January 2009
23 posts
6 tags
The Sinking Ship of Media
Now is not a good time to be in media. Period. No media corporation, big or small seems to be able to escape the economic crisis. The news comes in day after day that another company is closing, another publication is folding. My own agency, Dentsu Next is closing today. With a scant week and a half of lead time, that was it. We heard about all of the closings and layoffs happening around...
Revolution, Facebook Style (NY Times) →
A great article about how Facebook was utilized in Egypt to galvanize the politically dissatisfied and organize protests. It can be considered somewhat controversial, given Facebook’s original intentions, but it’s a good example of the dynamics of digital media and user content. Once a platform is open to the use if its users, it is no longer under the control of the creator.
This...
5 tags
Obama: President of New Media
We’ve got a new presidency in Washington, in more ways than we thought. Obama’s presidency is the first to truly adapt to and utilize new media. From the President’s new tradition of Internet videos (see below) to his fight to keep his blackberry, Obama is breaking media barriers. He describes the impetus behind it as a need for openness and transparency in his...
4 tags
Escapism in America's Top 3 Movies
The top 3 movies at the box office this week are as follows:
1. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”
2. “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”
3. “Gran Torino”
The fact that “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” could be at the top of the box office disturbs me a little. There are a lot of great films out right now, so why is this one at the top? Escapism, pure and simple. ...
4 tags
Only Fox News Cares About Bush Anymore →
Apparently Fox News was the only network to cover Bush’s Texas homecoming. Can’t say I’m surprised about that one… I guess both FORMER-President Bush and Fox News both had to cling to their last vestiges of relevence.
6 tags
The Power of Michelle Obama's Gown
I guess what I really mean in the title is the power of the MEDIA. I think the title of the headlining Huff Post style article says it all: “At Last”. Can I just say that I do believe that the media coverage of Michelle Obama’s Inauguration Ball gown has possibly rivaled that of Barack Obama’s future foreign policy? Ok, that’s a bit of a hyperbolic statement. But...
“We will be judged by what we build, not what we destroy”
– Barack Obama, Inaugural Speech
3 tags
Thoughts During the Inauguration-Live Blog!
Currently watching Obama’s inauguration on MSNBC at work. So this will be a stream of thoughts and probably not very coherent…
Obama looks so incredibly serene, I wonder what he’s thinking walking to the stage.
Am I wrong to feel a little weird about having a prayer at these sorts of proceedings? Separation of church and state?
The sheer amount of people that have gathered...
4 tags
Facebooking in the Afterlife
I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Facebook. Sometimes it’s annoying, sometimes it connects me to people in a wonderful way. Sometimes I love the fact that I can have an online presence, and sometimes I wish I didn’t exist in cyberland. I think most people grapple with their relationship to Facebook, as the whole social networking thing is relatively new. But one facet...
6 tags
Big Bad Blonde Bombshell
Lately it seems that bombshells are living up to their name, indicating destruction instead of just beauty. The Huffington Post noted the negative reception to Vogue’s cover with Blake Lively, where the young TV icon was transformed into a new age Marilyn Monroe (Read the article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/13/blake-livelys-emvogueem-m_n_157446.html). In the article her...
4 tags
Obama's Inauguration, Capitalist Style!
Next Tuesday is a big day. Period. Historic, emotional, hopeful; it’s all of these things (if you’re liberal). Obama’s inauguration is a day to come together, celebrate the new, and… eat popcorn & drink coffee? Apparently. According to the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/14/us/politics/14msnbc.html?emc=eta1), on Tuesday MSNBC is will be showing it’s...
2 tags
3 tags
Google is Not Jesus for Newspapers!
So I read this interesting interview with the CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/07/technology/lashinsky_google.fortune/index.htm
Because Schmidt has revealed a deep regard for newspapers, this conversation was about the possibility that Google might be able to save the failing newspaper industry. Now I know Google is a behemoth, but I don’t think turning to it is...
3 tags
Garfield - Garfield = Mass Media + User Content
Before reading this, click on the following link and read some of Dan Walsh’s comics…
http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/ Ok, now we can talk about it. Clearly Dan Walsh’s premise is to extract Garfield from the comic that bears his name and see what’s left. I think it’s a pretty great example of what can happen when people actually interact with the media environment...