November 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 - Nov. 30, 2004
- Reporters in Leak Case Lack Shield Law Protection
An unnamed Bush administration official illegally leaked the name of CIA official Valerie Plame to the press, but members of the press who had nothing to do with the case are being threatened with jail. We've talked about this case extensively, but now, as jail time appears to be approaching for the reporters involved, the Washington Post is providing in-depth analysis.
- Satellite Radio May Be Subject to FCC Restrictions
So Howard Stern thinks the world will be safe for talk of lesbians, dwarfs, and strippers once he moves to satellite radio. Not so fast Talk Show Man! At least some radio station owners think that the FCC ought to be regulating the satellite services the same way that they regulate broadcasting. (Reuters)
- Who Does TiVo Serve? Viewers, Broadcasters or Advertisers...
As has been mentioned here before, the TiVo digital video recorder seems to be changing who it is designed to serve. Originally designed to let consumers control their own TV consumption, the TiVo has broadcasters and cablecasters worried because it potentially gives consumers a digital copy of programming that they could do anything they wanted with. And we couldn't have that... (Houston Chronicle) (BTW, I learned about the last two entries from Media Post's free Media Daily News e-newsletter.)
- What's Wrong With Balanced Reporting?
According to CJR's Chris Mooney, balance is bad when it gives non-credible sources a voice in the interest of covering "both sides" of an issue. This can be a particular problem with science news..
Monday - Nov. 29, 2004
- Video Game Makers Work at Cashing In Before System Updates
When you make a big-budget movie, you can be reasonably certain that it will be compatible with the theaters you want to show it in, but that's not a given for video game developers. 2004 is likely the last year for PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, and so game programmers are looking for one last big season for them. (Are video games mass media? They cost as much to produce as a mid-sized movie, can have similar levels of sales, and are the latest target for product placement. They sound more like a straight-to-video movie than the games of old.) (Washington Post)
- Dan Rather Stepping Down as CBS Anchor
Rather is leaving the anchor desk at the CBS Evening News after 24 years in the spot, but he won't be retiring. Instead, the 73-year-old will move full time over to 60 Minutes. Rather has been controversial at times during his career, but never more so than with the fuss over the Bush memo story that ran this fall.
- Commentary: Separating Fact From Opinion
NPR commentator Drew Westen says that cable television news does a poor job of distinguishing between fact and opinion, presenting all information as being essentially equal. An audio story from All Things Considered.
- What's Hip? Reporter/Author John Leland Explains
NY Times reporter John Leland has written a history of hip that tries to explain what the elusive, but highly desirable, quality is. (HINT: Miles Davis, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bugs Bunny all have it.) An audio story with extensive web support from NPR.
Thanksgiving Week 2004
Hi, my blog is on Thanksgiving break this week.
Happy Turkey Day!
REH
I was going to take the week off from the blog, but there's just too much of interest going on. So instead of having daily entries this week, I'll simply post a few items as I see them.
- Howard Kurtz: Talking With NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin
I've done occasional links Dvorkin's column here, in large part because I listen to NPR news quite a bit and I'm interested in what Dvorkin has to say. Dvorkin is also interesting because NPR is the only broadcast organization that I know of that has an ombudsman providing criticism on a regular basis. And if you ask me, CBS and Fox in particular could use one. (Washington Post)
- Exxon Valdez School of Public Relations Dept. - NBA Works at Repairing Tarnished Image
The National Basketball Association is working on improving its image with both fans and corporate sponsors after a battle between players and fans at Friday night's Detroit Pistons game. This article gives a create look at the difficulty of crisis public relations and how a complex organization (the NBA) has to deal with multiple publics (the fans who watch the games and the corporate sponsors who pay to have their brand associated with the NBA image). (WP)
- Image Management Revisited - UC Berkely Protects Its Trademark
When TV and movie producers come a callin', UC Berkely carefully reviews how the school's trademarks will be used. (Berkeleyan)
Friday - Nov. 19, 2004
- What Is The Future of Conservative Talk Radio?
The Washington Post Style Section article that answers this question has set off a bit of a controversy over a quote attributed to MSNBC host Joe Scarborough. Scarborough is a former Republican senator who was quoted as saying "I honestly don't know what Sean Hannity is going to be able to talk about. If you've been reading off the Republican National Committee's talking points like he has for the past four years, it's going to be hard to be critical of the status quo."
But according to Media Bistro's TVNewser, Scarborough is denying that made the quote. Wonkette has an interesting comment on the story as well.
- Amusing Ourselves to Death Dept. - Turkey Pardon is International News
So President Bush did the annual pardoning of two Thanksgiving turkeys on Wednesday. How much coverage did it get? As of Thursday morning, a Google search brings up 244 articles.
- Frank Rich: Why Is Television Censoring Itself?
NY Times columnist Frank Rich asks why television broadcasters are censoring programs like Saving Private Ryan, and attempts to connect the behavior to how the press is covering the war in Iraq.
- ASU Newspaper Threatened by Prez Over Body Piercing Cover
Something must be in the water in Arizona. First the student journalists at Northern Arizona University get in trouble over a sex advice column. Now the folks down the mountain at Arizona State University are in hot water for running a cover on their weekly magazine that shows a naked female breast with a pierced nipple. The president of ASU was so-not-amused that he has been threatening the student paper, the State Press, with eviction from campus. Phoenix New Times covers the controversy. The article looks at the legality of press controls by central administration, and the desire of university presidents to please big donors. (Full disclosure: I have a doctorate in sociology from Arizona State.) (Thanks to Romenesko for the initial link.)
Thursday - Nov. 18, 2004
Media News from the Chicago Tribune
It was a banner day for media news in the Chicago Tribune:
Wednesday - Nov. 17, 2004
- Two at University Newspaper Suspended Over Comic Strip
Two University of Illinois students have been suspended from the student newspaper, the Daily Illini, over the publication of a comic strip that made a "Jew joke." This is the second example this year of student journalists who have gotten in trouble over cartoons featuring potentially anti-semitic humor. (The last one I noted was in late April at Rutgers.) (Chicago Tribune)
- Standards for Truth in Viagra Ads
Wondering if there is any limit to how drugs for "erectile dysfunction can be marketed? Well the folks at Pfizer found those limits with their "wild thing" television commercial for Viagra. You've likely seen the ad featuring an attractive man and woman going shopping for lingerie. The problem with the ad, according to the Food and Drug Administration, is that it doesn't mention what the drug is for and doesn't list side effects. (NY Times)
Tuesday - Nov. 16, 2004
- The Marine Behind the Photograph
If you read a newspaper last week, you saw the photograph. If you saw the photograph, you remember it. The photo of Marine Lance Corp. James Blake Miller is one off the great iconic images of war to emerge from Iraq; but Mr. Miller just wants a few more packs of cigarettes as he carries on fighting in Fallujah. This article from the LA Times talks about the photo, the photographer (Luis Sinco of the LA Times), and the subject of the photo. This is the kind of photo that can change the lives of both the photographed and the photographer, in much the same way as Thomas Franklin's photo of the three fire fighters raising the flag over Ground Zero on 9/11 did.
- Cutting Through the Advertising Clutter
Consumers are getting better and better in their attempts to avoid broadcast advertising these days, so what's a corporation to do? Put your product or message into the programming itself - a process known as product placement; or perhaps make your company part of the program's name. Here's several current articles dealing with the topic of advertising clutter:
- Selling Bikinis Through Product Placement
You've got a great new product: crochet bikinis that don't have any of the problems that the originals from the 1970s had. (The details of what make them better is way too personal for this blog.) Now, how do you get the world to know about them? Advertising can only get you so far, especially since you have to pay for it! So the creator of the new crochet bikini is working on getting it featured on a A&E channel program and in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. (Where else would bikinis be big news? The Miami Herald!)
- Brands Take on Starring Roles in Shows
Brand name products can be as big of stars in shows as the performers themselves. Sometimes they are even bigger than the actors when it comes to reality programming. Newsweek takes a look at the huge increase in product placement happening on television now.
- Too Many Ads During a Break Drive Viewers Away
Who has the shortest average programming break on television? The Weather Channel. News from Media Post.
Monday - Nov. 15, 2004
- This Message Will Self-Destruct in 5 Seconds Dept. - Disposable DVDs Latest Answer to Content Management
How do you get media content into people's homes in a format that won't let them keep it forever yet won't make them return it to a video store? Pay-per-view, Internet delivery, and mail-order rentals are all possible answers to the question. But some companies are now trying out DVDs that will self-erase a few hours after they have been opened. I suspect that the Big Six media companies are not going to be happy until we pay for each and every time we consumer their products.
- What's Gone Wrong With Journalism Dept.
Friday - Nov. 12, 2004
- Living in the Past Dept. - Starting to Remember 1944
As I was looking for material for this somewhat late entry, I was reading Mark Naples' Online Spin column from Media Post. Naples looks at a recent panel discussion at the National Press club on coverage of the election, and what role it played in the results. The panel concluded that America is not so neatly divided up into red and blue states; that in fact the concept of red and blue states is largely a media construct. For example, as has been mentioned here before, Bush won Ohio by less than 100,000 votes, yet it is now considered a red state.
Naples tells his readers to take a look at an op-ed piece by David Brooks that recently ran in the NY Times that points out that many people are getting their political information not from the news but from their communities, their families, their churches. Sounds a lot to me like journalists are rediscovering what Paul Lazarsfeld found in his study "The People's Choice," published back in 1944.
- How are World War II and Janet Jackson's Nipple Related?
On Thursday evening, the ABC television network showed the WWII movie Saving Private Ryan in honor of Veterans Day. The movie was shown uncut with only minimal commercial interruptions. The movie uses the "F-word" repeatedly and is admittedly quite disturbing, especially during the opening D-Day sequence. This is the third time the movie has been shown on broadcast television, but this time at least 20 affiliates, including the Pittsburgh station, chose not to carry the movie. Why? Because stations are concerned about being fined or punished by the FCC, which has been much stricter about enforcing decency standards since Janet Jackson had her "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl. Here's a range of coverage on the issue:
Thursday - Nov. 11, 2004
Living With New Media
I'm writing this entry tonight on my PDA while my youngest is at basketball practice. And while the typing is a little slow using the diminutive thumboard on the device, I am able to make good use of what would otherwise be down time. (For those of you who are worried, I work through practices, watch the games.)
I don't have live access to the web here in the school gym (no wi-fi), but I do have a lot of pretty current content with me courtesy of the web clipping service AvantGo. For those of you unfamiliar with this wonderful service, it scans several websites or media outlets that I have free subscriptions to and downloads the updated pages to my little electronic organizer. I can then read the materials off line at my leisure.
Among the sites that provide prepackaged AvantGo feeds are the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Poynter Institute.
Here's a sample of what I've been reading tonight:
- Understanding Evangelicals: Tips from the Son of a Preacher Man (and Woman)
Journalist Steve Buttry, writing on the Poynter Institute's web site, gives a brilliant essay about journalists covering issues of faith. Buttry was raised in a Baptist household, (both of his parents were ministers) and he has extensively covered political and religious issues. He gives people in the journalism profession a lot to think about. Highly recommended.
- Introducing Red and Blue to Each Other
Poynter's Kelly McBride gave the site another interesting article looking at the fallout from the recent election. Again, she is not looking at Red v. Blue states in terms of winners and losers, but rather in terms of introducing Reds and Blues to each other.
- Book Babes: USA Today Honored for Promoting Reading
When you think about papers with significant book coverage, most people think about the NY Times or the WP. But as the Book Babes point out, USA Today now has major book coverage two days a week. It has its own weekly bestseller list that does the best job of telling you which books actual sell the best.
So why does USA today's book coverage matter? Because it deals with what people actually pay for and read.
- Saving Saving Private Ryan
OK, I'm cheating here. This final item came up as I was plugging in the html code on my laptop to the entry that I wrote and researched on my Palm Pilot. For Veteran's Day, ABC is showing the WWII film Saving Private Ryan. But several affiliates, including Channel 4 out of Pittsburgh, will not be showing the graphic, R-rated movie because of fear of violating FCC decency standards. (The movie features the "F-word" at least 12 times.) Watch for more on this issue tomorrow. (Al's Morning Meeting at Poynter.org)
Wednesday - Nov. 10, 2004
- Bored With Trashy, Predictable Women's Magazines? How About a Trashy, Unpredictable Women's Magazine?
Jane magazine takes a quirky, crazy and unpredictable look a the lives single women in their twenties lead. Where have women's mags gone since the days of Sarah Josepha Hale? (WP)
- CBS to FCC: We Were Shocked, Shocked! to See Something Shocking on the Halftime Show
CBS's response to a proposed $550,000 fine for showing Janet Jackson's breast during the Super Bowl halftime show is that they were just as shocked as anyone else. "No one at the network knew, or had reason to suspect, that the halftime show would end with a glimpse of nudity," said the network in a statement to the FCC. Right... (WP)
- A Third Day of Animation Dept. - How a 24-Inch Plastic Doll Became a Horror Icon
The third major (using the term very loosely) animated film of the week is Seed of Chucky, featuring a plastic doll that is both funny and horrible. The director and creator of the Chucky franchise talks about the enduring appeal of a wisecracking, serial killing doll. (WP)
Tuesday - Nov. 9, 2004
Monday - Nov. 8, 2004
At last! Media news that isn't about politics!
But we will deal at least once more with what happened with election coverage in the next day or so.
- Sherry Lansing Steps Down as Head of Paramount Studio
Sherry Lansing, the first female president of production for a Hollywood studio, is planning to leave her position as the head of Paramount next year. She was a key figure behind movies as diverse as Fatal Attraction, Titanic, and Saving Private Ryan. (USA Today)
- Dirt on the Mouse
There's nothing like a good lawsuit to bring out all the dirt on a company, as Disney has discovered during a shareholder lawsuit over the $140 million severance package given former president Michael Ovitz. I've provided a number of articles from a range of papers about the lawsuit not only because dirt is fun, but because it gives us an inside look on the operation of one of our media giants.
- Pixar's The Incredibles Opens
Pixar's latest computer animated feature The Incredibles opened this weekend, and I have no doubt it will have opened big. (It did. $70 million big) Pixar is the golden studio of the moment, having had all of its films be box office smashes.
But it's latest film has attracted some small level of controversy as the studio's first PG rated film. Newsweek's critic Jeff Giles has been disturbed by the film because of the level of fighting and gunplay in it. I must confess that I am a bit puzzled by the criticism. Cartoons have long been at least half targeted at adults. The Looney Tunes films of the great Warner Brothers animation era were endlessly violent, and tremendously funny. They were also targeted heavily at adult audiences. It seems to me to that the Newsweek critic is being just a tad bit oversensitive. (And, yes, I am the parent of small and not-so-small children.)
Friday - Nov. 5, 2004
Exit Polls, Blogs, and the Nature of Journalism
Are blogs supposed to be "real journalism," thoughtful and informed commentary, partisan rhetoric, or just guys and gals sitting around drunk in their pajamas typing whatever comes to mind? Depends on the blog. They are actually all elements of the so-called blogosphere.
But following this year's election, people are trying to get a handle on what blogs are. Journalists have a feeling that they must be important (a search of Google News for election and blogs turned up 674 entries), but they aren't exactly sure why.
This confusion can be seen in the charges that are flying about this week that bloggers didn't follow proper journalistic standards (whatever they are...) in reporting on the exit polls on Tuesday's election. As we all know by now, the exit polls tended to favor Kerry, but in the end, Bush wound up on top. The New York Sun accused bloggers of botching the election call based on bad exit polling numbers. The Sun was particularly critical of Wonkette for uncritically reporting the exit poll numbers. Wonkette's response was two-fold. First of all, Wonkette is half satire, half news. Criticizing it for not being a credible news source is along the lines of the folks at Crossfire carping at the Daily Show for not being serious. But the real point here is that Wonkette was making the figures that the networks were looking at but not reporting available to the public. Wonkette was providing reasonably accurate reports about what the exit polls were saying. (Never mind how accurate the exit polls themselves were.)
Blogs have long been a source of rumors and unsupported stories. When Matt Drudge first started his website, no one was quite sure what to call his brand of journalism. Now he's accepted as just another blogger. The mistake is to treat blogs as being the same as institutional news sources. They aren't! They are a myriad of individualistic voices that are free to be serious, responsible, irresponsible, and even silly.
Thursday - Nov. 4, 2004
Tomorrow's News Today
In the interest of timely news, I'm posting Thursday's blog entry today.
Election Post Mortem
On election day, all the broadcast networks were pledging not to make the mistakes of 2000 with an embarrassment of repeated corrections. Here's how the news media is looking at Tuesday's coverage:
- UPDATE - CJR Campaign Desk: What Were NBC and Fox Thinking?
Although their early call for giving Ohio to Bush turned out to be correct, NBC and Fox both jumped the gun by projecting the state at about 12:30 Wednesday morning, according to CJR's Campaign Desk. Though this goes counter to the rest of the criticism that all the broadcasters were too timid this year. No pleasing people...
- Jon Stewart Gives Real Reporters Respect
Comedian Jon Stewart says that he was impressed by what hard work it was to try to actually cover the news during The Daily Show's election special Tuesday night: "My respect has gone up drastically for the actual people who have to stay there all night." (Chicago Tribune)
- Chi Trib: Anchors Tame Instincts After 2000 Fiasco
- USA Today: Networks Cautious, But Try To Drop Hints
Were the networks overly cautious Tuesday in not telling all that they thought they knew in fear of making a mistake? USA Today says network reporters and anchors were biting their tongues all night.
- Boston Globe: Exit Polls Fail Once Again
For the second presidential election in a row, exit polls failed to reflect that actual results. The Globe's Mark Juskowitz looks at what has gone wrong.
- Dallas Morning News: AP Story Analyzes Impact of Presumed Bush Victory
As I write this on Wednesday morning, Senator Kerry has yet to concede Ohio, and only Fox and NBC have called Bush the victor in Ohio. While the AP has yet to call Ohio for Bush, the wire service did run this story which presumes a Bush victory.
- DMN: TV's Caution Did Not Extend to Web Sites
Fascinating summary of how the blogs reported on election returns.
- LA Times: Exit Polls & Blogs
How did partisan bloggers handle the exit poll data? While the mainstream media were very cautious (appropriately so, it would seem) about reporting exit polls of questionable accuracy, the bloggers were free to report exit poll numbers. After all, rumor status is plenty to get a story flowing on the blogosphere. As one blogger put it, If the networks know the results of the exit polls, why shouldn't the public?
- Wonkette: What Was It Like Being an NBC Commentator?
Wonkette blogger Ana Marie Cox was a guest commentator on NBC Tuesday night. Here's her take on being a minor league pundit.
Wednesday - Nov. 3, 2004
- UPDATE - Howard Kurtz: Fox, NBC Call Ohio for Bush; Others Play It Safe
As of 7 this morning, only Fox and NBC had called Ohio for Bush. The WP's Kurtz says it was an evening of cautious reporting.
- UPDATE - Tom Shales: Red, Blue and Maybe: Timid Television
The WP's television critic says maybe the networks played it too safe.
- Tom Brokaw Era Ends
Following Tuesday's election, NBC News anchor will be retiring. This is significant, according to Real Media Riffs, because Brokaw was by far the most trusted anchor of his generation.
- Jon Stewart Fears Over Exposure
Daily Show host and media critic of the moment Jon Stewart declined to be interviewed for Life section story in USA Today because he feared he was becoming over exposed. And there is always the danger that he will become what he has criticized. An interesting look at our leading news comic.
- What Campaign Correspondent Has the Biggest Audience? Dalia Al-Aqidi From Iraq
And, according to Romenesko, she has to walk a fine line to not be perceived as an American propagandist. The story ran in the Chicago Tribune, and it is an important reminder that there is much more to the news than what we see with American media.
- Doonesbury Pushes the Envelope... Again
The comic strip Doonesbury is continually pushing the edge of what is acceptable in a comic strip, but this week the newspapers that carry Garry Trudeau's strip weren't warned in advance that VP Dick Cheney would be spouting the "F-word." (Romenesko)
Tuesday - Nov. 2, 2004
Election News Central
Here's a handy-dandy list of places to go on the web for election news. As Al Capone said, "Vote early and vote often."
Updates
(Updated 11:59 p.m.)
Newspapers
Broadcast & Cable
Etc., Etc., Etc.
Monday - Nov. 1, 2004
- UPDATE: LA Times: How Will the AP Tabulate Election Returns?
A video story explaining how the Associated Press and the major news outlets will handle reporting of election results.
- UPDATE: Supreme Court Ads in WV Among Nastiest in US (Washington Post)
- Political Attack Ads Hit AIM
So you log onto your computer, fire up AOL Instant Messenger, and BAM! you have a screaming attack ad coming at you. Political ads are now everywhere. (Washington Post)
- The Punditocracy Weighs In With Their Election Predictions
The Washington Post asked 13 "political wizards," ranging from the usual cast of pundits to high school students from D.C. area centers of learning, to predict how Tuesday's election will turn out. Nothing very surprising here, but foul-mouthed panelist Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette) had an amusing live chat with Post readers on Sunday afternoon. BTW, Cox will be doing commentary for NBC on Tuesday night.
- Producer Gives the Low Down on Backing Tracks
Music producer Joel Hamilton says no one should be shocked by the Ashlee Simpson SNL fuss over the use of a "backing track" during a live performance. They are simply a part of how the music industry works. In fact, backing tracks are only a small part of the computer enhancements that "live" musicians use routinely today. For example, I heard a local singer / guitar player do a solo show Friday night. He would record a percussion track by banging on his guitar body, live on stage, and then play along with the recording he just made. (WP)
- Are You a Rockist?
So, if you are part of the crowd dumping on Simpson for not being authentic enough, you might be a rockist -- someone who thinks that only grungy musicians who started in the club scene and write their own guitar-based music are real rock musicians. The NY Times' Kelefa Sanneh takes a historical look at rockism.
