August 2004 Archive
Note that some of these links are short term and will expire after two weeks. If you have access to Lexis-Nexis at your college or university library, you can retrieve many of the stories that are no longer on the web.
Main Archive List
Tuesday - Aug. 31, 2004
Monday - Aug. 30, 2004
- Audio Weekend: Pop Culture / Media News from NPR
On the weekend, Living in a Media World features a wrap up of audio stories from National Public Radio that deal with pop culture and/or media issues. (But we're running it on a Monday this week because of my computer woes....)
- NPR Tribute to Elmer Bernstein
An extended audio remembrance of film composer Elmer Bernstein, who died recently.
- South LA band Los Lobos celebrates new album, 30 years together
If you haven't heard them elsewhere, you heard Los Lobos in the move La Bamba, and you may have also heard them on Paul Simon's album Graceland. But you ought to hear this band on their own. Contains an extended performance interview.
- Scientists Pick Bladerunner as Greatest Sci Fi Flick
A group of 60 scientists was surveyed by the British newspaper The Guardian as to what they would consider the greatest science fiction movie of all time. They put Ridley Scott's Bladerunner at the top of their list. (Ok, I confess, I saw it twice the week it was released. But I would argue that no movie -- not even Star Wars -- has done more to change the look of science fiction movies. (Besides, I would argue that ultimately Star Wars is a fantasy series, not science fiction.) Bladerunner was the first of the big science fiction movies to be based on the writings of Phillip K. Dick
- Is Video Game Music Worth Building a Band Around?
My teenager would probably agree, having spent about $40 of his own money buying the piano score for the game Final Fantasy VII. At any rate, this story looks at a Phoenix-based band that only plays music from Nintendo games.
- An Encounter With J.R.R. Tolkien
Commentator Jay Keyser remembers going out for a beer with his Oxford Professor -- Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien.
- How Does Amazon.com Handle Reviews of Controversial Books?
The Book Babes from Poynter Online take a look at the book reviews that are posted by customers on the web site. The ladies had previously discussed the issue of anonymous reviews that were being posted to the site, and now they take on slamming and praising reviews that go along with many partisan books.
Saturday - Aug. 28, 2004
My computer is still being erratic and won't be fixed till Monday. Will post as much as is possible. REH
- Yahoo in Trouble in France for Failure to Block Information About Nazi Materials
The "World" in World Wide Web continues to create problems on the Internet. Take Yahoo, for example. French law requires that Internet companies in the country filter out all information about the sale of Nazi paraphernalia. Yahoo's search engines bring up information about auction sites selling such things in countries other than France. At the heart of the conflict is that the company is protected by the First Amendment in the United States, but France does not have that absolute protection of free speech. A fascinating (if somewhat legally technical) look at how the Web creates difficulties by not respecting borders. (InfoWorld)
- Campaign Ads: Attack Ads by 527s Spark Bitter Debate
Who should be allowed to advertise for or against candidates? Are proposed controls on political advertising a violation of the First Amendment? A good look at the special interest groups who are advertising big-time in this year's election. (Chicago Tribune)
- Pirate Radio To Broadcast From Republican Convention
"Correspondents" using cell phones will broadcast over the Internet and low-wattage unlicensed "pirate" radio stations with news and opinion from the Republican National Convention. (Chicago Tribune)
Friday - Aug. 27, 2004
My computer is in the shop for repairs. More entries as soon as I get it back!
REH
Thursday - Aug. 26, 2004
- Kidnapped Journalist Discusses Captivity, Philosophy, Escape Tactics
Kidnapped journalist Micah Garen discusses his ten days of captivity with a group of Islamic militants who took him (and his Iraqi translator) hostage in Nasiriya. A prime example of the risks journalists are forced to take to cover the story in Iraq.
- Everything From The Edge Moves to the Center - Green Day Ring Tones
One of the central properties of the mass media, I believe, is that it moves ideas and behaviors from the margins of society into the mainstream. This happens with slang vocabulary, the commercialization of counterculture, and a general acceptance of behaviors and lifestyles that were once considered outside of normal. Just look at the prevalance of piercings and tattoos (tats, if you're hip about it) among college students today.
The latest example of this is the punk band Green Day is advertising and selling cell phone ring tones with commercials on MTV and MTV2. Ring tones are the annoying (IMHO) songs that people have their cell phones play instead of a buzzer. Does selling ring tones simply allow fans to have what they want and express their individuality, or is it a crass sellout? Or is it simply the continual process of the margin (punk culture) moving to the center through the mass media? (NY Times)
- Mickey, Donald, & a Sleeping Lion go to Court in South Africa
There has been an on-going lawsuit in South Africa over the payment of royalties to the Zulu migrant worker who originally wrote the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight. But now it's getting ugly. South Africa's High Court has put Disney's copyright on 240 trademarks (including Mickey and Donald) on hold until the lawsuit is settled. (Washington Post)
- Kerry's Appearance on Stewart's Daily Show reviewed by WP
Washington Post television writer Lisa de Moraes reviews presidential candidate John Kerry's appearance on the Daily Show, a normally comedic news parody /commentary show. You may recall that during the Democratic National Convention, host Jon Stewart criticized broadcast news for being too entertainment oriented.
Wednesday - Aug. 25, 2004
- Time Reporter Testifies in CIA/Plame Case
The contempt of court order against Time magazine and it's reporter Matthew Cooper has been canceled after Cooper spoke with Justice Department prosecutors investigating the leak of the name of a covert CIA agent. Here's today's coverage of the story, along with links to previous stories. Cooper agreed to testify after he was released from his promise of anonymity given to his source -- Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Cooper had been threatened with going to jail and Time was facing large fines.
- Cable Growth Finally Slowing
Cable television may finally be peaking in its growth of ratings. An analyst says that the peak will come in 2009. Why peaking? Because the growth of cable ratings has come from more customers buying cable, not because people like the shows better. (USA Today)
- Campaign Advertising Stories
I've just started teaching a class on analyzing political campaign advertising, so you can expect to see a round-up of stories on the topic here on a frequent basis for the next few weeks.
- Special Vacuous News Edition
- Is NBC Eroticizing the Olympics?
The Real Media Riff suggests that that's the only way to explain how much Beach Volleyball the network has carried.
- HDTV May Be Too Sharp for Some Stars
Remember the scene in Singing In The Rain where the beautiful movie star tries to speak in a new talkie film, and she has squeaky voice that ends her career? Well, it may be happening again. HDTV's picture may be too good, exposing the flaws of movie stars' faces. Except for George Clooney, who reportedly looks even better on the new televisions. (Chicago Tribune)
Tuesday - Aug. 24, 2004
Monday - Aug. 23, 2004
Friday - Aug. 20, 2004
Thursday - Aug. 19, 2004
- American Journalist & Iraqi Translator Kidnapped
Followup with more details on journalist Micah Garen and his translator Amir Doshe, who were kidnapped at gunpoint in Nasiriya, Iraq, on Friday.
- Is Skippy Peanut Butter Advertising to Pot Heads?
We all know that drug culture has found its way into how we speak, but has it found its way into our peanut butter ads, too? Slate's Seth Stevenson checks it out, dude.
- Princeton Review "Party School" Rankings Set Off University PR Machines
There are many "real" problems that face college and university PR directors - sports recruiting scandals, cheating, students being hurt or killed, budget cuts, the list goes on. But the one that drives these people crazy is falling victim to the Princeton Review's Top Ten Party School ranking. The ranking is one of several alledgedly humorous rankings that the Review puts in its annual magazine that rates colleges and universities academically. Among the rankings are "Stone Cold Sober Schools," "Dodge Ball Targets," and "Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove Smoking Vegetarians." Why does the Review (which is not connected to Princeton University, BTW) publish these rankings? So that they will get written about in newspapers and have stories on television about the magazine. Meanwhile, this marketing and PR campaign can do some serious damage to the ranked schools. Here's some of the coverage the campaign has generated.
Wednesday - Aug. 18, 2004
Tuesday - Aug. 17, 2004
Monday - Aug. 16, 2004
- NY Times Reporter Judith Miller Subpoenaed in CIA/Plame Case
NY Times reporter Judith Miller has been subpoenaed by the grand jury investigating the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak. (Washington Post)
- Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press
There have been a number of stories here lately on subpoenas directed against reporters and attempts to stop publication of court stories. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is a nonprofit organization devoted to providing legal assistance to journalists in cases like these. Read more about a range of media law issues at the RCFP website.
- What Happened When a Washington Staffer's Blog Got A Little Too Explicit
In his brilliant book No Sense of Place, Joshua Meyrowitz wrote that in the era of electronic media we are losing our sense of front stage and backstage behavior. On television and the Internet we see into the parts of people's lives that used to be considered private - not only on news programs but on sitcoms and dramas. Because we constantly are looking into the private lives of others, we lose some of our own sense of what should be kept out of sight and what should be done publicly.
So what does that have to do with the link above?
Last spring Washington aide Jessica Cutler was writing an anonymous weblog that detailed her sex life with Washington officials. She was writing it for her amusement and that of her friends. But when her blog got mentioned on Wonkette (a prominent D.C. area blog), all of a sudden it wasn't so private anymore. The blog got her fired, lost Cutler her boyfriend, and got people thinking about what they were putting up on the net. (Washington Post)
Saturday - Aug. 14, 2004
- Audio Weekend: Pop Culture / Media News from NPR
On the weekend, Living in a Media World features a wrap up of audio stories from National Public Radio that deal with pop culture and/or media issues.
Friday - Aug. 13, 2004
- Kurtz: Washington Post Underplayed Pre-War WMD Doubts
The Post's media reporter Howard Kurtz writes that the paper consistently ran stories that questioned the presence or level of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction on inside pages rather than on the front page. And it took pushing from assistant managing editor Bob Woodward to get some of the stories in the paper at all.
- The Artist Formerly Known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince is Back
Prince is back performing, recording for a major record label, and is actually talking with the press. An interview with the Purple One to go with three nights of concerts in Washington, D.C. (I'm sorry, can you believe that Prince is now 46 years old?) (Washington Post)
- Will Satellite TV Keep Aliens from Finding Earth?
No, this isn't from the Weekly World News. But if you want to know what it's all about, you'll have to read Wednesday's Real Media Riffs, a wonderful daily commentary on media issues from MediaPost.com.
- Summer of Grown-Up Movies
This has been the summer of movies targeted successfully at grown ups, according to USA Today. Movies such as Fahrenheit 9/11, The Bourne Supremacy, Collateral, and The Village have all been packing in adults. (BTW, we give both Bourne and Collateral big thumbs ups as thoughtful, dramatic thrillers.
- PR Case Study: National Underwear Day
Wednesday was National Underwear Day. Did you celebrate it by taking your underwear to work? Seriously, NUD was really just a promotion by the web site freshpair.com. But the declaration, and sending models around downtown New York wearing, you guessed it, underwear, got the site considerable media coverage (or uncoverage, as the case may be). Here's some of the stories they generated:
Thursday - Aug. 12, 2004
Wednesday - Aug. 11, 2004
- CNN's Larry King Talks with Woodward & Bernstein
Thirty years ago on Monday, Aug. 9, 1974, Richard Nixon resigned the presidency over the Watergate cover-up scandal. The story was broken primarily by two young Washington Post reporters: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Larry King talks with the pair about Watergate, and about how the news media have changed since then.
- CNN's Reliable Sources Discuss Coverage of Orange Alert, Meeting of Minority Journalists
CNN runs an interesting press-criticism/analysis program on Sundays called Reliable Sources. It's hosted by the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz, and it deserves more attention than I give it on this blog. This last week the show dealt with how the press has jumped on the Bush administrations raising of the terror alert to orange. There is also coverage of the Unity convention of 7,000 minority journalists.
- Writers Guild Fighting for Contract Rights for "Unscripted" Reality Shows
Hollywood's writers union wants reality programs to be covered by their contract, claiming that the shows like Survivor and Big Brother are written with plots, beginnings, middles, and ends. In short, the Writers Guild is claiming that unscripted programs do, in fact, have scripts. (Washington Post)
- C-SPAN's Booknotes to End After 800 Episodes
Host Brian Lamp says he spends 20 hours a week reading in order to prepare for each show's hour-long interview. (Unlike hosts of many book segments on TV, Lamb actually reads the books he talks about.) Booknotes is unique on television with Lamb talking with one author per episode. More importantly, Lamb lets the author answer his questions at length. On one program, an author took 20 minutes to answer a question! The show will end its 800-program run on Dec. 5. Booknotes went on the air on April 2, 1989. Over that time, Lamb has never had a rerun and never missed a show. (The programs do get replayed as a part of C-SPAN 2's Book TV programming.) I, for one, will really miss the program. You can watch Booknotes interviews as streaming video from the Booknotes web site.
- Booknotes: Mark Perry's Grant and Twain
As an example of the Booknotes interview, here Lamb talks with author Mark Perry about his book Grant and Twain: The Story of a Friendship That Changed America. Aside from the basic interest in how author (and publisher) Mark Twain helped encourage President Grant to write his memoirs, this is also worth looking at because the new Clinton memoir has been compared by some to Grant's.
- Author Walter McDougall Discusses His Book Freedom Just Around the Corner on Book TV
An example of C-SPAN's Book TV programming. This is a tape of a speech given by author Walter McDougall.
Tuesday - Aug. 10, 2004
Monday - Aug. 9, 2004
Today's entries all deal with the changing face of media economics in the era of digital teachnology. The Muzak article talks about selling music for use in the workplace, the Béla Fleck article talks about how artists use touring to support themselves at a time when file sharing is being accused of taking all the CD income away, and the profile of the new movie (shot on digital video) Open Water looks at why filmmakers would deliberately go for a low budget (not having the money folks tell them what to do is biggie).
- Muzak Remakes Itself - More Than Just Elevator Music
Muzak used to be synonomous with watered-down string arrangements of pop music, but today the Muzak company supplies workplace music in a wide range of styles. Take a look at the world's biggest supplier of commercial music for business. (USA Today)
- Making a Living as a Muscian in the Digital Era
Jazz and classical banjo player Béla Fleck finds that he makes far more money touring with his band in the summer than from selling CD's. In fact, Fleck is one a growing group of musicians who encourages fans to record shows and share their recordings over the Internet. A fascinating look at how some musicians are adapting to the changes taking place in recording and file sharing technology. (You mean we could do something other than sue our best customers?) The story from USA Today also contains an audio link to Fleck's music.
- Open Water Tries to Scare With a Blair Witch Budget (And By Most Accounts Does It)
The shark thriller Open Water opened in a limited number of theaters last week, and there are two things you should know about it. (Don't worry, no spoilers here.) The first is that it uses real sharks swimming around real people in a real ocean. The second is that it was made for about $120,000. (No, there isn't a missing bank of zeros there.) USA Today's Susan Wloszczyna talks with the filmmakers about the advantages of shooting on a micro budget. Unlike many tiny budget movies, filmmakers Chris Kentis and Laura Lau deliberately did not go after outside financing. Good material here for looking at the trend started by movies like Blair Witch, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and 28 Days Later. (Yes, I know 28 Days had an $8 million budget, but it was still tiny by today's standards when a low budget thriller costs $70 million to make.)
Saturday - Aug. 7, 2004
- Audio Weekend: Pop Culture / Media News from NPR
On the weekend, Living in a Media World features a wrap up of audio stories from National Public Radio that deal with pop culture and/or media issues.
- Magazines Target Niche Audiences
New magazines are getting even more specialized today than they were in the 80s and 90s. One of NPR's extended web features.
- Non-Fiction and "Chick-Lit" are the Hot Books This Summer
Political books and sassy novels targeted at women are the hot sellers this summer, according to Charlotte Abbott of Publishers Weekly.
- New Senate Bill Could Result in Ban of iPod
The senate is considering a bill known as the "Induce" act that could outlaw devices that "intentionally induce" copyright infringement. Have we gone insane???? It's a portable hard drive with a headphone jack!
- Campaign Ad Battle Heating Up
Extended coverage from NPR on the presidential campaign advertising battle. Also contains an archive of recent stories about campaign advertising.
- Hot Pop Hit Rocks Iraq
The hot hit in Iraq this summer is a dance song called "Burtukali." Young people are the same the world over.
- Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson Remembered
Photojournalism pioneer Henri Cartier-Bresson died this week at age 95. He was a co-founder of the photo agency Magnum, and was known for his photos of historic events such as the death of Mahatma Gandhi and the liberation of Paris. Extended coverage including links to his photos. (Warning, don't follow the link to his photos unless you are prepared to lose yourself in another era for the next hour...)
- Only read this link if you have already seen the movie The Village.
Very interesting questions raised about the plot of The Village. I'll say nothing more....
Friday - Aug. 6, 2004
- Commentary from Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute is a great source for media criticism and analysis. Their web site is the source of the indispensable Romenesko media news blog (cited occasionally here). But there are many other great columns here as well. Here's a sampling of recent articles.
- Newspaper Says Moore Altered Headline for F 9/11
A Bloomington, Indiana newspaper is complaining that filmmaker Michael Moore altered a newspaper headline as a part of his film Fahrenheit 9/11. He took an actual headline from the newspaper, but placed it on a different day's paper, and he moved it from an inside page to the front page. (Yahoo News)
- Was Television Coverage of DNC Scripted by Networks?
NY Times commentator Paul Krugman says broadcast coverage of the Democratic National Convention (with the exception of C-SPAN) followed a script that sounded like it had been written by Republicans.
- People Reading Numbers on Shortwave Radio - What Does It Mean?
Akin Fernandez became obsessed with the strings of numbers being read late at night over shortwave radio. What did they mean? Are they, as he suspects, secret coded messages being sent to spies around the world? Actually, that's probably the correct explanation. Beyond dealing with shortwave radio, A lengthy Style section article, but worth reading to the end that eventually makes connections with the Wilco album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. (Washington Post Style Section)
- Privacy Law Update - Schwartzenegger Settles with Bobblehead Company
You may recall that the Governator was suing an Ohio-based company for appropriation of his image on a gun-totting bobblehead doll. He's now settled with the company. (Chicago Tribune)
Thursday - Aug. 5, 2004
Media Business in the News
- TiVo v. Broadcasters - When Media Business Fights Media Business
We often talk as though the "media" have some kind of universal agenda, but this article highlights the fallacy of this argument. TiVo, who makes the popular digital recorder, wants you to be able to take the programs you record on your TiVo and transfer them to your laptop computer or other media device. Broadcasters and cable networks, on the other hand, don't want consumers to be able to start trading new HDTV files on the Internet like they do songs. Both are fighting for the support of the FCC. (Washington Post)
- Shopping Mags Eliminate Annoying Articles
You know, if there weren't articles in magazines, you wouldn't have to worry about annoying the advertisers. What a concept! Frighteningly enough (if that's a word), it's already happening! (NY Times)
- People Won't Watch 30-Second Commercials, So Let's Make Them Longer!
If TiVo and the like are going to kill off the standard 30-second commercial, What's the alternative? Some advertisers are considering 90-second ads, while others are going to long-form online movie-like commercials. (Think about BMW's films, for example. But it strikes me that BMW is the only company who has really done this successfully so far. At least it's the only one that gets talked about repeatedly.) (NY Times)
- Who Are Amazon's Reviewers?
You know the reviews on Amazon.com? It seems that some of them were being written under pseudonyms by the actual book authors. This commentary from the NY Times discusses how Amazon has dealt with the problem.
- Consumer Payments Now More Important Than Ad Revenue
Did you feel the disturbance in the force? In 2003, consumers started being a bigger source of media revenue than advertising. That is, we paid more for our media than did advertisers. A fairly heavy article, but hugely important. (MediaPost)
Wednesday - Aug. 4, 2004
International Media News
News about the news from around the world.
- China Struggling With a Free, Profitable Press
China, with its communist government, is struggling with the notion of a free press. And editors struggle with what will attract readers and money v. what will get them shut down by the government. Fascinating news from the Sunday Washington Post.
- Dubai's Al-Arabiya Provides Alternative to al-Jazeera
This Washington Post Style Section article is basically about Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, but a good portion of it discusses al-Arabiya, a relatively new Arab-language satellite news network. If you don't remember, al-Arabiya is the network President Bush talked with about the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
- Profile of Al-Arabiya from the BBC
This profile was posted on the BBC's web site in November of 2003.
- Washington Times Profile of Al-Arabiya
From October, 2003.
- And You Thought Spanish was Spanish
Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo (owned by NBC Universal) was getting its clock cleaned by giant Univision. But Telemundo is starting to make progress this year. How? By having their performers speak like Mexican television news anchors. The Mexican anchors speak with an accentless Spanish rather than with one of the dozens of regional accents from around Central and South America. This is similar to the practice in the U.S. of having anchors all speak with a flat Midwestern accent. (Washington Post)
Tuesday - Aug. 3, 2004
USA Today has had a huge amount of media news in it the past couple of days. Here's some highlights:
- What's in a Web Address?
Every web site has a unique address, right? Once you register an address and keep paying for it, the address belongs to you. So what happens when someone inadvertently comes up with a valuable web address? That's the position that a man by the name of Kerry Edwards came to. (Think about it!) (USA Today)
- Electronic Books Used to Teach Public Health in Afghanistan
Most of the hype you see about electronic books (e-books) tends to focus on adults using them to read bestsellers. And most folks come to the conclusion that there's nothing wrong with paperbacks. But e-books have caught on with children who are just learning to read, and this same technology is being used to teach basic public health to folks who can't read (or can't read well) in Afghanistan. (USA Today)
- "Money for Nothing" - File Sharing Lawsuits
Not everyone is convinced downloading music is wrong. A pair off Iowa parents are being sued by the RIAA for their children downloading songs through a file sharing service. It's likely to cost them $3-4,000 to settle. The mother is quoted as saying, "It's a huge amount of money for nothing." Looks to me like there's a basic disagreement on right and wrong here... (USA Today)
- Summer Time is Media Hype Season
Summer is the time for big media hype! Spider-Man 2! Shrek 2! Harry Potter 3! (Oddly enough, all three of these highly hyped sequels were actually good movies!) Stop me before I use another exclamation point! (USA Today!)
Monday - Aug. 2, 2004
