have the utmost respect for Anderson Cooper and I am glad CNN allows him to loosen up once in a while and have a little fun with his stories. I mean come on, how could you not make light of something that is in all reality a non-story?

FCC rule change update

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In an update to a related story I mentioned yesterday, FreePress has published a report called:
10 Facts Kevin Martin Doesn’t Want You to Know About His New Media Ownership Rules (PDF).

It should be noted however that this isn’t about his cable company rule changes, this is about his media ownership rule changes. Again, these two proposals seem to be come from two different people and seem almost contradictory. Am I missing something here? What is Mr. Martin trying to pull?

The gist of the report is that many of Martin’s claims about the news business are outright wrong and misleading. Tim Tarr at HuffPo comments:

So, why does Martin remain determined to turn a blind eye to the public opposition to unchecked consolidation?

Stopping Big Media
It's not because the evidence suggests otherwise. On Nov. 13, Martin penned an op-ed in the New York Times, in which he argued that a "relatively minor loosening of the ban on cross-ownership of newspapers and TV stations," would help save the American newspaper from certain death.

In a new report released on Monday, Free Press found that Martin's claim that the newspaper is an "endangered species" is greatly exaggerated.

Consider this: Revenue per circulated newspaper copy increased from 2005 to 2006. Industry-wide, newspapers still enjoy operating profit margins near or above 20 percent -- higher than the S&P 500 average.

Recent mergers and acquisitions further demonstrate that newspapers remain highly valued properties. Prices paid for newspaper companies have been above 10 times cash flow, with average stock prices at eight times cash flow. These values are considered quite healthy by financial industry standards.

It’s no surprise that a bureaucrat like Martin would twist the facts in order to please lobbyists and media barons. This is the problem with bottom-line focused, business people getting involved in the business of news.

I’ve lamented on this in the past and it is indeed a dangerous road we are traveling. The news is a unique business that serves a dual purpose; yes it tries to generate revenue but its main purpose is to inform the public and keep them apprised on what is happening in their world both locally and abroad. We aren’t selling widgets here people, we’re keeping the gears of society greased.

Hopefully one day a happy medium (pun intended) will be forged. We’ll have to wait and see.

News about the news

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  • F.C.C. Chief Seeks Votes to Tighten Cable Rules:
    Oddly enough, Kevin Martin, the same man that wants to let media conglomerates basically monopolize a market, is trying to strengthen rules governing cable companies. The rule changes would limit cable exclusivity and lower rates for consumers. What’s Mr. Martin’s angle I wonder? By all accounts I think I would have to agree with his proposal, yet his other one regarding media property ownership is as ridiculous now as it was last time they proposed it. We’ll have to wait and see how this rolls out.
  • ABC News and Facebook in Joint Effort to Bring Viewers Closer to Political Coverage:
    Facebook has finally edged out MySpace as the “it” social-networking site. I must admit, I like Facebook worlds better than MySpace, especially since it became a hotbed for spammers and viral marketers. Looks like Rupert Murdoch should have waited before dropping a billion dollars on a social-networking property. I give MySpace a shelf-life of two more years tops before it becomes as invisible as Friendster. The election will be the apex of Facebook’s life, and Zuckerberg would be wise to sell it soon after. The next social-networking site is no doubt right around the corner and being developed in some kid’s dorm room.
  • WSJ.com Must Tread Carefully if it Nixes Paid-Subs Model:
    In a bold and surprising move, Rupert Murdoch announced that that the newly acquired Wall Street Journal’s online presence (WSJ.com) would soon be free. This is surprising both because WSJ.com has been one of the most successful online, subscription-based publications and because Murdoch loves the money. Perhaps Murdoch has seen the light and is more concerned with informing than making money.

    Yeah, and monkeys might…well, you know.

Reading is fundamental

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Tom Scarritt (no, not that Tom Skerritt) talks about Creating lifelong readers:

If you are reading this col­umn, chances are you are more successful than the average person, more involved in your community and less likely to be in prison.

That is not because of anything I have written. It is because you have chosen to read.

A new study by the Na­tional Endowment for the Arts suggests that reading transforms lives. "Regular reading not only boosts the likelihood of an individual's academic and economic success -- facts that are not especially surprising -- but it also seems to awaken a person's social and civic sense," wrote Dana Gioia, chairman of the NEA.

While correlation is not the same as cause and ef­fect, it is clear from the new report, "To Read or Not To Read," that all kinds of posi­tive measures go along with voluntary reading. Those who cannot read, or choose not to read, do not fare so well.

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It still amazes me that some people don’t read at least something each day. I would think it obvious that reading more stimulates the mind and creates a greater sense of civic responsibility. Even so, Americans are spending less time reading and more time staring at the tube. Damn you Reality TV!

Nothing more to say really, I just liked Scarritt’s commentary.

New gig

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OK, so I normally keep the personal posts out of this blog but this warrants a mention since it is journalism related. Through the thoughtful recommendation of one of my professors, I am now a part-time employee (technically) of The Orlando Sentinel. I am a temp. online weekend producer, and so far it is one of the coolest jobs I can imagine. It combines my two favorite things, computers and journalism. It’s the best of both worlds.

I am still a little blown away at the opportunity and it hasn’t completely set in yet.

The doors are wide open from here. Tribune owns papers in many fantastic cities and near many schools with great M.A. programs, so opportunity is everywhere. As it stands, The Sentinel seems like a great place to work and staying there for as long as possible wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Oh, and I just found out today that my portfolio was accepted and approved by the journalism department. That means all I need to do is finish two classes next term and I am done, finally.

Everything is coming up Mullis!

Cuban – 1, O’Reilly – 0

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Once a month or week Bill O’Reilly picks a leftist movement or person and proceeds to attack the hell out them. Whether it be George Soros, Michael Moore or Ariana Huffington; O’Reilly goes nuts over them with very little evidence. It’s his shtick and it somehow works and gets him ratings.

O’Reilly’s latest target has been Mark Cuban and his producing and financing of the film ‘Redacted,’ a movie O’Reilly called vile and harmful to American and the soldiers serving in Iraq. O’Reilly has repeatedly scorned Cuban and railed against the movie on his show, even though he has never seen the movie.

Well, suffice it to say the battle should be over because Mark Cuban completely schooled Bill O’Reilly. He managed to get the TV ad for ‘Redacted’ to play during O’Reilly’s show, proving that money is more important than principles, misguided as they are.

Nice one Bill O, who’d have thought you could look dumber than you already do.

To all the people bitching about Facebook Beacon

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SHUT THE HELL UP!

Here, use this: How to Disable Facebook Beacon. Oof, that took two seconds of Google searching and a quick Firefox add-on install. No one could manage that on their own? Maybe you should get off the intarwebs and quit clogging up the tubes with your idiocy. It’s not a truck!

Yes, it’s a foolish feature for Facebook, but boycotting the site is just as stupid. Instead, why not boycott the site that has put the Facebook code into their sites. If no one uses it, Facebook has no incentive to keep supporting it. Just like companies and illegal immigrant workers, but that’s a different story.

Also, there is the whining that Facebook should make it an “opt-in” feature. You know where the opt-in happens people? When you sign up for Facebook! If you don’t like it, don’t sign up.

Yes, Facebook is fun and everyone is having a blast seeing that their friends wrote on each other’s walls and sending zombies after one another, but now it is to the point where it needs to make money. It began in that Harvard kid’s dorm room but has moved beyond it and now needs the infrastructure for over a million users and to pay 300+ employees.

Zuckerberg is trying to build up the profitability of the site so he can sell it for more. It’s business folks, deal with it. Sorry.

New articles

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I forgot to put these up, but I had two more articles run. Both were speakers, one was a professor from Princeton speaking on illegal immigration and the other was the former first lady of Egypt, Jehan Sadat.

Fighting for the people

Illegal immigrant arrests at a 40-year low

Oh and just to gloat a little and mug for the camera, I got a job at The Orlando Sentinel as a part-time online producer. I’ll be working with the website on the weekends. It’s really awesome and I am stoked.

WGA Strike, cont’d

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Gothamist has a great interview with Daily Show fixture, John Oliver, regarding the WGA strike.

Have you spoken with Jon Stewart since the strike started?

I have. We’re all very worried. We have a staff of I don’t know how many and I’m not sure the livelihoods of these people is something that’s covered enough in the press. Everyone who works for our show stands to lose their job if we are off the air for too long and they get cut lose, so it’s a huge concern. I think sometimes when you see the writers marching up and down and laughing – because that’s what we do, those of us who write comedy tend to laugh about horrendous situations – I think sometimes that can look bad because it may look like people are taking it lightly. But no, it’s a horrible situation.

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