Wednesday - May 31, 2006
Tuesday - May 30, 2006
Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)
Today's QWAs come from the New York Times, so be sure to check these links out quickly before they turn into paid links in a couple of days.
- Can Rock 'n' Roll Be Conservative?
The National Review thinks so. The magazine has provided a list of the top 50 conservative rock songs. It's pretty interesting with some surprising (and not surprising) choices.
- Is Commercial Classical Music Dead?
Depends on how you measure it. If you go to mainstream record stores, maybe. But if you go online to order CDs or to buy downloads, it's alive and well.
- Where did the IMDB Come From?
One of my favorite movie research sites (along with Box Office Mojo) is the Internet Movie Data Base. From this site I can check movie credits, check local show times, and find out what formats movies have been released in. I always assumed it was some sort of a big corporate project, but it is actually started as a work of love by a British web head named Col Needham. And although IMDB was bought out by Amazon eight years ago, he's still running the site.
- Does Anyone Actually Want To Watch Mini-TV Shows on Mini Screens on Little Cell Phones?
Not me; I'm too busy listening to my favorite podcasts.
- If You Are Climbing Everest, Is It Ethical To Leave a Fellow Climber To Die So You Can Finish Climbing?
I fully realize this isn't a mass communication issue, but as my book starts out with an analysis of media coverage of an Everest climbing season, I couldn't resist. BTW, the Everest IMAX film is currently showing in Pittsburgh.
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Saturday - May 27, 2006
- Hey Lost Geek Dept. - Show Finds Success Through Online Interaction
At a time when network television is in a major decline, when people won't pay enough attention to advertising that shows depend on being nothing more than one long product-placement commercial, I find it fascinating that the hit ABC show Lost has managed to so thoroughly engage viewers that there is an entire online subculture that has grown up around the show.
ABC, as would be expected, has a conventional web site with video, photos, character diaries and the like. But they go beyond a simple web presence with an official weekly podcast hosted by the show's producers. And then there are a host of "fake" web sites dealing with the show as well, including DJ Dan, which alleges to be a shock jock conspiracy theory site; the shadowy Hanso Foundation; Oceanic Flight 815; and the alternate reality game The Lost Experience.
Then there is the novel Bad Twin, the newspaper ads from the Hanso Foundation condemning Bad Twin which ran in major newspapers, streaming Lost episodes, and iTunes video downloads, along with a soundtrack album.
Then there are all of the fan produced web sites and podcasts: Lostcasts, which does a great job of talking about the myths and theories behind the show; The Fuselage, which has the most developed discussion forums; or Lost Media with its galleries of screen captures.
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Thursday - May 25, 2006
- Limiting Free Speech At School Isn't Enough So Let's Limit It Outside Of School As Well Dept. - Chicago Schools Try To Control Student Use of Internet
In January of 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that newspapers produced as a part of high school classes were a learning activity and not a free speech activity, and therefore high school papers could be censored for any "valid educational purpose." While the Hazelwood decision, as it is known, was generally seen as applying to high school students, more recently it has been successfully used to control the content in some college papers as well. (Fortunately, some states and individual school districts have rejected their rights under Hazelwood and have stated a commitment to student free speech.)
Back in 1988, prior to the development of the Web, limiting freedom of the student press really could limit free expression. But with the Internet, all of a sudden students could create alternative forums for themselves that were completely outside of the realm of school control. Since they weren't produced using school equipment and weren't distributed on school grounds, schools couldn't control what kids were saying. But you still had to be geeky enough to set up a web page to have speak out on the net.
Then came the social networking sites like MySpace and Xanga. Teenagers use these sites to post blogs, photos, video clips, and comments from their friends. (BTW, MySpace is definitely a part of Big Media - it's owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, the same people who own Fox News.)
So I find it alarming that the Chicago Tribune is reporting that a local school district has created a policy that states that "evidence of 'illegal or inappropriate' behavior posted on the Internet could be grounds for disciplinary action." Another Chicago-area district is threatening to expel a student for using the web to criticize the district's disciplinary action directed at another student.
There is also a more general fear that students will use social network sites in inappropriate ways.
I find it curious that we are teaching our young people about civic values in high school by telling them that it is too dangerous to let them exercise their constitutional rights.
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Tuesday - May 23, 2006
Living In A Media World Goes Wall-to-Wall Da Vinci Code
Over the weekend, the movie of The Da Vinci Code was released, hopefully releasing us from the endless hype as to whether the movie is "true." (HINT: The book can be found in the fiction department of your local bookstore. And fiction means???)
Friday - May 19, 2006
- Told You Something Was Up Dept. Part II
A few more quick follow-ups to recent media news events we've been watching.
- More on Journalists as Terrorists
This week there's been a lot of buzz about anti-terrorism domestic surveillance tools being used to investigate government leakers who've been talking to journalists. Here's the latest on the story from fishbowlDC, a great blog about the Washington press corp.
- More on Tony Snow's Debut
Tony Snow, former Fox News commentator and Bush's new press secretary, continues to get rave reviews for his first week on the job. What an amazing concept. Hire someone as a press secretary who understands the press. Radical, Chuck. (fishbowlDC)
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- Is The Apocalypse Upon Us? Dept. - Malkin Praises Harpers!?
You may or may not recall that a year or so ago Michelle Malkin let Harper's have it with both barrels (justifiably) over the magazine's cover on military desertions. (She also misused remarks I made about Harper's to make a more general attack on the press, but that's a different story....)
So I was somewhat surprised to see her praising the magazine earlier this week. What was the occasion? Harper's printed the dozen Danish cartoons depicting Mohammed that raised such a fuss this spring.
I am always impressed when commentators from the right and left can break out of talking points mode. BTW, for all I complain about charges against the "liberal media," Harper's genuinely is a liberal magazine that makes no pretense of taking a partisan view. I also believe that true liberalism demands free speech and allowing people to see the cartoons to decide for themselves what they mean.
Thanks, Michelle for pointing this one out.
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Wednesday - May 17, 2006
- Told You Something Was Up Dept.
Last week I raised several questions on recent media issues. Not surprisingly, two of the more important ones have continued to play out this week. Here are the updates:
- NSA Call List Database May Be Mined To See Who Reporters Are Talking To
USA Today's story on the NSA's database of millions of phone calls made by ordinary Americans has been raising lots of discussion on talk radio this week, mostly along the lines of "We need to do whatever it takes to protect ourselves. Innocent people have nothing to fear." Fair enough. Though I find it interesting that it is coming from conservatives who like to argue that the government ought not be interfering in our lives. But even though I hope I'm innocent, I am worried. Here's what I said last week:
But how long will it be before some bright guy or gal decides that we need to protect America from dangerous reporters talking to people in the federal government? These records would be great for establishing who's talking to reporters. And with no courts overseeing the use of this database, who is going to stop it from happening.
Well, this item from the ABC News blog The Blotter suggests that federal officers are already tracking the phone numbers called by ABC reporters Brian Ross and Richard Esposito. (It should be noted that the FBI says that while it tracks the calls made by suspected leakers, it is not routinely tracking the calls made by and to journalists. It would also appear that the FBI is using warrants to obtain the records they are examining.)
What is particularly interesting are the comments from readers that say the government ought to be tracking these calls. One notes:
I'm tired of the press helping our enemies. Maybe you guys should start trying to "FOR the USA" instead of "AGAINST the USA" ALL THE TIME. I hope the FBI nails lots of idiots who are out to destroy the intelligence agencies and cost us more soldiers and spies!
And another writes:
[Well maybe ABC news better stop leaking classified information. This only helps our enemies and right now I believe ABC news is an enemy of the US.
What really makes this debate interesting is that the so-called mainstream media can't make anyone happy. Take, for example, this equally critical comment from The Blotter accusing the press of giving the current administration a free pass:
The first thing that crossed my mind when USA Today broke the story about a database full of purely domestic call records was that the Bush regime would be using it to keep track of every journalist and blogger. Just another step taken by this administration to suppress dissent and just another step towards stifling freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Maybe now the MSM will finally wake up and start reporting the facts about this administration instead of trying to remain neutral.
Read the entry by the ABC reporters and then read all the comments - not just the ones you agree with. There is a frightening debate going on here where the press is under attack by the left and the right with remarkably few people interested in what is actually going on. (Thanks to Romenesko for pointing me to this item.)
- Murdoch Talks About Fund Raiser For Hillary
CNN's Reliable Sources program gives us some fascinating talk on why Fox News and New York Post owner Rupert Murdoch is hosting a fund raiser for New York Senator Hillary Clinton. Murdoch is a prominent conservative who runs news media that emphatically swing to the right. As I said last week, one explanation is that all politics are local, but there might be even more going on here. (The most significant of which Clinton really isn't that much of liberal - something the MSM doesn't point out that often.) This transcript also has more on the USA Today NSA phone record story.
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- Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)
Tuesday - May 16, 2006
- Everyone's Gone to the Movies Dept. - How Does a Low-Budget Film Become a Summer Phenom?
The first two candidates for summer blockbuster status are out in release now (MI:III and Poseidon), so it's officially summer movie season. Which means that for the next few weeks there will be way too many entries here about the movie business. (We get them now and during Oscar season.)
It's easy to figure out the big budget movies that are likely to be blockbusters (well, maybe, at least those that ought to be blockbusters, if they are done right.....) But why do little movies like March of the Penguins or Blair Witch or Napoleon Dynamite break out to become hits? That's the question USA Today's Susan Wloszczyna takes on with this article, in which she looks at what distinguishes twelve movies she calls phenoms. She also considers what the lasting legacy has been of each of the films.
To me, it's not a big secret. Make an interesting film that doesn't fit a big budget mold, keep the costs under control, and be savvy about how you promote it. If it does well, the upside is almost unlimited. If you miss, the movie is still likely to make back its cost through video, cable and broadcast rights.
When I look over the past year, many of the movies I've liked best have fallen into this "little" film category. Even if they haven't been so little
Take, for example, V For Vendetta. This is a dark, worrisome movie where the main character V is a terrorist. While he is fighting fascism, he's also killing innocent people. What gave the filmmakers the freedom to make such an interesting film? The budget. Vendetta had a production budget of $54 million and brought in a domestic box office of $69 million and an international box office of $57 mil. Not a big success, but not a big budget either, especially for a sci-fi action flick. Or let's get a little more personal in scale with the coming home to Jersey story of Garden State. This delightful story of a young man coming home for a funeral after trying to make it in Hollywood brought in 10 times it's production budget of $2.5 million. And that doesn't count the DVD sales. But, you say, who wants to see a little movie with no one you've ever heard of? I dunno, Garden State's got Natalie Portman of Star Wars The Second Time Around and Ian Holm of Lord of the Rings and Alien.
My point here is that Hollywood needs to take more chances and fewer chances. How? Make more lower budget films by people who have a great story to tell. I vaguely want to see Mission Impossible III, but with it's opening numbers, it's not going to make back domestically its cost of production. It will still put a lot of people in the seats and sell a lot of popcorn. But it won't remind people of why they go to the movies.
I wrote the initial draft of this last Friday, but didn't get around to posting it until Monday night. Poseidon failed to take first on its first weekend, with a box office of $22.2 million and lackluster reviews. As much as I love Wolfgang Petersen's movies, you have to ask yourself how badly we really needed a remake of a bad 70s disaster movie.
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Friday - May 12, 2006
- Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)
- Why Should We Care About NSA Collection Phone Records?
On Thursday, USA Today ran a massive investigative story on the fact that the NSA is collecting records on millions of phone calls made by people in the United States. The NSA is not accused of eavesdropping on these calls, simply of getting records from most of the major phone companies of who is calling whom. The government claims that it is legal to do so and that the records are only being used to find people with links to terrorists. Good enough. But how long will it be before some bright guy or gal decides that we need to protect America from dangerous reporters talking to people in the federal government? These records would be great for establishing who's talking to reporters. And with no courts overseeing the use of this database, who is going to stop it from happening. I'm all for national security, especially when it is overseen by the courts and protects me from the government.
- Why Is Porn Always The First To Use New Media?
Hollywood could learn a thing or two about dealing with digital downloads by seeing what the adult-film industry is up to. As always, the cutting edge of new media technology is being developed by the porn merchants. Which is how it has been ever since the printing press was invented. (NPR)
- Will Academics Succeed In Developing the Unified Theory of Lost?
You could actually put together a pretty good graduate seminar on literature based on the ABC series Lost if you really wanted to. (USA Today)
- Is The Apocalypse Upon Us?
Rupert Murdoch, primary owner of Fox News, is hosting a fundraiser this summer for.... Hillary Clinton!!!! (As proof that all politics are local.... Murdoch is a big New York businessman, he's hosting a fundraiser for a senator from New York. No big surprise there. Murdoch may be conservative, but he's also a pragmatist.) You'll have to scroll down a ways to find it. (WP)
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Wednesday - May 10, 2006
- One Last Look At The Start of the Summer Movie Season
Last week I raised the question whether good word of mouth would lift up the audience size of United 93. Based on this weekend's box office, the answer would apparently be "no." Box Office Mojo reports that the Sept. 11th film's take fell 55 percent from the opening weekend despite generating excellent numbers in exit surveys. The answer seems pretty simple - most people simply don't want to see the "feel bad movie of the year." Which is their loss. Paul Greengrass's simple telling of the passengers who fought back against the hijackers was a tremendous movie.
On the other hand, the movie is playing by a completely different set of rules than the summer blockbusters. Greengrass made U93 for about $15 million, so as I read it, the movie more than made back its entire cost of production in 10 days. That's a success in my book. This is the truly liberating element of low-budget filmmaking; you don't have to do boffo box office to be a success so you don't have to do the crowd pleasing stunts that can ruin a serious movie. On the other hand, Mission Impossible 3 did $47.7 million against a production cost of $150 million. Even if it hits the "blockbuster" threshhold of $100 million, it's still going to be $50 million short of making back its costs. (Yes, I realize that a lot of the ticket sales don't go to the filmmakers and that there are many other sources of income for big-time movies, but that's not my point.)
BTW, speaking of "feel bad" movies, Munich is now out on DVD. A tremendous film about the nature and cost of vengeance.
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Tuesday - May 9, 2006
- Six Degrees of Steve Jobs Dept.
Is there any other CEO (other than Kenneth Lay) who can get this level of attention?
Friday - May 5, 2006
- United 93 Opens Amid Media Attention (Or Is It Hype?)
There can be no doubt that the Sept. 11th movie United 93 has gotten a lot of media attention over the last few weeks. From questions as to whether the movie is out "too soon," is it exploiting the Sept. 11th deaths, is it a just a great movie? Movie box office tracking site Box Office Mojo has been relatively critical of the film, both in review and in claiming that the movie doesn't live up to its extensive media hype. Writer Brandon Gray argues that since the movie was by far the most talked about so far this year, that it should have been able to beat the box office of the sophomoric Robin Williams comedy RV (which did $16.4 million). It is true that United 93 did only $11.5 million in business its opening weekend, a respectable figure that Gray says is low compared to the media attention.
But this article raises several questions to me. First of all, how do we measure a movie's success? RV cost $50 million to make; United 93 cost $15 million. So in its opening weekend U93 made back more than 2/3rds of its production budget. That's well on its way to being a success in my book. It's no accident that director Paul Greengrass made his movie on a shoestring. According to the Washington Post's Desson Thomson, Universal Pictures let Greengrass make United 93 as a payback for his success with the Bourne Supremacy $176 million blockbuster. Would that all directors would spend their commercial capital in the same way.
Critic Roger Ebert praises the movie for its sparse documentary style, suggesting that by staying away from the conventions of movie thrillers, it gives us a stronger connection to the real-life events of the day.
So the movie will be a success, if not a blockbuster. (Though it will be interesting to see what happens as the good word of mouth spreads about this movie. I went to see it last weekend, and the theater on a Saturday night was about half full with a quiet and attentive crowd. I went to see it to try to get a better handle on what had happened that day, and came away with exactly that. I live not far from the crash site of United 93, and I've visited the memorial. The movie reinforced the respect I already had for the passengers, the crew, and for the air traffic controllers working on the ground.)
But was it hyped? I don't think so. Think about it. You're a movie writer with a choice of covering a movie that's all about covering Robin Williams with fecal matter, or a movie that is about the day that defines the century we live in. Which would you write about? The fact that Hollywood has produced a first rate drama for adults about a serious and significant topic, and done so in a way that the movie does not have be sensationalized is big news.
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Support Our Reporters Dept. - Two Journalists Killed, One Injured In Iraq Bombing