Every weekday in 2014, I'll be keeping an eye on what's happening in the media. My focus will be on some of my favorite subjects...the moguls, the pundits, the broadcast news biz, show business, and the publishing business. (Read "$everance" if you want a crystallization of my positions on those subjects.) And, of course, I'll also keep tabs on Chicago's media.
Chicago Media
~Tom Kent's Open Letter To the Radio Business
Tom Kent was a disc jockey at WLS in the 80s, and was inspired by the death of his old colleague Larry Lujack to write this open letter. The gist of it is that radio's biggest problem is that they don't care about the audience, and they haven't for years.
~Tom Langmyer
The former WGN Radio General Manager is making his move in Milwaukee. From Radio Ink:
Tom Langmyer is now the VP/GM of Journal's Milwaukee cluster which includes WTMJ-AM and WLWK-FM. The announcement was made today by Journal Executive Vice President, Radio, Steve Wexler, who was recently named to his current role and is stepping away from his day-to-day general manager role to focus on Journal's 35-station radio division. Langmyer will continue to support Journal's spoken-word stations as vice president of News/Talk programming.
~Andy Masur
For the past seven years Chicago-native and former WGN Radio broadcaster Andy Masur has been the radio voice of the San Diego Padres. According to this piece in U-T San Diego, that's no longer the case. They hired someone who is more of a social media expert to take his place. (I interviewed Andy years ago when he first started in San Diego. You can read that here).
Media Criticism
~Media Reporting's Blind Spot
There are some very good points in this Buzzfeed piece, some of which I'm as guilty of as anyone who reports on the media. It's about the tech side of the business, which this writer points out is the only side of the business that has any relevance at all.
~David Carr of the New York Times examines the same subject
But his focus is more on the financial realities of the so-called "media tech bubble". So far, it hasn't been a very successful journey, even though there are a few encouraging signs.
The Moguls
~Hacking Trial Update
More news from the hacking trial of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World executives. This is pretty damning...
A former reporter at the News of the World told a London court that he lied in previous cases as part of an “enormous conspiracy” to cover up phone hacking at the News Corp. (NWSA) tabloid. The reporter, Dan Evans, said he invented terms such as “sticky keys” at meetings with News Corp. lawyers to explain how he had heard celebrities’ voice-mail messages. Evans is under cross-examination after two days of testimony in the case over wrongdoing at News Corp. tabloids...“I did lie, yes,” Evans said during questioning by Coulson’s lawyer, Timothy Langdale. “I was part of the conspiracy. I’m ashamed to say that I did.”
~The Patch Lays Off Hundreds of Journalists
Why is this in the moguls section? This is the quote from the New York Post: "The move is a black eye for AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, who had co-founded the site as a side venture when he was still a Google executive." I don't know anything about Armstrong's politics, but the glee I'm seeing in the likes of the New York Post, the Fox Business website, and Breitbart gives me a hint.
Broadcast News
~The Average Viewer of Fox New is 68 years old
The very oldest Baby Boomers were born in 1946, which means they will be turning 68 this year. Fox News viewers are the generation older than the Baby Boomers. Frank Rich analyzes the implications of that in this New Yorker piece.
~ESPN Blocks Producer From Joining Today Show
From the article: A network source told THE DAILY, "He has a contract with ESPN, and ESPN is going to require him to fulfill it." You know me. I'm always on the side of the producer.
~Larry King Analyzes CNN
This about sums it up: “CNN’s got problems,” he said. “I don’t know what they’re going to do.”
Showbiz
~Billy Joel's Net Worth
This article lists his net worth at $160 million. If there's anyone who has truly earned that kind of money, it's Billy Joel. He has sold more than a hundred million records and sold out concerts around the world since the mid-70s. Some of that money has come from me. I'm taking the whole famiily (all five of us) to see him at Wrigley Field in July.
