popular thinking

Seems as though you're hearing/reading about at least one story a day in the media that references MySpace.com. Yet just about every story goes ahead and says how many members MySpace has...these days, the stat cited is 180 million. But, um, really? 180 million members? I wouldn't be surprised if at least 80 million of those so-called MySpace accounts are fakers, spammers or duplicate MySpace pages. It'd be nice, though probably unrealistic (and possibly Big Brotherish), to get an accurate count of how many MySpacers there really are.

Labels: media, online

I live on Boston's best street. Didn't need Boston magazine to tell me this, but thanks, anyhow. Tis true, though. Within a few paces of my doorstop, the best late-night dining and carousing options in the city (Franklin Cafe, Stella), a nice, well-stocked grocery store (Foodie's), the holiest of Catholic churches (for those of you who like seeing the Pope in person), other great restaurants where A-listers, social people and everyone else intersect (Pho Republique, Union, Oishii), popular dog parks, a new Boston Sports Clubs with swimming pool, the South End Little League, and that's not even mentioning the Boston Center for the Arts, the Boston Ballet and everything else along that section of Tremont Street (or Shawmut or Harrison, for that matter). The SOWA Art Walk is my neighbor, and joined in the summer (starting Sunday, weather permitting) by the South End Open Market. My other neighbor used to be the Waltham Tavern, and even that was fun while it lasted. And it's only a 10-minute walk to the theater district and the Boston Common movies (and my former employer). So yes, a great place to live.

Great timing for my landlord, who just put my humble abode back on the market.

Labels: media

Checking in with 7 News in Boston, infamous for its flagrant use of alliterative headline graphics. On last night's 11 p.m. broadcast, they opened with breaking news, followed by:

Weather Worries
Drenched by Downpours
Horror & Heartache
Fatal Fire
Avoidable Anguish?
Beer on the Bus?
Library Lewdness
Immigration Nation
Hank Reveals...Where to Watch Out
"Braking" & Entering
Caught on Camera
Plot Thickens
(weather)
(return to breaking news)
(sports: Let's Play Two, Rotating the Rotation)

So the May sweeps philosophy at WHDH-TV seems to suggest viewers need extra help at the top of the news with over-the-top headlines, but after the A Block, you can shift gears to plays on words, and then tone it down. Interestingly enough, once the 7 News writer completely broke from alliteration and wordplay -- "Plot Thickens" -- can you even guess what that story was about? JFK. Obviously. No wonder the suits insist on alliteration.

Labels: media, TV

Media reports today about Sanjaya Malakar and his non-homecoming to Federal Way, Wash., prompted more than a couple of chuckles out of me (read the NY Post's take here, or a more local version out of the Tacoma News-Tribune here) because I worked in Federal Way for the Federal Way News from 1996-1998 (shut down by the Seattle Times Co. in 1998, and later revived by its original owners), covering City Hall, cops and the utility district, among other things. So I know the political players involved, as well as the quirky place this suburb holds (or doesn't) in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area. Somehow, this kind of minor melodrama makes perfect sense there.

By the way, Olympic speedskater and darling Dancing With The Stars hoofer Apollo Anton Ohno also spent his teen years in Federal Way.

Labels: American Idol, media, newspapers, TV

So I'm watching NBC's 7 News at 5 p.m. today and could not help but notice they devoted a significant amount of airtime to a robbery in south Florida. Why? Perhaps because the reporter said she was from 7 News and you saw the familiar logo on the 7 News microphone during the segment's interviews. But wait a second. You mean to tell me that a Boston TV station sent a reporter down to Florida for a bank robbery? No. You don't mean that. Because it's the top local story from FOX's 7 News in Miami. Same circle 7 logo because they're owned by the same company, Sunbeam Television. I suppose it makes sense to combine your company's news forces, even if one is an NBC affiliate and one is a FOX affiliate, to make it seem as though you're on top of the story. It certainly gave Boston's Ch. 7 an intangible advantage during the Anna Nicole post-mortem saga. But for a local robbery in Miami? It just gives the appearance of time-filler.

Then again, is this any worse than the longstanding practice among local TV news teams across the nation of slapping their own voiceovers on another station's enterprise report?

Actually, that's a worse offense in my book.

But still. The whole Boston-Miami dual Ch. 7 connection just seemed odder than usual to me today. I wonder, though, if Miami's Ch. 7 News has the same mandate to go with alliteration on every single news story.

Labels: media, TV

The folks at Scarborough Research published their updated national findings on print and online news readership in most metro markets of the U.S. So what should we make of these numbers?

Depends upon what you're looking for, really. Here are the numbers for the Boston market, with a measured potential area population of 4,783,000.

Boston Globe
Weekly print readers (people who picked up the paper at least once in the survey week)
1,986,000
Print market penetration
42%
Weekly online readers (people who clicked on Boston.com once or more in the survey week)
790,000
Online market penetration
17%
Total readership (factoring in people who read both print and online)
2,269,000
Total penetration
47%

Boston Herald
Weekly print readers
1,181,000
Print market penetration
25%
Weekly online readers
200,000
Online market penetration
4%
Total readership
1,259,000
Total penetration
26%

Those numbers almost mirror the situation in similarly-sized Dallas/Fort Worth, with the Dallas Morning News the primary read and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the secondary read. Although Boston.com's online penetration is better than most other large-market news sites (though slightly less than WashingtonPost.com).

Read the numbers another way, though, and you could say that 37 percent of Boston's populace doesn't pick up either the Globe or the Herald (though likely more considering at least a few percent had read both papers during the week). What are they reading? The Metro? The new BostonNOW? A smaller community newspaper? No papers at all? It'd be good to see those numbers, too. Especially since Scarborough did include suburban paper stats for some of the other major metros. Argh.

I'll be curious to learn what Dan Kennedy makes of these stats, considering he has been arguing that media observers need to factor online readers in newspaper circulation analysis (by the way, the next circulation reports will come out early next week). And then we can fret some more about the present and future status of the American newspaper.

Labels: media, newspapers, online

If you're a Virginia Tech student who survived this week's shootings and decide to blog about it, get ready for lots of media requests for interviews. See Exhibit A (Via Gawker). The requests run from bad to worse to obscene. Yes, journalists want to talk to survivors of any tragedy. I once had to talk to the parents of a small child who had died hours earlier, and I felt awkward and intrusive...but at the same time, you have to be sensitive to the grieving process. In some cases, allowing survivors and loved ones of victims to speak can be quite cathartic for them. I learned that, too, while working an obits beat at one paper. In other cases, survivors shouldn't be forced to talk more than they already have -- if they didn't included it in their blog post, they obviously aren't ready to share more. Some of the media covering the Virginia Tech shootings still need to learn some of these lessons.

Labels: media, online

Even the Wall Street Journal suggests that blogging leads to employment. Maybe I should apply for a job there?! Yes. Maybe I shall.

Labels: blogs, media, online

Jamie Kennedy's new documentary, Heckler, prompts the New York Times to explore the proliferation of heckling both in public and online. Ugh. Now I know why my Arizona friend enforced a strict no-heckling policy in his club, with bouncers showing up at your table to warn you first, then escort you out the door if you continued.

Labels: comedy, media

Another report suggests that the youngsters are reading newspapers -- online, anyhow. The Newspaper Association of America says its data shows online paper sites have increased views and visitors by 13.7 percent in the 25-34 demo, and by 9.2 percent in the 18-24 bracket. Boston media critic Dan Kennedy often argues that combining the online and print readership shows the news ain't all bad for the newspaper companies. What do you say?

Updated/related: The Seattle Times continues speculation that its competition, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, will go online-only if their JOA breaks.

Labels: media, newspapers, online

Say it ain't so?! Well, this former Seattle journalist -- now UW professor -- says it is so: Journalism and alcohol (and other drugs) go hand in woozy hand. His study? Mostly anecdotal. Highly skewed. And I don't mean that kind of high. But, of course, there is some truth to it.

Labels: media

My travels with Boston comedian Shane Mauss found a journalistic home in this week's Boston Phoenix. Read it here. I'll have plenty of details, photos and more on this matter.

Labels: comedy, media, newspapers

The Los Angeles Times covered Richard Jeni's memorial at the Laugh Factory last weekend. Read its report. I was friends with his girlfriend, TV reporter and meteorologist Amy Murphy (we worked together in Phoenix, and the first thing she said to me when she found out I was a comedian was how much she loved Richard Jeni -- she hadn't hooked up with him yet) and so my heart goes out to her and to Jeni's family.

Labels: comedy, media

Don't hate. The New York Times apparently decided this past weekend to write soft happy profiles of two popular comedians, Jim Gaffigan and Amy Poehler. Read them while the links remain valid! You won't learn as much as you'd like to, but you'll still enjoy knowing temporarily that the "paper of record" has decided to feature a couple of good comedians for all of the right reasons.

Labels: comedy, media, newspapers

Very pleased to see my college writing friend, Sarah D. Bunting, cash in on this newfangled Internet craze. Bravo announced yesterday it had purchased Bunting's Television Without Pity site (read news about it here or here). They've already got it linked from the TV network's home page! And the TWoP has a statement about the big buy here.

Sarah and I go back to the olden times, back when the Internet was merely a secret government project, back when we would co-write and publish a definitive student guide to Princeton. I convinced Sarah to write for me as I published one semester of the Student Course Guide (Tangent: Having all of this online makes it so much easier to coordinate than back in those olden times! Oh well.). Sarah then convinced me to join her on the staff of the college's alt-paper, Nassau Weekly (co-founded by David Remnick, for you trivia buffs!), where I became a resident Page 2 humor columnist. That, of course, helped send me on my way into a fun-filled adventure into the world of real-world journalism. So, yes, blame/credit Sars for some of the pithy prose I've brought unto the world. I'm going to go with credit on this one.

Labels: media, online, TV

I was in New York City, celebrating with comedians and Comedy Central folk after a successful night of tapings for the second season of Live At Gotham, when the audience coordinator delivered the news to us. "Did you hear Richard Jeni died?" My first reply: "You've got to be kidding. That must be one of those Internet rumors going around." Nope. No rumor. Although it took until Sunday morning to find out anything that might confirm the tragic news, and that came via my friends at Shecky Magazine.

The official Richard Jeni site first went black, then emerged first with his dates (1957-2007), and later with a note from the family on Monday, and now a note from one of his good friends. It's good that Jeni's family and friends have come out quickly with an explanation -- well, not a complete one, but how can you for a suicide -- so all of his fans don't spread falsehoods about him.

Couldn't help but immediately think of Mitch Hedberg's sudden death two years ago this March.

These two great comics took different paths to self-destruction. Jeni, a gun; Hedberg, drugs. They both needed much more support and comfort than we gave them. It's just so sad.

I knew Hedberg a lot better than I knew Jeni. I had the good fortune to both perform with and interview Hedberg, so his death hit me harder. Though he had always been jovial and mostly sober when I saw him, the signs were so very clear that Hedberg was falling away from us, from his arrest in Texas to his dismal performance in Tempe, to his no-show in Phoenix. Instead of dwelling on that, today I went to this tribute site and watched a bunch of Mitch clips. Still so very funny. Watching the 1995 Comedy Central clip also gives you a glimpse into Mitch's early stage presence, when he had the material but a more traditional delivery. He hadn't yet become the Mitch we all grew to love.

As for Jeni, I didn't really know him at all. Remembered him from The Mask. Remembered him even more for his cinema comedy clips in the late 1990s. Saw him all over the place when I went to the Aspen fest in 2002. Saw him again onstage in Tempe a year or two later. Always quite solid and quick with the quips. I knew a girl who dated him. Now wondering if she was "the girlfriend" and feeling so sorry for her and what she's going through. Talked to some people who did cross paths with Jeni recently and they reported that all was not quite right, or that they had seen a different personality out of Jeni.

They both needed much more support and comfort and a positive kick in the arse than we gave them. It's just so sad. We need to keep an eye on our friends and loved ones, and make sure they know how much we love and care about them. I'm not saying anything new here. But it's still the kind of thing that we need to keep saying if we want to prevent another comic tragedy like this.

Post your thoughts on Jeni's MySpace page or Memorial Guestbook.

Labels: comedy, media

After a fun year of They Might Be Giants-penned ads joined and followed by John Goodman voiceovers, Dunkin Donuts has named Rachael Ray as its new spokeswoman. Read initial coverage here, here and here.

Did the company read Mike Miliard's socio-anthropological profile of Dunkins in last week's Phoenix, though, to make sure Ray fits in with the demo? Probably not.

Of course, if you're like me, you remain wistful for the so-called good ol' days of Dunkin ads...


Or this one from oh-so-recently...


Or this jingle-lingle-jam...

Labels: advertising, media, TV

Well, two of my journalism teachers have gotten some ink and coverage of their own recently.

Gayle Wald taught my first journalism class, a high-school elective in my junior year, and served as faculty advisor for our school paper when I became its editor-in-chief. But she left the school my senior year so she could pursue grad school at Princeton, where I ended up the next year, providing the odd sight every now and then of both of us going to class. Anyhow. Her latest book, Shout Sister Shout!, got a B grade in Entertainment Weekly.

My senior year at Princeton, I took a nonfiction journalism seminar by this new visiting professor, Samuel Freedman. Freedman must've liked his experience teaching us, because he has continued his seminars at Columbia, and the success of his students got the attention of NPR today. I liked the experience, too, by the way. Very challenging class. Especially when you're trying to assign yourself and complete a longform nonfiction narrative, which means you're scheduling time off-campus to find and interview subjects. And at the same time, you've got a senior thesis to research, write and publish. And it's senior spring. So yes, very challenging class. But I'm glad I did it. Scared to look at some of the papers I turned in. But I'm glad I did it.

Labels: journalism, media

Just thought I'd put that out there, seeing as other guys keep lining up (Zsa Zsa's hubby? Really? Why?) to say they're the father of the late Anna Nicole Smith's potentially billionaire baby.

Why is there nonstop TV coverage on this? And why am I watching?

Labels: media, TV

Today's nominee for the most popular misused phrase uttered on TV newscasts across the country: "You'll never see this on television again."

What is this, perchance? The Snickers Super Bowl ad, which all of the aforementioned newscasts -- cable, network and local -- then showed over and over again. On television.



Related: Snickers; GLAAD condemns the ad; Snickers parent company pulls the ad

Labels: advertising, media, online, TV