Irv's Eye View

A late November reflection

2011-11-22T13:39:00.001-08:00

If you're old enough to remember where you were 48 years ago today, you'll understand why this time of year has special meaning, much more important than the current controversies surrounding store hours for "Black Friday." In a blog three years ago, I wrote about my memories of the day President Kennedy was shot. Those thoughts reflected a feeling of challenge, but also the promise of 2008, having just elected a new president. The challenges we faced as a nation both in 1963 and 2008 were substantial and real. The challenges we face today continue to plague us.

A few months ago, I wrote about "fools on the Hill," a reference to our Congress. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch seems to agree. His commentary, today, eloquently outlines not only the problems but a few meaningful solutions. During the course of my career in journalism I met many big time political leaders. Koch is one of the few who continues to earn my respect. I don't always agree with him--though more often I do-- but he is an honest man, a self described "sensible liberal."

Those who know me understand that I have many friends who are lifelong conservatives. I'm hoping a few "sensible conservatives" will step up and help lead with a spirit of reconciliation we so desperately need. The tone of discourse today has become so contentious and mean spirited that getting anything done becomes increasingly difficult. One of my conservative friends suggested that those on the right are waiting for the 2012 election when they believe the voters will move the country in their direction. A year is a long time in politics, but my guess is that the voters will actually take back what they did to Congress in 2010. It seems increasingly clearer each day that divided government, in today's political climate, is a prescription for the empowerment of fools. Whoever prevails a year from now, sensible liberals and conservatives have to place the good of the country ahead of narrow political expediency. We, the voters, must demand nothing less.

So, on this 48th anniversary of one of America's darkest days, I hope you will click the links above and read what Mayor Koch has to say about turning things around. And, if you haven't read my earlier reflections on November 22, 1963, take a look at that too.

All good wishes for a happy Thanksgiving and a holiday season with real joy.

Time for a late inning rally

2011-09-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

Americans value freedom. It is one of the attractions of the United States, still a magnet for the oppressed of the world. Bob Dylan’s anthem, Chimes of Freedom, has a dreamlike quality that articulates an almost religious yearning for justice. President Obama would be well served to listen. His presidency is in the late innings in need of a lift if he has any chance at another four years.

One of the joys of iPod shuffle is being surprised by what pops up when you listen. I write this as I fly home to San Diego from New York. When I heard Dylan’s live version of “Chimes” on the iPod—a song I’ve always thought of as one of his greats—it struck me that the song just might help Obama articulate a 2012 version of “Hope” that the country desperately needs. But talk alone won’t do it. Which brings me to a memory of a comeback.

I attended two sessions at the US Open Tennis Championships last week. It reminded me of one of the great days in my personal sports spectator history 24 years ago. After spending a September afternoon at the 1987 US Open, I made my way across Roosevelt Avenue to Shea Stadium to catch a night game between the reigning world champion New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. I met my father, Harry, at the ballpark. We watched as the Mets quickly fell behind with no signs of life for the first five innings; then they came back big, with seven runs in the sixth, and one for the win column. Back then—and still today—the divide between the tennis crowd and the baseball fans offers a sharp contrast, visually striking as you leave the more upscale National Tennis Center for the blue collar ball park across the street. But even the vast majority of the tennis crowd are middle class.

So many “ordinary Americans” (as the politicians like to say), including baseball and tennis fans, are hurting and wondering how we got where we are today. Robert Reich offers a particularly cogent summary answering that question in Sunday’s New York Times. Professor Reich positions his analysis of hope for the middle class not with a baseball metaphor but rather as a “dream within our grasp.” And in his most recent Times column, Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman also offers a better blueprint for economic recovery than the one force fed on the president and American people by our current Congress.

The intersection of art and scholarship has been discussed and identified by many. Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman both recognized the artist’s gift for articulating cultural realities with great power and clarity often before scholars study these trends. That’s why the power of a song may just help. Many of us thought Barrack Obama was the man to make the Chimes of Freedom—including economic freedom--flash more brightly when he was elected in 2008. If he is to become a two termer he needs to do more than articulate a vision; he must make the dream a reality. That will take a late inning comeback. Unfortunately, the reality is that members of the opposition are not going to blink. Their goal is to see this president strike out. All one has to do is watch body language and pay attention to the tone of voice of Tea Party faithful when they talk about President Obama--it is personal for them with this president. The idea of a bipartisan era where the good of the country is placed above the need for one party to win has not yet arrived; this current Tea Party tinged Congress does not have an approach that will work.

The sooner Mr. Obama fully embraces the fact that the top priority of the opposing team is to retire his presidency, the sooner he will start saving his chance at a second term. Those who voted for him last time expect him to fight for the middle class and a brighter future. For too many, the feeling of being—in Dyaln’s words—“the luckless, the abandoned and forsaked” is real. That’s the constituency Obama must engage and not cede to the Tea Party. The only way that will happen is by winning the hearts and minds of the American people through action and results, in essence bypassing the “fools on the Hill” who are hurting so many while pretending to be part of the solution. At this point, it is all about jobs. Late inning comebacks happen all the time, especially when the fundamentals are solid and the approach is consistent with the skill of the players on the field. It's time for the president to take his swings and quit hoping for a walk.

Fools on the Hill

2011-07-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

Too many words have been written and spoken about the consternation and constipation Congress is suffering over the debt limit deadline debacle. It is time to act and to do so in the interest of the rest of us, the people the president and others refer to as "ordinary Americans."

I am one of the lucky ones with my wife employed and a 40 year history of saving, and investing, reasonably wisely. Too many "ordinary Americans" are much worse off and suffering unnecessarily because of a stubborn minority that is focused primarily on seeing President Obama fail.

During the dark days of President George W. Bush's second term, I told my conservative friends that I truly had no interest in seeing the president fail. The good of the country outweighed any short term political gains. I worked hard to see President Obama get elected. I doubt I will devote much time to his next campaign; he's missed too many opportunities. But, most likely, I will vote for him. He has worked to compromise and govern from the center, many say to a fault. So it is especially disheartening to watch as the Tea Party contingent in Congress holds us hostage. Those who supported their insurgency ought reconsider their votes in the face of the tyranny this minority has wrought on the rest of us. The knee jerk rejection of any new taxes--euphemistically referred to as "revenue"--is making thoughtful conservatives, and Republican stalwarts, worry whether the GOP has any grandeur left. Even President Reagan recognized the need for "revenue."

If the current polls are accurate, the majority of Americans, ordinary and otherwise, are starting to see that the hard core obstructionists in Congress, the Tea Party crowd and their enablers, are the heart of the problem. "Ordinary Americans" are starting to speak out and realize that the fools on the Hill have too many blind spots.

Musings on rock stars and a bit of wisdom

2011-06-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

In our celebrity-obsessed culture, the most celebrated and select idols of the galaxy would have to be the rock stars. If you have any doubts, consider this anecdotal evidence. Julia Roberts—at one time the highest paid female movie star on the planet—was seated next to Paul McCartney at the 2010 Golden Globe Awards. Roberts said afterward that everybody she knew was sending her messages about the super star beside her. The "Pretty Woman," next to the former Beatle, was clearly impressed. She told reporters, “If you want attention, sit next to Paul McCartney.”

The other bit of evidence comes from Martin Scorsese’s rock doc, Shine a Light, about a Rolling Stones concert to benefit former president Bill Clinton’s foundation. Filmmaker Scorsese and politician Clinton are both superstars in their own very visible worlds. But as you watch the documentary, it becomes indisputable that these two giants are definitely “standing in shadow” of the really big stars, The Rolling Stones. To further emphasize the potent celebrity of rock stardom, referring to Bill Clinton as the “rock star president” is often used to indicate his special status as a politician and former president.

Rock stars enjoy extraordinary financial success through being creative outlaws who bring pleasure to the masses. To paraphrase another pop star, who first became famous before the age of rock and roll, “they do it their way.” So what can we learn from these highly successful, much admired, super rich celebrities we call rock stars? We know all too well about rock stars who succumb to drug problems, legal problems, money problems, relationship problems and every other human flaw or failing you can imagine. The bright lights can illuminate but also burn.

During one of the interview segments in Shine a Light, Stones guitarists Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards are both asked the same question. Who is the better guitarist? Wood responds flippantly by saying, that he is better than Richards. When asking the same question, the interviewer tells Richards what Wood said. Richards, in a moment of real wisdom, responds by saying he’s not surprised by his fellow guitarist’s boast. But it is Richards’ next statement that cuts to the heart of creative success for a range of endeavors. Richards says, something like this. “The truth is there are ten guys better than Ronnie or me. But together, we’re better than those ten guys.”

Organizational success involves more than the talent of individual team members. Talented people are a necessary ingredient. But in the words or Hall of Fame baseball manager Casey Stengel, “Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play together is another story.” It is not surprising that the most successful “rock stars,” whatever their field, know how to be part of a team. Think about it. Every truly successful star works with a team. This goes even for novelists, golfers and tennis players. There are coaches, managers, trainers, psychologists, editors, fact checkers, agents, and many others who contribute to success.

Richards figured out that Ronnie Wood made him a better guitar player and he said so with a bit of humility. Keith Richards as a source of wisdom? Maybe people will listen. After all, he’s a rock star.

Some thoughts on 9/11 nearly ten years later

2011-05-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

Shortly after 9/11/01, I sat with a working journalist friend and a man he introduced me to who is a leader in San Diego’s Muslim community. Our Muslim acquaintance was disappointed and upset that his community did not suspect the three 9/11 hijackers who had spent many months in San Diego. He explained to us that the hijackers had been seen at mosques in San Diego. He also told us that members of San Diego’s Muslim community would have, and had on other occasions, contacted the FBI if they suspected something was not right. Perplexed, he told us something to the effect, “I can’t believe we missed these guys.”

I have often thought back to that conversation realizing how one person can change history. What if the FBI had been following the three San Diego based 9/11 hijackers? It is a difficult call to act on suspicions that may or may not be well founded. In the current climate I am guessing someone would speak up. Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, nearly ten years after 9/11, we are wisely more vigilant.

Members of a US Navy SEAL team took out bin Laden further enhancing the reputation of one of America’s elite military units. This particular unit, sometimes called SEAL Team Six (ST6), is the elite of the elite. ST6 is based in Virginia, but all Navy SEALs pass through Coronado, California. I live in Coronado, just across the bay from downtown San Diego. Naval Amphibious Base Coronado (NAB) is home to the Naval Special Warfare Command and the training facility where every sailor and naval officer comes to earn his “Trident;” that’s the badge worn by SEALs that distinguishes their uniforms from those of aviators, submariners, and surface warfare personnel.

I drove past NAB this morning to see if anything special was going on. I saw a group of sailors running in fatigues, a sight quite normal here. There was a TV crew outside the local Starbucks, probably hoping to talk to those in uniform who stop there on their way to work. Traffic coming over the bridge from San Diego was backed up this morning. Higher security at Coronado's two naval installations was possibly the reason. Later, part of Interstate 5 leading into the bridge was shut down because of a suspected pipe bomb found nearby; the object turned out to be an innocent piece of debris. In the days and weeks ahead we will experience, once again, heightened security and vigilance in the aftermath of bin Laden’s demise.

Living where I live, I’ve had the privilege to know a few SEALs over the years (mostly retired, now). Some of my daughters’ classmates from Coronado High School have gone on to earn their Tridents and are currently serving with SEAL teams. The SEALs I have known are nothing at all like the caricatures you might expect of elite warriors. They are artists and gardening enthusiasts, usually soft spoken and humble. At least that is how they act around this civilian. My abiding respect for them is nearly limitless. To require them to do what they do, and do it so well, is the price of a civilized society. We have not yet advanced to a time when swords are ploughshares and we no longer have to study war. In the meantime, having SEALs and Rangers, Green Berets, Marines, and every other military specialist and service member available to help keep us safe, is something we should not take for granted. To those who serve: Thank you.

Tune up your crap detectors

2011-02-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school,

It’s a wonder I can think at all.

Opening lyrics to Kodachrome, by Paul Simon (Released in 1973)

A little background: Paul Simon attended, and graduated from, Forest Hills High School in New York City’s Borough of Queens. So did I. Simon was graduated in 1958; I graduated in 1969. When the song was released, I was finishing college. For several reasons, I have always felt a special connection to Kodachrome. Kodak stopped producing Kodachrome film about two years ago. Obviously, Kodachrome is a metaphor in Simon’s nearly 40-year-old hit. Here’s a link to the lyrics in case you are not familiar with the song.

With traditional film cameras now replaced, for most of us, by digital photography, at least one thing crosses the boundaries of the two technologies—frames. We frame pictures; we view them in frames; we edit within frames of film or frames on our iPhoto or Photoshop apps. So metaphor and frames help us see and understand the world.

Paul Simon obviously recognized the “crap (he) learned in high school” for what it was. Contrary to his next line, it is probably one reason he can think well, certainly well enough to write great songs over the last half century. Neil Postman wrote about the need for “crap detectors,” playing off a line from Ernest Hemingway. You can read Postman’s essay (I agee with about 90% of what he says) and see what you think. I’d pay particular attention to Postman’s third and fourth laws. Or, to paraphrase Stephen Stills, be cautious of mostly saying “hooray for our side.”

The world has usually benefited from well-tuned crap detection. One of the traditional roles of the news media is sorting out what is real and what is not. Now doing this we have Jon Stewart and other entertainers working to expose purveyors of pap and crap on a nightly basis. That he makes us laugh is an added benefit.

There are many working journalists—likely most—who continue to point out what is legitimate information and what is not. Unfortunately, many popular media personalities—including so-called journalists--are spewing crap at an alarming rate. My goal is not to “call out” individuals who contaminate the airwaves, news pages, and digital platforms with crap. Rather, it is to suggest all of us tune up our detectors and know the difference between the crap we learned in high school and everywhere else, and what is real knowledge, reliable information, and true wisdom.

You could take beautiful pictures with Kodachrome and you can take beautiful pictures with a digital camera. It’s not whether it is digital or film that is important; it is about how we see.

Trade-offs in the digital age

2011-01-28T03:24:00.000-08:00

Alain Bieber (holding microphone), Photo by Werner Laschinger

(Written for the BaKaFORUM Blog and re-posted here.)

Those technological Faustian bargains--articulated by Neil Postman with great clarity years ago--that we enter into with each new breakthrough, came up, indirectly, in the discussion at last night’s opening session of BaKaFORUM. Panelist Alain Bieber made a forceful statement advocating openness on the web with, for example, no copyright restrictions. To emphasize his point, Alain went on to say he supports the work of Wiki Leaks, to which he received enthusiastic applause from many of those attending the session.

As a long time news producer and later an executive, I regularly fought battles to get information released so it could be made public. So, on many levels, my heart is with Alain and those who supported him by their approving response. Okay, you’ve probably figured out that I’m about to say, “but on the other hand.” And yes, that is correct. All this openness has a price. Is there such a thing as “a reasonable expectation of privacy” for us in the digital age? I hope there is, though I’m no longer certain. And aren’t there times when the Wiki Leaks mentality promotes reckless disregard for the greater good? Isn't good journalism also about being a responsible "gate-keeper?" (Yes, all these rhetorical questions are designed to provoke a dialogue.)

The work of Wiki Leaks embarrasses the powerful. Those who speak truth to power are often persecuted, prosecuted or, in some cases, even murdered. These are risks journalists have been facing since long before the personal computer became a commodity. As we say in the American idiom, “it goes with the territory.” So let’s limit our consideration (or not!) to the more typical, every day varieties of copyright infringements and disclosures of what might be considered private information.

I, and I’m certain many of you, recognized, long ago, that there is a distinction between anonymity and privacy. Clearly, in today’s world, being anonymous is nearly impossible. But what is a reasonable expectation of privacy in today’s world, both for private individuals and the public person? As you answer the question consider it in terms of the tradeoffs we are willing to accept as the technological age leads us to new frontiers. Are we entering a new chapter of “Brave New World” or shining daylight on dark places hiding in the shadows? Obviously, we are in a gray area and I suppose that was Postman’s point when he alerted us to the dual nature of technological progress. As he said, “Technology giveth and technology taketh away.”

As for protecting copyrighted material on the internet, I tend to agree with Alain,with some minimal exceptions. As the saying goes, “the net just wants to be free.” For more on that, I recommend Free: The Future of a Radical Price, by Wired Magazine’s Chris Anderson.

Finally, it appeared to me that one of the fiction film clips screened last night touched on some of these questions. Zero Point Seven (0.7) seemed to this non-German speaker to be headed in a direction that examines the march of technology in the not so far away future, perhaps touching on these current questions.

And a final, final point… thank you to our translator who did a fine job for those of us who understand English but not German. Simultaneous translation is a bit of an art form when done so well.

New blog up at BaKaFORUM blog

2011-01-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

As I get ready to head to Switzerland, next week. I've started posting on the BaKaFORUM Blog.

Please share your thoughts and comments here, or on the BaKaFORUM page.

Thank you.

Going back to BaKaFORUM

2011-01-14T13:53:00.000-08:00

Hello, again, everybody. I want to let you know that I will be going to the BaKaFORUM educational media conference again this year, beginning in about two weeks. Last year I went as BaKaFORUM's blogger and I will be doing the same this year.

BaKaFORUM is a gathering of producers, teachers, executives, and other interested people who care about excellent story telling and using visual media for positive purposes. It alternates each year between Basel, Switzerland, and Karlsruhe, Germany. This year it is in Switzerland.

Here are a few links if you want to follow the blog or get caught up on last year.

This year's blog is just getting started. Here's the link.
http://bakaforumblog.blogspot.com

And here's a link to last year's blog.
http://bakaforumblog2010.wordpress.com

Please let me know what you think by way of comments on those blogs.

Commentary: Finding a different path for success

2010-08-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

The recent failure of a San Diego news website offers the temptation to engage in a schadenfreude-laced diatribe of “I could have told you so.” But that’s never been my style. So, rather than taking any pleasure in this particular failure, my feeling is better expressed by the frustration of Marlon Brando’s character, Terry Malloy, in “On the Waterfront.” To paraphrase Malloy, “they coulda been a contender.” And that is what is so disappointing.

The failure of San Diego local news site SDNN, aka The San Diego News Network, was driven by unrealistic expectations and a bad economy. Wealthy and successful people failed to recognize their own limitations. It may be that because of their own self-image they believed that success in one field would guarantee success in another. In the case of SDNN, entrepreneurs Neil Senturia and Barbara Bry--they're married--were good at raising money and getting a respectable, though undistinguished, product on the web, but never mastered the basic economics of why people go to a local news site.

SDNN tried to succeed at local news by, in its words, creating a conversation. After a little more than a year, the news site is no longer operating. I offered my services to SDNN, early on, and also gave Bry some free advice. When SDNN had an opportunity to hire a senior executive to help run things, Bry and Senturia chose to go in a very different direction. So, that’s the full disclosure.

Beside the dynamics created by overconfidence, SDNN lacked a mastery of how to fit into the San Diego marketplace. Finding the right niche is not an easy to solve or short term problem. But it must be addressed early on. Making a better personal computer did not drive Apple’s success. Creating innovative products that were useful—and not available elsewhere—made Apple the growth stock it is today.

The other problem is usually internal. I can only speculate about SDNN's work atmosphere. But creative enterprises require motivated teams that become better with time and are driven by factors besides a paycheck. That’s where leadership comes in. Attitude and leadership should not be confused. SDNN had plenty of attitude. That is good. But it’s not enough. Solid leadership is not about charisma. It is built upon predictable behavior, a sense of service to the team, and steady focused attention on achieving clear goals.

The final piece of the puzzle involves using money wisely. Media enterprises burn through dollars rather quickly. Deciding how to spend money can never be driven by personal ego. Ego can be a useful driver in successful organizations but only if it is purposeful. To slightly alter the words of the late Hunter S. Thompson, the media business is a cruel and shallow money trench.

According to former business professor and “Good to Great” author Jim Collins, the most successful organizations and executives are built upon personal humility and professional will. As we learn from failures--even noble failures—like SDNN, it is instructive to see if Collins is right. In my experience, he’s nailed it.

Of course, this commentary is based on my own opinion, personal observation, and what could be inferred by reading SDNN over the past year. At this writing, the fact that the site's link is still active may indicate that Senturia and Bry will sell the site, re-tool and relaunch, or try again in another form. I can only guess, because when I contacted Bry to find out what happened and about future plans she politely declined to comment or engage in a conversation. In any case, I sincerely wish them well. There's no pleasure in watching the community lose a news organization.

Trying to fix the news

2010-08-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

(To the tune of Me and Bobby McGee, by Fred Foster and Kris Kristofferson)

Ratings flat in Houston town,

Where thunder leads the rain,

Tried to find a way to “fix” the news.

Abrams sent the anchors home,

Then took off in a plane,

Took the Texas crew some time to find its way.

Feelin’ good was easy, lord, ‘cause the old ways had to change,

And nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free.

It’s no surprise that The Tribune Company’s innovation guru, Lee Abrams, is not a fan of incremental change. “Why delay,” he says, “if something hasn’t been working.” Abrams shared his thoughts with us, the other day, about the upcoming “NewsFix” format that will compete in the Houston TV market, beginning this fall. The most publicized aspect of the new format-- Tribune’s KIAH is going to ditch its anchors and lead what it calls “a revolution” in TV news.

Anybody who has read this blog over the years knows that I share the view that the current model for TV news is in need of a fix. It’s been essentially the same since the 1970s. And the low ratings at KIAH hearken to another line from Me and Bobby McGee. “Freedom’s just another word, for nothing left to lose.” So with low ratings comes a lot of freedom. But an anchorless newscast will have to have characters and personalities to connect with viewers.

Successful television, perhaps more than any other medium, is built on characters and personalities. Every successful show, from Jersey Shore to Masterpiece Theatre, is rich with characters. For traditional TV viewers, the para-social relationship with anchor teams has been the foundation of viewer loyalty and success. Viewers often relate to anchors as family members or friends. So whom will viewers relate to on the NewsFix?

That’s a strategic question that requires creative answers. Unlike the movies or radio, TV is, in Marshall McLuhan’s analysis, a cool medium. We don’t watch in a darkened theater with focused attention or while driving down the road isolated in our car. TV competes with other distractions, which is one reason it has to be so character driven to be sustainable. So, an anchorless newscast will require thoughtful casting to generate meaningful connections with viewers. And yes, that can be successfully accomplished without a traditional anchor team.

Like any creative experiment, NewFix will probably strikeout a few times before it connects. Abrams believes that’s okay. In the current environment, successful news media entries need to have a grass roots feel and attention to breaking news This is particularly important for short form hand held delivery, actually more like radio than TV. For the TV part of daily news delivery, real people telling their own stories may offer the personality connection that will be necessary to sustain viewer loyalty with the absence of anchors. In many ways it is a casting challenge. Who gets to tell her story today and is it of ongoing interest? That’s the kind of question that might be appropriate at the new news morning meeting.

The other challenge will be how to connect on big stories. TV news is often at its life saving best during disasters. Houston is hurricane and thunderstorm country. Identifying the non anchor story-tellers for major storms will require preparation and a bit of training for the real life experts—not suit and tie observers but in-the-trenches-pros—who will take the place of anchors on major stories. Each market has the sort of articulate leaders who can jump in and offer real insight for those big news marathons.

Ultimately, a successful news fix will need creative producers who can work the latest technologies, but also have real news judgment to identify interesting story lines and the people who are affected. Flash without content will wind up like a September hurricane, very noisy with a lot of damage.

In the interest of disclosure, I’m not a disinterested observer. I’d enjoy working with Abrams and his team to make the NewFix a success. But unlike Abrams, I’m more a fan of incremental change than revolutionary overthrows. We agree that if something is not working it needs to be tossed. But to me the difference between success and failure is more like the difference between a major league hitter and somebody who spends his whole career in the minor leagues. As Hall of Fame hitter Tony Gwynn once explained on a Padres broadcast, what separates big league batters from the guys who never make it past Triple A is the ability to make adjustments, often small ones. You can try it without anchors, but the news needs storytellers with real stories to make it on TV.

Still......after all these years

2010-07-01T19:17:00.000-07:00

I have not vanished. Irv’s Eye View is alive and well, though coming out of a long hiatus. It’s just that I have taken two classes in a row and, with travel and life ongoing, posting the blog tends to slip in priority. The second of those two classes ends next week. “Research Methods” is important but tedious, so I will enjoy completing it. When this class ends, I’ll have only two left to earn an MA in organizational leadership.

For what it is worth, the degree has nothing—or at least very little—to do with why I am back in school at the advanced age of 59. Mainly, engaging in formal studies is good brain exercise and an opportunity to interact with a diverse group of classmates, even though the instruction is “online.” Being online to learn has many advantages. For a social science program, such as the one I’m in at Gonzaga University, online learning is quite appropriate and rewarding. Online learning also offers the opportunity to pace the instruction in ways that would be impossible with a traditional schedule of classroom attendance.

So what’s next? I would like to get to work. So many small-minded hiring managers don’t understand or appreciate the advantages of hiring an older worker who is eager, energetic, and motivated. That’s me, of course, who I’m talking about—the out of work older worker. But “me” is emblematic of so many others.

Back in the day (the 80s and 90s), I was an unusual--and successful and sought after--news executive. For one thing, I took people’s calls and did not hide from job seekers. In fact, I hired some great people who walked in without appointments. One is working in Tucson today, more than 20 years after walking in, unannounced, and convincing me to meet her. When I moved on to San Diego, a few years later, I remained open to non-traditional candidates who often had something unusual and compelling to offer that set them apart from the usual suspects who sought jobs, the traditional candidates. The usual suspects can get very boring. That’s part of the reason TV news is a business in decline, too many of the usual suspects doing jobs the same way they've done them for years. Adding new platforms--different media--can make a difference, but only if the new platform delivers the messages in ways that matter. Trying to do the same old TV, or print, on the web is a shell game.

For the last 10 years it’s been the Internet and entrepreneurial pursuits keeping things current and remunerative in my work world… then came 2008—ouch! Thought Obama might help fix things up, but that has not yet happened.

Now, as I seek a job myself, it is distressing to encounter the conventional lack of wisdom that results in never—or rarely—getting calls returned, mainly because I’m quite certain the hiring manager cannot see beyond, “oh, he’s an old guy, who’s been out of it for too long.”

For most news operations, I would “add value;” how’s that for dredging up an old cliché? Cliché or not, the wisdom of age, coupled with a record of success and innovation, might actually help an organization get out of its rut and stand out in the current competitive environment. Then there is that degree I’m earning. Believe it or not, the combination of practical experience over more than 30 years in the TV news business, coupled with formal education that is current in terms of exploring the current work and media environment, might just be the sort of profile that would help an organization achieve success.

Having a sense of humor about all of this helps. The very fact the Mets and Padres, the two teams I follow and root for, are doing well just a week before the All Star break, is a sign of something. This current recession/depression will eventually improve. And all you general managers and news directors will probably scramble to catch up with what was current yesterday. Maybe it might be fun to be ahead of what’s happening, for a change, and figure out what will be happening tomorrow. Or, better yet, how about setting the agenda for the future. Think about it. Read some of my older blogs. You might figure out that I can help. There now, that feels better.

Happy Independence Day!

The business of healthy eating

2010-04-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

An old friend, who is also a former client and colleague, now works for Edelman Public Relations, the firm behind a just released global research study on attitudes about health and how these attitudes affect businesses. The "good health is good business" theme got my attention. My friend asked me to look at the data and presentations and blog about it if I found something interesting. I mention this in the interest of disclosure.

Edelman's Health Engagement Barometer confirms something that has become increasingly obvious to anybody paying attention. There are consequences for companies, and industries, that contribute to disease and bad health practices, as they find themselves exposed in a variety of media with increasing frequency and reach. Food and eating are hot topics because, like the weather, they affect everybody. Author Michael Pollan has effectively spread the word about ways to improve health through better eating with his books on food and how it is "produced" in America. Recent movies, such as The Informant, Food Inc., and Super Size Me have also shined an increasingly brighter light on corporate food and farming practices that are major contributors to child and adult obesity, along with other health problems; diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer are just one deadly trifecta fed by choosing to eat the wrong foods. So, clearly, companies face public perception consequences when they are purveyors of foods that slowly make us sick, even though they fill us up and don't cost too much.

From a business perspective, this also creates opportunities. Companies that focus on good eating and healthy choices can reap benefits. Whole Foods Markets has been a leader in this area. And renewed focus on organic farming and the humane treatment of animals can be business benefits if you follow the thinking embedded in the Edelman findings. When businesses are motivated to do the right thing because of economic incentives they usually get it done, even if it means changing the way they do business.

The real test will be how many companies adapt and start doing things differently. Some will certainly go for the short term benefit of disputing findings that work against their interests. Genetically modified produce is one of those battlegrounds. Corporate farmers depend on crops that have been genetically engineered. They tout the benefits, understate the risks, and pay little attention to consequences that hurt smaller farmers producing different crops. Ultimately consumers drive the trends. Food Inc. included a scene where buyers for Walmart were cutting deals with organic food producers. Edelman's Health Engagement Barometer serves as new evidence that good health is good business. When it comes to providing alternatives to highly processed and factory farmed foods, Whole Foods got the message long ago, Walmart more recently, but not without controversy.

The businesses that "get it" will find ways to exploit good health; that's better than exploiting our "sweet tooths" and thirst for bigger beverages. The important message is that good health, on a personal level and for the public, is a global imperative. As businesses recognize this they can contribute to a healthier future that exceeds even the benefits to their bottom lines.

The "Easter Earthquake"

2010-04-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

The desert wildflowers were beautiful, on Easter Sunday, just a few days ago. The spot where these flowers bloomed is quite close to the epicenter of the 7+ magnitude earthquake that shook Baja and Southern California. We left the Anza-Borrego Desert flowers about one hour before the earth moved and shook everybody up. As we drove over the Coronado Bay Bridge, just before reaching what used to be a toll plaza, I felt the car behave oddly. It felt like a flat tire or a bad section of road. The shaky feeling passed quickly. When we got home and about 30 minutes after coming off the bridge, we felt a big aftershock. Obviously, that strange driving sensation was one of the effects of the quake.

Nothing broke and everyone we know is fine. Kids called to check in as did other friends and family members from around the country. After all the devastating news from Haiti and Chile a 7+ magnitude quake is serious business.

In the 25 years I have lived in California, earthquakes have happened fairly regularly. Mostly, they are minor. As a newsman, I helped cover two large, deadly, destructive quakes, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that hit the San Francisco Bay Area, and the 1994 Northridge quake that did its damage in and around Los Angeles. Sunday's quake was intense but centered in a mostly rural area, but not entirely. The border towns of Calexico, California, and Mexicali, Baja California, sit very close to the epicenter. And, as one local expert predicted on one local news outlet, there were deaths associated with the latest rumbling along the earth's fault lines. Two people have died. The latest news is that some--who can--are choosing to leave northern Baja. But things are getting back to normal despite substantial damage in certain parts of the desert border region.

Earthquakes wake us up. Unlike other destructive natural phenomena, they hit suddenly almost always with no warning. All we can do is be prepared and grateful that our First World building codes and practices provide a level of safety that mitigates the might of mother nature. And we hope the next time family and friends call, after we make the national news, we can report we are okay and share stories about desert wildflowers and that shaky feeling on the bridge, or whatever is happening then.

Back home from BaKaFORUM

2010-02-04T12:23:00.000-08:00

(Originally posted at http://backaforumblog2010.wordpress.com)

The trip home to California went smoothly. Covering so much distance so fast is one of the technological wonders of our time. Accessible high-speed air transportation makes BaKaFORUM, and other world events possible. We often think of technology in terms of computers, cameras, and the tools of our craft. But the people at Airbus and Boeing. who design and build the planes, and the pilots and staff who get us where we are gong truly use technology for our mutual benefit.

: "Mediaculture" working at BaKaFORUM

The young people documenting BaKaFORUM as part of the Mediaculture online project are the future of what we do. They inherit a world filled with tensions, problems, and real danger, but also a sense of hope. Each generation faces different challenges and opportunities. Thank you to all the teachers and supporters who make programs like "Mediaculture" possible. Enjoy their work and wish them well.

The theme of "Cooperation in a World of Cultural Diversity" continues to resonate in ways obvious and profound. To say that BaKaFORUM is a truly egalitarian event would be an overstatement, but it contains a core of truth and powerful potential. The possibilities for discovery grow when fledgling producers and aspiring story tellers interact as peers with accomplished professionals, commissioning editors, and international decision makers. Pitching ideas and finding new talent can grow into creative accomplishment through the collegiality and good feelings of working together for a few days on neutral ground. This is most obvious in terms of the proposal pitches and the seeding of ideas that happened this week at ZKM in Karlsruhe. And for those of you who may have left without a partner for your project or new funding from your pitch, the process itself can help you grow.

There's a true story about the manager of a young rock band who took his musicians for an audition to Decca Records in London, in the early 1960s. An executive heard them play but wasn't too impressed; he said they were good but nothing special and passed on signing this aspiring group. This disappointed the band and their manager did not like telling them the news. That manager's name was Brian Epstein and the group was the Beatles. The point of the story, of course, is don't be discouraged if you're turned down. The flip side is if you're commissioning or funding, look carefully at potential talent; you don't want to be the one who passes on the next Federico Felini, Ingmar Bergman, Haile Gerima, or Spike Lee.

At a gathering of mass communicators--where we spend four days on interpersonal communication--friendships develop, alliances form, and creative communities begin to be born. Existing successful cooperative arrangements, such as Nordvision, offer models to grow in a world getting smaller through instant communication and fast jets. But the divide between rich and poor remains real. Political and cultural tension and hostility threaten our survival. BaKaFORUM can not solve the problems of the world but it can help; it can serve as a conversation starter and encourage dialogue.

: BaKaFORUM Staff (Photo by Werner Laschinger)

I hope each of you had a safe and pleasant trip home. Your work ahead can serve the world by serving your community. Tell the stories that matter and enrich us all. Also, kudos to the BaKaFORUM staff whose superb work made it all possible.

Thank you, too, to Werner Laschinger for taking so many fine photos; this link will allow you to view more of Werner's pictures.

New blogs up at BaKaFORUM

2010-01-31T04:05:00.000-08:00

Hello, again, everybody. It's snowing today in Karlsruhe, Germany. Here's a picture from my short walk this morning to the conference center.

Several new blogs are up at http://bakaforumblog2010.wordpress.com

So if you are here click the link above for the latest. Comments are welcome on either site.

Thank you.

Good morning Karlsruhe (and points beyond)!

2010-01-29T01:01:00.000-08:00

The BaKaFORUM conference begins today, in Karlsruhe, Germany. Follow the blogs at
http://bakaforumblog2010.wordpress.com.

Enjoy.

Miracle and wonder, for positive purposes, in the land of Goethe

2010-01-22T11:03:00.000-08:00

This blog is part of the blogging BaKaForum project I will be working on for the next few weeks. The BakaForum blog is at

http://BaKaForumblog2010.wordpress.com

There is a 24 year old Paul Simon song that comes to mind in anticipation of BaKaForum 2010, now just one week away. It is Boy in the Bubble, the first song on the Graceland album.

"These are the days of miracle and wonder

This is the long distance call

The way the camera follows us in slo-mo

The way we look to us all"

That refrain is heard repeatedly throughout the song. The rest of Boy in the Bubble uses words and music to evoke images of technology being used for lifesaving medical purposes along side acts of terror and war. Whether the camera follows us in slo-mo or normal speed, these days, cameras are everywhere. How we choose to use the cameras is a bit like the juxtaposition of images in Simon’s song.

Neil Postman, a communications scholar and commentator on culture, described technological change as “a Faustian bargain.” According to Postman “Technology giveth and taketh away, not always in equal measure.” In its own way, Simon’s song captures this idea rather well. Which brings us back to BaKaForum.

Images of the worlds we live in today are the building blocks of stories captured and presented at BaKaForum. The various screenings, sessions, and workshops while practical in purpose, convey a point of view that is designed to increase “cooperation in a world of cultural diversity,” a clearly stated theme of BaKaForum. This positive approach, to storytelling and the technologies that make media’s current incarnations possible, is encouraging.

But the realities of Faustian bargains in many parts of the world are also captured with a sense of realism in much of the work at BaKaForum. Somehow it seems a fitting metaphor for a conference convening in the land of Goethe, the great storyteller and probably Faust's best known expositor. Goethe artfully used the tools and media of his day to explore the complexities of life.

So in these days of miracle and wonder it is refreshing to come together, with storytellers from all over the world, for four days in a quest for cooperation in all its diversity.

Can the left and right agree: Big bankers are clueless?

2010-01-15T12:20:00.000-08:00

COMMENTARY: The bankers who testified before a special commission this week truly seem clueless as pointed out by Paul Krugman in today's NY Times. Only the wall to wall coverage of the earthquake in Haiti kept the bankers' testimony from being top story material on most newscasts and front pages.

In this fragmented world we live in, where Obama supporters and tea party participants seem irreconcilably divided, perhaps there is a bit of common ground in recognizing that the behemoths of Wall Street really don't get it.

In a strange way this syndrome is closely related to the article posted here yesterday about NBC's CEO rising higher and making more money with each monumental failure. As these creators of chaos continue to draw seven and eight figure paychecks, hardworking citizens struggle with unemployment, underemployment, and home payments they can no longer afford. There is a line from a Bob Dylan song that keeps coming to mind. It's from "Idiot Wind" and it goes like this:

Now everything is a little upside down,

As a matter of fact the wheels have stopped,

What's good is bad, what's bad is good,

You'll find out when you reach the top that you're on the bottom.

If the news media are to effectively carry out their roles as public watchdogs who speak truth to power without fear or favor, aggressive coverage of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission ought to be high on the agenda for continuing scrutiny. Too many good people are out of work, and struggling to get by for the purveyors of failure to continue to be richly rewarded while they fail to acknowledge that the fault lies not in the stars but in themselves. Word plays by the likes of Dylan and Shakespeare at least give us a shot at making some sort of meaning out of the upside down way the world seems to work these days.

TV news and other media would serve the public well by more deeply exploring the real costs inflicted by bankers whose practices have real consequences for Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Only then will Congress, the President, and the courts have the clout to take what this bipartisan commission finds and put some teeth into changing things for the good of so many who have been hurt by leaders who fail to take responsibility.

An object lesson for the new media ecology

2010-01-14T12:45:00.000-08:00

How does NBC head honcho Jeff Zucker keep his job and keep getting promoted? Maureen Dowd very publicly raised those questions in her New York Times column, on Wednesday. The headline on the column was “The Biggest Loser.” Many of us who have worked in television, especially those with NBC experience, have been asking the same questions for years.

An inescapable part of Zucker’s legacy will be the failed experiment of moving Jay Leno to prime time. Now, just four months later, NBC is going to move Leno back to the traditional Tonight Show time slot following the late local news.

Perhaps less obvious to those outside the business has been the erosion of NBC’s local news operations. Once thriving stations owned by NBC now struggle in their markets. Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and San Diego, no longer enjoy the news ratings success they did ten years ago. For years, TV stations have been doing more with less, then even more with even less; in the process many truly lost their way. This shrinking budget syndrome, followed by falling ratings, is not exclusively the problem of NBC; others, too, have had similar losses. What is distinctive about NBC is that very little has been done to replace popular shows or improve the stations. The once proud peacock now shines mostly on big events like the Olympics and Superbowl. “Must see TV” has become mundane.

During my time as an NBC news director in San Diego I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Zucker when he was executive producer of the Today Show. I found him to be friendly, thoughtful, and extremely creative. His later success did not surprise me. Like much of the industry in the last decade NBC had to adjust to changing technology and demographics. But rather than concentrate on building for the future NBC cut whenever it could and reacted only when it had to. The mantra that owning a TV station was a license to print money became drowned out by the ever-louder litany of doing more with less. Eventually people noticed and stopped watching. And when younger “customers” started to trade in their TV remote controls for laptops and text enabled smart phones nobody seemed very concerned.

For NBC and its TV stations to make a comeback will require renewed focus on building something of value and a clear understanding that cutting costs alone will not improve the assets. The media ecology is changing rapidly and only the nimble will survive. Playing it safe, doing things the way they have been done before, only more cheaply, has been a prescription for failure. Most important, commitments to presenting stories that matter about a station’s community must again become central to the way stations operate.

Jeff Zucker has a lot of company when it comes to leaders of failed or struggling media enterprises. Once mighty newspapers have folded and upstart hyper-local websites are trying to fill the gaps. Local television should have an important place in the new ecology. But leaders who only think about cutting the fat sometimes get so carried away they eventually destroy vital organs. Zucker’s desire to save a few bucks by replacing expensive dramas with the less costly Leno show at ten should serve as an object lesson for anybody who believes the key to success is doing more with less.

Blogging BaKaForum & Appreciating Journalism that Matters

2010-01-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

I wanted to let regular readers of IrvsEyeView know that I will be blogging the Basel Karlsruhe Forum on educational TV, starting in about two weeks. The program alternates each year between Basel, Switzerland and Karlsruhe, Germany. This year it is in Germany. The actual forum, known better by its acronym--BaKaFORUM--begins on January 29th and goes through February 2nd. I attended BaKaFORUM, in Basel, in December of 2004 and I'm delighted to attending this year in Karlsruhe. We are currently building the blogsite for the conference. Take a look, even though it is a work in progress.

Spending three days with international producers of some of the finest educational programs is both inspiring and encouraging. In this era of cutbacks and bad economy it's uplifting to see the outstanding work being done around the world, with a positive purpose.

Speaking of positive purpose, I attended the Journalism Than Matters (JTM) conference in Seattle this past weekend. It, too, is the sort of gathering that encourages because it is about building rather than diminishing, both tangibly and otherwise. JTM attracted journalists, community leaders, and thinkers (some crossed all the categories :-)) to envision ways to bring together legacy journalism and newer hyperlocal and specialty media for the good of communities. I had a chance to visit with Tracy Record, of the West Seattle Blog. Tracy and her husband Patrick created one of the more successful entrepreneurial news websites in the country. Tracy and I worked together 18 years ago at KNSD. The good news is that some of these local websites are doing well--some even thriving--both editorially and financially.

The biggest take away for me was how legacy media, the big newspapers and TV stations, and grassroots hyperlocal media, like The West Seattle Blog, can help each other. This new "news ecology" as it was referred to, makes sense. The older legacy media can give the local folks credibility and exposure; the grassroots local media can give the big news organizations access to local communities and the sort of heartfelt connections that big media reporters don't often develop. A pretty fair exchange... credibility and heart.

Sweat lodge deaths raise troubling questions

2009-10-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

The blog is back for now. I recently completed another class in the Gonzaga University online organizational leadership MA program. At the rate I’m going I’ll earn the degree in the next year or two. I have 24 credits with 36 needed to graduate. As an older student with only the learning itself as motivation—and considerable expense for each class—going slowly is fine.

One of the most troubling stories in the news today is the ongoing coverage of self-help purveyor James Arthur Ray and the investigation of his role in the sweat lodge deaths during an exercise in one of Ray’s so called “spiritual warrior retreats.” Three persons who attended the retreat, on October 8th, near Sedona, Arizona, have now died. Others suffered dehydration and various levels of organ failure after several hours in the structure that served as a sweat lodge. According to news media reports, each participant paid as much as nine thousand dollars, to attend the multi-day retreat that included fasting and the sweat lodge experience.

Ray has made millions of dollars selling his formula for material success linked to a version of spiritual enlightenment. His best selling book is called Harmonic Wealth: The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want. According to his own website Ray has appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s program, Larry King Live, and has been a “recurring guest” on NBC’s The Today Show. With all this publicity and notoriety it’s not surprising that Ray had customers who were willing to pay for the promise of “harmonic wealth” and enlightenment. Others have been more skeptical, including Maureen Dowd who mentioned Ray's appearance on Oprah in 2007.

Second-guessing is too easy so we will avoid blaming the high profile media who helped Ray gain the success he’s enjoyed. But it is fair to question the wisdom of worshiping success for its own sake. Ray’s greatest accomplishment seems to be that he has been successful at building a business that ostensibly helps people. No doubt, he’s controversial and was before the sweat lodge deaths. Testimonials on his website and several interviews in the media speak of life changing transformations experienced by satisfied seminar participants and clients. But there is another side. Complaints to the Better Business Bureau, and other claims by disgruntled customers have also been reported.

Ray will have to face the legal system to learn whether criminal charges or civil proceedings will force him to take responsibility for what happened in the high priced sweat lodge where so many willingly went to part with their dollars hoping for greater wealth, enlightenment, and a better life. Whatever happens with the legal system, it’s helpful to question the role of not only the media but all aspects of our culture that promote success over service, celebrity more than substance, and “reality” programming at the expense of real reporting.

President Obama's summer was no vacation

2009-09-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

The unofficial end of summer is upon us. I've spent too long away from IrvsEyeView. So here are a few quick thoughts for Labor Day Weekend, 2009.

Bob Dylan's "Idiot Wind" might be the right theme song for this summer of discontent. President Obama's inability to convince the public that health care reform is in the public's own interest has been driven by a coordinated campaign of exaggeration, lies, personal attacks, and a lot of "wind," from some conservative critics. As predicted, the media focused--at least at first--less on substance and more on the rhetoric and intensity of misinformed town hall protesters who shouted down members of congress, hung them in effigy, and carried guns to meetings because they could. Legitimate questions about costs of reform and details of any overhaul need to be answered, but the outrageous claims of death panels, and impending socialist transformation of the nation, stuck a little too easily for the good of the country. President Obama has a chance to right the ship of health care reform, when he addresses Congress and the nation, on Wednesday, but he will have to be more persuasive.

Most disturbing in all the noise was a lack of enough reasonable voices on the right to bring the discussion back to reality. Sen. McCain courageously confronted critics, as he did during the campaign, when some, like parrots, repeated the most outrageous claims about our elected president. Few others have had the will or desire to offer a voice of reason, when the most ridiculous charges about President Obama began to catch fire.

In this atmosphere, the president's plan to speak to school children about--in the words of CBS's Bob Schieffer--"staying in school and off dope," became the summer of discontent's latest presidential PR casualty. Convincing parents that a presidential pep talk is not political indoctrination has now become the current distraction.

Most disturbing about all the noise and voices of protest--some legitimate, but all tainted by the outrageous fringe--is that the economy continues to be a problem. This volatile mixture of high unemployment, and the scapegoating of the president and by extension the whole government, sows the seeds of violence and unrest. President Obama inherited enormous problems that are beginning to show signs of improvement, but he is barely getting started. For him to succeed and the nation to once again prosper, he will have to have help. The reasonable right ought to mobilize its most articulate voices to serve the proper purpose of the loyal opposition; differing philosophies and approaches to problems make our system work. Hyperbole, rooted in personal attacks, makes any reasoned arguments that follow appear suspect.

To start, conservative critics of the president ought to look at how William F. Buckley, Jr., marginalized the John Birch Society , decades ago, when its rhetoric, and thinking, became unhinged. Then the president himself needs to sound a concise and clear message that resonates with more Americans. Mr. Obama's reasoned rhetoric must be simplified and more directly speak to the most pressing needs of the people, largely economic these days. And that rhetoric must be rooted in action. All the talk of getting banks to lend money and creating jobs, green and all other colors, has to bear fruit. Then, addressing health care concerns will be less vulnerable to the Idiot Winds that blow most strongly when times are tough.

Health care debate prescription

2009-08-13T06:08:00.000-07:00

All the noise surrounding the health care debate could be an opportunity for TV news. Some thoughts on the subject on our Examiner.com page.

Health care protests

2009-08-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

Planned disruptions of town hall meetings to discuss health care got wide coverage this weekend. Good reporting by many in the mainstream media revealed who was behind the protests. That's the subject of our latest article at Examiner.com.

Coverage of Gates, Crowley, sharing beer with the President, offers few surprises

2009-07-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

(Originally published on Examiner.com)

The cable news networks did not surprise us. The beer chat in the Rose Garden was covered with all the serious intensity of a major summit. Little was said by the participants, in the immediate aftermath, but the White House and police officer involved expressed positive--though muted--messages about the value of the meeting. Prof. Gates and Sgt. Crowley seem to have developed a dialog even if neither is willing to apologize. Reports of the meeting paint a positive picture of a cordial encounter with the potential for continuing good will.

The president probably hopes that the episode is behind him and the country can focus on health care. Time, now, to start looking ahead and move past the encounter--and arrest--that led to a potentially productive discussion of race. The extremists on both sides had their say. Now it's time for more reasoned voices, led by those who shared a brew outside the White House, to move ahead and tackle our national troubles, a little wiser and, perhaps, less polarized than a couple of weeks ago.

Photo caption and credit:

(President Barack Obama, Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sergeant James Crowley walk from the Oval Office
to the Rose Garden of the White House, July 30, 2009. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Prof. Gates, Sgt. Crowley, and a beer with President Obama

2009-07-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

(Originally published on Examiner.com)

So much has been reported about the confrontation between Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Cambridge Police Sergeant James Crowley, that tonight's (6:00 PM EDT) meeting for a beer with the president will be as widely covered as any White House summit in recent times. From the moment President Obama said that the Cambridge Police "acted stupidly," the story's rather long legs grew a few inches. Now the story is getting more air time than health care reform, and just about everything else.

The fascination with the arrest of Gates is not surprising. First the question of race became the focus. Was Gates arrested and singled out because he is black? Much evidence now seems to point to other factors, as well. The initial caller to 9-1-1 does not mention race until the dispatcher asks her for a description of the men she thought might be breaking into her neighbor's home. Her response, that one might be "Hispanic" would seem to indicate her focus was on the act, not the race of the individuals.

The fact that Sgt. Crowley arrested Prof. Gates after he knew who he was, and that he was in his own house, indicates something about the confrontation between the two men--a power struggle--led the police officer to act the way he did. Among interesting comments about why things devolved so fast are those suggesting that testosterone fueled male power struggles are more likely to end in such confrontations. On one side, the world renowned Harvard scholar, on the other, a working police officer who felt he was just doing his job; clearly, neither felt he was getting the respect he deserved.

Perhaps President Obama will find some common ground and all of us will learn valuable lessons from this latest story. A certain cliche comes to mind, "it takes two to tango." It seems that both Gates and Crowley began their destructive dance and neither knew when to back off. Ultimately, Crowley had the power during the moments of the confrontation--the power of arrest, the strength of other officers on the scene, and the authority to do what he did, or to walk away. Race inevitably became part of the story, by the very nature of who was involved.

The president wisely reached out in an effort to turn things around. The news coverage has actually helped set the stage for tonight's "Summit with Suds." The country will be watching to see how the participants characterize the meeting, in much the same way diplomatic summits use code words and language to convey meaning. The aftermath of tonight's meeting will generate its own coverage. Perhaps, too, a little good will may emerge.

Jon Stewart vs. Brian Williams: And the winner is--us

2009-07-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Examiner.com.

When Brian Williams appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, earlier this week, the two TV titans tensely tangled but apparently left laughing. Their confrontation serves as a lesson in how we get our news these days and the evolving role of television for delivering news and information.

Williams apparently believed he was there to discuss the death and career of Walter Cronkite. Stewart had other ideas. Earlier in the program Stewart showed excerpts from emails sent by news programs, including NBC's Meet the Press, to South Carolina's governor, Mark Sanford, in efforts to get an interview with him. When you watch the video (embedded below) you can see for yourself how it got so tense.

As the audience for TV news declines, programs that mix comedy and news reach an audience less inclined to watch traditional news programs. They also seriously, though humorously, critique more straight laced entries including network evening newscasts and cable news programs. In their own way, Stewart's The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Real Time with Bill Maher, serve an important purpose that keeps us laughing while conveying hard truths.

When Stewart took on CNBC's Jim Cramer, for failing to anticipate the financial crisis, viewers got it. Major figures in government and media continue to appear with Stewart which means they usually get a fair hearing and the opportunity to make their case. Stewart would come off as a bully if those he picked on were not up to the task; to his credit, Stewart's targets are usually pretty tough. And this week, Brian Williams held his own and displayed a sense of humor and timing worthy of his host. Not bad for two guys from New Jersey who now talk to each of us, almost every night, when we choose to listen and watch.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Brian Williams

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Joke of the Day

Remembering Walter Cronkite

2009-07-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

Originally published on Examiner.com.

When I walked into ABC News headquarters in New York City, in August of 1973, my goal was to become the next Walter Cronkite. It was my first TV news job. Having just graduated from NYU a few months earlier, I quickly learned that my own interests and talents were better suited to producing newscasts, and managing news operations. But, despite my change in career plans, it was still Mr. Cronkite who represented the ideals and positive reasons for wanting to work in the news business.

TV was the dominant news medium in those days, and Walter Cronkite was its undisputed champion, the most trusted man in America, according to public opinion polls. Whether it was the triumph of space flight or the tragedy of losing President Kennedy to an assassin's gunfire, we heard about it from Walter Cronkite. Watching the network evening newscast was appointment viewing for many Americans, and the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite was the top choice for most viewers. NBC's Nightly News was a respectable second place entry. Where I worked, at ABC, our third place operation was just beginning to assert itself. It would take time before ABC began to challenge and then overtake CBS and NBC for several years; it finally happened, long after Cronkite retired.

Cronkite was described as "avuncular," defined by the New Oxford American Dictionary as "of or relating to an uncle.• kind and friendly toward a younger or less experienced person." This description served as the source for one of his nicknames, "Uncle Walter." Not only did people trust him, they liked him, too. This combination of authority and likability gave Cronkite a special stature during the two decades he anchored the evening news. The people who research why certain personalities are successful on TV sometimes refer to "Para-social relationships" that viewers form with on-air personalities. We feel like we know them. In the case of Cronkite, having a trusted "uncle" on the air every night, worked for viewers.

Many of the people I worked with at ABC came from CBS and had worked with Walter Cronkite for many years. From his peers, I got the impression he was highly respected for his serious approach and professionalism. His background as a wire service correspondent during World War Two, served him well as he made the transition to television. He was a fine reporter first, and an excellent writer and editor.

One of my jobs at ABC was to watch "the Cronkite broadcast" every evening, and type up a report that described what was covered and how it was presented. This report was distributed to all the executives at ABC News, the next morning. Watching Cronkite, with focused attention, helped me understand what makes a good newscast and what makes a good anchor. The term "anchor" was developed for Cronkite. Somebody came up with it when they realized political coverage required a central person to pull all the elements together, to anchor the broadcast; that was Walter. In Sweden anchors are sometimes referred to as Kronkiters; in Holland, the variation is Cronkiters.

Walter Cronkite was a man of his time. Tom Brokaw coined the term the "greatest generation" to describe those who came of age during World War Two. Cronkite was one of the giants of that generation.

How we get the news today has changed dramatically. TV is still important and watched by millions, but it is no longer the daily and dominant ingredient in the American diet that it was when there were just three network newscasts, no cable news, no Internet. Today's news sources represent points of view and often lean this way or that. Fox goes right, MSNBC to the left; Drudge gives you the conservatives' take and Huffington Post takes you to the land of liberals. Couric, Williams, and Gibson still try to play it down the middle but are viewed with suspicion and tainted--rightly or wrongly--by assertions that they represent particular positions on everything from environmental reporting to election coverage. Trust has been replaced by suspicion.

In this environment we may never have another TV journalist who rises to the level of Walter Cronkite, as a trusted figure capable of anchoring our view of the world with a sense of honesty and fairness. Trust, itself, is in short supply as we navigate the problems of the day. For future generations of journalists, Cronkite's legacy should serve as inspiration to report the news, without fear or favor and by so doing rekindle a sense of trust and honesty that we so desperately need during these difficult times. This may not happen on the scale of corporate success and leadership that Cronkite enjoyed during CBS's dominance. But the new generation of journalists, empowered by technologies Cronkite's producers could only dream of, needs to aspire to greatness and win the trust of those they serve.

Musician Carroll's viral video as tool--and lesson--for journalists

2009-07-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

The following article is also posted on my Examiner.com page.

In case you have not yet heard of Dave Carroll, he's the Canadian musician who posted a music video on YouTube, last week. It describes, in lighthearted and humorous fashion, how United Airlines broke his $3,500.00 Taylor guitar. Among the funniest shots in the video are the way Carroll depicts indifferent airline employees as he tried to alert them about his broken guitar. In just over a week, the video is approaching three million page views. Carroll also posted a statement acknowledging the support he's received; in it he suggests that United Airlines take the money it is now willing to pay, and donate it to charity.

Clearly, getting his guitar broken is the best thing that could have happened to Carroll in terms of advancing his career. His injured instrument and the song it spawned are the kind of PR a musician can't buy. For United Airlines, it's an object lesson in how not to handle customer service and consumer complaints. This is the sort of incident and outcome that will be studied in business schools for years to come.

With all the attention the video is generating, the mainstream media are reporting the story, but not necessarily to the extent you might imagine or expect. Local TV news in particular is a medium that historically has thrived on taking a populist approach to consumer reporting. But everything has changed. With video on the web coming of age, along with relatively inexpensive production tools available to everybody from home video enthusiasts to companies that make wedding videos, TV newsrooms have competition in terms of visual storytelling. But is it journalism?

Ultimately the answer is yes, but it is a qualified and conditional yes. As a stand-alone piece of work, Carroll's video is not journalism in any traditional sense. It is, however, an important part of a journalistic process that is both dynamic and evolving. How news organizations learn about stories and develop news tips and leads determines what gets covered. Carroll's video became the story and it opened the door for traditional news organizations to cover his situation and expand it. In the marketplace of story ideas finding new sources serves journalism well. Empowering technologies allow talented people to tell stories directly and passionately.

The fundamentals of good journalism, fair, accurate, unbiased reporting, can then flow. When journalists have a heightened awareness of facts and situations, they have a responsibility to apply sound principles to the information before them. Advocacy journalism is still journalism, as long as it is fact based and its positioning is not tainted by partisan or commercial benefit as a reason for the reporting. Journalism should draw conclusions and take advantage of a wide range of sources.

The idea that non-journalists can create journalism is the key to understanding the future of the news media. We still need professional journalists who follow an ethical path and provide unbiased reporting that makes sense out of complicated situations and facts. As Brian Williams says in an NBC promo, their job is "making sense of it." Many may disagree and say that news organizations should just report the facts. But the very decisions of which stories to cover, what facts to report, and how much prominence one set of facts gets over another, is part of the "making sense" process. And, as entertaining and good humored as Dave Carroll's video is, that's a different process from what Williams describes in the promo. In our evolving universe of news, both approaches have a place. Understanding the difference is a form of media literacy we all should be learning.

Michael Jackson Memorial: Memories Captured on Live TV

2009-07-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

(Originally published on my Examiner.com page)

Funerals in general, and celebrity funerals in particular, in part because they are so public, encourage the sort of emotional ambivalence that helps define life and being human. On the one hand, we feel a terrible loss because we will miss the person who died. On the other hand, we want to celebrate the person's life and all the good she or he has accomplished. When the person leaves behind a body of work or a clearly defined legacy we have something to hold onto, even though the person is gone. The funeral or memorial service, itself, becomes part of that legacy.

When Michael Jackson's flower covered casket was wheeled into the Staples Center in Los Angeles, millions watched on screens of all sizes, around the world. When Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz began with a heartfelt rendition of I'll Be There, the sounds of their voices were transmitted around the globe through fiber optics and satellite dishes so millions could mourn in synchronous high definition splendor. For two hours this day, Jackson was the world, or at least large segments of it.

As expected, the quality of the performances, oration, and stagecraft was first rate, fitting for a man with a legitimate claim as the top entertainer of his time. To their credit, the TV broadcasters provided commercial free, uninterrupted coverage once the service began.

During Brooke Shields' remarks, she mentioned that Michael's favorite song was not one of his own; it was Smile with music written by Charlie Chaplin. When Michael's brother, Jermaine, sang it a few moments later, it captured the ambivalence of the day, dramatically.

In the end, Michael's own words, from We Are the World, co-written with Lionel Richie, and Heal the World, served as a fitting close to an unwanted and premature capstone event in the life and legacy of Michael Jackson. But only after the planned, produced, part of the program ended did we get the most raw sense of the intense pain that the loss of a loved one surely inflicts. Michael's daughter, Paris, spoke last, through tears, a sad but brutally honest moment that will soften with time but speaks volumes about love, all captured for the world to see--and experience--on live TV.

Jackson Memorial as Tribute to a King

2009-07-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

The spectacle that will be Tuesday's memorial service for Michael Jackson, to be carried live on major networks (10 AM Pacific/1 PM Eastern) and the world wide web, will surely draw a huge audience and provide the sort of event extremely well-suited to the television medium in the 21st Century. As Jackson was known as the King of Pop, this memorial for a monarch will include music, passionate recollections, and stagecraft, fitting for a figure of his stature. The last time TV covered a royal remembrance of this scale, the realm belonged to the regal Princess Diana. At that gathering, Sir Elton John sang goodbye to England's Rose, a version of Candle in the Wind that went on to be, probably, the bes t selling single, ever. Anticipating memorable moments, the networks have all sent their top tier talent to anchor this tribute to the ultimate entertainer who died so suddenly.

With today's technology, and the scale of what will be produced in Los Angeles, attending the memorial in person, will be a different experience from that of the millions who see it on TV. Of course, anybody who is in Staples Center will be able to watch replays and recordings to experience the full effect of the media moments that are created in memory of Michael. And anyone who attends in person will hold special memories for years to come.

As the celebrants convene for this end of life tribute, the tragic nature of Jackson's life and death remain poignant and disturbing. The July 9-23, 2009 issue of Rolling Stone includes an article written before Jackson died that reads like an eerie foreshadowing of the desperation that likely contributed to his demise. The pressure surrounding the preparation and expectations for this summer's London concert series was intense and unremitting. This was to be a make or break chapter in the future reign of the King.

As the world prepares for this final send-off many questions remain for the living. The simpler ones are not so simple and involve the future of Jackson's children, the circumstances and causes--in the broadest sense--of his death, and the management of his estate and the wealth associated with it. The more difficult questions focus on the timeless notions of tragedy. Fame and wealth, so sought after and pursued, become insatiable appetites, as success in life, as a parent, a friend, and positive force in the world become more elusive for the tragic figure.

Michael Jackson's abiding legacy will be his music and performances captured forever on audio and video recordings of the highest quality. But the interest in him and empathy for him is more complex. As he is remembered on Tuesday these nuances will be woven into the day's activities and outpouring of affection. And it will be on a scale fitting for a king. So in a sense, the world will stop as the media focuses on one story, for a moment in history, one more time.

Examiner

2009-07-05T19:07:00.000-07:00

Hello, again, everybody.

I recently started writing for Examiner.com, a national website. My beat is TV news. Some of my work will appear on both IrvsEyeView and Examiner.com, posting the same article on both sites. But each will, from time to time, include articles, blogs, and commentary specific to one website, but not the other.

So, if you have not yet visited my page at Examiner.com, please take a look. Here is the link.

http://www.examiner.com/x-15271-TV-News-Examiner

Thank you.

News Judgments: Jackson or Healthcare, or a Little of Both

2009-07-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

The future of journalism is a popular topic today, mostly among the biggest stakeholders, those who work for news organizations and their leadership. But the most important stakeholders are the public, on whom everything else depends. If consumers are not served well, they usually go elsewhere to get their news.

With that in mind, a look at three separate pieces of information offers some guidance.

First, a survey published on Wednesday by the Pew Research Center shows that coverage of Michael Jackson's death was too much for a majority of those surveyed.

Second, some media leaders, including the president of ABC News, say one answer to improving journalism is to provide unique coverage that viewers cannot get from other media outlets.

Third, ABC's own John Stossel offers a reaction--articulating his disappointment--to his own, apparently, unique coverage, about Canadian healthcare, being pulled in favor of more Michael Jackson followups, on 20/20, last week.

If we take the time to synthesize these three pieces of information, we may actually emerge with a bit of wisdom. As mentioned on my Examiner.com page a few days ago, wisdom is something too often in short supply.

As for ABC's decision to pull Stossel's piece, it happened last Friday. Jackson's death was still fresh news and, for many viewers, of overwhelming interest. So it's easy to understand why executives chose to pull Stossel's piece on the Canadian healthcare system; that doesn't mean it was a good decision. Most important, it is the kind of decision that is emblematic of the defensive, play it safe, approach to programming news. 20/20 still could have provided substantial and meaningful coverage of Jackson's death.

For producers, it's a question of balance. Was there room for other news that night? And would breaking away from Michael Jackson better serve viewers and hold their interest? Staying with Jackson was the conventional, safe, decision; that doesn't mean it was wrong. But when media enterprises are losing audience, losing money, and struggling to survive, offering an alternative approach might just serve all stakeholders better than more of the same.

Drug Dangers and Madoff Move Jackson from Newscasts' Top Spots

2009-07-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

The three network evening newscasts moved away from leading with Michael Jackson, this week. On Monday it was the sentencing of Bernard Madoff, except on NBC. On Tuesday the leads were new warnings about the dangers of not following directions when using acetaminophen (including Tylenol, and other products), the popular over the counter pain reliever that is also in some prescription drugs. The drug danger story got the top spots with Brian, Charlie, and Katie, across the board. Many local newscasts, around the country, followed a similar pattern, at least with the acetaminophen news on Tuesday.

Perhaps the greatest beneficiary of the timing of Jackson's death is Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina. His marital problems and free flowing accounts of liaisons with his "soul mate Maria" were relegated to the lower depths of newscasts, at least for a few days. Sanford's ability to hang onto his job may suffer once Jackson's death consumes less time and space in media coverage. The other beneficiaries of the Jackson coverage are the media. TV, newspapers, and web based news organizations all got a boost from this story with high interest and a long life or "legs."

Stories with "legs" can make viewers weary when the real reason they last is the media's laziness or fascination with human weakness and bad behavior. The Jon and Kate saga falls into this category. Certainly the manufactured interest and initial fascination with their high profile breakup made sense from the perspective of producers who wanted to give viewers as much as they would take. The problem is that stories of this type are pursued and presented for far too long. After a few days there is only so much you can say about an intrinsically sad, not otherwise newsworthy, domestic dispute.

But that's not the case with either Jackson or Sanford. Both these stories have legitimate legs. In Jackson's case, the ongoing investigation into his death and the future of his family continue to have news value. Gov. Sanford's situation, whether or not he survives as governor, requires continuing coverage until resolved.

The Pew Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism tracks news coverage. Last week, protests in Iran led Pew's list of most covered stories, but that shifted dramatically as Jackson's death became the overwhelmingly dominant news. After several days as the lead, it took the sentencing of a high profile scoundrel and a public health story about dangers from a popular painkiller to knock down our fascination with a legitimate celebrity's death, in the news lineups across the country.

The story of Madoff's swindles and the dangers of acetaminophen should have been pursued more actively by journalists before government prosecutors, in the case of Madoff, and the FDA, with regard to acetaminophen, got involved. The failures of the financial media have been well documented as the economy tumbled. Jon Stewar t, ostensibly a comedian but really much more, did some of the best work in showing how poorly reporters reported on what was going on in financial markets. As for the dangers of not following directions when it comes to the use of acetaminophen, that story has been available, too. But for the media, it usually takes "official" action for the story to break as major news. Some of those reasons are legal--fear of libel lawsuits--but with good, honest, reporting that should not be a problem. Mostly, though, the media's failure to be out front on important stories is a consequence of shrinking budgets and lack of will.

For journalism to thrive in the future, mainstream and grassroots citizen journalism, reporters will have to identify stories and trends before they become prosecutions and crashes, or unnecessary deaths requiring FDA action. Those stories will always have "legs" and they'll serve the public, an important part of journalism's mission.

Jackson's Death: Media Messages Changed by a Moment

2009-06-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson's sudden, suspicious, and untimely, death spawned a level of news coverage seldom equaled and even more rarely surpassed. Depending on your age, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, bring back vivid memories of non-stop news reports on radio and TV. In their own times, those three stories were as big as it gets. Close behind and similar, in news value, to Jackson's death were Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, John Lennon, and Princess Diana, who all died of unnatural causes. Jackson's official cause of death is pending, as toxicology findings will take more time. But the big difference, this time, is the role of the internet.

First news of Jackson's death surfaced on the TMZ website. The story was unconfirmed but, we now know, clearly correct. Once the LA Times began reporting Jackson's death other MSM (mainstream media), picked it up. Because TMZ, ET, Extra, Access Hollywood, and other syndicated entertainment "news" programs are taped in Los Angeles fairly early in the day, some struggled to update the programs, with varying degrees of success for east coast viewers. On local news channels, and the network evening newscasts, the story played prominently and consumed most of the day's airtime. Later in the evening, network specials and extended coverage continued.

Michael's talent, fame, and colorful history--along with widely available and abundant video--combined to create the ultimate television era story. TV was integral to Jackson's success. His music videos are among the most breathtaking and innovative ever produced. He also came of age during a period when television was unchallenged as the leading medium for the dissemination of popular culture. But as the world wide web grew in influence Michael's popularity benefited as well.

Now the internet and web enabled portable media are more dramatically shifting the balance of power in terms of how we get our news. But one new medium does not entirely replace older media. Typically, the hierarchy of influence may shift along with the demand for one over the other. But radio and TV did not put the movies or newspapers out of business; television did, however, change everything as it came of age, including the pecking order and roles older media play in our lives. Big stories, like the death of Michael Jackson can accelerate these changes and also help us understand and focus on what is happening as it happens. As the story was unfolding, websites--Google, TMZ, Jackson's own official website--all experienced service issues due to the heavy interest in the story. Social networking giants Facebook and Twitter also reported big spikes in activity. The web's influence on this story represents one of those moments where everything changes in terms of media impact.

With video now a routine feature of the internet, the death of the King of Pop serves as an even more important turning point for the web. Viewing Jackson's highly produced videos on a computer, Blackberry, or iPhone is a far different experience than watching the same video on a large LCD hi-def screen with hi-fidelity surround sound. So watching the same video on different media is really not watching the same video at all.

Smart media executives, who understand these differences, can create different "events" to give readers, website users, and TV viewers complementary experiences. Creating news organizations that understand this, and recognize how to use each different medium in the manner most appropriate will be able to move multi device consumers between programs in ways that will be financially rewarding because they serve the customer so well.

For example, when the big story breaks, you get notified on your Blackberry, and directed to a website. Once you are there you get the basic facts along with whatever quick video presentations are available. When you get home, or back to the office, you can get updated content on your computer, including clips of whatever video has been compiled. More highly produced content, music videos, for example, in the case of Jackson, could be downloaded for playback on large screens and high quality sound systems. While all of this is happening, news specials are being produced that include the higher quality content. For pure tributes to the artistry of the likes of Michael Jackson, the highest quality audio and video content become part of follow-up specials, presented in high definition with 5.1 audio.

Some may recognize this as the current reality. On a limited level that’s true. But the coordination of media platforms happening routinely or regularly has not effectively become part of news and media organizations' every day way of doing business. More often it's the result of a big story such as the death of a cultural icon whose work is well documented and highly produced serving as the wake up call for what can--and should--happen on more mundane stories, almost every day.

Looking Ahead, Again

2009-06-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

Last week's blog on the economics of experience and the benefits of age (scroll down to read it) mentions an Op Ed piece I wrote for the San Diego Union Tribune, nine years ago. In case you were unable to access it I will paste the text to the end of this blog. It is interesting to read it, nine years later. Most of the comments hold up. The only thing I might change is my too harsh appraisal of the CBS morning program. On most days, The Early Show, on CBS, is as good--or bad--as Today and Good Morning America. In the ratings order nothing has changed; CBS is still in third place. But all three old line morning shows are still too similar to distinguish themselves. On many days we find them unwatchable, unless you're interested in an exploration of despicable behavior or freakish heroics masquerading as news. The problem is not that the morning programs cover so many unseemly acts and pathetic stories of human suffering, it is that they do so incessantly. The life of these stories is prolonged beyond their importance or, quite frankly, their interest to viewers. It's not all bad and we still watch until we can't watch anymore. On some days, when there is real news, the morning programs do a fine job. It's just that they could be so much better.

Perhaps the best examples of what could and should be are Sunday Morning on CBS, which continues to be an outstanding program, and 60 Minutes, revitalized and doing some of its best work in years. That nine year old piece, below, addresses the reason why 60 Minutes is better now than it was a few years ago.

So here's my piece from May 23, 2000, as it appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune.

Before we begin, two disclosure items:

1. I love television.

2. Television stations and networks paid my salary for 26 years, first as a news producer and later as an executive.

Quite frankly, I'm disappointed. Despite what some critics have said over the years, television has been a positive force in our country. It has, to paraphrase Edward R. Murrow, informed, entertained and at times, enlightened us. We now have more choices than ever. From infomercials about "ab-rollers" to university produced forums on science, the breadth of offerings is wider than ever. With the advent of digital technology, the possibilities for the future are even more exciting. So why am I disappointed?

The engineers and scientists who develop today's incredible technologies are way ahead of the folks who provide "content" for television. The best and brightest producers follow the money. The folks with the money want more money. Nothing wrong with that. The idea is sound. Invest in good programming. People will watch and the folks with money will make more money. Where it falls apart is that the money folks want to play it so safe they invest in copies of what worked, yesterday.

It's appalling -- that's not too strong a word -- that the three network morning programs are carbon copies of one another. It's also not surprising that the CBS entry is a dismal failure. Do we really need three New York-based broadcasts that feature shots of Manhattan streets outside their studios?

And it's not just the morning shows. When network executives discovered news magazines could be run profitably several times a week, the three old-line networks went nuts. Do we really need three "Datelines," multiple "20/20s," and another "60 Minutes?"

These are all good television programs. That's not the point. When they become assembly line enterprises, they lose their specialness. Eventually, the viewers start finding other programs to watch.

By far the biggest success story of the current TV season is ABC's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" Viewers love it. Families watch together. Regis does a great job. It's a fun show, for a number of reasons. Again, FOX's "Greed" and NBC's "Twenty One" aren't as entertaining or successful.

Local news, where I labored most of my career, follows the same disappointing pattern. Innovation is rare. The two new entries, in San Diego, look younger than their more established competitors. But, despite overt and obvious stylistic excesses at the FOX affiliate -- which are not always bad -- the content agenda remains predictable and overly dependent on police scanners.

For commercial television to realize the potential of the new technologies, owners will have to break away from the copy-cat mentality of recent years. Owners, these days, are the biggest companies in the world. GE/NBC, Disney/ABC, News Corp./FOX, Viacom/ CBS, all have tremendous resources. For financial enterprises of such great magnitude to take creative chances requires a likelihood of success and profit. Maybe it's time they figured out that we don't need three versions of the same programs.

I still love television. When the good shows work, it's magic. When the news media cover important events in compelling fashion, it brings us together as a community and a nation. In times of crisis, it's even life-saving. And programming that celebrates the best in us serves our common good. In the face of cynical politics and our everyday struggles, these scientific, dramatic, cultural and journalistic diversions remind us to aspire to excellence.

What we need now are leaders in the media world who will encourage creative risk taking. Obviously, good programming is profitable. And in the language of the new world of media ownership, that's not beside the point. It is the point.

(End of May 23, 2000 Op Ed)

My point, then and now, is that whatever the economic pressures, saving money alone will not provide long-term success for the industry. Only by creating a culture of creativity and excellence will television thrive and grow.

The Economics of Experience

2009-06-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

As my 58th birthday came and went a few weeks ago, the thought of a new career became more exciting than ever. My former career, as a television news executive and producer, formally ended 11 years ago. I chose to leave because the problems afflicting television stations and networks were clear to me back then. I even wrote about it and got the piece published in the San Diego Union Tribune (If you’re a UT subscriber you can find the Op Ed piece in the archive; it’s from May 23, 2000. You can also access the UT archive for a fee, if you don’t subscribe). Since then I’ve worked in related fields as a consultant helping clients achieve success by using new media effectively, along with older technologies including TV, newspapers, and radio. Since the economy slowed, toward the end of 2007, finding new clients has become increasingly difficult. And my recent efforts to get back into TV news have been met with a consistently polite lack of acceptance, from potential employers.

During the last year, I’ve noticed more of my contemporaries out of work. Most would rather be working. In a few cases their chosen fields have passed them by; things are done differently now. But in the overwhelming majority of situations it is something else that has all these 50 and 60 somethings looking for jobs. There is a lack of appreciation for experience and a fundamental failure to recognize why older workers add value.

The most dramatic example of experience over youthful inexperience would be the outcomes of two recent midair emergencies on commercial flights. A 57 year old, Capt. Chesley Sullenberger landed a crippled US Air jet in the Hudson River with no loss of life. Less than a month later, a Continental Express Commuter flight crashed in Buffalo, New York, killing everybody onboard. As we now know, the Buffalo crash was partially the result of pilot inexperience, while the so called “Miracle on the Hudson” happened, in large measure, because the man flying the plane had more than 30 years experience.

Even if our jobs don’t involve the safety of others, the benefits of experience add value to most enterprises. Obviously, certain careers require youth. But most of my friends, who would rather be working, lost their jobs, after years of experience, because they earned good salaries. What the leaders doing the cutting failed to realize is that, in most cases, losing experienced workers weakens their organizations.

Television news is the field I know best. It is not a coincidence that the falling ratings over the last decade are the result of a less watchable product, caused in part by the lack of experience younger workers bring to the task of producing and presenting newscasts. Yes, there are many other reasons TV news is not the powerful force it used to be. The most obvious is competition from the internet and other newer technologies that provide news. But that is precisely the point. Instead of embracing the new technologies, the entrenched leadership of old media clung stubbornly to what they knew best.

Now here’s the tricky part, this has little to do with the age of workers. Two experienced media vets whom I know and respect—both in their 60s—were among the earliest adopters of new technology. Another person I know, an out-of-work woman in her 50s, also understands the new technologies as well as the Gen X, Gen Y, and Millenial crowd. What these three individuals add to their tech know-how is the experience of living in the world and understanding the history of their professions and crafts.

Clearly we need a mix; generational diversity is as important as having an ethnic and gender balance that reflects those an organization serves. Those of us who have been around for a while also understand that learning new skills is part of professional and personal growth. Most of my out of work friends would happily learn new things to stay in the forefront of their professions. In many cases, experience offers a constructive humility that makes the older worker easier to train.

As an older student, studying for a master’s degree with younger classmates, I’ve learned that the way my Boomer colleagues and I are viewed is often at odds with our own self image. This is a good reminder that service and humility go a long way toward achieving success even when it comes to those far less experienced than us. The demeanor and attitude of Capt. Sullenberger amply displayed these characteristics as news of his accomplishments spread. There is a lesson here for all of us, whatever our age.

So my quest for exploring new careers is motivated as much by desire as necessity. The good news is that for this so-called “older worker” new is exciting. I’m not ready to retire. As I continue to operate my media consulting business fresh opportunities and chances to learn add excitement and challenge. Experience is a great teacher, too. In these difficult times, having a few gray hairs might not be such a bad thing for all kinds of organizations.

Aquarius Revisited and Worth the Trip

2009-05-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

If you are in New York, anytime soon, go see “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical”. The current revival of the 1967 show, feels, at first, like a cultural artifact, almost campy for those of us who remember, and like an enjoyable musical history lesson for those born later. But that’s the first act. It’s full of songs many of us will recognize, performed by an attractive cast and a band that is placed prominently on stage and knows how to rock. While most of the cast was born after “Hair” was conceived and performed originally, several members of the band are old enough to remember the 60s. The new cast recording is now available on iTunes.

With Lyrics by James Rado & Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot, what makes “Hair” so good more than 40 years after it opened on Broadway, the first time? Mainly, it’s how the music, staging, and story capture the political and social climate of the time, while entertaining us with outstanding staging, performances, and music. In the second act we find the dramatic center and emotional heart of this enduring work. The transition from “Three-Five-Zero-Zero” to “What a Piece of Work is Man,” is powerful, affecting, stagecraft. The reference to the number 3,500 comes from an Allen Ginsberg poem and refers to deaths in Vietnam. “What a Piece of Work is Man” is a song that takes lyrics from Shakespeare, and extols, in this case with sarcastic disappointment, the potential of humanity.

When I saw “Hair,” on Broadway in 1969, the subject matter was current and controversial. The performance I saw featured Barry Maguire who had a recent hit single at the time, “Eve of Destruction.” This was one year after Nixon was elected president, and also a year after Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy had been assassinated. The cultural counterpoints between Nixon in the White House and Hippies, along with many other Americans, protesting an increasingly unpopular war, gave “Hair” a prominent place in re-enforcing the need for change. The fact that several of its songs, including Aquarius, Let the Sunshine In, and the title track, all became hits on their own, added to the power and prominence of this counter-culture phenomenon. The first act ends with the actors taking off their clothes; this also added to the buzz around “Hair” when it opened in the sixties. And yes, the clothes still come off in the current production.

What is most striking to somebody like me, a fan of the show and music for 40 years, is that the audiences coming to watch today are as young and enthusiastic as I was in 1969. Rather than a bunch of people in their 50s and 60s, it’s younger audiences who seem to be making “Hair” a hit once again. And, if you’ve ever dreamed of dancing on Broadway, this is your chance. The final curtain calls include opportunities for the audience to join the cast and dance to the music.

“Hair” is one more reason to watch the Tony Awards, next Sunday (June 7th) on CBS. It’s usually the best of the awards shows, featuring performances from nominated shows. This year should be especially good, with “Hair”, “West Side Story”, and “Billy Elliot,” along with other nominated productions, supplying performances and music for the broadcast.

Ramblings about Weather, Sonia from The Bronx, and News

2009-05-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

Cloudy Days

The morning skies are a bit darker these days as “May Gray” turns to “June Gloom” here in the lower left corner of the country. The Southern California sunshine that most of the world associates with San Diego stays hidden this time of year, along the coast, mostly in the morning. This weather offers little chance of rain or the arid winds that lead to the fires of fall. The ocean is still too cold for swimming, at least for most mortals, without a wet suit. Late spring’s darker skies mean summer’s warmer waters will be here soon, and the afternoons, even now, offer the possibility of sunny beaches and beautiful sunsets.

The seasonal changes, which are often overlooked in Southern California as too subtle to matter, remind us that we live in many worlds simultaneously. The world of nature is influenced by our actions but not controlled by what we do. Instead, we are much more likely to be controlled by hours of sunlight, water temperature, and what we need to wear in order to be comfortable. At the same time, social, political, and economic realities influence, also, in ways profound and simple. As California struggles, along with much of the country, to navigate its way through a terrible economic crisis, the macro view of a bankrupt economy the size of California’s, means personal suffering will increase as unemployment remains high, and services have to be cut. On a more personal level, the bad economy means finding new business or a job will be more difficult for some time.

A Most Worthy Justice

During the election campaign last year, I attended Camp Obama, a weekend training session for “community organizers” who would go on to lead grass-roots efforts to elect the president. One of the first things you are asked to do at Camp Obama is tell your personal story, or your “story of self.” The Obama leadership team, wisely, places great value in who you are, where you came from, and how you got to where you are today. As we’ve seen this week, with the selection of Judge Sonia Sontomayor as the president’s first choice to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, a compelling personal narrative carries much weight.

We hope Republican Senators have gotten the message that opposing somebody of Sotomayor’s judicial, and intellectual quality is a fruitless effort that will hurt the GOP more than it will hurt her nomination. Still, we can expect some challenging revelations and allegations between now and the time Judge Sotomayor is confirmed as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. Wouldn’t it be refreshing, though, if the Senate Republicans simply put the nomination on a fast track expressing their reservations but acknowledging the waste of time and taxpayer money that will be the result of serious attempts to derail her ride to the high court. This does not mean the Senate should abdicate its role in conducting a diligent and thorough process. It means the tone and approach should be businesslike and expeditious rather than contentious and petty. We shall see.

News and Communication

The continuing decline of the news media, as we knew them, should start to cause conscientious citizens--who value information and analyses they can trust--to wonder where the thinking person can turn for reliable news. We have a way to go before we lose our way completely, and there is still time to correct some of the wrong turns. But the momentum is headed in the wrong direction. With all the cutbacks at local newspapers and television stations, the news consumer is left with fewer choices, or at least different choices. In this space, we have mentioned several nascent efforts to supply so called hyper local coverage to communities whose newspapers have been downsized or eliminated. This is a good trend if the journalism they produce is worthy. Good reporting and writing require experience and talent.

As a life long advocate for freedom of expression I’m pleased to see web based technologies allowing individuals and organizations to communicate directly to people they want to reach. The theory is that the more voices expressing themselves in the marketplace of ideas, the better informed we become as citizens. As long as we understand where the information comes from and whose interests are being presented we gain from this sort of information. But when it pretends to be journalism, intrinsically fair and evenhanded, we have a problem. As media literate news consumers, it’s our responsibility to know the difference and let others know when free speech is commercial or partisan in nature. Journalism must maintain its independence in order to be valuable, whether it comes in the morning paper, the TV set, the radio, or the screen you’re reading now.

Connecting Through Failures and Glitches

2009-05-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

During our recent trip to Europe my four year old Apple laptop started to experience "kernel panics." When this happens a gray screen pops up telling you--in four languages--to restart the computer. After a while I was able to get it to work long enough to read email and get through a few other essential tasks.

So, as soon as we got home, I made an appointment to visit the "Genius Bar," at the local Apple Store in San Diego's Fashion Valley Mall, to find out if it could be fixed. The young woman "genius" told me that for 280 dollars they would send my aged iBook out for repair and either fix it or not charge me. If they repaired it the warranty would only be for 90 days. She speculated that I had a bad Airport card or, much worse, a flawed logic board. She said that for another 50 dollars they would back up all my data. I decided the first thing I would do is back up the data myself and talk to a few folks who know more about these things than I do. After considering my options I decided to buy a new laptop and try to work with the old computer for as long as possible. It works reasonably well if the Airport function is turned off. (For those not familiar with Apple lingo, "Airport" is the WiFi component on Macs).

Back at the Apple Store the sales folks told me my best option for getting the new computer configured just the way I wanted was to buy it online and have it shipped to my home. I wanted a few upgrades to the higher end MacBook, which is not as expensive as the MacBook Pro. I ordered the new laptop a few days ago and have been following its progress to San Diego with the online tracking tool. This morning I found out the newly configured computer was shipped last night from Shanghai, China. This was a bit of a surprise for me but really should not have been. For some reason I was expecting the new machine to be coming from Cupertino, California, where Apple is headquartered; alas, I should have known better. In the global economy, adding a chip in China makes more sense than modifying memory in Silicon Valley.

For thsoe of us who depend on our laptops and other gadgets to keep us connected, having a failure far from home at first makes the panic in kernel panic seem highly appropriate. What quickly becomes clear is that if we don't have access to email or the ability to connect electronically for a few days, even a few weeks, we adjust, maybe even relax about it. After all, in Copenhagen and Paris finding a computer is no more difficult than finding a Carlsberg Beer or a finely made croissant. As long as we are in first world cities, connections are everywhere. But we do gain something, however small it is. By not having our own reliable laptop or Blackberry right at our side, we can look at things a little differently if we choose to do so. Those of us old enough to remember life before cell phones and personal computers recall that we got along just fine without them. Failures in technology force us to focus on where we actually are, physically and psychically, to be aware of the current moment. We ought to do this anyway, create pauses to be mindful of the present.

As I look forward to the arrival of my new computer, I do so with great anticipation. If you like technology and gadgets, getting a new computer is an exciting time, not quite as big a deal as a new car, but similar. As I reflect on kernel panics and other glitches I will try to remember that voluntarily disconnecting can lead to connections far more important and powerful than the additional RAM they just added to my new MacBook, in Shanghai.

We Have Not Disappeared

2009-05-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hello, again, everybody. Travel and a temperamental laptop have slowed down our postings, but we are heading home to San Diego this evening and will share a few photos, now, until we get our blog's pace back to its usual tempo.

Enjoy.

These are not paparazzi stalking Angelina and Brad... it's Mona they are after, the Louvre's biggest star.

May Day found us in the middle of a very large "manifestation" designed to let President Sarkozy know that a wide range of groups were upset with current policies... for us it was a beautiful spring day in the French capital, manifest with a political protest of no specific concern, but high interest.

Typical tourists gazing at the sites of Paris.And now it's home to California!

Springtime in Denmark

2009-04-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

The long trip from California to Copenhagen put us on the ground in Denmark at the beginning of the workday, last Friday. As we found our way from the airport to the hotel, only to learn—as expected—our rooms were not ready, we set out to enjoy a beautiful day in the Danish capital.

Old Europe, at least the “first world” part, thrives in the contrasts between high tech success and long-ago history, evident by buildings and art that span centuries alongside modern design and the latest gadgets.

Copenhagen is a cosmopolitan city with a unique style and pace. This time of year it’s light until about 9 in the evening. Danes enjoy good food and great beer. So, it’s easy to get into the atmosphere as long as you pay attention to your budget, as this is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

After two days in Copenhagen, we rented a van and drove our group of seven to Jutland, the green Danish countryside, the part of this old nation that is actually attached to the European Continent. Here, the pace is slower. Old friends welcome us and we get a sense of the national character away from the big city. Danish hospitality, good beer, and delicious food leave our hearts and taste buds happy.

A Time of Hope

2009-04-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

I began writing the following blog on board CO 122 to Copenhagen,
on April 24, 2009. Between jet lag and computer problems, I am finally able to post it.

Children of Abraham,
Lay down your fears,
Swallow your tears,
And look to your heart.
by Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Crow is a popular artist—an A-list international rock star—currently doing some of the best work of her career. The words from “Out of Our Heads”, on the Detours album, express the hope of centuries. Strife in the Middle East represents an abiding threat to life as we know it. Religion often takes the rap for creating and perpetuating problems involving the region; most serious among those threats is the potential for a cataclysmic nuclear confrontation.

Last week at Congregation Beth Israel (CBI), in San Diego, California, I had the privilege of moderating a discussion about Abraham with four religious leaders. They explained how the father of monotheism is integral to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and still relevant as a model for the 21st Century. The panel included Monsignor Dennis Mikulanis--Catholic priest, pastor, and inter-religious affairs representative, the Rev. Dr. Jim Standiford--a Methodist minister, who serves as pastor of San Diego's First United Methodist Church, Rabbi Michael Berk—senior rabbi of CBI, part of the Reform movement, and Imam Taha Hassane—spiritual leader of the San Diego Islamic Center. These dialogs are part of CBI's adult education program and have been ongoing for ten years.

This program is open to the public and draws an audience from all the faiths represented on the panel. Each year I am impressed by how the differences among religions are discussed with respect. That is to say, we don’t ignore differences, but there is always an atmosphere of collegiality and good will. One challenge for these clergymen, who are all teachers and congregational leaders, is to explain their own faiths to those in the audience who know little about religions other than their own. The panelists explore differences and distinctions that define their faiths as they freely explain their own beliefs. Ultimately, similarities and common ground also emerge.

Perhaps it is California, iconic emblem of the “new” world, on the edge of the Pacific that allows these related but diverse traditions to join together in harmony. In this environment, different approaches to eternity mingle, in hopeful fashion, living possibilities of salaam, shalom, peace to men and women of good will.

As the warrior turned peacemaker, Yitzchak Rabin, remarked, before a zealot from his own “tribe” murdered him, loving our enemies can be a difficult, sometimes unrealistic goal; but living in peace, Rabin emphasized, must become our top priority.

I began this blog less than 24 hours after the dialog, on my way to Denmark and France for a family gathering. As we begin our descent into old Europe, we gain new perspectives on the state of our world. The era of Obama would seem to offer fresh opportunities for reconciliation and to build momentum toward a more peaceful planet.

We have had too much strife and emphasis on differences, “either-or” thinking, during the last eight years. The point is not about trying to make everything and everybody the same. It is respect and tolerance that will sustain us, not a Utopian fantasy world. But this will not necessarily flow from presidents and potentates, moguls or monarchs, it must grow from where we live, whether on the edge of the new world or in the heart of old.

Ahead of the Times

2009-04-13T08:43:00.001-07:00

Today's NY Times has an interesting piece on the future of news. It addresses some of the same issues IrvsEyeView tackeled last month in a blog on a related topic. Now that it is in the Times, more media will be reporting on the trend; that's the way it works.

Creating meaning from information will drive successful hyperlocal news websites as they begin to fill in the gaps where newspapers and TV stations fail. Pure information portals already exist, in the form of Google and similar search engines. So journalistic values, such as quality coverage and breaking stories that would otherwise not be known, allow these newer websites to offer content that matters, the kind of stories that will drive eyeballs to the screens. The economic models present different obstacles but could be easily conquered if leaders of these new enterprises remain aware of the fundamental paradox that is the key to success. That's the subject of the blog mentioned above. Essentially, it means focusing on a smaller scale in order to grow.

It is good to know that the big media are paying attention; no doubt, this is part of a trend.

Bargain Basement Convergence or Real New Media

2009-03-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

Crazy times. The debt laden Tribune Company is combining its two Hartford televisio n stations with the newspaper it owns, The Courant, and making the TV stations' general manager publisher of the paper in addition to running the stations. Tribune management touts it as the future of media. It may be the way of the future but it will become a roadmap to disaster unless the company pays close attention to the details and the journalists who create the content.

As we watch General Motors attempt to reorganize, with great pressure from the government, you might enjoy David Brooks' take on it. TV stations risk fates similar to the automakers, because of short sighted business models that focused on cutting not building. Fear was a big motivator along with an aversion to risk. I fear that anyone who thinks you can just combine web, newspaper, and TV assets, doesn't understand the unique nature of each medium. I believe they are correct in combining certain resources but a poorly conceived joint operation will weaken them all and diminish the reasons users, readers, and viewers choose a particular website, paper, or station. They have to overlap and converge but cannot just become different platforms for identical or barely indistinguishable content. With all deference to the great McLuhan, they have to understand that each medium is its own message. The point is that they are doing what they are forced to do. There is no high concept or added value for viewers in what I read from the Tribune news release.

The successful convergence model will take advantage of pooled resources but must be built on the talent and creativity of journalists who understand the different media they serve. One size journalist doesn't fit all. The common qualities of newspaper writing and text articles for the web overlap to the greatest extent. But how you populate a website is a task much different from producing a newscast. The basic facts of news stories may be constant across platforms, but how you make that content meaningful on television requires a different set of skills and approach for the web, or radio for that matter.

The leaders of converged journalistic enterprises need to be symphony conductors, synthesizers who recognize that the gifted video editor may not be the best writer. And the on-camera communicator who addresses television viewers, may not be as effective on the small screens of smart phones and smaller devices that require more intimacy and less formality. These nuances will make the difference between meaningful content that matters and simply filling time, space, bandwidth.

As we become inundated with content and information, the journalist's most important role will be to sort through it all and make sense. In the old days news professionals saw themselves as "gatekeepers". The gate is wide open now, with blogs and applications like Facebook and Twitter. Today's journalist must be a sense maker who understands the different tools available to reach the public and how to use a particular set of tools well. The basic skills and traits that made a news man or woman good at a particular craft will serve them well in the future. But the money folks will have to understand that in order continue making money and creating value, investing in talent will pay the biggest dividends. When cutting costs becomes necessary it is even more critical to invest wisely in content that stands out and offers messages consistent with the particular medium on which it appears.

As Tribune consolidates in Hartford, how the merged media handle the "sense making" will be critical to the success of each entity. All generalists with few specialists will not give the audience a reason to read, watch or surf Tribune's newly combined operations. To get a piece of the Long Tail that fuels new media success stories, unique content well suited and particular to presently underrepresented areas must be nurtured and developed. Then this new approach can offer content and media that is creative rather than destructive, and actually will grow revenue; more important, it will serve its audience by helping make sense of our challenging moment.

Bailouts and Bonuses

2009-03-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

The spectacle continues, failed executives reaping not what they have sown, but the benefits of bailouts and stimulus in form of bonuses from our taxes. President Obama tells Sec. Treas. Tim Geithner to get it back and the congressional financial services committee chair, the usually frank Barney, expresses outrage and threatens action. It’s a bit rich—the pun obviously intended—to expect anybody, just looking for a job, to be anything but outraged.

Maureen Dowd invokes the words of her father who cautioned against barricading a door with a boiled carrot. We’ve had a bit too many soggy vegetables and not enough real roughage in the Washington diet of late. AIG replaces the bankers and automobile geniuses as poster child of the week in the ongoing tales of “don’t these guys get it?” After a dressing down from the commander in chief, AIG chairman Liddy now says the AIG bonus babies are going to give half back; bravo! As one teacher I know once said, while explaining the cliché that truth is stranger than fiction, “you can’t make this stuff up”.

So send in the clowns. The only place to go these days for a dose of sanity is your favorite comedian. Whether it’s Stewart or Leno, O’Brien or Letterman, Maher or Colbert, they seem to be the only sane ones around. And they make us laugh. So when President Obama sits down with Jay Leno this week, maybe we can get past the cooked carrots and find out if there is something a bit more solid on the menu when it comes to calling out the malefactors who are raiding the treasury. Maybe some of those millions might find their way to job seekers and businesses that really need it.

Information vs. Wisdom & A Fundamental Paradox

2009-03-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

Wisdom continues to be in short supply these days, even as we are overwhelmed with information. The task of sorting through the information at our fingertips, in order to find meaning, serves a useful purpose. For many years this was the job of journalists. As we've seen, lately, with the demise of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Denver's Rocky Mountain News, we'll have fewer traditional journalists helping us find meaning out of all the information available. TV news rooms have also shrunk. In several markets stations are pooling resources to save money, which means that fewer folks are out there gathering the news. As newspapers fail and TV stations--at least some in several markets--get out of the news business, social media in the form of websites like Facebook and Twitter offer more streams of information, but little more in the way of wisdom or meaning. The formula for a future with more wisdom and meaning in our lives has to include the best of journalism using the tools of the 21st Century, including social media and the evolving technologies of tomorrow. Where corporate newspapers and television stations have failed, entrepreneurs must emerge to fill the gap.

Understanding a fundamental paradox may help to navigate the economic obstacles blocking the best in journalism from finding its way with new technologies. Simply stated, contract and simplify to grow and thrive. To understand complexity we need simplicity. The hierarchies of traditional newspaper journalism were created to service large organizations requiring printing presses and distribution networks. Likewise, TV newsrooms needed big cameras, transmitters, and teams of people with different skills to produce all the material that fills a newscast.

For the individual journalists with entrepreneurial know how, the future is filled with opportunities. But the scale of organizations must be manageable and focused. Being the biggest can get in the way of being the best. Clearly, there will be large media organizations that continue to thrive and offer timely and meaningful content. The networks, a few national papers and magazines serve the public in important ways. But the days of five or more stations doing TV news in every market of reasonable size will certainly change. And as we're seeing with large daily newspapers starting to crumble, that era is over, too.

So back to the fundamental paradox and who will pay for the nimble entrepreneurs creating all this meaningful content? A few models of success come to mind. The West Seattle Blog was started by TV journalist Tracy Record and her husband Patrick Sand. Frustrated by the lack of good hyper local coverage of their neighborhood, the blog evolved into a business that makes money from advertising. Another local success story is The Voice of San Diego. It follows a non-advertising model, relying on donations from members, similar to how PBS and NPR stations raise revenue. And right now there are a number of new entries getting ready to launch including the San Diego News Network, and a web only version of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

To remain vital, these new media enterprises will have to continue evolving. As we've observed over the course of many years, technological innovation precedes the way content providers adapt. Sometimes it happens very fast. In the case of TV and newspapers it has been a slow, and now painful, evolution over the course of more than a decade. The advantage newer media entries share is their smaller scale allows them to change quickly. After all, it's much easier to steer a sports car than an 18 wheeler; of course, both require skill.

50 Years On Broadway, Just Down The Street

2009-03-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

Just a block and a half apart, in the heart of New York’s theater district, two outstanding shows span 50 years and much more than time. They are In the Heights, reigning Tony winner for best musical,and a new revival of West Side Story. Named for the Manhattan neighborhoods in which they are set, Washington Heights and the West Side (Hell’s Kitchen?), they present particular views of Latino life in a city of dreams.

In the Heights offers optimism tempered with street smarts delivered with upbeat music set to literate lyrics in the form of resonant rap. It all works. The neighborhood is in the middle of a heat wave. The lights go out; they are powerless. But the real power is not the electrical current. It is in the lives of the neighborhood, a community built on caring for each other as they struggle and strive for something better, only to realize that in this little barrio they have all the important comforts of home.

West Side Story’s saga is more familiar, the Romeo and Juliet inspired forbidden love between a Puerto Rican girl and an Anglo boy. Maria and Tony fall for each other but prejudice and hate turn their attraction into tragedy.

One of the innovations of the current revival is that actors use Spanish for scenes where it would naturally be spoken, unlike previous versions where English was substituted. Translations will be available for the audience members who need it. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the music and lyrics for In the Heights—and starred in the original production—is helping out with the new West Side Story to make the English and Spanish flow seamlessly, as it does during In the Heights.

Each show, in its own way, captures the spirit of its time. For the Jets and Sharks of West Side Story, tragedy is the only means for change, the mistrust and hatred run so deeply. But 50 years later, life in Washington Heights is hard but filled with hopefulness. The barrio’s smart girl is off to Stanford, and neighborhood businesses struggle but survive; and there’s always the Lotto. All you need is paciencia y fe (patience and faith).

The music and lyrics for both shows sparkle. The styles are quite different but appropriate for the times in which they are set and the tales they tell. Bernstein and Sondheim have a worthy successor in Miranda who started writing In the Heights while a student at Wesleyan University.

During these trying times we need a lift. The movie industry thrives while much of the economy continues to crumble. I’m fortunate that I visit New York often and get to the theater regularly. Few shows I’ve seen in the last ten years rise as high as In the Heights. It is a rousing diversion during this troubled chapter in history. That its creator is helping with West Side Story’s revival, just down the street, serves as a fitting footnote to a fifty year journey of just a few blocks.

Big or Bloated?

2009-02-26T05:58:00.000-08:00

Today's organizations push to be bigger, wider (global), and highly profitable (not just profitable). The pressures to become "too big to fail" drive failure itself. Add greed to the equation and you have the 2008 economic crisis that we are now struggling to reverse. Good is not good enough, was the mantra of many companies in the early 21st Century; good to great (the name of a best seller about business) was the rallying cry. We have lost perspective. The challenges for the organizations of the future include balancing the drive to grow with the understanding that service and leadership sometimes mean contracting in order to do a few things really well as opposed to being everything to everyone.

It is interesting to note that the banks that got in trouble during the last few years were among the biggest. Many smaller banks fared well. So, the challenge for large organizations is to maintain a sense of the personal touch. Giant corporations would be better served to look at themselves as groups of smaller companies made up of real people. Some say they do this but how does that idea compare to looking at the stock price?

While working for one of the biggest companies in the world--General Electric--it was instructive to witness how the corporate culture took hold after our station was purchased by GE. Even though we were encouraged to be a resource for our own community, we also learned that we had to do things the GE way. NBC has slowly, but steadily, declined during the decades since it was purchased by GE; some of that is a consequence of other factors, but GE/NBC is big enough to be a driver of the trend. If large corporations--or other organizations for that matter--are going to thrive, they need to have character, diversity, and consistent quality. Bigness alone may actually hurt.

As we've learned in the last few months, too big to fail sounds rather foolish.

It's always seemed a bit too facile to blame all our ills on greed, but greed plays a big role. Ultimately, capitalism, socialism, all the isms offer only partial solutions. The communication scholar, Neil Postman, offered a view I share. The idea that capitalists tend to be creative and innovative must be tempered with restraint, not on their creativity or innovation, but on their tendency to inflict damage along the way. Since we know that self restraint tends to be minimal or absent in the face of certain temptations, the larger society, through government, public opinion, and the forces of the marketplace have to set limits. While my most conservative friends like to argue that the marketplace is the most potent force for regulation (self regulation), ideas based on Adam Smith and expanded upon by the University of Chicago economists who follow Milton Friedman, we are learning that the marketplace has limits.

Now we have to regulate the market place to make it work again. President Obama reminds us that while action is painful, inaction is worse, in terms of fixing the economy. So, as is the case with much of life, the real solutions come from many places. The biggest, grandest enterprises have their place, but if we don't have small boutique centers of excellence it all becomes a boring shopping mall, with all the same stores, whether you're in Tokyo or Texas.

Seasons of Fear

2009-02-22T15:11:00.000-08:00

Thirteen years after its opening on Broadway, the musical Rent continues to provoke controversy. Now the issue is whether it is appropriate for it to be produced as real life high school musicals. A slightly toned down version of the show is being offered to schools. Across the country, drama departments are taking advantage of the offer, but a few principals and parent groups don't want their kids doing a show about AIDS, gay relationships, and difficult problems that might make some audiences uncomfortable.

Rent was the seventh longest running show in Broadway history, a Pulitzer Prize winner for drama, and a Tony winner as best musical. The opportunity for students attending high school in 2009 to experience a play that captures a time not very long ago would seem to be an ideal learning experience. This story of recent cultural history and the evolution of the AIDS pandemic should be studied by high school students. Rent's own website says it may not be appropriate for children under 13, but very few high school kids are that young.

Good art is often controversial. Arts education--including high school drama productions--should include explorations of controversy. During my many years of covering news I was often struck by the fear and ignorance of those who wanted to ban books or limit access to material that some might find offensive. Many times the outrage was based on a lack of understanding or simply not wanting to deal with topics that made them uneasy. Certainly, there are limits. But those limits should apply to libelous falsehoods, flagrant and malicious disregard of the truth, and deliberate provocations of hatred. Rent is none of these.

Ultimately, communities make choices. Rent is a play that should not be banned from high school drama departments. For some students it may be life changing. My own daughter wrote a college application essay about seeing Rent and learning about life outside her own experience; it touched her deeply. She has since gone on to work on Broadway, as a theatrical publicist. How many other young people might be inspired by such a highly acclaimed contemporary musical?

The Buck Stops Where?

2009-02-12T11:40:00.000-08:00

The defensive--tone-deaf--manner in which Wall Street and Washington respond to revelations of their own wrongdoing speaks volumes about what is wrong and why it is so difficult to fix. When Tom Daschle’s problems became a news story, all his friends, and even some Capitol Hill rivals, seemed ready to confirm him. That “ordinary Americans” were outraged finally turned the tide. President Obama eventually got it. To his credit, he took responsibility and responded to the voices outside the halls of Washington power, and beyond the boardrooms of the island Manhattan. When bankers enriched by bailouts made themselves bonus babies despite their bottom lines bottoming out, they claimed that they, the best and the brightest, are different and deserve everything they get.

So the president goes to Elkhart, Indiana and then Fort Myers, Florida, grounds zero for the unemployment and foreclosure crises. He should continue to get out of Washington as often as possible. And he ought to use the bully pulpit to suggest a few field trips for the executives who favor costly commodes and gilded garbage cans. Most of the Wall Street royalty and the Washington ruling class can travel incognito; they are not recognizable outside of their own kingdoms. They should be required to take these trips in order to understand the pain and suffering they have wrought or failed to mitigate.

President Obama took responsibility for the Daschle debacle. “I screwed up”, he said. Until leaders acknowledge their own mistakes, fixing problems remains somebody else’s job. Haven’t we had enough of that?

The latest “we didn’t do anything wrong” response comes from bailout recipient Wells Fargo, forced to cancel an expensive employee recognition get away after news of the trip to Las Vegas became public . The bank’s response was to take out ads in the NY Times, and Washington Post, defending the practice, and blaming the media for creating problems. This, of course, created even more outrage. Until the most powerful start to take responsibility and stop pointing fingers the recovery will continue to stagger. The “buck” has to stop somewhere, but these so-called leaders seem to think it is always someplace else.

UPDATE--Daschle Steps Down

2009-02-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

When I wrote the blog immediately below this one, last night, and posted it this morning, I did not expect Daschle to be out so soon. Whatever his problems, his quick action to remove himself as a distraction deserves praise. Now it's time to move ahead. President Obama needs the public's confidence in his picks. This will help.

Truth Has Consequences

2009-02-03T08:21:00.000-08:00

President Obama’s promises to do things differently and change the toxic culture of Washington won him much support and grass roots enthusiasm during the campaign. When news of Tom Daschle’s problems broke, on Friday afternoon, on Super Bowl weekend, it looked like all the forces of power and influence on the Democrats’ side of the aisle were falling in line to support their former colleague. The President, himself, pledged he would stand behind his friend.

Despite excellent reporting from The Washington Post, The New York Times, and ABC News, many missed the heart of the story. Rather than focusing on Daschle’s tax problems, the potential for conflicts of interest is equally disturbing.

As somebody who worked hard—on the local level--to help elect Barack Obama, I was particularly concerned about how the Washington establishment seemed to be getting in line to support one of its own despite many good reasons to step away. Now the Times, in Tuesday’s edition, has come out with a lead editorial asking Daschle to step down. He should do so immediately.

After a distinguished career of public service Daschle was defeated for reelection in 2004 and went for the big bucks. He made more than five million dollars during the three years after he left the Senate. Hundreds of thousands of dollars came from health related industries, including insurance companies. Daschle did nothing wrong—other than having to fix his six figure tax problem—but he made a choice. He went for the money, something I suspect many, if not most of us, would do, if we had the opportunity. But for the millions he was paid, he gave up the chance to jump right back in and set policy for the same industries that enriched him. Actions should have consequences, particularly if the boss is serious about what he says regarding the ways of Washington. True, there can be exceptions. But they should be used only for truly special cases. This is not one of those situations.

Health care is one of the most important public policy challenges facing the new president. Fixing the broken system will require clear vision. One of the major forces in the health care debate is the insurance industry. To really reform health care this important player may have to lose money, influence, and power. The person in charge should not be beholden to—or even appear to be influenced by—insurance companies. On this main point, Mr. Daschle ought to withdraw his name from consideration and spare the president and the country unnecessary strife during these challenging times.

Health Care and the DMV

2009-01-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

With all respect to the good people who work at departments of motor vehicles (DMV) around the country, the DMV, for many, is synonymous with inefficiency and a surly approach to customer service. As a teenager, I remember going to the DMV office in Jamaica, Queens, and waiting on long lines, only to be treated poorly, with little respect for my time or needs. The stereotype seemed to have a legitimate foundation. I’m happy to report that my more recent dealings with DMVs, both in California, and also last year back in Queens, have been much improved and quite efficient.

At lunch the other day, a good friend and somebody for whom I have great respect, mentioned that he believed nationalized health care along the lines of “single payer” would make going to the doctor a lot like dealing with the DMV. His comment was a response to my mention of the way insurance companies deal with health claims, and the high cost of health care administration that goes to insurance companies. The labyrinthine system seems designed to frustrate both patients and health care providers, at great cost to all concerned. Eliminating the red tape and unnecessary paper work associated with insurance claims ought to be high on the list of health care reforms that the Obama Administration tackles.

The added problems with the frustrating manner in which insurance companies deny benefits, refuse coverage, and make patients re-submit claims, that should have been paid in the first place, drives doctors into early retirement and inflicts emotional pain on patients. It often takes lawsuits or government intervention to put a stop to these abuses. This, is a waste of time, money, and inflicts a cost on families when they are most vulnerable.

So back at lunch with my friend, the other day, I had a moment of clarity when he compared the specter of nationalized health coverage to dealing with the DMV. My response was simple. The insurance companies have become the DMV.

Smile at the Small Stuff

2009-01-22T08:30:00.000-08:00

At the preeminent moment, when Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts uttered the familiar words of the oath of office, President Barack H.Obama had the presence of mind to pause and allow the Chief Justice to correct the mistake he just made. When he failed to get it right the second time, the new president just repeated the Chief Justice's error and went on with the ceremony. NPR had the best line about this simple but glaring gaffe: How many Harvard Law Review editors does it take to screw up the oath of office? The answer is two. Both President Obama and Justice Roberts served as editors of the law review.

The otherwise near perfect spectacle of the peaceful transfer of power, in the presence of Washington's largest crowd ever, sends the sort of message we need. That there was a glaring but ultimately meaningless ceremonial error is refreshing. We will gladly accept--even acknowledge and celebrate--the fact that even these two high achievers, the heads of two out of three co-equal branches of government, can make mistakes. As for the third branch, I'm sure Congress will screw something up, too; its members seem to be pretty good at it!

My hope and prayer is that the mistakes of the future--and there will be mistakes--stay on a small scale. And because they may be more meaningful than a misplaced adverb, we, the people, need to keep our focus on demanding the best and raising our voices when it looks like the sort of large scale errors of the last eight years are about to be made. Our vigilance will serve our leaders well and is consistent with the kind of government President Obama says he wants to lead.

Allowing Miracles to Happen

2009-01-16T13:12:00.000-08:00

US Air Flight 1549’s emergency landing in the cold waters of the Hudson River, followed by a remarkable rescue effort, sustain and affirm the notion that happy endings are the product of competence and hard work. The plane’s captain, 57 year old Chesley Sullenberger III, made quick decisions and handled his aircraft with the skill acquired flying planes for more than three decades. The first responders on the water worked swiftly and calmly to rescue the passengers and crew.

To see an airliner flying low near the George Washington Bridge, as it headed for its landing spot on the river, surely must have frightened those who saw the plane descend. Gov. David Paterson called the landing the “miracle on the Hudson”.

Miracles happen when we don’t get in their way. So many factors could have caused this plane’s short flight to end with injuries and death rather than 155 souls surviving. Under the command of Capt. Sullenberger, and the leaders and first responders on the water, the outcome was remarkable. Competence, experience, training, and hard work, allow good outcomes—or miracles, if you prefer—to prevail. All the prayers on board probably didn’t hurt, either.

As we begin a new era in American leadership let this unusual incident with a very happy ending remind us that there is no substitute for competence, no tolerance for poor or inadequate training, and hard work must be rewarded. If we honor these simple values, we allow miracles to happen.

Stars & Scoundrels--Predictions & Questions

2009-01-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

Next week, Barack Obama finally will be sworn in, after the long campaign and transition. Our new president will enter the White House with enormous good will, but a shortened honeymoon because of the many crises he will face.

A month after we learned about the arrest of “Rod from Chicago”, he’s still in office, though now facing impeachment. He’ll go down fighting, but down he will go. How many will he take with him and at what additional cost?

“Bailouts” become “stimulus”; billions go to banks while the little guys are still waiting. Words matter but priorities need to change.

The movie awards season offers exciting entries and a rich mix of memorable characters. Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, and Kate Winslet stand out in a field filled with great performances; don’t neglect to notice the current golden age of acting and film making that is now.

On the Broadway stage, In The Heights lifts the spirits and serves as the ideal antidote for recession and psychic fatigue of the last few years.

Netherland, by Joseph O’Neill, is a must read for anyone interested in evolving class distinctions in the urban global economy. This novel describes post 9-11 New York beyond the headlines and boundaries of Manhattan. Beautifully written, with insight and sensitivity, it tells personal stories of striving and struggle as diverse lives intersect.

The automakers’ reprieve will keep them going for months, at least. Will only the strong survive?

Corporate excess may not disappear, but moderation will intervene. At least the public spectacles of junkets while the government writes checks, flying in private jets while plants are closing, and begging for bailouts while accepting big bonuses, will be managed better for the public’s eyes.

Media will continue to become more distinct as technology makes grassroots approaches more powerful. The MSM will flail about figuring out what works today, while continuing to react to tomorrow, instead of leading the way. The tension between corporate media and personal expression will actually work to improve each other, as the balance of power tips even further to the entrepreneurial.

Global conflict will not go away. How it is managed and where war wages will change. The United States will play a more useful role toward quelling conflict and improving economic conditions.

Personal health and the way we manage the earth’s environment and food supply will be more closely linked, leading to long range benefits.

Service will become a more cherished virtue. Greed will not disappear but will be forced to change its face. Self interest will continue to motivate but align better with fulfilling, rather than trumping, the collective needs of our communities. And we will be surprised.

On a Clear Day

2009-01-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

The desert wilderness that is the American Southwest stretches as far as the eye can see. Sand, a few mountaintops, and scattered small towns, mark the cloudless view from my window seat at six and a half miles above the earth. The strange symphony of iPod, laptop, and airliner, denotes progress and potential while the landscape below reminds us we are small. Even as we challenge—even conquer--limitations and create new ways of linking each of us to others, we need to remind ourselves that we walk in and out of the wilderness throughout our lives. The wilderness offers perspective. Timeless tales, of wandering and seeking, place the wilderness as a pathway to encounter with the ineffable.

The paradox of human destiny is that greatness comes from recognizing our place in the universe as we go from wilderness to lands of promise. Along the way we decide the existential choices that define us; true greatness can mean contracting rather than expanding. How will we use our skill, intelligence, and talents? Rich, poor, brilliant, dull, ordinary, exceptional, what ever our gifts or hardships, at some point we’ll face the wilderness whether literally or metaphorically.

So, this afternoon as we cross the desert between San Diego and Houston, the week old year is chronicled in the New York Times on my lap and the Newsweek I just placed in my briefcase. The current moment is rich with potential. New beginnings grounded in solving problems, and choosing well, put the wilderness in perspective. But the desert is there to remind us that the picture out the window remains rich, meaningful, and timeless, a more commanding view than our printed reports of world events. Wilderness diversions spawn creativity. We only need to pay attention.

All of this may seem trite, even naïve, in the face of wars, genocide, terror, and poverty. My answer is not to abandon or ignore conventional solutions to the problems that inflict pain and harm. But until we confront the spiritual dimension of our situation in ways that are more creative than in the past, no political, economic, military or cultural approach will be sufficient. So as not to be misunderstood, whether you are Jew, or Christian, Muslim, or Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, agnostic, or simply a seeker, the wilderness will find you. The point is to recognize the transformative power of the encounter and to not get stuck.

Inauguration Day

2009-01-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

In a little more than two weeks, President Obama will give his inaugural address. Here's a sample of what I'd like to hear him say.

My Fellow Citizens and Friends Around the World: I come before you today firmly grounded by the reality of our current challenges and acutely aware of the compelling demands of these perilous times. We are prepared to meet these challenges by the strength of our history and the courage and creativity of this great country. As our founders dreamed of an exceptional future, we too must build, so our children, and their children’s children, will continue to reap the fruits of an American dream that will inspire the world.

Preserving life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness requires collective commitment and personal sacrifice. We live in times that demand nothing less. President Kennedy asked us to ask not what our country can do for us, but rather to ask what we can do for our country. Forty-eight years later his question remains relevant and urgent. So many Americans struggle to find work and to pay bills, yet there is work to do. Others avoid going to the doctor because the costs are high and insurance is out of reach, yet we have the human skill and technology to save lives that would have been lost just a few years ago. And we know brave soldiers, marines, sailors, and air force men and women who return from war with catastrophic injuries and few prospects. This must change. We commit ourselves to those challenges as top priorities for this Administration.

The United States of America remains a magnetic presence inspiring our native born citizens to achieve greatness beside our newest residents who come from every country in the world. The attraction of America abides because we draw strength from our diversity and power from the notion that it is not who you are that matters but what you can do that counts. My own story serves as a step toward realizing Martin Luther King, Jr’s great dream that men and women be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.

So, I stand before you today, in the presence of the great American legacy, from Washington and Jefferson, Madison and Jackson, Lincoln, of course, and Susan Anthony and the nameless who struggled in cotton fields and sweatshops, and Roosevelt and Eisenhower, King and Chavez, so many giants whose names we know and whose names we will never know. They did great things, often against great odds. We must become the inspirational legacy of the next generation by rising to meet today’s challenges with clarity of purpose, a capacity for the hard work required, and the humble spirit that made the greatest generation great, and will make our generation one worthy of carrying the torch that is passed to us with such hope and anticipation.

A Spirit of Penitence

2009-01-02T15:18:00.000-08:00

As we begin 2009, my friend, Dan Cieloha, suggests we encourage penitence and expect our leaders to approach the year ahead with contrite hearts and reflection on what went so terribly wrong. So many of this week's New Year's celebrations mentioned how hopeful we are that 2009 will be better than the last year. This is good. But repentance is appropriate because new beginnings mean coming to terms with past failures, both temporal and spiritual. It would be gratifying to see Bernard Madoff, Rod Blogojevich, and the many corporate executives who squandered our money express themselves in a way that shows their own willingness to repent. Of course, the most notorious malefactors rarely admit their own wrongdoing so it's not likely we'll see them apologize. But in some way, some of them may acknowledge their own part in the economy's collapse and seek the forgiveness of those they harmed.

We--the collective, societal "we"--also enabled the excesses and abuses that got us into trouble, not all of us, but enough to matter. The danger is only blaming others and avoiding personal responsibility. My hope is that when President-elect Obama becomes President Obama, he will encourage a national consciousness that is intolerant of arrogance, repulsed by greed, and receptive to humility. Maybe he'll even acknowledge a spirit of penitence that can only make us stronger. In the soaring rhetoric of inauguration day we will be inspired to feel good about ourselves, our country, our leaders. This will help us move ahead and rise to meet the many tough tasks that we face. I will also look forward to some acknowledgment that our predicament is predicated on failures requiring penitence. Then we can rise to new heights that raise our spirits and help heal the wounds of the world.

End of Year Thoughts on Job Searches and the News Business

2008-12-28T16:50:00.000-08:00

With the economy going from bad to really bad, I recently applied to lead newsrooms, in several interesting markets. Despite my exhortations and long record of success, general managers can’t seem to get past the ten year interval since my last news director job. Another problem may be that the last ten years have not been well used by many of those running TV stations. Instead of building new models of storytelling and promoting approaches that appeal to the social networking culture, stations have focused on finding ways to do what they have traditionally done, only more cheaply. The result is fewer viewers and little appeal for younger audiences. Cutting costs, though necessary, will not save, or even improve, TV news.

One of the great recent changes is the advent of video journalists (VJs) who write, shoot, and edit their own stories. Also known as backpack journalists, stations and other news organizations, including newspapers, are using the new technology in different ways. Made possible by smaller cameras and desktop editing programs, the positive potential of VJs is enormous. Many stations and even international networks are using these tools reasonably effectively, and have been for some time. But there are problems. Audiences are not growing. The new tools and cost savings may help the bottom line but inevitably drive viewers away rather than draw them in. Even on the web, few of these video entries rise to the level of compelling content.

If a VJ is going to produce a news story, she, or he, can’t do it the way a three person team, a reporter-videographer-editor, would tell the same story. Competing against a team of specialists who are doing the same thing will often find the generalist (the VJ) with a story that is not as interesting, compelling, and attractive to viewers.

Before we go any further let me make it clear that I support, encourage, and embrace the use of VJs. The more personal approach the new tools make possible offers creative possibilities that prior generations could only dream about. When VJs have failed to thrive it is because of what they are being asked to do. Unless the VJ tells stories that give viewers something other than what they can get from a traditional news package, they will be destined to look like a new—but not necessarily improved--version of an old medium.

Instead, TV news departments must properly engage new technologies by encouraging formats that are conducive to the tools. That means exercising judgment in figuring out which stories are right for VJs and having options—including traditional crews--available. The challenges and safety concerns in covering the news demand that sometimes one person cannot cover a story alone. On the other hand, certain stories can be better covered with smaller, less intrusive equipment, and storytellers who are personally engaged and know how to use technology to create meaning out of the events, people, and issues that make up news. It also matters on what device the story will be viewed.

Because there is a fear of failure—understandable but ultimately destructive—station leaders tend to resist new approaches. The result, as stated earlier, is slow, steady decline. Reversing this trend means welcoming experimentation. Start small. Choose one newscast to try new ways of using technology to tell stories differently. But be smart. I have seen too many failed experiments. One station placed a good looking anchor on a big map to give a traffic report, sort of going low tech to highlight the personality. Such gimmicky approaches add nothing of value. They are being different just for the sake of being different.

Making this work also involves structuring news departments differently. Command and control must be replaced with a well articulated hierarchy of goals that are dynamic and news driven. Self directed teams that understand their assignments will be creatively challenged to deliver content that matters using technology that supports each particular approach.

So what will this all look like? Story tellers must connect and insert themselves in the stories they capture with small cameras. It is an approach that requires engagement and social awareness but must be supported by a foundation of good journalism. Ultimately, it is walking a thin line but being able to maintain a fair minded approach while presenting—even embracing--different sides of an issue. It is not a traditional 1:30 news package.

These are not wild dreams. On the contrary, I understand the daily demands of running a successful and profitable news organization, which is precisely why I am eager to work again in news at this critically important turning point. So, I will continue to dream and work toward making things better. Others’ reluctance, based on their fear of failure, will continue to be an obstacle. Finding ways to effectively overcome obstacles is the pathway to success.

A Poorly Chosen Word

2008-12-23T12:59:00.000-08:00

I got a note from a mortgage company the other day that made me laugh and then it made me angry. The note was touting lower interest rates available now and urging me, and other readers of the E-newsletter, to take advantage of the just over 5% fixed rate loans currently available. The sentence that followed is what got my attention. It mentioned—and I’m paraphrasing, but the word in quotes is a direct quote—that the “greed” involved in waiting for an even lower rate should not stop us from refinancing right now. Unbelievable! A bank, a mortgage bank, admonishing customers not to be greedy.

As we know, the mortgage crisis is at the heart of our current economic troubles. We also know that the Treasury Department is working to bring mortgage rates even lowe r , a good idea that will stimulate the economy. So, for a mortgage banker to suggest that “greed” would motivate a potential customer to wait shows a disconnection from reality, at worst, or a loose use of words, at best. For somebody to try and get an additional ¼ to a ½ percent better rate on a mortgage could mean the difference between keeping a home and losing it. It could mean sending a kid to college with little or no debt, or saddling the next generation with the fruits of the current folly. No, trying to wait it out for a better rate is not greed at all; it is thrift, something that has been in too short supply lately. Could waiting backfire? Certainly, and that was the well-meaning point of the banker’s admonition. But “greed” was clearly the wrong word.

On the other hand, greed is when somebody who has enough, or much more than enough, wants even more. And we have had too many examples of real greed in the last few weeks. The bankers who took bonuses while accepting taxpayer funded bailouts, the governor accused of trying to personally profit from abusing the public trust, or the investment adviser with several multi-million dollar homes who runs a high level Ponzi scheme, all represent greed in its true meaning.

So please, if you’re trying to sell mortgages, don’t abuse the language and insult your potential customers.

There, I feel better now.

Choices for Changing Times

2008-12-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

Without doubt or hesitation, I can say with certainty, the toughest thing for me to do as a news executive was firing an employee. I bring this up now because so many people are facing lay-offs and dismissals as the economy struggles. We had an unwritten rule that if somebody had to be laid off or fired, we would not do it during the holiday season. As I write those words this simple courtesy seems almost quaint. Every day we learn of more people losing their jobs with much of the tough news being delivered right now, just a little more than a week before Christmas. And that is strangely emblematic of how things have changed.

The backdrop to the real stories of workers at every level struggling because of lack of work is stark and filled with greed. When we read about a governor trying to sell the public trust to the highest bidder, and elite financial managers ripping off billions, as highly paid corporate executives use private jets while they beg for even more billions, it’s hard not to become angry. The problem with anger is that it’s most useful when it motivates profound strategic change, as opposed to revenge and justification for even more bad behavior.

Economists like to talk about corrections. The idea being that the market will adjust to changes and move ahead after down cycles. But even Alan Greenspan admits that he made a mistake in relying too much on this process. So now our only recourse is bailouts that cost billions and eventually may be in the trillions.

There is a spiritual dimension to our current situation that doesn’t get enough attention. We have to change the way we regard each other and the idea of public service and what we value. I’m reminded of this notion by Anna Quindlen’s current column in Newsweek. Being close in age to Ms. Quindlen, I, too, remember saving for something we wanted and not relying on credit. I also remember the first time my parents received a Master Charge (that’s what it was called then) card in the mail; they cut it up, immediately. If we can't pay for it, we shouldn't buy it. The point is that when we start to value things, more than people and ideas, we wind up where we are.

So as we collectively struggle through these economically tough times we need to take stock of what is really valuable to us and how we can add even more value in ways that matter, in contrast to acquiring more things. Perhaps the anger we feel at the excesses exposed by our current crisis can be directed toward positive purposes that celebrate our common concerns. The media might help if we demand more than the current menu that passes for entertainment. A little mind numbing crap—as I call it in our household—has its place; in small doses, escapism can help us get through the day or night. But a steady diet will lead to psychic disease and death of the spirit. And for the media business that’s the real problem. With all the cutting and layoffs, the efficiencies that save money, we are missing opportunities to build and innovate. Good programming, and well-produced content, still draw an audience. Fortunately, there are still some excellent programs and movies. The challenge is to constantly improve and use the new technologies to inspire and lead. The real value in presenting quality content will be rewarded and help more than the “bottom line”. By being a positive force we become part of the solution to our own and larger problems. But if it's just about cutting the payroll, media companies will wind up in the same situation as the banks and car makers.

Two Guys from the Neighborhood, Sort of

2008-12-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

So now comes the sordid saga of Rod from Chicago. I’ve never met the soon to be ex-governor of Illinois, but I’ve known people like him my whole life. Growing up in Queens, wannabe tough guys—whether physical or political—were around. Their profanity-laden tirades are part of the package. In every sense, these guys are bullies, unattractive, despicable. Often, they have a charming demeanor or other pseudo redeeming qualities that disguise the greedy motives that drive their egocentric behavior. In the end, though, it’s all about them. Service to others fuels their rhetoric but any collateral good that may come from their actions is merely a coincidence. If others benefit from their activities those “good works” become a shield for the more shady revelations that inevitably follow. So whether Rod is like those guys or not will be decided by history and the legal process, but the images resonate as we watch this latest melodrama unfold

During our current recession, greed and self-interest will continue to be in the spotlight. We can rail at CEOs who take millions while their companies crumble, unions that demand inflated wages for a few while others lose everything, and politicians who forget the meaning of the oaths they solemnly swear. But two ideas must move to the forefront and stay there in this season of goodwill.

First, we have to be vigilant and demand that our “watchdogs” in the mainstream media along with bloggers and community journalists expand their efforts in holding those in power accountable. Speaking truth to power must be even more highly valued during these difficult days.

Second, we need to honor those who serve, and service as a value. Our spiritual traditions teach us about service—even love--for our fellow humans, and demand fidelity to higher values, whether called God or something more secular. Service, after all, is the essence of good leadership.

Finally, a look back at the old neighborhood would reveal many characters categorically more noble than Rod from Chicago. For every Rod another name in the news comes to mind, General Eric Shinseki. Men and women like Shinseki are the real tough guys, the good ones. Most didn’t go to West Point and earn four-star commissions, but they go to work every day and make important differences in the lives of others. They work as first responders and teachers, nurses and doctors, aides who change bed pans and entrepreneurs who fix everything from computers to toilets. Of course, the list goes on; they are honest people who care.

Gen. Shinseki spoke truth to power as army chief of staff. He told his bosses what they didn’t want to hear. He lost his job over it. But he demonstrated integrity. So for every Rod from Chicago we have brave women and men who simply speak the truth, because the greater good trumps their own interests. So wherever you grew up, whether a big city like New York or Chicago, or someplace smaller, reflect about those you know and whom you would really trust. Those like Gen. Shinseki are tough guys in the best sense; the wannabes, like Rod, are nothing more than sad tragedies who hurt themselves, their families, and the rest of us.

A View from the Edge

2008-12-07T19:34:00.000-08:00

On a bench near the beach,
On the edge of the ocean.

We saw the pacific Pacific,
The sun slowly sinking,
Looking west through the clouds.

December's short daylight,
Making room for the night,
On the lower left corner,
Of California's long coast.

The country behind us,
As we look to the west,
A few moments of wonder,
Then back toward the rest,
Because restless we are,
We turn around to progress.

Creative Leadership Great and Small

2008-12-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

Our friend, Rolland Smith, blogged recently about people who emerge in every age and make a difference (Who I Am, December 1, 2008). They are writers and scientists, politicians and composers, athletes and actors, physicians and philosophers, leaders who influence from every field and direction; and they are you and me. I'm also reminded of a musical written for, and performed by, children called The Role Model. The show's writer and director is Cara Freedman, a talented artist from San Diego. The point of her play is that everyday heroes, our next door neighbors, local teachers and emergency workers, and many other people we encounter daily, all can make an important difference in the lives of so many. Both Rolland and Cara, in their own ways, capture the spiritual dimension of how men and women of every generation influence the world that is now, whenever now happens to be. They are the great and near great and those unheralded heroes who go about their business but make us remember something important or even motivate us to act in ways that matter.

A few years ago, I wrote about John Lennon's efforts to end the Vietnam War (last on the page so scroll down after clicking this link), and mentioned that today we have celebrities who lead, too, in consequential ways that do make a difference. I've also spent the last two years engaged in academic leadership studies through the online graduate program at Gonzaga University. So the idea of leadership resonates as a very real and practical pursuit for me and should for you, during these difficult days we face.

Most troubling during the perilous times is that for every leader who represents growth and goodness we have those who promote hatred and horror. The biblical exhortation to choose life over death, and blessing over curses, reminds us that existential choices we make and influence others to make, may seem solitary or inconsequential but can ripple or even cascade far from ourselves.

President-elect Obama introduced his national security team, yesterday, and his economic team, last week. Much has been written and said about the so called "Team of Rivals" he's assembled. More important, of course, are the abilities of each team member. Each of us, including the advisers chosen by the president-elect, must serve as a follower and also as a servant to those we lead. Our next president has not chosen an easy path for himself but it is the right path. And it can set the tone for the country, accepting difficult challenges, as each of us leads, follows, and serves.

As a business, news media outlets continue to struggle. The leadership challenge is especially relevant for newsrooms of all kinds. With the technological possibilities available today, the industry ought to be thriving. Instead, the great media companies are suffering along with banks and auto makers for many of the same reasons. Aversion to innovation and a fear of failure, along with the quick fixes of easy money with no long range plans, have wreaked havoc on these businesses. With this reckoning now a reality, opportunities will emerge. The challenge will be well served if new and creative leadership is not only accepted but is also sought. Those who run our newspapers, TV stations, networks, and online enterprises, will succeed if change is not only embraced but created, before the bottom line demands more destructive solutions. More cuts and more of the same--the old "more with less" thinking-- are band aids that will not heal the wounds.

Times to Remember

2008-11-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

I could tell by the look on his face, something was terribly wrong. It was just after lunch at Russell Sage Junior High School, in Forest Hills, NY. We were heading to Mrs. DeBarcza’s art class when I locked eyes with Mr. Heitner, our usually cheerful science teacher. He had a look I had never seen before. As a 12 year old I could see that he was concerned for us, his students, but it was not the usual sort of student-teacher attention; it was much bigger. When I asked if everything was okay, he answered, “Just go to class. There will be an announcement in a few minutes”.

A few minutes later, our principal, Dr. Charles Tanzer, got on the PA system and told us that

President Kennedy had been shot, in Dallas, and was being rushed to the hospital. Not long after that announcement, the school dismissed us and we all went home. JFK was dead. The date was November 22, 1963.

If you are a certain age, it is a day you will never forget. Forty five years later, the memory is vivid, indelibly etched and still painful. After the assassination, television news became our national focal point. Continuous coverage replaced regular programming. We watched as a tall Texas lawman, in a white Stetson hat, recoiled helplessly as Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV. And we followed the new president, LBJ, as he took charge of a nation in mourning.

A few days later, we heard Senator Mike Mansfield describe the First Lady’s reaction at Parkland Hospital, where President Kennedy was taken, mortally wounded. He told us that Jackie Kennedy, “took a ring from her finger, and placed it in his hands”. And we watched young John Kennedy Jr. snap a salute to his father’s flag draped casket.

As we approach Thanksgiving, these memories remind us that our resilience as a nation honors those who do great things. As we remember JFK, those old enough to remember December 7, 1941, inform our lives with recollections of that time and the war that followed. And for the current generation, we will remember September 11, 2001, decades from now.

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect, to give thanks and look ahead. Our current moment is perilous, even though we are not experiencing a single cataclysmic event with a specific date to recall some day. We’ve elected new leadership to guide us through our economic crisis. The trials of the months ahead will test us and require perseverance and sacrifice. The consequences of unemployment, diminished savings, and collapsing credit, profoundly affect the lives of many.

For those who gather and present the news, opportunities to tell compelling stories with real substance form the foundation of history and can rise to the level of literature. Those who are up to the challenge can serve an important role in bringing about a turnaround by informing the public and holding officials and business leaders to high standards. When news organizations do their best work they help us through difficult situations; they draw us closer as a country when we are most vulnerable. This is such a time, even if nobody is attacked, nobody is shot, and planes keep flying without interruption.

Update from August

2008-11-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

Back on August 14th (third one down, after you click), we mentioned a young man we know, who tried to get a political piece published in a major newspaper, before the primaries began. Despite his vision and analysis, recognizing early who the eventual presidential candidates would be, no paper picked up his entry. Well, today's Wall Street Journal includes a piece by him. Well done, Robbie!

This highlighted link will take you to his article. Robbie and I disagree on who was the right choice in this election; I was for Obama. But I'm encouraged by Robbie's commitment and so many other young people who got involved.

A Way to Grow

2008-11-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

The economic collapse that affects nearly all of us bears particular burdens for me and those like me. I am self-employed but also looking for work. During the six years that my one man consulting business was thriving, I put aside enough to get through the occasional downturns of any business cycle. As the international economic crisis grows longer and deeper, our best laid plans face new challenges. But that is how we grow, individually and as a society.

I am encouraged by Obama's election and new ways of thinking that his victory represents. Last Saturday, the group I worked with on the Obama campaign, from California's 53rd Congressional District (Central San Diego County), gathered for a victory party and celebration. This group did extraordinary work. Between dozens of phone banks and canvassing trips to battleground states, our group made a real difference.

Our group leaders gave each member of the team a gift. It is a book by Daniel Pink, called A Whole New Mind. The sub title is: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future.
This resonates with a blog I wrote, months ago, about Apollo being better than Jupiter as a leadership model for the future.

Of course, life and business, relationships and commerce, present complex challenges that are seldom solved by one extreme or another. The point, though, is to allow new ways of thinking to shift to the more sensitive and enabling models, away from the winner take all, top down, command and control way of doing things. Command and control still has a place in certain situations but for many organizations it is increasingly inappropriate.

Servant Leadership is at the heart of these new approaches. In a previous blog, Fixing TV News from The Inside Out, (it's third down on the page, after you click this link) we explained this approach. My own business of TV news and internet news is suffering deep cuts and dark days of revenue challenges that displace thousands of workers. Some of it is a consequence of the overall economic situation. But it is also a reflection of doing business in old ways for far too long.

Our challenging times invite positive outcomes and offer new possibilities. With today's technology we can all be producers. Each of us can create blogs, stories, movies, and news content. The exhilarating possibilities of these moments in time encourage real growth and creativity. If Mr. Pink is correct--and I believe he is with a few caveats--the right brain future is ours to embrace.

Media Missing on Story that Matters

2008-11-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

With Boomers and their parents aging, the media is MIA on a story that should strike fear in, and may impose financial consequences for, everyone but the very rich and the most needy.

We live in an age where aging in America creates costs that can destroy a life’s savings even when the economy is thriving. Living longer means having enough money—or assistance—to insure a safe and secure existence in our “Golden Years”. I use that gilded term because somebody I met recently derisively referred to “seniority” this way, “Golden Years, what a joke,” she said. This woman, in her late 60s or early 70s, was caring for her husband, the victim of a massive stroke. We met during the dinner hour in a nursing home in Queens. I was there because my mother was recuperating from a short illness. My mother’s stay was only a week and was covered by Medicare. But if she had required longer term care, Medicare would eventually stop.

For the victims of Alzheimer’s Disease, or a massive stroke, or debilitating cancer or heart disease, long-term care costs can wipe out a life of savings in months or a year or two. Long-term care insurance is one option but it, too, is fraught with pitfalls, problems and misunderstanding; it’s also quite expensive and doesn’t always cover what policyholders expect it to include.

The long-term care dilemma is going to be—in many cases already is—a massive problem for our society. Typically, what happens is that at some point Medicaid kicks in and takes over the payments for nursing homes or homecare. Medicaid—MediCal in California—is government insurance for those with limited income and assets. Elder law attorneys and social workers can help with “Medicaid Planning”. That nice euphemism is code for sheltering ones assets before they run out and you, or your heirs, are left with nothing. Until you have to deal with these issues, usually because of a loved one’s illness, you just hope you never have to deal with these issues. As life is extended, often well into the 80s, and not uncommonly the 90s, these issues will become more burdensome for individuals and society.

As a news story, the impending long-term care crisis barely registers. More immediate stories of this ilk include Medicare costs and Social Security problems, and the need for some form of national health care policy. Government and politicians will not tackle long-term care without more public awareness and pressure. Eventually enough people will suffer because of this lack of a clear-cut long-term care policy. In the meantime, news organizations are missing an important story that if told properly can inform and influence public policy before too many families suffer. A serious illness takes the gleam off the Golden Years but a good understanding of these issues and proper attention can salvage some of the luster.

For an editor, news executive, or reporter, this is a great story. It has real people; it mostly affects the middle class because the poor get Medicaid and the rich can afford the care; it is a story that matters and can make a difference. So instead of doing another story about dollar bills being tainted with cocaine, or genital plastic surgery and grooming, let’s cover something that really matters and can make a difference.

Covering the economics of health care requires good story-telling skills and finding engaging, human, examples to illustrate the issues. It is more difficult than police scanner news, but readers, viewers, and web surfers will pay attention if the stories are interesting and well presented, whatever the medium. During my years as a news director, whenever we covered health from the economic perspective we got a ratings spike. Properly produced and promoted you’ll get ratings (or readers or users); you will be doing a service for your community and country; and you’ll feel good about the work you’ve chosen to make your living.

A Visitor's View from Greenwich Village

2008-11-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

So Barack closed the deal and did so in convincing fashion. Not only did he win, as we now know, it was a landslide. It seems that the politics of fear and division did not work this time. The Rove style scare game just didn't have enough traction. And the Palin gambit served only as a momentary lift once the voters discerned that she represented little more than an attractive package disguising a nearly empty bag.

As we stood in Greenwich Village the other night, all the rhetoric about real Americans vs. the urban elites seemed more surreal than ridiculous. On a beautiful autumn evening, the corner of Sixth Avenue and Bleecker Street was alive, well, and calmly going about its business, real Americans beginning the first weekend after electing the next president. Surely this sophisticated neighborhood known for tolerance and open mindedness, in a most sophisticated city, would be the sort of not so real America that the McCain campaign tried to separate from its supporters. But a rural resident with conservative values would probably be more amused than threatened on this street corner on this night.

So we go on. The red states are a bit fewer and bluer and President-Elect Obama is about to inherit the daunting task of turning around the economy and fulfilling his promise of uniting the red and blue into something I would describe as a beautiful purple. Close up, Greenwich Village will still be blue and rural Georgia will still be red. But as we pull back and attempt to soar high and see with eagles' eyes, the view below must start to blend into a united hue where we enrich each other under the leadership of the man whose white mother from Kansas and black father from Kenya gave us the gift of hope and promise.

Election Day, Finally!

2008-11-04T08:58:00.000-08:00

The campaign of a lifetime is almost over. Walking to our local polling station this morning I noticed an interesting bumper sticker. Where I live—Coronado, CA—is mostly Republican with a large number of retired and active military. The bumper sticker on an older SUV across the street from our polling place was one of those oval shaped stickers that said: W 04. Neatly placed over the sticker was a round Obama-Biden sticker, placed so it was clear that this was a Bush voter who was not voting for McCain. We’ve also noticed that our usually Republican little town has as many—probably more--Obama lawn signs than those for McCain-Palin. This is based strictly on our own observations, clearly unscientific. It will be interesting to see how close the presidential numbers are in Coronado.

Coronado has hosted several well attended phone banks for Obama, drawing people from all of San Diego but with strong participation from Coronado itself. If Obama wins, the most interesting thing may be the number of Republicans who crossed over to vote for him. The Reagan Democrat phenomenon of the 1980s may have a 2008 version in Obama Republicans. The reasons will be different, of course. But the damage done to the GOP by W and his team clearly stings and will help re-define what that party must do in order to be relevant, again.

As stated last week, the challenge for Obama, if he makes it, will be to unite all of us. As he eloquently stated: We are not red states and blue states, we are the United States.

Whatever happens today, I will welcome the end of the campaign. Yes, it has been exhilarating and engaging. But there is so much work ahead, for whoever is elected; beginning that work cannot happen quickly enough.

The elusive idea of the great man or woman evokes a combination of hope and skepticism. The last political figure who I personally felt had the potential for greatness was Robert F. Kennedy. My initial response to him, as a much younger man, was more skeptical than hopeful. But as we watched him grow and define the late 60s in clear and eloquent fashion we saw the vision he defined as achievable and inspiring.

At this point in his career, Barack Obama is a long way from greatness. What is exciting, however, is his enormous potential. More than any other political leader since RFK, Barack has the skills, temperament, intelligence, and coalition, to become a great leader. The numbers look good for him, but we know—too well—the only numbers that really count are the votes—specifically, electoral votes. As we await the outcome of today’s election we are at one of those historic moments where everything is about to change.

Perhaps Obama’s great contribution, thus far, is that for many voters, hope is more real and deserved with this man than the normal skepticism that for too long has defined the political process. If those many voters are numerous enough to give Barack Obama and Joe Biden an electoral majority, our hope for great leadership may finally be realized. We’ll try to keep our journalist’s skepticism in balance, at least right now.

Six More Days

2008-10-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

Off in the distance, I heard a sound,
I paused and listened, but nothing was found,
The sound grew louder, and closer, and clear,
The voices of voters without any fear,
Saying crisply and loudly our future depends,
On seeing real vision, and embracing new ends

Once upon a time is now, but just for now; next week will be the future. A new president-elect will be elected, once upon a time, next Tuesday.

Gonzo Journalism might have an heir to Hunter S. Thompson in Matt Taibbi who, as Thompson did, writes for Rolling Stone. Taibbi’s style is his own but he has the ability to cut through the noise like few others. Amidst the fear and loathing that “rear their heads” during this election, we are at one of those extraordinary moments where the United States can realize its potential in new and different ways.

Taibbi’s observations about red states—likely—turning blue, offer an explanation of what is happening beyond the obvious disaffection with Republican economic policies. True, voters tend to vote their wallets, but that is only part of the picture. The historic “now” reveals global hunger for leadership. While the US is sometimes resented—even hated—for its success, when the US struggles, as it has under George W. Bush, the world suffers along with us. If we elect Obama, he will have an unprecedented opportunity to change the world in positive and uplifting fashion. Of course, John McCain will have the same opportunities, if he wins. But as Taibbi points out, Obama’s history and path to the presidency will give him particular advantages as he re-establishes the United States of America as the leader it should be, advancing the idea and practice of freedom in substantial and meaningful fashion.

I hope our friends on the right can embrace the evolution that would be an Obama presidency. Political orthodoxies, both liberal and conservative, get us stuck. So, too, Obama will have to be more than a traditional liberal in order to succeed. His ability to bring diverse constituencies together will have to expand and grow in order for him to realize greatness. He can be the next FDR or another Jimmy Carter. My bet is that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Now, all it will take is for Barack to get elected, once upon a time.

http://www.rollingstone.com/blogs/taibbiunbound/2008/10/from-the-issue-the-death-of-a.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Taibbi

LIVE FROM NEW YORK (actually a Starbucks in Queens) IT'S IRVSEYEVIEW!

2008-10-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hello, again, everybody. Too much time has passed since our last entry so here's a short update.

The IrvsEyeView travel schedule became more active recently as I've been back and forth between NY and San Diego twice, in the last two weeks. We are taking care of a few family matters, each with a good outcome, so far. And we are busy getting ready for Election Day and working to build the business.

We head back to San Diego tomorrow and look forward to getting back on track with the blog. If you're new to IrvsEyeView, check out some of the older entries and let us know what you think.

More to come, soon.

An' Negativity Don't Pull You Through (Bob Dylan)

2008-10-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail —You may recognize those words as the title of one of Hunter S. Thompson’s signature contributions to Gonzo Journalism, written as he covered the 1972 presidential campaign. Too bad that it best describes the direction that the McCain campaign has taken the final weeks of this election. Check out this piece from Huffington Post. Even though our conservative friends may dismiss the source, read the substance and the quotes from respected Republicans who are appalled at the strategy McCain and Palin are using in a desperate effort to break through with voters who seem to recognize the bankruptcy (pun intended) of the GOP’s approach, except, of course, the "angry ones" eager to vent during the McCain-Palin rallies. The look and sound of the crowds, some calling for Obama’s destruction, should make any thinking and responsible supporter of the McCain-Palin ticket think again about the direction this is headed. Palin, unlike McCain, seems to encourage and enjoy the verbally violent responses that the crowds are eager to offer. McCain just looks uncomfortable, but apparently not uncomfortable enough to have his staff tone down the rhetoric and take the campaign in a more dignified direction.

The messages we are getting from the McCain camp encourage the "Us against Them" culture warfare that is all about attacking Obama as "other" or different. Among the canards circulating are that he's a Muslim, that he's a terrorist, and that his relationship with William Ayers is much more than it really is.

If this election ends with an Obama win and large gains for the Democrats in Congress, the McCain campaign's strategy will have contributed mightilly to the success of its opponent. All of those who have respect for Sen. McCain will find his legacy diminished by the hateful and divisive tone of the current campaign. Voters were not buying the "Maverick" pitch of just a week ago, and we now hear less and less of that overused and misunderstood word. Instead, the focus is now on "that one", his exotic name, past associations--however innocent--and his "liberalism".

If the McCain camp turns the tide and eventually wins there will be much written about how well going negative continues to succeed. Fortunately, however, voters seem to be rejecting the personal attacks. Probably because the economy, the war, and health care concerns, mean more than empty attacks coupled with appeals to the "base's" baser instincts. Leadership is about bringing out the best in people; demagogues do the opposite.

Week by Week

2008-10-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

"That was the week that was; it's over, let it go."

Sung as sort of a jingle, those words were part of a 1960s era, weekly news satire program that started in Great Britain and then spawned a short-lived American version. Sometimes known as TW3, That Was The Week That Was lampooned politicians, more than a decade before the debut of Saturday Night Live.

Last week's failed bailout bill in Congress eventually passed after self-serving senators added a huge helping of pork. And then we had the highly anticipated, and widely watched, vice presidential debate. "That week", also brought us a net loss of more than 800 points, on the Dow. After all of that, letting last week "go" feels like a good thing to do. While TW3 was one of a kind, today's TV viewers can get more than a few good politically driven laughs from Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, David Letterman, Jay Leno, and the folks at SNL. SNL's "coverage" of the vice-presidential debate makes that often ridiculous spectacle seem comically sublime.

So as we let last week go, we need to keep laughing. But we cannot forget the serious business we face and our need as a nation to discern clearly how important our decision in next month's election will be, for years to come. So much is on the line. During these perilous times, our national "jokers" play an increasingly important role in determining our cultural consciousness and inject a dose of refreshing candor into the political process.

With another debate this week, and the likelihood of continuing volatility in the economy, my hope is that the desperate and personal tone of the McCain attack strategy will diminish. The only way that will happen--as unlikely as it seems--is if the Republican brain trust finds voters becoming angry and hostile to this approach. Based on the histories of McCain and Obama, the prospect of a civil, issues oriented campaign seemed possible, just a few weeks ago. Bringing Sarah Palin on board may have galvanized the Republican base, but it injected a level of culture warfare reminiscent of another time. Palin has livened things up but not really helped McCain in the polls. Thanks, in part, to the brilliant work of Tina Fey and her colleagues at SNL, Palin's presence is more punch line than presidential. Mostly, though, it reflects poorly on John McCain and the desperation driving his quest to become Commander in Chief.

We have just four weeks until election day. After four more TW3s, let's hope we're still laughing.

Winds of Washington & Wall Street

2008-09-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

Now everything's a little upside down, as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped,
What's good is bad, what's bad is good, you'll find out when you reach the top
You're on the bottom.

from Idiot Wind, by Bob Dylan

So, Republican President George W. Bush asks Congress for a bailout plan. His Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, makes the case. Just weeks before the presidential election, John McCain “suspends” his campaign, but after the plan is revised, supports the bill that goes to the House floor. Barack Obama doesn’t like the plan but backs it, too, after he’s assured that certain conditions are met. Then the bill fails. Forgive my reiteration of the obvious, but this is so bizarre, writing it out and seeing it on the screen serve as a reality check.

During news cycles, the historic dimension of what is happening can be obscured by the volatile nature of breaking news. The scale of this financial system failure and the inability of President Bush to get his own party’s House members on board, bode ill for the rest of us. And presidential politics adds an unprecedented dimension to this strange brew. Mostly, though, we have a leadership vacuum based on Pres. Bush’s record of failure and the public's distrust. Attempts by Sen. McCain to assert leadership become counter productive because of the obviousness of the political nature of these gestures. Sen. Obama’s approach, though more rational and reasoned, fails, also, to drive the political winds in non-idiotic direction. So we are stuck with House members, all up for re-election in a few weeks, too afraid to make a move that might be perceived back home as the wrong vote.

What it will take, in the next few days, is an uncommon and extraordinary approach, a difficult task rendered even more challenging by the timing of the election. But if there is greatness lurking anywhere in the halls of the Capitol, now is the time for men and women of both parties to rise above their own self interest, and political orthodoxies, and act in ways that will keep the economy moving forward. Wouldn’t it be refreshing for John McCain and Barack Obama to join together--really together--in asking Congress to act in the best interest of the country? They are not that far apart. If they won’t, maybe it’s time for one of those George H.W. Bush/Bill Clinton TV spots urging us to work together. Inaction is not an option.

Signs of the Times

2008-09-23T20:58:00.001-07:00

For starters, I’m a city guy. Sarah Palin’s convention speech comments, about small towns and their values, quoting a known anti-Semite though not by name, probably played well with some of the “base” that the McCain candidacy desperately needs. The problem for them is that most of the country lives in or near cities and depends on metropolitan America to fuel the economy and the culture. This is in no way meant to denigrate or disrespect the values that Gov. Palin meant to extol. The problem is, however, that to make the most of our future and thrive in the world of 2008, we need to understand our cities and how they have changed and evolved since our presidential (and vice presidential) candidates were born.

Because I spend a lot of time in New York City, not just in Manhattan but out in Queens where I grew up, I’m struck by how things have changed since I moved west, back in 1979. If you don’t know NYC, Queens is where working people live. They are transit workers, cops, firemen, teachers, laborers, among them new immigrants, lots of new immigrants, who are trying to make it in America.

For the TV news folks reading this, these new immigrants represent a part of your viewing population that is usually under served and also not well represented inside the newsrooms.

My new camera in hand, I took some pictures of my old neighborhood, in the Rego Park/Forest Hills area of Queens. The first two pictures on this page are a block apart on 63rd Drive, near Queens Boulevard. The Irish, Italian, Eastern European Jews and non Jews, Germans and other early to mid 20th Century immigrants, have been replaced by Asian, Russian, and Hispanic newcomers, eager to make it in their new homeland.

One TV station general manager I know recognized the power of this group of new viewers, their intelligence and potential. He encouraged us to understand and work for the strugglers and strivers in our community. Another GM I know, confessed, when I asked him about it during an interview, that in NYC, he had no native Russian speaker on his news staff.

In San Diego, where I have lived for 19 years, there are neighborhoods throughout the city where Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and other Asian languages are widely spoken and part of the local culture. The picture on the left is from San Diego's City Heights neighborhood. New York and San Diego are typical of many North American cities in that way. Just about any big city is home to native languages other than English. Friends I know in Toronto, Canada, proudly proclaim how that city welcomes newcomers from around the world. When Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York, he made it clear that he would gladly accept the immigrants other cities didn’t want. Of course, that was before Rudy ran for president. It was also before he denounced Barack Obama for supposedly thinking that Gov. Palin's hometown was not "cosmopolitan" enough. For those of you missing the irony of the ex-mayor of NYC ascribing big city elitism to Obama, I have a bridge in Brooklyn you might like to buy.

In this era of global economies and flat world enterprise, we are fortunate to attract the world’s ambitious and hopeful citizens who recognize the opportunity to contribute and thrive in the USA.

For those hard line opponents of immigration, perhaps you ought to reflect on the reasons we still attract men and women eager for a better life. Sometimes the only way to enter is illegally, probably not the first choice for those seeking work in the USA. Yet we do little to make the path to legal immigration more accessible. Our future and greatness as a country depend on continuing to be the best place in the world to be a refuge for

“...your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

Those words, by Emma Lazarus, enshrined on the Statue of Liberty, resonate more eloquently, for me, than the Westbrook Pegler homage to small towns, quoted by Sarah Palin.

We need our small towns and our big cities. We are one country, big enough and strong enough, for all to enjoy the benefits of the American dream.

A Time to Jump In

2008-09-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

During the 30 or so years that I worked in news, my personal policy was to be uninvolved in all political campaigns, no signs, no contributions, nothing supporting any candidate or ballot proposition. For most of my colleagues this practice was pretty typical and actually required by many news organizations. Now that I'm on my own it's time to jump back in. I say "back in" because twice before I've been a campaigner. When I was nine years old my mother took me to the local Democratic Club in Queens, and I handed out literature supporting JFK. In the 1970s, during a short break in my news career, I helped a friend with his state assembly campaign in Northern California.

So why now? For one thing, I don't work for a news organization or report the news; so I can. But more important is the importance of this particular election. As I've stated, fairly often in this blog, IrvsEyeView is not a political commentary; it is about culture and communication. Obviously, politics and those areas crossover in different ways. The most important reason I have decided to actively support a candidate in this election is that we have experienced a dramatic and profound shift in our national priorities during the last eight years. 9/11 was part of the picture but not the most important driver.

After a long news career you begin to get a sense about stories you cover and which stories have "legs". In the short term that means how long will it be a story. But in a more meaningful sense, it means the story will become a part of history, one that matters. It is safe to say that all presidential elections affect, and are integral to, history. This one, though, is the biggest in my lifetime.

With that in mind I spent the last weekend training to help lead local volunteer efforts for Barack Obama. I offer this information for two reasons. First, I've always believed in full disclosure. Most of you who read this blog probably figured out that I'm an Obama supporter. The second reason is to encourage all of you to get involved, even if you support candidates or ideas that are different from my own. Stand up for your beliefs by dedicating your time or your money. To paraphrase the Bible, we cannot stand idly by while blood is being spilled. Of course, the most important political act is voting and encouraging others to vote.

A FINAL WORD FOR MY FRIENDS IN THE NEWS BUSINESS

When journalists do their jobs well, they provide a service so valuable that it is protected by the Constitution. Messengers have often been confused with their message. We know, too, that candidates and advocates target the media with accusations of bias and favoritism. If you work in news, keep doing an honest job that focuses on the issues that are important. Personalities are integral to election decisions and strongly drive the way voters vote. So it's inevitable and vitally relevant that we learn about the individuals seeking our votes; who they are is a legitimate part of the story.

Journalists, today, don't only compete with other journalists across a range of media from print, to TV and radio, and the power of the web. Today, the news men and women who we should look to for truth telling, are competing against the powerful messages of political advertising, that often stretch the truth to the point of being untrue. Good journalism includes critically evaluating political advertising. Many politicians delight in criticizing the media. Sometimes those complaints are well-founded but often they are misdirected or a cynical political tactic. Ultimately, the voters have to decide who to vote for based on an array of messages that create impressions, in the context of our own experience and situations. For those of us who value ethical journalism, we are counting on good reporting that will help guide us through the competing images, personalities, issues, and rhetoric, that drive our choices at this critical point in history.

Conventions, Then, Now, and When

2008-09-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to those of you reading IrvsEyeView for the first time, because of the link in ShopTalk. For those of you who don’t know about ShopTalk, it’s a newsletter that chronicles the goings on in TV news. You can read it at TVSpy.com or sign up for email delivery. Formerly known as Rumorville USA, Shoptalk has been around since the early 1980s. The current editor is Tom Petner, a creative media executive and good guy. Thanks for the link, Tom!

Today’s blog comes to you from the airspace between Seattle and San Diego. We should be back in time to hear Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech. The media’s distraction with McCain’s unusual choice should slow down in the days ahead, as the novelty wears off concerning a relative unknown running for vice president, with a special needs infant son, and an unmarried pregnant teenage daughter. The media’s interest in Gov. Palin's family is appropriate but requires respectful restraint. However, if it becomes an excuse to avoid the real issues—and differences between the candidates and how they will govern—the media will have earned a failing grade.

Having watched most of the DNC and bits and pieces, so far, of the RNC, I have to wonder what coverage of the political conventions will look like, four years from now. As mentioned last week, after a very short time watching cable news coverage, I switched to C-Span. Others I know watched streaming web feeds. Almost everybody I know, who has an interest in politics or the media, has been critical of the coverage. Is the coverage really that bad? I’m afraid the answer is a qualified yes. With the limitations on time, and the focus on headline speeches, there is really no sense of being there and sharing in the ambience of the event. Instead we get a highly produced speech or two, and the predictable commentary about what it means. As mentioned previously, the local coverage I’ve seen has added real value for the viewer. Capturing the sense of our own community’s place in the national story gives perspective to the bigger picture.

I attended both the Republican and Democratic conventions in 1976, and a few more since then. The energy and excitement of being at a political convention is real and exhilarating. Certainly we should report critically and responsibly on the politics and issues. That’s not in question. But we should also capture the environment and ambiance of being in the big hall, or in Obama’s case the football stadium, during the major moments of these uniquely American quadrennial celebrations. I will never forget standing next to a fellow journalist, a reporter from Australia, during Jimmy Carter’s acceptance speech at Madison Square Garden in 1976. He turned to me and said, “we don’t have anything like this where I come from. This is fantastic”.

Watching C-Span last Thursday, with the Sheryl Crow performance building to a number of preliminary speeches and then Barack Obama’s acceptance, I got a sense of the special character of the American political convention. My hope is that as we report on future conventions, four years from now, and beyond, we continue the tradition of conveying the celebratory along with the politically significant.

A Vote for C-Span

2008-08-28T12:29:00.001-07:00

A "brutish, slow-witted beast", is how comedian Jon Stewart describes the 24 hour cable news networks. And after attempting to watch coverage of the Democratic National Convention on all of them, I have to agree. This is nothing new. A very savvy media executive I know—my friend and former boss, Neil Derrough--observed back in the mid 1990s that “feeding the beast” of the 24 hour cable networks, will bring down the quality of journalism, across the board.

The broadcast network news operations have suffered, too. The loss of Tim Russert, Peter Jennings, and even Dan Rather (still alive but not on CBS this week), have diminished the strength of coverage substantially and noticeably. But, in all fairness, I may not be an honest judge of the coverage because, after the first night, I switched to C-Span. For a hard core political junkie, it’s the best option out there for watching the conventions. You get to see what’s going on without the editorial decisions of network—cable and broadcast—producers deciding what is important and what is not.

In many ways, local news is the better choice if you’re interested in “coverage”. At least you get a sense of what it means to the people from your state or city who are at the conventions. How the national campaigns relate to your own world is a reason to watch, listen, or read, local news coverage.

As the DNC reaches its high point tonight, and the RNC gets ready to start, I’ll continue to check in on the networks. I’ll try PBS, too, which I have not watched so far this week. But in the end, I have the feeling I will keep coming back to C-Span.

Midnight Ramblings from EWR to SAN

2008-08-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

Trying to understand your own life requires the ability to clearly analyze the information that explains who you are. The reasons you might subject yourself to such an analysis can range from trying to find a new job to choosing a life partner. The point is not to over think every decision. But leading an examined life, as Socrates tells us, is a fundamental piece of living itself. And as we grow older, the ability to see in new ways grows, or at least our perspective becomes wider and deeper.

Struggles can make us stronger or wound us. Even wounds can heal and become sources of strength. How we respond to life’s triumphs and obstacles can define us in profound and powerful ways. It’s taken me 57 years to really understand one of my favorite Dylan lines, “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”.

Sitting on an airplane, heading home after a week away, feels like a beginning. Physical motion fascinates. How we move, get from place to place, encompasses breathtaking technological triumph; but mostly, we take it for granted. Our world is a study in contrast. Like anything else in life, we can use technology for good or bad.

As we’ve been discussing in previous blogs, the current moment is a fertile time for creativity. In part, we’re driven by the inability of our longtime employers, television stations and networks, to find ways to use the new story telling tools for positive—and profitable—purpose. We intend to embrace those possibilities.

John and Barack's Great Adventure: Class or More of The Same

2008-08-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

A young man I know, wise beyond his years, asked me for help with a political opinion piece, back in the dark days of January. This recent Harvard grad, now enrolled in medical school at Columbia, wanted to publish an essay about his picks for the Republican and Democratic primaries. He identified the two candidates he thought would best serve the country by running a different kind of campaign, based on issues leading to a meaningful election.

His observations and insight into why the two he had in mind would run a clean campaign were refreshing. Imagine real issues being discussed, he argued, and the personal attacks of the last two plus decades being replaced by reasoned discourse and Lincoln-Douglas style debates.

Although he submitted the piece to several newspapers and online sites for publication nobody picked it up. It turns out that he was more prescient than the professional political pundits who make their livings writing about presidential elections—at least as far as predicting the nominees. He got it right. The voters chose John McCain and Barack Obama, two men most likely to be headed for the high road, our young friend believed.

Now it seems, the candidates’ handlers are at it again, most notably McCain’s campaign boss, Steve Schmidt, a Karl Rove protégé. The sad spectacle of personal attacks will only succeed if we—the voters—let it succeed. As our young observer sensed, before any votes were cast, the public wants a different type of campaign, this time. In last week’s Newsweek (click here for the column), Jonathan Alter offers some insight into candidate McCain’s discomfort with the negative attack strategy, Schmidt is promoting. Obama has also been lured into negativity but not with such clumsy and uncomfortable effect.

We have a chance for something different. Don’t let the Karl Roves of the world rule the day. Demand that the candidates, who were chosen by us—the voters—resist the advice and conventional wisdom that says negative attacks will get them elected, but in reality will damage their own legacies and our futures. And if you’re one of our friends in the media, don’t be complicit. Demand real dialogue that will help us decide who best can lead.

Media Literate News Producers

2008-08-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

The melding of marketing with newscasts is nothing new. As producers face shrinking budgets and limited resources, promoting commercial interests as legitimately newsworthy becomes increasingly common. The use of video news releases (VNR) and content provided by companies, and other third parties, grows. Often, producers include commercial content innocently, though they are typically naïve or negligent. Product placement has even made its way onto news sets, recently and probably not so innocently. As with most ethical issues in journalism, those who see the problem as black and white really miss the many shades of gray that are the present reality.

There’s a new television news operation in San Diego that started up one week ago. Evident to any critical viewer is the reliance on content provided by third parties. They’ve done stories on Smart Cars, various movies, and the 40^th anniversary of McDonalds, complete with stacks of Big Macs and a live shot with Ronald McDonald. My purpose is not to single out this news department but to illustrate the pressures producers face. More importantly, we need to understand what is happening and level with viewers about how these stories wind up on the news, in other words--full disclosure; we should encourage media literacy in our audience and be media literate producers ourselves.

In the interest of my own full disclosure, I spent five years developing and helping manage a video news service for The Cleveland Clinic (CC). CC is among the finest academic medical centers in the world. In addition to patient care, education is integral to CC’s mission. The produced stories and video elements that CC provided to stations could be used in a number of different ways, from turnkey turnaround of tracked packages to pulling elements for inclusion in what the station was putting together itself. As a longtime advocate for ethical journalism, my position was clear. Identify what we send; then make certain that final editorial control is with the journalists, not CC. And encourage stations that use our material to localize by talking to doctors, researchers, and clinicians, independent of CC. Within The Clinic, our unit was clearly separated from marketing; the physician CEO, who was there when we started, made it clear that our role was more in line with education than advertising or promotion.

The problem with what’s happening now is that the commercial marketing content that winds up in newscasts is often neither identified nor acknowledged as such. My wife observed that there is a generation of media consumers who don’t clearly distinguish between marketing content and news. In essence, she was saying that segments of today’s audience are media illiterate. But the problem goes deeper. Many producers are not media literate, at least not in any sophisticated fashion. Ultimately, this is a leadership issue. The imperative to set standards and explain expectations falls on newsroom managers and on the culture of the organization. In the expanding world of online journalism the need for media literate writers, producers, and editors is especially critical. The amount of content available, through aggregations sites such as thenewsmarket.com, and content delivered directly to stations by third parties, can serve as valuable resources for news organizations. The challenge is to use it responsibly, critically, and level with viewers, users, and readers, about its source and even the purpose of the provider.

Journalists who figure this out, and add this level of media literate context, will actually be doing consumers a service. The option of not using such content at all is certainly laudable, but becoming less, and less, realistic. Provide honest context and full disclosure, understand the motives of content providers, and level with viewers about how something finds its way into a newscast or web story, and be critical if appropriate. That’s a brand of news that serves the public and will keep them coming back for more.

(Final full disclosure. I consulted with thenewsmarket.com, briefly, more than two years ago.)

New Century Convergence

2008-07-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

Back in the last part of the last decade, in the last century, the word convergence rose in prominence as new technologies tempted our imaginations to envision new ways of distributing content and making money. The last part of the last sentence is always of lasting importance; if we don’t make money, new ideas usually don’t last.

Now we are engaged in a great media war, testing whether the powers of our business models, however conceived and however dedicated, can long endure (my apologies to President Lincoln for the paraphrase). As we meet on the great battlefields of the current media wars, we have to think about the next decade, but also learn from the last. With our current convergent realities —that include portable devices as well as desktops--and younger audiences more comfortable online than almost anywhere else, perhaps looking backwards, in new ways, will help us move forward.

Suppose our starting point is now, and not 1995. Rather than find ways to push comfortable content from another century—TV as we know it—take the creations crafted for the small screens of pods and smart phones and package it for the medium to large screens of LCD and plasma sets. In order for this to work, producers who work for TV stations and networks need to provide context and quality gate keeping in order to add value to the proliferating amount of video and multimedia content being produced during the last years of the first decade of our new century. That is the task for real convergence, now and in the immediate future. The content is there and the amount available is growing and will grow even more dramatically, as prices for good cameras and editing software come down. We must find the most watchable and compelling “stories”, and then make certain that the best reach the widest audience. That approach will drive real convergence for the 21^st Century. Let me know if you’re willing to try.

Telling Hard Stories That Matter

2008-07-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Several friends have mentioned to me that they would like to see more frequent entries in Irv’s Eye View, not necessarily the magazine length pieces I’ve been doing every couple of months. So here it goes…

A couple of recent NY Times stories on the economy merit attention. Take a look at Sunday’s big page one piece on a woman who is suffering from the predatory practices of lenders, while admitting that she needs to take responsibility, too. The other piece is in today’s paper, on the real impact of the government’s policy in dealing with the mortgage mess. What we see in these stories is how saving the financial system trumps helping ordinary Americans. There is a clear and urgent need to prevent a collapse of the banking system and this is not to suggest otherwise or diminish the importance of these efforts. But the sad truth is that the longer term health of the economy depends on qualified buyers, and current owners, being able to pay their bills. The disturbing part of what is happening now is the lack of focus on maintaining low payments for the best credit risks, whether it is in mortgages or other loans, including credit card debt. So why is this money stuff of interest to a blogger on communication, culture and the media?

The media’s ability to miss big stories, particularly if they involve complex financial matters, requires reporters to muster the best story telling skills they have in order to properly tell those stories. This is an election year which means the stakes are high, so finding stories like Sunday’s NYT profile should have a real bearing on how we vote. As the clichéd closer might go: What happens on Wall St has impact on Main St. The media, both mainstream and new, ought to lead the way in telling these important stories and making the connections in ways that matter. The more personal, backpack style journalism is uniquely well-equipped to capture the real world meaning of the musings and missteps of politicians and economists.

So don’t miss this part of the economic story and get caught up only in the price of gas and food. Tell readers, viewers, and users that those credit card come-ons that arrive almost daily in the mail should include a skull and crossbones warning--ditto, for the low rate mortgage lies. Get out there and tell these stories. It’s already been in the NY Times so we will start to see the networks and local news folks falling in line. But this economy has been with us for more than a few months, now.

Yes, there have been many stories about people losing their homes, foreclosures and fire sales. But the story is bigger than that. With the exception of the super rich, this crummy economy hits everyone. The people who pay their bills on time, every month, are feeling the squeeze and it hurts, even if they can hang on. And Washington’s remedies fall short of helping, at least so far. The irony is that if the best credit risks were rewarded, by being allowed to pay at their current best rates, that would help the failing banks. Instead, higher rates are driving away the most reliable customers and discouraging new business. That’s no way to fix a failing economy.