Mkt. Research Analyst, Internet Broadcasting
Minneapolis
Read the full post June 21st, 2007
Archive for June 21st, 2007
Bill would tax broadcasters to pay for campaigns
A new bill in congress would tax each television station’s gross advertising 2% to pay for presidential campaigns. The proposal is sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Illinois), Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pennsylvania), Sen. Russ Feingold (D., Wisconsin) and Sen. Barack Obama (D., Illinois).
“This would cost [broadcasters] a ton of money, but they make a fortune on candidates,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told TV Week. “The broadcast industry does quite well. To ask them to play a part in this is quite reasonable.”
The proposal, which is in its earliest stages, would also change the current “lowest unit” rule - which requires broadcasters to sell spots at the lowest unit charge paid by any advertiser on the station at the time of the buy. The new rule would allow candidates to buy time twenty percent lower than the lowest rate, and allow a wider definition of which groups could buy time at the rate.
6 comments June 21st, 2007
Digg launches new comments system, users revolt
And you thought the feedback you got on your last site redesign was bad… Digg rolled out a new comments system - and the living organism that is the Digg community is in revolt. From the dugg story on the mess: “Dear Digg: we are not going to be force fed this POS. Get over yourselves and realize that this new system is not working out.” Ouch.
4 comments June 21st, 2007
Newspaper industry leaders on the future
The CEOs of McClatchy and Freedom Communications answered questions during the Newspaper Association of America’s Mid-Year Media Review earlier this week. Forbes writes up the discussion and hits a number of high points, including fragmentation, Google/Yahoo!, lower margins and how to approach Internet sales with advertisers. Freedom CEO Scott Flanders talked about the future of classified advertising:
“I think we as an industry need to look very hard at the free classified model because I think part of it is a critical-mass issue. As our pages of print classifieds get smaller and smaller, it becomes a slippery slope of relevance as to whether we’re going to have the reader referencing those pages. I think we may have to look through the other end of the telescope and develop a point of view that maybe it means we need to walk away from some of the traditional revenue sources [for the sake of audience aggregation].”
Add comment June 21st, 2007
Comedy Central launches indecision2008.com
So there is political news, and there is funny political news. This post is news about funny political news. Indecision 2008 is going strong on TV, and Comedy Central has launched their online effort for the election at indecision2008.com. The editors from the site introduce it as:
We, the editors of Indecision ‘08, will provide the people of this country — and possibly other countries, if they do in fact exist — with a website that will tell something approximating the electoral news with something approximating honesty.
There are videos from The Daily Show, Colbert Report and Lil’ Bush. All can be embedded on other sites. Plus, they are offering wallpapers, IM icons, and a pretty funny blog. This is an excellent example of how websites can support the on-air, without just being a place to post archives.
4 comments June 21st, 2007
GET LOST: Episode 4 - Revenge of the Consultant
Cory takes a turn in the interview chair (about time) and presses me for dirt on Consultant Life. (Hint: the word “evil” gets used.) We also discuss who is responsible for stories on news sites that aren’t relevant to the audience. (Hint: it’s not always management.) All that, plus Cory’s third beer of the day, in Episode Four of GET LOST.
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ARCHIVES (Such as they are):
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
5 comments June 21st, 2007
The mistake of looking at the new in terms of the old
(This column originally appeared in this week’s edition of the AR&D Media 2.0 Intel Report.) When a new technology comes along, the classic mistake is to look at it in terms of an old technology. TiVo? It’s just a VCR with a hard drive. Apple TV? A confusing VCR. iPods? Walkmans that hold more songs. The Slingbox? A TiVo that … uh… well, it won’t matter anyway because not that many people will use it. Any one of these new devices or technologies that emerges does not replace a previous technology. But - and this is really important - it adds to a constellation that slowly replaces the old guard. And that starts to sneak up on people who aren’t paying attention to the big picture.
Read the full post 3 comments June 21st, 2007
No GE/Pearson bid for Dow Jones
General Electric and Pearson will not team up to make a bid to purchase Dow Jones. The companies said they held exploratory talks over the past few weeks, but ultimately decided against the idea.
1 comment June 21st, 2007
MSNBC.com lists journalists who donated to politicians
In a sweeping investigative report, MSNBC.com’s Bill Dedman lists 144 journalists who have given money to politicians from 2004 through the start of the 2008 campaign. Of the list, 125 journalists gave to Democrats and only 17 gave to Republicans. Two journalists gave to both parties. Not only did Dedman list the 144 people, but he also contacted each of them for their reactions, which he also lists in full. The response from Alix Kendall, morning anchor at KMSP Fox Minneapolis, is a very interesting read. She first points out that she opposes the war, then:
“…I don’t think that working for a news organization I give up my rights. I interview plenty of people that I don’t agree with, but I also ask questions to get the other side. I think it’s actually an advantage — in a news organization we have people of many political views. We have healthy debates. I think it’s my civic duty to be involved in what matters to me. I think it’s ridiculous that anyone who’s sitting in front of a camera doesn’t have an opinion — come on, we all do….”
As many of you know, most news organizations prohibit this practice, especially given today’s credibility crisis with journalism — especially TV news. But what do you think? Of the investigation? The skew? And Kendall’s remarks?
(By the way, look at the response from Gideon Yago, formerly with MTV News.)
6 comments June 21st, 2007
NBC selling William & Harry interview on iTunes
Matt Lauer’s highly-promoted William & Harry interview, which aired on the Today Show and Dateline NBC, is available for $1.99 on iTunes. So who would pay to download the 38-minute clip, especially when all of the video is available to watch for free on MSNBC.com? Apparently a fair number of people, as the interview is ranked #2 in the list of most popular TV shows on iTunes right now.
Add comment June 21st, 2007
Class will train future digital storytellers
Finding people to hire who understand and can deliver on the promise of quality digital storytelling is the biggest challenge for a lot of us in hiring roles. That’s why a class being offered by the University of Minnesota caught my eye. For just $210, a team of instructors will show multimedia newbies how they can improve their skills. If anyone knows of similar courses, let us know in comments.
1 comment June 21st, 2007
