Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Media Spotlight--February 5


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

~Joel Daly Gets The First Copy of "The Daly News"
Yes, it's shameless of me to mention this Eckhartz Press book again, but if it's not Chicago media news, what is? By the way, click on the link to see the beaming face of the old anchorman. He was pretty darn excited.


The Moguls

~Big Media still has plenty of muscle
Whenever you hear or read stories about the declining power of "Big Media", remember that television is one part of the media that is most certainly not true. From the LA Times: "There may be 500 channels and almost $80 billion in advertising and subscriber revenue in the television industry, but most of that content and cash is controlled by a handful of companies." The numbers tell the story, and those are at the link.

~As the Rupert Turns
Remember that letter written by Rupert's wife Wendy about Tony Blair? Rupert found it, and it supposedly contributed to his seeking a divorce. Well, Vanity Fair obtained that letter somehow, and published it. Britain's Evening Standard analyzes it at the link. I can see why Rupert was upset...
Writing in broken English, the author exclaimed: “Oh, shit, oh, shit. Whatever why I’m so so missing Tony. Because he is so so charming and his clothes are so good. He has such good body and he has really really good legs Butt... And he is slim tall and good skin. Pierce blue eyes which I love. Love his eyes. Also I love his power on the stage...

~Hacking Update: News Corp. Paper Made 6,813 Phone-Hacking Calls in 2 Years
Most of those calls to hack into voicemails were made from phones at the newspaper. 282 different voicemails were hacked. And that's just for 2005 and 2006. The trial is expected to last until mid-May, but the verdict seems pretty obvious. So much so, the judge actually had to say this to the jury yesterday: “This is an important case for all concerned. We have to get through to the end, you and I.”


The Pundits

~Bill O'Reilly's Interview is Getting Hammered
A few of the better examples are below...

~Bill O'Reilly's Obama Interview Showed a Nation Still Divided
Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank points out the obvious, and pretty darn gently, I might add. It's also really well written. (And it provoked a complete hissy fit from O'Reilly. He can dish it out, but he can't take it...even a little bit.)

~Obama Defends Himself Against Republican Charges
That's the way the Associated Press...yes, the Associated Press...characterized O'Reilly's interview. That prompted a Fox-News network-wide hissy fit, because these are questions that all Americans should be concerned about. According to the knuckleheads at Fox News, this article proves there is widespread press bias, a full-fledged cosnpiracy/coverup featuring every single member of the press except for Fox News. Really? When the entire world believes that you are crazy, there is at least one possible explanation other than "this proves that everyone else in the world is crazy." Think about it for a second. What other explanation could there be? You will have to pop the bubble to figure it out.

~10 More Questions Bill O'Reilly could have asked the president
This is a brilliant piece by the Huffington Post's Bob Cesca, giving Bill 10 more imaginary Fox-News created and/or promoted "scandals" he could have wasted his precious ten minutes of time on.

And finally, the best of the best, Jon Stewart's take on it...



~MSNBC's Chris Christie Obsession
I'm not just saying this to be fair and balanced. MSNBC's Chris Christie obsession is getting embarrassing. There are other stories out there, for crying out loud. Yes, its a story. But it's not THE story. If we're going to hyper-focus on one state, how about West Virginia? They've got 300,000 people there who can't drink or bathe because of toxic water. Just sayin, let's get some perspective here.


Broadcast News

-NBC News Readies Reboot in Time for the Olympics
The Sochi Olympics is the story most of the actual newscasts have been covering. NBCNews.com is rebooting their entire website to accomodate their coverage. If you've been watching any of the stories about hotel accomodations there, you get a feeling for what we might be hearing and seeing in the coming weeks. It could be a very memorable (and not in a good way) Olympic Games.


The Radio Biz

~Sirius Fires Disc Jockeys
New York Daily News writer David Hinkley laments the move, and I concur. Sirius had a billion dollars in revenue last quarter.

~Sandra Fluke running for Congress
Tom Taylor highlights the effect she has had on the radio business since Rush Limbaugh made her famous: "What a difference two years has made in Fluke’s life, and in talk radio. What began as an alert by liberal monitoring group Media Matters about Rush’s birth-control comments has morphed into an ongoing social media campaign. The result has been a turnover in some – not all – of the traditional advertisers on Rush’s show, and other talk shows too. As this NOW Newsletter has reported since we launched in November 2012, the discomfort level toward talk radio by some advertisers has not only persisted, it’s even spread to all-news radio."


Showbiz

~Vanity Fair's Paltrow Takedown
Vanity Fair was rumored to be working on an epic takedown of Gwyneth Paltrow. Today they explained what is going on. As for me, I don't get the Paltrow-hatred thing at all. What am I missing about her? She seems like a decent person to me.
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