Category Archives: Media

Media bias or stupidity?

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CincinnatiPoliceShootingThere’s a lot not to like about the story of University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing being indicted on a murder charge in the shooting death of Samuel DuBose.

Much like the Sandra Brown being pulled over for failing to signal when changing lanes, DuBose was stopped because the car he was driving did not have front license plates. It is hard to fathom how two seemingly innocent events could turn so tragic, but something else caught my eye; how certain media outlets built graphic art to promote their coverage.

As you can see, the photo of Tensing shows him smiling, in uniform with an American flag behind him. DeBose’s photo was a mugshot taken when he was arrested for drug charges.

This of course blew up social media, calling the graphic everything from inconsiderate, to racist, to just plain stupid. Most of the outlets have removed the graphic, but as everyone should know, nothing dies on the internet.

It can be argued the graphic, just like the traffic stops were not meant to internally do harm, but if I was a black man, I think I might feel differently.

Gazing into the crystal ball

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n.teslaI came across this story today and was blown away on how brilliant Nikola Tesla was.

Check out part of this 1926 interview where Tesla predicted the creation of the smartphone.

“When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket.”

I sometimes catch myself wondering what life will be like 100 years from now, and realize I don’t have a clue. And for you guys out there thinking about the new world order, consider what else Tesla told the interviewer.

“This struggle of the human female toward sex equality will end in a new sex order, with the female as superior. It is not in the shallow physical imitation of men that women will assert first their equality and later their superiority, but in the awakening of the intellect of women.”

Reporting the news

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I had the chance to help an old friend. Kris O’Donnell who works for WIVB-TV was looking for someone to talk about the flooding that is taking place in Texas. Thanks to the great Jeff Dunn at LSC, I was able to provide some video for her. The best part was having my two brothers getting to watch it.

They used several clips and made this one available on YouTube.

Stop or I’ll shoot!

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Crowd_PhonesThere’s a new debate brewing with the burgeoning use of photos/videos being recorded on cell phones and people’s right to privacy. What started off as harmless (although increasingly annoying) selfies has now turned into everyone becoming guardians of truth, justice and the American way.

In Texas, the Austin-based American Phoenix Foundation has had 16 people with hidden cameras at the Capitol for six months in a bid to expose “hypocrisy” by Texas lawmakers.

There have been several House Republican lawmakers who expressed concerns with some of the group’s tactics, saying they were approached in an aggressive manner by people with hidden cameras to secretly videotape encounters that has raised alarms for Capitol security. Between gun advocates openly carrying down the hallowed halls of the capitol and covert videographers, it’s a wonder anyone feels safe there. Good thing they installed those panic buttons.

John Beria, spokesperson for the group said “they’ve collected quite a bit of content that I think will probably be very good, but a camera is nothing to be worried about if you’re not doing anything wrong” which is exactly the same argument used by proponents of red-light cameras. I guess you can have your cake and eat it too.

Now comes word that it’s not only politicians who are worried about being filmed. The airline industry is also taking notice. American Airlines updated its internal policies to allow employees at the airport, including ticket counters, gates, cargo, baggage, and onboard, to stop passengers from taking pictures.

“The policy is in place to protect employees and customers,” says Andrea Huguely, an American Airlines spokeswoman.

We’ve all seen the cell phone videos taken by passengers during those moments in the not so friendly skies. It’s hard to blame someone not being comfortable when dealing with an unruly passenger and there are 37 cells phone recording your every move.

And, it’s not only airline employees. Currently there are several proposed bills under the Texas Big Top (or State Capitol Building) are trying to tackle this modern issue. HB 2918 would make it illegal for private citizens to film police officers while conducting their duties. (This ban would not apply to members of the real-media).

So where does the right to document start and the right to privacy end? As usual, it will likely be decided by our elected officials and the courts.

Damn that traffic jam

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Cy Fair HoustonI had to do a double take when  I spotted The Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce marketing hand-out touting why “Cy-Fair is a Great Place to Live”.

What caught my eye was that piece used a photo that shows rows and rows of cars with brake lights. There is also a nice table showing traffic counts for various intersections.

The back side of the marketing piece says “Life in Cy-Fair” and Live…Work…Play.

While that might be nice for a business considering to locate in Cy-Fair, I really don’t think it would induce someone to move there. Hard to believe that someone thought the image of cars stuck in traffic would shine a favorable light to promote its community.

Heaven just got a little funner

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220px-Stan_Freberg_and_GongThe world is a little less funny today. Stan Freberg passed away yesterday at the age of 88. It is almost impossible to put into the words the profound effect he had on the world of media.

Freberg was known as a recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, author and arguable, one of the greatest advertising minds of all time.

Freberg was hired by Warner Brothers in 1944. In his autobiography, It Only Hurts When I Laugh,” he wrote about getting on a bus and asking the driver to let him off in Hollywood. There he found a sign advertising a talent agency, walked in and promptly started working for Warner Brother cartoons after an audition.

Later, Freberg started to release comedy albums on Capitol records. In one bit, Freberg spoofed Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel”; having the echo effect go wacky leading Elvis to eventually rip his jeans during the performance.

Following the success of his albums, Freberg landed his own radio show. Known for his biting satire and parody, Freberg was also know for standing up for his principles, refusing to accept alcohol and tobacco companies as sponsors, which killed his radio career after taking over for Jack Benny on CBS Radio.

Doing movies, radio and cartoons would be enough for any person, but his role in reshaping advertising revolutionized the industry. Freberg brought satire to advertising agencies, introducing humor to previously dull and unimaginative commercials. Freberg ended up winning 21 Clio awards for his work.

One of his classic moments involved proving radio was a better than television to advertise on by masterfully using sound effects to create the illusion of draining Lake Michigan and refilling it with hot chocolate, a mountain of whipped cream and dropping a giant maraschino cherry like a bomb by the Royal Canadian Air Force to the cheers of 25,000 extras viewing from the shoreline.

Rand Paul gets schooled

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RandPaulThere is much talk among educators on the importance of education, but it appears they should stand to do a little homework of their own.

Senator Rand Paul, who yesterday announced his candidacy for president, posted a “Stand with Rand: Kentucky” video on YouTube. The problem is the video violated copyright law.

YouTube’s Content ID system flagged a John Rich song in the video which the Warner Music Group, which owns the copyright yanked the campaign piece.

A big deal? Probably not, but does demonstrate the adage “the devil’s in the details” and how politicians and their campaigns need to pay attention to the little details, so the big messages does not get lost.

All the news that’s fit to opine

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NewsSo where do you go for news? CNN, Fox, the Houston Chronicle or maybe Facebook and Twitter?

The Pew Research Center recently released a study that showed “Liberals and conservatives turn to and trust strikingly different news sources. And across-the-board liberals and conservatives are more likely than others to interact with like-minded individuals” which is kinda like determining eating too much will make you obese.

What did catch my attention in the study was the different types of news sources cited. You have the obvious main news channels like Fox News and CNN, but people also mentioned they use Glen Beck, The Daily Show, The Rush Limbaugh Program and The Ed Schultz Show as a source for news about government and politics.

While all these shows cover what is in the news, respondents used them as a source for their news even though much, if not almost of the content relies on providing an opinion, and not factual reporting.

Responding via email, Jocelyn Kiley, associate director, research, Pew Research Center said, “to create our list of sources, we took into account audience numbers from past Pew Research Center media consumption surveys and other audience data. Before fielding the survey, we also ran a pilot test to determine if our final list matched where people said they were receiving their news about government and politics.”

While the study listed many different opinion shows, it did not have the O’Reilly Factor or Anderson Cooper 360 listed. Kiley said they were included as part of their overall respective networks and not on their own. That might make sense from a research standpoint, but I think they missed an opportunity to further differentiate between the two types of journalism we see today. Do more people feel they get their news from the O’Reilly Factor, or Anderson Cooper 360 over the regular news programming on Fox and CNN?

Political candidates are starting to catch on to this. Vincent Harris, Dan Patrick’s digital consultant for the Lt. Governor election said by using social media sites such as Facebook, Patrick could communicate with voters more directly and quicker. Harris told the Houston Chronicle “he can do it without needing to go through the media as a filter.”

So again the question is raised, does it matter if people’s primary news source was from a show that’s based more on opinion than the traditional, factual style of reporting? The line between what constitutes so-called traditional journalism versus spin journalism is growing increasingly blurred. Both provide audiences with news and information, but programs such as The Daily Show and Sean Hannity take that news and pass it through a sieve of ideology, humor and beliefs.

I remember once speaking with a crusty, “old-school” news director who told me he never voted because that would require him to make up his mind and have to decide who makes the better candidate. Making that decision could influence the way his news department would cover an election. I wonder if that type of journalist still exists today.

Cutting the cable cord

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tvHBO and CBS-TV took a shot across the bow of the cable TV industry by announcing plans to offer a streaming service separate from cable subscriptions, effectively cutting the cord as a stand-alone product.

Consumers of the boob tube have long complained about being forced to purchase channels they weren’t interested in to get the channels they want. Not interested in sports? Too bad because you are still going to get ESPN, one of the most expensive channels out there.

In a rare display of bipartisanship, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) attempted to introduce legislation that would have allowed consumers more choices, but that effort stalled out.

Now HBO and CBS-TV have decided to join companies like Netflix and Amazon Fire TV by offering programming directly to viewers. There are 80 million households in the U.S. that currently do not get HBO and the cable channel is counting on many of them wanting their programs without having to get a slew of channels they’re not interested in.

It is estimated that 45 percent of Americans stream television shows at least once a month and that number is certain to grow. Is this start of the demise of cable television? It may be too soon to tell, but when a broadcast outlets like HBO and CBS-TV break away from the pack, you can be sure cable executives will be tuned in.

A Tale of Two Leagues

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NFL LogoThe NFL has been busy these past few weeks dodging and weaving like Walter Payton, trying to avoid the big hit. By now, everyone has seen and heard about Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice cold-cocking his then girlfriend in an Atlantic City hotel elevator.

We have since learned that Minnesota Viking running back, Adrian Peterson disciplined his son by giving him a “whooping” causing injuries severe enough to lead a doctor to alert authorities.

We could continue this rap sheet with other names such as Hardy, McDonald and let’s not even get into whether the Redskins is an offense name, or a badge of honor. Let’s face it, the NFL is having a rough time, but much of it seems self-inflicted.

It was not that long ago when former NBA owner Donald Sterling was recorded making racist remarks to his female friend. What happened? The NBA immediately suspended him and forced him to sell his team. Granted, he made a boat-load of money, but the NBA demonstrated a zero tolerance towards anything which could tarnish the league.

Since then, the Atlanta Hawks have also been severely punished for “insensitive” comments, which interestingly enough, are not illegal, yet caused great embarrassment to the NBA.

No one can argue the NFL is the most popular sport in the land. TV ratings seem to be broken every season and fans sell out stadiums every Sunday (and Monday, Thursday and the occasional Saturday games). So it is puzzling why the NFL does not institute a zero tolerance policy. Do they think not having a Ray Rice or Adrian Peterson on the field will diminish fan interest, or God forbid, cause the owners to loose revenue? Former players talk about protecting the shield (the NFL logo), but there seems to be an underlying avoidance of standing up for what’s right in the league office.

Now I do believe in due-process (although that didn’t seem to be a problem when it came to Donald Sterling and the NBA), but many, including sponsors like Anheuser Busch are beginning to ask what the NFL stands for and don’t think that hasn’t gotten the owners attention.

Roger Goodall is taking the heat, but it needs to be noted that he works for 32 owners who are ultimately responsible for what takes place when it comes to league operations. Up to this point, owners are supporting Goodall, but could easily throw him to the wolves, or worse, the court of public opinion, which will make everyone feel better, but solve nothing.