August 2005 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
Wednesday - August 31, 2005
- Ethical Questions Dept. -- What Constitutes Visual Plagiarism?
A photographer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has been fired for committing "visual plagiarism." The photographer took a new photo for the paper that was a virtual copy of one that appeared in Style Weekly magazine. The controversy surrounding the photo off a stack of candy raised questions about the article that accompanied the photo, and the paper has since undertaken a review of some of its editorial processes.
- Questions Worth Asking
Tuesday - August 30, 2005
Who Controls the Media Dept.
I started work on my blog today with the Internet down, which normally would be a big problem, but Monday's edition of PressNotes, the daily newsletter about the news media from the Society of Professional Journalists, had a wealth of ideas for me to start with. I'm even able to do a themed entry that deals with my lecture topic for Thursday in Intro to Mass Comm. (Note that the lead links are from PressNotes, the remainder within the entries are mine.)
Monday - August 29, 2005
NOTE: I don't often get as excited about material as I have about both of these items. Really good stuff today.
Friday - August 26, 2005
- Current Editorial Cartoons
One great way to take the pulse of the news is to look at what editorial cartoonists are writing about. Here are several topics currently under observation at Daryl Cagle's editorial cartoon omnibus site.
- Surf the Edge Dept. - Music Videos Leave MTV for Broadband
For the last 20 years, conventional wisdom has held you need a music video on heavy rotation on cable network MTV in order to have a hit record. But with MTV becoming more of a young people's lifestyle network, many artists are taking their videos online in addition to trying for airplay on the network. One more example of how the music industry is going through an incredible period of change. This is all a part of a bigger trend of music promotion and distribution moving out of the hands of the record labels and into the hands of artists and audience members. (And the record labels' response has been to make file sharing a crime!)
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Thursday - August 25, 2005
Wednesday - August 24, 2005
- Penguins Kick Jessica Simpson's Butt
After all the fuss in the press over the shape of alleged actress Jessica Simpson's backside, I find it hilarious that the uber-cute baby birds in March of the Penguins are kicking it up one side of the box office and down the other. With Dukes of Hazard in its third week of release and Penguins in its ninth, Penguins drew $6.4 million over the weekend, while the Dukes drew $5.9 mil. Now the more churlish of you out there will point out that so far Dukes has earned $20 million more than the birds, but let's give them both another month and see what happens. (Box Office Mojo)
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- Jon Stewart Tells All
Comedian and commentator of the moment (for the last year!) Jon Stewart gives an extended interview to Wired magazine. Stewart's The Daily Show is often listed as the number one source of news for brighter college students. To me, the most interesting thing about the show is that Stewart professes indifference to the fact that clips from his show are posted all over the Internet, and that you can even download the entire show if you want. He tells Wired:
I'm surprised people don't have cables coming out of their asses, because that's going to be a new thing. You're just going to get it directly fed into you. I look at systems like the Internet as a convenience. I look at it as the same as cable or anything else. Everything is geared toward more individualized consumption. Getting it off the Internet is no different than getting it off TV.
Stewart also talks at length about his "stop hurting America" visit to CNN's Crossfire. (He also has a great game on his site - Newshunter 2 - Beat the Press!)
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- Questions Worth Asking
Tuesday - August 23, 2005
Monday - August 22, 2005
Friday - August 19, 2005
Tuesday - August 16, 2005
- Surviving Blair Witch - What Do You Do For
An Encore?
When we last looked at the three student filmmakers who created the monster hit Blair Witch Project there were doing..... Nothing? A look at what the folks who made the most profitable movie of all time are doing now. Say what you like about Blair Witch (I thought it was great!), the movie showed that Americans were hungry for something different from the standard blow-em-up summer movie. (Washington Post)
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- Why Don Henley Won't Let American Idol Contestants Sing Desperado
Is competing on Fox's American Idol a dream-come-true or a nightmare? Singers get a chance to perform for a big audience and possibly win a recording contract, but the price might be giving up every vestige of creativity. (Think there's an answer to the headline question here.) Seriously, the article gives a good, in-depth look at the business side of one of the most popular shows in the U.S. (USA Today)
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Monday - August 15, 2005
Saturday - August 13, 2005
Here's Friday's entry a day late...
- Target to be Single Sponsor for Next Week's New Yorker
Next week's issue of the New Yorker will have target as its sole advertiser. And according to sample ads printed in the New York Times, these ads will be done by artists very much in the style of the magazine's editorial art. The folks at the New Yorker deny that the ads could be confused with editorial content, and I agree, but they sure look like New Yorker illustrations to me.... Single-sponsor issues are not unheard of in the magazine industry. Apple bought out all the ad space in Newsweek when they launch the Macintosh, and the American Society of Magazine Editors have specific ethical guidelines for the practice.
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- Everything You Know is Wrong Dept. -- Tabloid Publisher Accused of Paying Actress Not to Talk!
We all know that tabloids pay for stories. There's even a name for it - checkbook journalism. But in an incredibly strange twist, American Media, Inc. (publisher of the National Enquirer, Globe and Star) has reportedly paid an actress $20,000 to keep her mouth shut about her alleged relationship with movie-star-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Why would a tabloid publisher sit on such a hot story? Business. AMI also publishes body building/fitness magazines and wants to maintain the image of the ex-bodybuilder, who has been a consultant to the publisher. As a side note, I'm always skeptical when celebs talk about how much they hate the tabs. Yes, the tabs can have hostile relationships with the people they cover, but many of the stories famous people complain about were actually placed by the famous people themselves. The story was originally broken in the LA Times. (Washington Post)
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Thursday - August 11, 2005
Wednesday - August 10, 2005
Tuesday - August 9, 2005
- Peter Jennings Remembered
This is a tough entry for me to write. Not because I've been devastated by ABC news anchor Peter Jennings' death but because I never really watched him. While I watched network new growing up, as an adult I've generally gone to cable rather than broadcast for my television news. That said, there are a number of people who have provided excellent tributes to Jennings. Here are links to a number of them:
- Fishbowl DC - Remembering Peter
Garrett Graff of Fishbowl DC grew up with Jennings as his biggest non-family-member journalism influence. Lots more about Jennings at Fishbowl, including reactions from Ted Koppel and the Bush administration, and a fascinating photo connecting Jennings to the new CNN afternoon news show, Situation Room
- ABC News Remembers Their Anchor
A wide-ranging page with video clips, a message board, and information about lung cancer (which killed Jennings).
- University Jan - On Peter Jennings
University Jan is one of my students, and she has a terrific round up of links and original commentary on the importance of Peter Jennings.
- Second-Day Stories From Romenesko
A round-up of later appreciations of Jennings, including one that casts the changing of the network guard in terms of Star Trek. Also, Monday items from Romenesko, including a WP chat with ABC News producer Michael Clemente and Howard Kurtz's reaction.
- Changing of the Guard
Many people have noted that with Jennings' death the last of the old guard of broadcast news anchors have moved on in one way or another. If you follow this link and scroll down just a bit, you can listen to an extended interview journalist Ken Auletta had with Jennings, Tom Brokaw, and Dan Rather.
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- Jet & Ebony Founder John Johnson Dies
Almost lost in all the stories about Jennings was the news that the founder of leading black magazines Jet and Ebony died Monday at the age of 87. (Washington Post)
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Monday - August 8, 2005
- Stop Hurting America Dept. - Bob Novak Behaving Badly
So by now you all know all about columnist/commentator Bob Novak's amazing discovery that co-hosts on political talk shows routinely act like jerks. For those of you in the back of the room who were sleeping in class on Friday, Novak was co-hosting Arguing About Left/Right Politics for Fun and Profit (or something like that) on CNN last Thursday with James Carville. Carville made a crack about Novak needing to stand up to other conservative commentators, "He's got to show these right-wingers that he's got backbone, Show them you're tough."
(By the way, that version of the quote is from the CNN Transcript page. The version that is generally being quoted is: "He's got to show these right wingers that he's got a backbone, you know. It's why The Wall Street Journal editorial page is watching you. Show 'em that you're tough.")
Novak replied by saying, "Well, I think that's bullshit and I hate that." He then walked off the set.
Now, you need to remember that this left/right banter/needling has been Carville and Novak's schtick for the last several years on the now cancelled Crossfire shoutfest.
No one out there has been happier about this than news comic Jon Stewart, who called the outburst a birthday present. (That link will take you to video of both Novak and of Stewart's commentary.) You may remember that Stewart appeared on the old Crossfire last fall and called the hosts on the carpet for "hurting America."
The older crowd here may remember the brilliant film Network in which news anchor Howard Beale turns his dying show into a hit by yelling the "barnyard epithet."
If you are wondering why Bob Novak went nuts, Jay Rosen has a pretty likely explanation.
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- Penguins Clobber Robot Airplane
I went to see the documentary March of the Penguins over the weekend, and it's no mystery why this short documentary is bringing in young and old to the theaters. It has everything -- life, death, love, loss, killer albatrosses and sea lions.... Seriously, this is one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen this summer. It's the story of the conception, birth, and adolescence of a generation of penguins on an ice shelf on the coast of Antarctica. The incredible thing about this movie, from a mass comm perspective, is that this last weekend, after being in release for seven weeks, it is now the number six movie in the country, and has made more than $26 million, making it the second highest-grossing non-IMAX documentary. (As for my headline -- Penguins did $7.1 mil this weekend; Stealth did $5.9 mil. There is indeed some justice in the world!) Though it has gotten great reviews, the movie really demonstrates the incredible value of word-of-mouth
.Link Me
- Coming Tomorrow - Peter Jennings Remembered
Friday - August 5, 2005
- Why is Hollywood Bombing This Summer?
It's no secret that the Hollywood movie box office is down this year compared to previous years. There have been a number of theories why this is so. Movie critic Michael Medved, writing in USA Today, says the problem is too many liberals in Hollywood making movies that are out of touch with American values. (Medved criticizes Michael Moore, who might deserve criticism; but Moore has undoubtedly been wildly commercially successful. He praises Mel Gibson's The Passion, another undoubtedly successful movie that was also one of 2004's most violent films. As I see it, the thread of commonality here is that both were passionate films made by filmmakers who cared more about their vision than the marketplace.) USA Today's readers gave a variety of responses to Medved's commentary, saying that movie attendance is down because of bad behavior of audiences, offensive content, derivative plots, and the rise of DVDs.
So what has been successful this summer? The R-rated comedy Wedding Crashers has been successful beyond any predictions. Why? Apparently because audiences are hungry for raunchy comedies. But on the other hand, the G-rated documentary March of the Penguins has been another surprise success, going from art house release to being a Top-10 hit. No, it hasn't made a ton of money, but it didn't cost much to make, either. On the third hand, $100 million budget action flick Stealth is bombing, making only $13 mil its first weekend out.
Another movie that did better business than anyone expected (and helped break the extended box office slump) was Fantastic Four. As a film-going parent, I can tell you why it succeeded - it was one of the few summer film that appealed to adults but wasn't too violent or sexy for kids. This is the same formula that drove National Treasure to success. Interestingly enough, the critics were pretty harsh on both films.
So what's the solution to the box office problem? It could be that DVDs are coming out so soon after the movie hits theaters. It could be that no one knows how to behave in theaters any more. Or it could be that the movies just aren't that good this year....
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- Coming Monday - Bob Novak Behaving Badly
Thursday - August 4, 2005
- NYT Reporter Adapts to Life in Jail
Jailed reporter Judith Miller has been getting used to life in jail, but her life there is different from most prisoners. She isn't getting any special treatment, but she does get visits from folks like former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, and she reportedly receives more mail than any other inmate. (Washington Post)
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- Spanish-Language TV Channels Battling It Out With Telenovelas
When we look at about television ratings, most of the talk focuses on either the Big Four broadcast networks or the major English-language cable channels. But in markets with large Hispanic populations, Spanish-language broadcaster Univision can oftentimes draw more viewers than any of the major English-language channels. And that's not counting programming from the second place Telemundo Spanish-language channel. Univision and Telemundo have broadcast stations in many major urban markets, and are on cable in many more. This article from the Washington Post looks at some of the most popular programming on the Spanish channels - telenovelas. Telenovelas are limited-run (6 months or so) soap operas full of "steamy betrayal, class conflict and tragic love."
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Wednesday - August 3, 2005
- Novak Gives His Side of the Story
Columnist Robert Novak finally breaks silence and gives a bit of his side of the whole Valerie Plame/Robert Novak/Judith Miller/Matt Cooper case. (Chicago Sun-Times via Townhall.com) Thanks to FishbowlDC for the item.
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- When Is It OK for a Reporter to Tape Record a Conversation?
Last week, the Miami Herald fired columnist Jim DeFede for secretly taping a telephone conversation with a county commissioner Arthur Teele shortly before the commissioner committed suicide in the newspaper's lobby. According to Editor & Publisher, it is against the law in Florida to tape a phone conversation unless both parties consent to it. Most states have laws that allow taping as long as one of the people involved know that the taping is taking place. In a column from Wednesday's Herald, Robert Steinback (along with a co-credit for DeFede) argues that while DeFede did break the law, his behavior was not particularly ethically questionable, especially given that he voluntarily disclosed the taping to management. Journalism professor Philip Meyer, writing in USA Today, argues that journalism is weaker when reporters will not make bold moves like taping important conversations, with or without the interviewee's consent.
In a second, related controversy, the Herald has also been criticized for running a photo of Teele's body on the front page.
Here are several other stories on these troubling ethical issues:
Tuesday - August 2, 2005
- Everything at the Margin Moves to the Center Dept. - What Do Black Panthers Eat?
In his classic work of new journalism "Radical Chic," Tom Wolfe wrote the following passage about a party for the Black Panthers hosted by conductor Leonard Bernstein:
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. These are nice. Little Roquefort cheese morsels rolled in crushed nuts. Very tasty. Very subtle. It's the way the dry sackiness of the nuts tiptoes up against the dour savor of the cheese that is so nice, so subtle. Wonder what the Black Panthers eat here on the hors d'oeuvre trail? Do the Panthers like little Roquefort cheese morsels rolled in crushed nuts this way, and asparagus tips in mayonnaise dabs, and meatballs petites au Coq Hardi, all of which at this very moment being offered to them on gadrooned silver platters by maids in black uniforms with hand ironed white aprons."
While we cannot say with any authority what Black Panthers liked to eat in the 1960s, we do know that the widow of Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton is now selling "Burn Baby Burn" hot sauce, and Panther Bobby Seale is hosting a cooking show called Barbeque'n With Bobby. Get the whole story from NPR's All Things Considered.
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Monday - August 1, 2005
- The More Things Change Dept. - Payola Back in the News
Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s, record company reps were notorious for paying DJs to play their records on the air. the government held hearings, and everyone agreed that this was a very bad thing. While I don't know that the so-called payola went away, it at the very least went underground rather than being an open part of doing business . But in 2001, Salon.com ran an extended series of articles by Eric Boehlert that looked at how the process has come back in the age of radio consolidation. But a little over a week ago, New York's attorney general announced that Sony BMG Music Entertainment will pay $10 million in fines for bribing radio stations to play its artists on the air. (PBS News Hour)
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- Sometimes Life Just Comes Too Close To Art - Chris Cleave's Incendiary
British author Chris Cleave has written a well-received novel on a contemporary issue of considerable topical significance. He should be on top of the world. But instead he is stuck in a postmodern, post-9/11 hell. His novel Incendiary is written in the form of an extended letter to Osama bin Laden. In the novel, the letter's writer is a woman who has just lost her husband and son to a suicide bombing of a London soccer stadium. But in a horrible case of life imitating art, terrorists set off bombs all around London on the day his book was released, killing more than 50 people. So now Cleave's book will be forever linked to this horrible coincidence. And I think this case does a good job of showing the great difficulty in trying to figure out media effects. Clearly the book publication and the bombing had nothing to do with each other. But now that they have been connected, they can never be separated. And virtually every review of Incendiary is going to deal with this coincidence. (Washington Post Book World)
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