May 22, 2006

Message From Michael                    
                                                       May 22, 2006                                                                                                         

• SWEEPS


• SHOE-HORNING 31 HOURS INTO A 24-HOUR DAY


• INTERNET USERS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN AND NEWS


• BIAS AND CREDIBILITY TIMES TWO


• COCKTAIL CHATTER

• SWEEPS:  Three more days ‘technically’ left.  Five more days if you’re waiting for diary keepers to actually fill out the forms.  And it never ends if you subscribe to the belief that you win sweeps year-round.


• SHOE-HORNING 31 HOURS INTO A 24-HOUR DAY:  That was the description used by Colleen Fahey Rush, executive vice president of research for MTV in describing the average person’s day.  Her company, along with many others, are trying to figure out how to reach, really reach, consumers who are doing two or more things at once.  Readers of MfM will remember the phrase “Concurrent Media Usage.”  It comes from the Middletown Media Study at Ball State University. The less fancy term is multi-tasking.  And advertising agencies have created an installation under holding company Interpublic Group of Companies called the Emerging Media Lab in Los Angeles to try and figure out what to do about it.  As a recent New York Times article points out, it’s all about “engagement” – another term MfM readers will be familiar with.  The point is how to get your message across in one medium when the consumer is involved in several media at once.  They’re not sure what the answer is yet, but the lab as well as online research firm OTX have found that people of all ages, not just young people, are multi-tasking or using various media concurrently, and that the amount of time spent multi-tasking is rising across the board.


• INTERNET USERS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN AND NEWS:  According to a study released by Jupiter Research, people under 35 are turning more to Internet portals to get national and International news.  As reported (confusingly) in Editor and Publisher, cable TV is still the primary source (38%) for national and international news for people 18 to 24 with newspapers second (27%).  But as people get older, the numbers drops with 33% of those 25 to 34 turning to cable TV and 20% turning to newspapers.  And when it is only the online population, news portals grow in importance.  Cable TV still accounts for most of the interest with 29% of those 25 to 34 but a close 27% pick news portals versus 11% for newspaper websites.  The study raises the concern, according to the authors, that if the younger news consumers keep those same consumption habits as they age, it is “the beginning of a much more dramatic and alarming trend.”  The study authors do say there is a lesson to be learned, that local news organizations should “emphasize local news over syndicated content and generic headline news from wire services.”On a related note, another “study” (yes, there is a reason why it’s in quotes) purports to show that young people are turning to the Internet more for fun.  The survey by Bolt Media of 400 of its online users aged 12 to 34 shows that 84% say their most popular activity is surfing the Internet with 76% saying it’s hanging out with friends, 71% watching movies and 69% watching TV.  The angle of the study that got the most headlines was the report that only one in four of those surveyed can name all four major broadcast networks.  Again, the reason for “study” being in quotes is the limited survey; Bolt only recently relaunched itself as a competitor to youtube.com.   The five most watched networks, according to the survey, were Fox, Comedy Central, ABC, MTV and Cartoon Network.On a semi-related note, a study by interactive marketing agency Sharpe Partners found that 89% of Internet users share content via e-mail, that a quarter of them (25%) do it daily, that two-thirds (63%) share stuff at least weekly and that three quarters (75%) forward the content to six or more other people.  Not surprisingly, the most popular content being shared is humorous material with 88% saying they forwarded on jokes or cartoons.  The second most popular category though was news with 56% saying they share news items.  Health info came in third (32%), followed by religious or spiritual material (30%), business and finance info (24%), and sports and hobbies (24%).  


• NET NEUTRALITY:  This is another one of those confusing terms that you will be hearing a lot about, if you haven’t already. If you want a technical explanation, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality.  And if you’re still confused, you’re not alone.  The underlying point is that the Internet is reaching or will eventually reach overload, especially as more video moves online.  The carriers want to charge the broadband hogs a fee for carrying their content.  But opponents say once the carriers start charging a fee, they will be able to determine who does and who doesn’t get online and the free-for-all that is the Internet will be lost.  And if you want to further confuse yourself, look up the term Web 2.0.  It’s the second generation of the web, which basically encompasses everything and anything new, along with improved technology.


• BIAS AND CREDIBILITY TIMES TWO:  Nearly one in seven newspaper journalists (13%) who responded to a survey about journalism ethics say reader concerns are justified because some reporting is biased and not to be trusted.  And 6% say the reason for the declining public support is that editors are mixing news and opinion.  It’s all part of a survey commissioned by The Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.  When asked about the integrity of their fellow journalists, 30% say there has been either some increase or a great increase while 29% say there has been some decline or a great decline.  The survey by research firm Decision Analyst examines reporter and editor attitudes toward ethics and credibility.  Most of those surveyed (44%) blame the declining public support on the plagiarism incidents in the national media, although 19% blame the decline on the “sins of TV news.”  Remember, this is a newspaper survey.  Part of the problem, according to the survey, is the political polarization.  When asked what to do about the credibility issie, a third (34%) say there is a need for increased scrutiny and leadership.  And a quarter of those surveyed called for increased training, talking to the public and/or clarifying and enforcing policies.  (I should note that former co-worker and MfM friend Steve Rolandelli conducted the survey.)On a related note, a study by Indiana University of correspondents embedded with the troops during the Iraq war found they remained objective despite concerns raised by some.  Assistant professor Julia R. Fox (who, I should note, is another MfM friend) says the findings suggest that non-embedded reporters were actually less objective than embedded reporters.  She and doctoral student Byungho Park found that although embedded reporters used the pronouns “I” and “me” more, they were not aligning themselves with the troops.  They note that because the reporters were “eyewitnesses” it was inevitable they would use those terms.  In a news release from the university, Fox suggests re-thinking the concept of objectivity because, “reporters don’t have to be removed from the story to be objective.”


• COCKTAIL CHATTER:  So, what happened in February on TV?  The Federal Communication Commission reports that indecency complaints tripled in the first quarter of this year with nearly 142K complaints filed.  That’s compared to 41K filed in the last quarter of 2005 and 234K filed in ALL of last year.  Most of the complaints (138K) were filed in February.  Meanwhile the U.S. Senate has approved unanimously raising indecency fines from $32,500 to $325,000.  Of the 250 top-grossing movies around the world, only four are foreign made:  The Full Monty (UK), Life Is Beautiful (Italy) and Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle (Japan).  (Source: The Perils of Power by Josef Joffee in The New York Times Magazine.)  Animalattraction.com is the eharmony version of a website for animal lovers.  People looking for partners post not only their own profile, but a profile of their pets, to make sure they are ALL truly compatible.  Going a step further, there is another website, titled smokingdate.com, which is aimed at singles who smoke and who are looking for other singles who smoke.   The Toni Morrison novel Beloved is the best fiction book of the last quarter century, according to a survey of 128 novelists by the New York Times Book Review.  “Runner-ups” included Underworld by Don DeLillo; Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy; Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels by John Updike; and American Pastoral by Philip Roth.  Roth actually had five other books mentioned in the poll of leading novelists.  DeLillo had two others mentioned.  They didn’t ask me but my favorite that made the list is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.  


• SUBSCRIPTIONS:  We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael.  But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM from 2006 are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.