Modern Media Barn: Thoughts

Rachel Re made a very good point in the attached link. 

Re on FOX

In this, she points out that it is unfair complain that FOX expresses opinions or comments about the news. She, rightfully, points out that the media has been doing this for years. She points out that the reason FOX should not be considered a legitimate news outlet is that they are in the business of creating news events — especially those events that consistently attack one side — in this case Obama and the Democrats. This is one of the best points I have seen. More than any “news” outlet in the past, FOX campaigns counter to the sitting president. In addition, any thinking person has got to recognize the bias in the FOX news presentation.

Now, while most know that I disagree with FOX and their biased view of the world. I wish to discuss the validity of most of what they do.

In these days when facts are highly perishable comodities, the 24 hour news service must do more. Offering opinion, even overwhelming bias is a service that can serve a valuable function. In many parts of the world, biased news operations live confortably — even profitably — next to one another. If we accept it is the funtion of the media to draw an audience, FOX has done its job. If we had more biased services like FOX, news people would have more than enough work and people would likely increase there consumption of news. We would have to look at multiple sources just to know what is really going on. In this age of cheap and easy news, it is harder to NOT hear the news than ever before and I firmly believe the American market could effectively deal with the multiplicity of services and opinions.

The ONE thing I must chide FOX. “Fair and Balanced,” “No Spin Zone,” and others wear on this service like a child trying on their grandparents clothing. If FOX would simply stop what I believe to be false advertisng, I would see them as a legitamate part of the political and news landscape. However, until that time, they sit in my eyes as liers and I do not take my news from known liers.

When I heard about the “Internet Freedom Act” my immediate reaction was that it did not have much to do with freedom. I was right. The act seeks to restrict my freedom to receive the internet content I choose. It will stifle innovation and contribute to the further consolidation of the media. In short, it is one of the least freedom inducing act to be introduced in a very long time. 

Now I admit, just the term “net neutrality” sound boring enough to make me want to switch channels. However, that is the point. Net neutrality simply requires that the companies who provide internet capacity do so fairly to all content providers. The concept is rooted in the long standing concept of common carriers. Simply stated, the common carrier must supply service without discrimination on a first come first serve basis. Examples include telephones, ferry boats, and electric services. Now, I admit it gets more complicated when rules you have to define who asks for what and when but the idea is fairness to all. Net neutrality makes the same demand on internet traffic.

 The goal is a network that allows the interconnectiveness which created the vast resource of the internet. Yes, out of the freedom has come chaos but out of the chaos has comes the paradigm shifting services of YouTube, iTunes, and Amazon.

 What is the alternative? Here we need to understand the portal — the most profitable legitimate online business and the clear future profit centers. Google, Yahoo, AOL, and others don’t produce content as much as they direct users to it. These portals are the functional equivalent to the broadcast television networks NBC, ABC, and CBS.

 Then there are the lowly internet service providers (ISP). These companies provide access to the internet but (other than AOL) have not become anything more than a marginal portal. This is where the Internet Freedom Act enters. Without net neutrality, the ISP will have the power to force you to use them as your portal but even more powerful.

 The company you choose as you ISP will have the power to block or slow access to unfavored services and redirect you to others. While the ISP could use their power to block dangerous sites, anyone who thinks financial deals would not affect choices is seriously misguided.

 An admittedly ridiculous telephone corollary: You call your friend but the phone company redirects your call to a telemarketer “chosen for you.” I guess I did not want to call Walt after all.

 In the end, the only freedom in the Internet Freedom Act is the freedom for additional media consolidation.

I remember, back in undergrad days, attending a lecture by Brian Wilson Key and his warning that hundreds of advertisers were practicing ‘’subliminal seduction.” Proponents of subliminal advertising believed that messages could be encoded below the threshold of recognition and still have an effect.
It might have started with cutting a single horrible frame (1/24 second) into a horror film to increase effect. The alternative was to cut an image of Coke and popcorn to increase sales. There were many others — most claiming some level of success. Of course, most doing the trials had a vested interest in its success. In the early 1990’s, an East Lansing, MI department store would randomly make non-subliminal but unexplained announcements which suggested store security was closing in on a shoplifter. A store employee admitted to me it was all theater.
Key took a different route. He tried to find subtle images worked into commercial advertising. His argument, “Why would advertisers do all this work if it did not pay?” In these pre-Photoshop days, if intentional, it would have been a lot of work.
The result placed Key squarely between a prophet and a dirty old man. He had to spend a LOT of time looking at images and seeing some pretty disturbing things: the orgy in a Denny’s placemat, skulls in ice cubes, and beautiful but subtly disfigured models. He maintained that the famous poster of Farrah Fawcett was made even more popular because her hair spelled out the word, “sex.” Funny, as a boy of a certain age at the time, I would have been sold by the swimsuit or the much less subtle nipple. For those reading this today, you must extrapolate to 1970’s standards.
As a student of broadcasting and psychology at the time, I tried to embrace the idea. However, I never could really get behind it. At that time, it was too difficult for the payoff. Today, it is difficult to see how the subtle images could compete with currently overt images. At best, I accepted that a subliminal message MIGHT cause a person to adopt a behavior they were inclined to do anyway (e.g., buy popcorn or not steal).
I go through this whole history lesson to set up my next entry — the new ‘’subliminal.” I would apologize for leaving you hanging but I have read this blog.

Is it time to demand honesty from our public officials and further demand that the media start fact checking accusations.  It is no secret that I have no great love for the Bush administration.  So I will start with the admittedly controversial stand that throughout the Bush administration and continuing to the anti-Obama effort, clarity and honesty have taken a back seat to getting people emotionally involved. At the same time, traditional news media have lost ground to outlet that offer a strong stream of “commentary” with their news product.  In effect, we seem to be in the waning days of honesty from political organizations and unbiased reporting.

The question from a business perspective is, “why?” or even “Is this good business?”  For years, the major media outlets have lived on the concept that they offered clear, unbiased report of the days activites.  There have always been accusations but as long as everyone was a little unhappy with the media, the reputation survived. Now, it has almost become cliche to talk about the bias of mainstream media — even by the mainstream media.  What has changed?

Well, clearly competition and instant communication makes for a new business environment.  Once your know a fact, the value of that fact drops significantly.  Therefore, how do you get continued viewership, and continued revenue in an environment where your audience is getting most of its basic information elsewhere?  How do you motivate the audience to continue to watch/read/consume your product?

It seems clear that the media — particularly the highly competitive cable, and online media — have gotten the first part down.  Opinion and commentary have become the value added to keep an audience that can turn away?  It is infact good business to stir public opinion to keep the public interested.

I was listening to a podcast a few weeks ago between an editor, a professor, and a working reporter.  After the attempt to debunk “death panels.”  The media outlets were accused of bias.  In effect, the people would rather learn more about the lie than learn the truth.

When are we going to hold everyone accountable for the truth?  When can the media return to the days when the truth was their value-added?

I was shocked to receive a letter from Dr. Barry Litman yesterday.
Barry did know me and I recently sent him a card.
However, I was shocked he was nice enough to send me a letter.

The letter was dated December 19th but because of a change in office and
the forced holiday vacation, I did not receive it.

I later learned Barry died on December 26th.

For those that do not know.
Barry had an extraordinary mind for economics — particularly media economics.
While I was never lucky or wise enough to work with him,
he was someone I truly respected.
In a real way, he was a model for how a professor should act – but not dress.
He was driven, inventive and dedicated to his best students.

The last line of his letter was his true legacy in my mind.

“I am very proud of all our former MMPHD students and the careers they have followed. I hope I have helped them along while they were here.”

God bless him on his way.

The Modern Media Barn has always been about the practical use of appropriate technology.  As such, I plan to use this space for semi-random thoughts and ideas I collect over time.  Maybe, someday, they will make sense.

For the last 15 years, I have been a media researcher.
I guess I will always be a media researcher.
Someday, I may return to mass communications and academe.
I know I have some tentative contacts out there.
A person with my teaching and research experience gets notices when not in our so-called “primary” field.

However, what was once a sabbatical has become a new primary area of interest.

As many of you know, I have spent nearly the last two years working for
the Picard Center for Child Development. Picard is a research center that evaluates
education initiatives in Louisiana and, soon, regionally.

There are some practical advantages to this new area research.
Well funded, well crafted efforts are always more interesting.
Volumes of quality data is just fun.

The environment at Picard is exceptional as well.
People laugh and work together in an environment that is more about completing projects
than getting credit or status. It is, by far, more healthy than where I have been in the past 15 years.

Finally, on a personal level, I feel like I am contributing to a needed project.
Improving education and raising people out of poverty may not me as profitable
as some fields. It is more clearly useful.

The end is a question.
Have I left my previous path?
or has my path returned to me?