Message from Michael - the year of living dangerously - December 30, 2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        December 30, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

      THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY

      JULES VERNE VERSUS LEONARDA DA VINCI

      CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL PROCRASTINATOR

 

 

       THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY:  For journalists, 2011 may be that year.  The Peter Weir movie starring Mel Gibson (before he himself became dangerous), Linda Hunt and Sigourney Weaver traces the transformation of an Australian reporter during the political turmoil surrounding Indonesian president Sukarno’s  overthrow.  The transformation this year may not be as sexy but it is definitely more significant.  Already signs of that transformation can be seen in the increased use of user-generated content by CNN and Fox News, crowd-sourcing of news by Forbes and other magazines and, of course, online efforts by newspapers far and wide.  Moves designed, yes, to improve the quality and reach of the news, but also to improve the bottom-line.  Interestingly (Yes, I know, I use that word too often), some of the predictions on the future of journalism come from non-journalists, like PR firms Edelman and JWT (J. Walter Thompson).  In its tech blog, The Naked Pheasant, (and no, I have no idea where the name comes from), Edelman’s practitioners argue that news will become more ‘hyper-local’ and ‘hyper-social’ through “a combination of owner and user generated news… pushed to users based on location.”  JWT takes a slightly different but related tact, predicting the rise of “entrepreneurial journalism” with the next generation of journalists employing ‘hybrid skills’ that combine traditional journalism with business and technology.  The JWT list of “100 things to watch in 2011” also predicts that “as media shrinks to fit our attention spans, the novelty of long-form journalism will stand out” and will be delivered through e-readers and other electronic devices.  Along with that, the pr firm’s prognosticators see a new generation of documentarians whose access to cheap video cameras and software will fuel “an expansion of video storytelling and visual experimentation.”  The report cites the Sundance Film Festival’s planned user-generated documentary Life in a Day, which you lucky readers heard about some months ago.  Meanwhile, back in the day-to-day world of broadcasting, there is a question of – what next.  You’ve no doubt heard of the Houston television station which is planning to experiment with no-anchor newscasts.  Extreme maybe, but as Scripps CEO Richard Boehne told TVNewsCheck editor Harry A. Jessell, there is, as he so adroitly puts it, a “plague of sameness” in local TV news.      

But, back to the theme of ‘dangerous.’  And, now we’re slipping into commentary, although I prefer the term reporting.  Edelman CEO Rick Edelman writes in his online blog about former PR practitioner Wendell Potter’s book Deadly Spin which warns that Americans, including journalists, are subject to the PR spin-meisters “whose loyalty to their clients outweighs the public’s right to the truth.”  Almost needless to say, Edelman disagrees, saying a business’s long-term success “is only achieved by honest and accurate communications.”  Regular readers will remember previous messages about custom content or custom publishing, which are sometimes disparagingly called content farms or content mills… sort of like puppy mills.  Now, media mogul (don’t you love that description?) Barry Diller has gotten into the act with his IAC group Pronto starting what it calls The Writer’s Network where freelancers can earn a whopping $15 an article for writing things like how to fold napkins, according to an article in AdAge.com.  The three leading content mill services are Demand Media, Associated Content and Examiner.com.  Associated content is already associated with Yahoo.  Now, USA Today has struck a deal to syndicate travel stories from Demand Media, and AdWeek, under a headline ‘Examiner Gets Legitimate’ reports that Reuters has struck a similar deal with Examiner to use tips and articles from its… get this…. 65-thousand contributors.  That’s scary enough, but here is where it gets really scary… or dangerous… IMHO:  While doing research on predictions for 2011, I ran across an interesting website called openforum.com, which had a slew of articles like 11 trends for small businesses in 2011, top app trends for 2011, the rise of a new breed of blogger in 2011.  And the list went on and on.  And the source of this really cool, neat site?  American Express.  It was custom publishing at its best, and in that story, my friends, lies a lesson.  What, I don’t know.  You tell me.

Continuing the theme of living dangerously, the other trend to watch out for in 2011 in going to be the debate about privacy versus personalization.  Because we have dealt with this in previous messages, we won’t belabor the point.  Okay, maybe a little.  The JWT top ten list for 2011 says that while technology will become so integral a part of people’s lives that it is almost like breathing, that people will also want to “de-tech” and get away from the technology saturation.  It even headlines one of its 100 things to watch in 2011 as “ignorance is bliss”… meaning that people will reach a point of not wanting to know.  Lastly, in this footnote, two or three of the 2011 predictions talk about International cyber-attacks.  Again, we’ve talked about this in a previous Message in which the Council on Foreign Relations published an article by an under-secretary of defense who talked about the cyber war being waged between companies and countries.  And that… that, folks, is why 2011 may be the year of living dangerously.  

      JULES VERNE VERSUS LEONARDO DA VINCI:  Okay, let’s lighten up a bit.  There is a saying – you can’t predict the future but you can help invent it.  Verne predicted; Da Vinci invented.  This issue is a look forward.  If you want a look backward at what made 2010, take a look at Harry Jessell’s three-part Year in Review series on the  TVNewsCheck website; or Poynter Research’s New Interest Index. In any case, here are some of the meta-tags from each report.  From Jessell: -- multicasting and central casting, retransmission and net neutrality, broadband and broadcast spectrum, Conan O’Brien and Betty White, one-man bands, or  ‘so-called’ backpack journalism; and, of course, the FCC.  From Poynter (and in order of interest): -- Haitian earthquake, BP Oil Leak (yes, I was surprised it was number two, but only slightly with 59% following it versus 60% for Haiti); the Economy, Chilean mine workers, mid-term elections, cold winter, jobless benefits and Arizona immigration and snow storms.  Anyway, all that said….

Let’s get the real obvious predictions out of the way – Mobile (Internet and TV), Social Networking, Online Video and Cloud Computing.  Virtually every prognosticator and prestidigitator mentions at least one, if not all of these, in their crystal ball gazing.  Okay, we all get it.  Yeesh.  Mobile is evidenced by the simple fact, according to marketing intelligence firm IDC, that mobile advertising increased 138% year to year, reaching $877 Million.  Or maybe it’s the fact reported by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project that a quarter (26%) of American adults used their cell phone to take part in some way in the 2010 mid-term election while more than half (58%) of those 18-29 used their cell to tell their friends that they voted. Marketing research firm eMarketer released a study that shows people spend more time on their cell phone every day than they do reading newspapers and magazines – an average of 50 minutes a day on their mobile versus 30 minutes reading newspapers and 20 minutes reading magazines.  More evidence is the fact that the Federal Communications Commission wants to convert broadcast spectrum into broadband spectrum because of the growing mobile use.  What takes mobile growth from the Jules Verne prediction mode to the Leonardo Da Vinci invention mode is the development of what is called M2M (Mobile to Mobile or Machine to Machine), or D2D (device to device) technology in which the mobile units talk directly to each other, bypassing the need for a WiFi intermediary.  Next year mobile may become even more mobile.

Social Networking is evidenced by the fact that the world’s largest advertiser, Proctor & Gamble, which created television’s soap opera programming almost single handedly, is switching its marketing dollars from soaps to social networking.  Even Ben and Jerry’s ice cream has gotten into the act, abandoning its email marketing campaign in favor of social network marketing.  Further evidence of the social networking focus is that 11 out of the 12 topics listed for research by the Society for New Communications Research relate to social networking.  The one exception – changing modes of delivery for media and entertainment, and it could be argued that has a social networking undertone.  Online video is evidenced by the fact that Hulu crossed the Billion videos a month mark a year ago, and is going higher, while NetFlix is now providing a streaming video service in addition to DVD rentals and downloading, and that service is expected to become its prime delivery service.  We could cite several examples of the rise of cloud computing but the simplest and best evidence is the simple fact that the two Technology/ Business Behemoths, Microsoft and Google, are going head-to-head to provide competing services.

      CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL PROCRASTINATOR:  Proof that I also miss things -- Unbelievable as it may seem, I didn’t know about the YouTube Double Rainbow phenomenon.  It’s a video of a ‘mountain man’ who sees two rainbows and freaks out.  How did I miss that?  Did you miss it, too?  If so, you will have a hard time finding the original because there are so many parodies.  Another one that I sort of missed – Groupon – the online service that provides coupons and tips you off to local money-saving deals.  I kept meaning to write about it, but kept putting it off.  A little more than two years old (started in November, 2008), it now has reached the point that Google reportedly offered $6 Billion for it, and a $950 Million equity offering by the company puts its value between $6 Billion and $8 Billion.  And if that isn’t enough to tell you how badly I missed the mark, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal say Groupon will reach $1 Billion in sales – and here’s the important part – “faster than any other business EVER.”  To make up for the ‘miss’ in 2010, the Groupon phenomenon is predicted to be one of the big trends in 2011, according to JWT Intelligence, which says “time sensitive deals” with an “act now” mentality will extend around the world and beyond the Web.

      COCKTAIL CHATTER – Princess Leia.  Of course, you remember the scene from Star Wars in which R2D2 projects the princess via Hologram.  Well, according to IBM’s annual “five for five” prediction list, we will soon be doing that with our cell phones.  Instead of just talking into your mobile device, your mobile device will project a 3D hologram image of the person you are talking to.  The other five include a sensor system in which ‘citizen scientists’ provide data on everything in their environment so that ‘real scientists’ have massive data to pull from; cell phone batteries that rely on air to recharge and last ten years, or even use kinetic energy to recharge small devices; re-routing the heat and energy output of data centers to provide hot water and heating for the cities they’re in; and adaptive traffic systems in which commuters are provided via mobile (of course), data that tells their cars where to go and where not to go.

      FOOTNOTE:  We will be re-grouping and re-presenting a re-formatted Message from Michael in the New Year.  The intent is to make it better, but you tell us – any suggestions for making it better.  We promise we will do our best NOT to screw up a tried and true formula of fact-based, limited commentary reporting… unlike MediaBistro’s recent relaunching of TVSpy which took a tried and true product and made it a trite and trivial product.  Sorry… couldn’t help it.  Commentary.  For those not familiar with it, TVSpy, formerly ShopTalk, is an industry insider newsletter that virtually everyone in broadcasting read.  MediaBistro recently bought it and using algorithms and search engines, instead of real people, has turned it into putrid pubescence (a phrase I stole from the movie Princess Bride.)  And, as they say in the business…stay tuned.    

      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 Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.  You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.

 

Message from Michael - Zeitgeist and Clues - December 15, 2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        December 15, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

      AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 WAYS

      TWITTER ME THIS, BATMAN

      THE MEANING OF THE WORD SATISFACTION

      COCKTAIL CHATTER – THE SMARTEST CITY

 

 

      AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 WAYS:  To see the world in 80 ways is a researcher’s dream come true, and you can do it with a combination of Google’s Zeitgeist and Yahoo’s Clues programs.  Both tell you the most searched items around the world, and one could argue, the different trends around the world.  The “fastest rising” search item around the world, and in the U.S.,  was ChatRoulette, the randomized and sometimes raunchy chat service first mentioned in the Message shortly after it started a year ago.  The Russian-based (how appropriate – as in Russian Roulette) concept was created by a 17-year-old High School student and can claim upwards of 1.5 Million users.  The iPad was the second ‘fastest rising’ search item, followed by… Justin Bieber, the 16-year-old mop-headed Canadian singer whose career started with a YouTube video.  Bieber was also number one in the Zeitgeist’s entertainment category (ahead of Shakira, Eminem and Lady Gaga), and number one in the people category (ahead of Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian, and Eminem.)  But aside from questions like – what is Eminem doing back on the list – the real fascination is the people and things you may never have heard of.

For example, Nicki Minaj.  All you ‘cool’ readers of the Message probably know about her, but this Trinidad-born hip hop recording artist was news to me.  She was the fourth highest ranked item on the ‘fastest rising’ list and number eight in the entertainment category, although interestingly, she didn’t rank in the ‘fastest rising people’ category.  Dig a little deeper into the Zeitgeist data and you find, not surprisingly, that she is the top search item in Trinidad/Tobago (100% interest) followed by Jamaica (68%), but she’s also a big deal in Botswana (55%).  Then it’s the U.S. and Uganda (22%), followed by a series of African nations.  Now, here’s where you can do some interesting digging… if you really are a geek… and guess who is?  Nicki Minaj shows up most in the Yahoo Clues search among women 18 to 24 (25% of the searches) while Lady Gaga, for comparison, shows up big in men 45 to 54 (17%).  And while Lady Gaga is big in Texas and Illinois, Nicki Minaj is big in Georgia and Texas.  Yahoo Clues gives you demographic information on searches and also location information, but locations only in the United States. Google’s Zeitgeist shows you worldwide regional interest, but not demographics.  Want another?  How about Kesha?  The 23-year-old American pop singer is a big deal not only in the U.S. (69%), according to Yahoo Clues, but particularly in Ohio… And, Lebanon (100%) and the Philippines (84%).

Even more interesting are the games and music sites that made the list, and that yours truly has never heard of.  Ever heard of Myxer, or how about Grooveshark?  Both are music sites which, coincidentally, were created in Florida, and although popular in the U.S., are also popular elsewhere.  Grooveshark which is a music recommendation site, like Pandora, is especially popular in Costa Rica (100%) and Argentina (89%), while Myxer, which specializes in music ringtones, owes almost all its popularity to the U.S. (100%) and Canada (24%).  Both have similar demographic skews, although women and people making under $25,000 are somewhat more interested in Myxer.  Myxer is big in Washington state while Grooveshark is big in Ohio.  Now, if you’re from Albania or Colombia, you’ve no doubt heard about and played the gaming site, Friv.com.  Or, if you’re from the Palestinian Territory or Yemen, you are no doubt a big fan of the gaming site, Gamezer.com.  Both sites made the ‘fastest rising’ list and both scored exceptionally high in search interest in those areas.  If you’re like me, you haven’t heard of either one, but just to make me, and maybe you, feel better, the source of all knowledge (aka Wikipedia) did not have a listing for either one.  Men 45 to 54 (34%) and people from the District of Columbia (100%) are most interested in Gamezer, according to Yahoo Clues; while women 35 to 44 (20%) and people from Louisiana (100%) are most interested in Friv.   

In Zeitgeist’s ‘in the news’ category, although not in my realm of news are besiktas, Jorg Kachelmann and Menowin Frohlich.  All three made the Zeitgeist global list of top searches ‘in the news.’  Besiktas, as far as I can tell, is a Turkish sports club whose football team is one of the major teams in Turkey.  Besiktas, by the way, is also a district in Turkey where a stone supposedly from the cradle in Bethlehem where Jesus was born, is located.  Jorg Kachelmann is a Swiss “presenter”, as they call anchors in Europe, who specializes in weather and who is popular in Europe.  Menowin Frohlich is a German singer who apparently was a big hit on the German version of American Idol.  The top search item in the news worldwide was Haiti, followed by besiktas, then Chile and Earthquake.  The top item in the fastest rising search category in the news in the U.S., was, not surprisingly, the oil spill, which came in number ten on the worldwide list.  Haiti and the earthquake came in second and third respectively on the American list, followed by Sandra Bullock, Favre (as in Bret), Lindsay Lohan, and then immigration, followed by Apple, unemployment and Tiger Woods.

      TWITTER ME THIS, BATMAN:  Avid readers of the Message (and, yes, there are some) will know that I’ve used this headline before, but at least it’s better than my original Twitter headline about Rockin’ Robin.  A survey by the Pew Internet and American Life project found that one out of every 12 American adults (8%) who are ONLINE (note the emphasis) use Twitter; but even more interesting, the survey says Blacks are nearly three times more likely (13%) to use Twitter than Whites (5%) and Hispanics nearly four times (18%) more likely.  The survey says that a third of Twitter users (36%) check for posted material either several times a day (24%) or at least once a day (12%).  Even more interesting, two out of five (41%) say they don’t check for material ever (21%), or less than every few weeks (20%).  Less than one in five (19%) either post personal updates once a day or more, or post re-tweets (18%) daily, or post general life observations once a day or more (16%).  I should note that the survey identified 1,561 adult Internet users, of which only 102 were Twitter users.

      THE MEANING OF THE WORD SATISFACTION:  More than a third of the Internet connections in the United States (39%) are at the lowest end of what is considered a high speed connection, with downstream speeds of less than 3 Mbps and upstream speeds of less than 768 Kbps, according to a recent report by the Federal Communications Commission.  As noted in previous Messages, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has often cited the U.S. as being at the low end of the broadband connection world.  The report which contains the latest data as of December of last year (2009) says there are more than 133 Million of what it calls “reportable connections” in America.  Of those, more than half (58%) have downstream speeds less than 3 Mbps.  Nearly a third (30%) have downstream speeds of more than 6 Mbps.  The rest are in between.  Of those total reportable connections, nearly half (49%) have upstream connections of less than 768 Kbps.  Only a tenth (12%) have upstream connections of more than 1.5 Mbps.  It’s when you put together downstream and upstream speeds that you get the third who are at the low end.  Oddly (to me at least) five percent of those reportable connections had downstream speeds of more than 6 Mbps but upstream speeds of less than 768 Kbps.  I know… I know… you’re enthralled by the FCC report.  Wait… there’s more.  Another study on Internet satisfaction by the FCC says – surprise, surprise – that half (51%) of home broadband users are ‘very satisfied’ with their service with nearly as many (41%) saying they’re ‘somewhat satisfied.’  Almost the same percentage (50%) are very satisfied with the speed of the service and – big surprise here – customer service (49%).  Now, hold on to your hats, the survey also found that people who have considered switching service are less satisfied with the service than people who have not considered switching.  I kid you not.  The federal government reported that as part of its survey.          

      COCKTAIL CHATTER:  According to an analysis by business website Portfolio.com, the ‘smartest’ (please note the quotes) city in the U.S. is Boulder, Colorado.  The website comes to that conclusion by analyzing the educational attainment of the top 200 U.S., markets, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.  In Boulder, five out of every six persons (82.5%) have attended college, while a quarter (26%) have advanced degrees, which makes it the strongest concentration of higher education achievement in the study.  Ann Arbor, Michigan, takes second place, while the nation’s capital, Washington D.C., takes third place, followed by Durham, North Carolina and back to Colorado where Fort Collins takes fifth place.  Considering my position at the University of Georgia, I won’t go into which universities are located in those areas, although the Portfolio report cited that as a key factor.  Athens was not on the list, mainly, I believe, because it does not qualify as one of the top 200 U.S. markets.  Gainesville, Florida, came in 14^th.  Atlanta, by the way, came in 42^nd.  On only a semi-related note, the Associated Press’s TV Writer David Bauder reports that the game show Jeopardy is going to pit its two top champions against an IBM artificial intelligence computer named Watson in the upcoming year.  On an even less related note, the Milliken Institute, a think tank focused on the global economy, released a report which says the best metropolitan area in the U.S. for jobs and economic growth is the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood area of Texas.  In fact, Texas scored 11 out of the top 25 spots for job and technology growth along with wages and salaries.  Austin-Round Rock, Texas, came in second, followed by Huntsville, Alabama, at third.  Just because I was curious, Boulder scored 56^th on the list in the large metro area category while Athens scored 32^nd in the small metro area category.  The point is that you can go to the Milliken site and do comparisons.    

      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 Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.  You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.

 

 

Message from Michael - Wikileaks and Broadband - December 8, 2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        December 8, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

      DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET

      BATTLE LINES BEING DRAWN

      COCKTAIL CHATTER – TODAY’S CECIL B. DEMILLE’S

 

 

      DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET:  And if your name is Julian Assange, you definitely won’t promise not to tell.  Okay, I admit it.  That’s a way too obvious headline for a story about Wikileaks.  Oh, well.  The point is that a mixture of First Amendment/ Free Speech concerns, together with political, military and business concerns have been mixed in with Internet technology and ‘new media’ elements to create a “cyber war” on the Internet.  It may be hyperbole to say this, but the latest eruption makes the Wiki-released cable leaks about China’s efforts to hack the Internet and censor Google seem like child’s play.  Okay, it is hyperbole to say that, but it does appear to disprove the Chinese government’s belief that, as one of the Wiki-leaked cables put it, “the web is fundamentally controllable.”   The fact, as reported on a previous Message, that the entire Internet was routed through China for 18 minutes earlier this year might appear to support that belief.  But the furor created by “hacktivists”, as they call themselves, in support of Wikileaks, quickly disproves any notion of control.  They have been waging a semi-successful “data war”, as they call it, in support of Wikileaks and against various businesses and operations.  It started when various authorities tried (and that’s the operative word) to shut down the Wikileaks websites.  As the cynical line says -- Good luck with that.  At my last count, there were more than 13-hundred mirrored sites around the world carrying the Wikileaks information: France, Germany, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Australia, along with some I don’t recognize, and, yes, the U.S.  Then MasterCard, Visa and PayPal refused to process donations using their services in support of Wikileaks.  The hacktivists launched what they called “operation payback” and they didn’t just ‘try’, they did cripple MasterCard and others through “denial of service” attacks on them as well as the Swedish authorities pursuing rape charges against Assange, and the websites of the lawyers for the women making the accusations.  Let me add some more figures into the mix: -- at my last count, there were more than 472-thousand followers of Wikileaks on Twitter.  And more than 1.1-Million people “like” Wikileaks on Facebook. 

FOOTNOTES:  Caught in the middle of the credit card donation dispute is a small telecommunications company called DataCell based in Iceland of all places, and which processes all the payments for giant corporations like MasterCard and Visa.  The company CEO says the dispute shows the duopoly control of the two companies and the potential for the “end of the credit card business worldwide,” according to a report in The Guardian newspaper of London.  Speaking of that, it should also be noted, as a reminder, that the Guardian and the New York Times also published many of these leaked cables as well, in some sort of semi-coordination with Wikileaks.  Also, those hacktivists referred to earlier, appear to have originated their plan using the 4chan.org website mentioned in previous Messages.  If you were to visit the site, you would think it’s pretty innocuous.  Its chief focus is the Japanese animation and cartoon forms known as anime and manga, but it’s also the source of many of the memes, or odd ideas and concepts, that have spread across the Internet.  Also, as a footnote, many of the mirrored sites had the notation ipv6, which regular readers of the Message will know, stands for Internet Protocol Version 6 and is the latest standard, designed to succeed the earlier versions which are rapidly running out of Internet addresses.  Lastly, as a personal note, going to the detoured websites of Wikileaks and 4chan reminds me of earlier reporting days when we investigated F-B-I files on public officials.  One of the approaches was to ask for your own file.  The problem, as cynics said, was that if you didn’t have something on file with the F-B-I before, you did now that you requested it.  Some how I have the same feeling about visiting all these sites.

      BATTLE LINES BEING DRAWN:  Once accused of being a ‘paper tiger,’ the Federal Communications Commission has suddenly taken on a new life and new projects, ranging from mobile broadband and broadcast spectrum to Net Neutrality and Internet Privacy.  The result is a series of lines being drawn in the sand.  The FCC proposes switching 120 MHz of the broadcast spectrum to mobile broadband, leaving the broadcast stations to divvy up – or as television types put it – ‘cramming’ the TV signals of all the stations into the remaining 180 MHz.  As part of that, stations might end up ‘sharing’ digital spectrum.  The parceled off spectrum would be sold through reportedly voluntary “incentive auctions” with, supposedly, the television stations getting a share of the auction. So, battle line number one:  the National Association of Broadcasters which has called for an on-line Town Hall meeting of broadcasters.  Next, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has proposed that the commission adopt a series of net neutrality regulations, requiring more disclosure of companies’ network management, prohibiting the “blocking of lawful content, apps and services,” and barring “unreasonable discrimination” in transmitting ‘lawful’ Internet traffic.  So, battle line number two:  The various Internet Service Provides and Telecoms ranging from AT&T to Comcast.  And, yes, no doubt, you have heard of these various issues, but, again, these are issues too important not to mention in the Message.  What you may not have heard about in the broadband-broadcast spectrum debate is a proposal by the FCC to create three new kinds of licenses:  -- research licenses allowing universities and research institutions to conduct experiments over a wide range of frequencies; medical licenses to allow medical institutions to develop new devices to ‘save lives’ and ‘reduce costs’;  and innovation zone licenses, in which ‘remote’ geographic areas would be identified as places to experiment.  What you also may not have heard about is a ruling by the FCC adopting rules governing so-called TV “White Spaces.”  These are the spaces in the TV signals which are unused but kept open to prevent interference.  The new rules would allow use of certain unlicensed devices in these spaces. 

FOOTNOTES:  The FCC maintains a “Spectrum Dashboard” which you can access easily and which shows the entire spectrum used in various localities around the U.S.  The FCC also just released two reports – one about Internet access and one about customers’ satisfaction with the Internet providers.  The first report shows that more Americans are getting more truly high-speed broadband Internet access.  The U.S. government had been criticized in the past for setting the standards for so-called high-speed Internet access much lower than other countries.  The second report shows that, despite what you may think, most people are either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their Internet providers.  We’ll have more on these two reports in the next Message.  Lastly we would remind readers of a previous Message showing the results of Internet backbone provider Cisco’s Visual Networking Index report which showed that Global Internet traffic will increase four-fold by 2014.  For those of you who like numbers, the actual projected figure is 767 exabytes of traffic.  That is ten times ALL the Internet traffic in 2008.     
 

      COCKTAIL CHATTER:  If you’re ready for your close-up, various reincarnations of Mr. DeMille are ready for you.  As noted in a previous Message, one of the more interesting commentaries on today’s media culture are the various casting calls posted by Cynopsis Media.  The companies are looking for – among other things – (and these are actual quotes) –Female truck drivers for a new docu-series titled (what else) Mother Truckers… Transgender couples raising a family (but make sure you tell them – what makes your story different)… Private, family owned coroner/ medical examiner/ forensics office… On the flip side of that, Family-owned floral or event decorating businesses… Professional confectionery artists who own their own business, but they specifically say (for whatever reason) that they’re not interested in cake or cupcake makers… Singers who had to give up their dream when life got in the way but whose passion for music remains bright…  Part-time on-air guests who are experts in culinary, fashion, fitness, beauty, gardening and home décor but you have to live in New York, Philadelphia or Baltimore area… Engaged young couples with alternative tastes but please explain why your tastes are ‘alternative’ and what’s your relationship with each other’s parents… High-profile Native American families who lead rich and interesting lives (and) have big personalities… Licensed massage therapists whose clients want you not just for your great touch, but your wit and great advice on love and life… And my favorite, and I don’t know why – adventurous Americans who have a Norwegian ancestry.  Think Garrison Keillor should apply?

      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 Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.  You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.

 

Message from Michael - Privacy vs Personalization - November 30, 2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        November 30, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

      PRIVACY VERSUS PERSONALIZATION

      I READ THE NEWS TODAY, OH BOY

      BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID

      LOST IN SPACE

      COCKTAIL CHATTER – VIRTUAL DIVA

 

 

      PRIVACY VERSUS PERSONALIZATION:  It may be “THE” issue of the coming decade for new media.  How do you balance the two.  Two federal agencies are expected to issue two separate reports, or recommendations.  The Federal Trade Commission report is expected to come down on the side of consumers; The U.S. Commerce Department report is expected to come down on the side of business.  President Barrack Obama is expected to appoint a “privacy Czar.”  The European Commission is overhauling its ‘data protection rules’ for consumers after concerns were raised about Facebook and Google and because of social networking growth and “personalized advertising.”  The Federal Trade Commission recently closed its investigation into Google’s Street View system that raised concerns in Europe and, in particular, Germany.  Facebook faces accusations from a variety of groups that it turned ‘data-mined information’ to advertisers.  At the recent Web 2.0 conference, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg called privacy “a grey area… (and) not completely a black-and-white thing.” 

TWO INCIDENTS – ONE QUESTION:  You’ve all had the experience of going to a website and getting a pop-up that locates you in your town.  Something like, “hi, Michael, here are some things in Athens.”  And, no, I wasn’t using any of the location-based social networking sites like Gowalla or FourSquare.  And, yes, we understand that our IP address identifies our location.  But how about this?   A friend of mine, Al H., sent an article about fake news to some of his friends.  He didn’t send it to me, but I know about it anyway.  Another colleague, Jim S., sent out an article about the Dead Sea Scrolls.  He didn’t send it to me, but I know about it as well.  Why?  Because I went to The Washington Post website to read an article, and there on the right hand side of the page was a list of all my “friends’ activities” – articles from the Post website that they had shared with others.  I e-mail Al regularly.  I haven’t e-mailed Jim in months.  As for Terra, (no, I didn’t mention her, but she came up as well) I have not communicated with her in years.  Yet, the Post website tells me what they’re doing on its website. 

PERSONAL ANECDOTES:  Are a debatable form of evidence, but here is a more concrete incident:  British insurer Aviva decided to take a different approach to deciding whether 60,000 life insurance applicants at its U.S. subsidiary were a ‘suitable risk.’  Instead of the usual questionnaires and medical tests , the company used a ‘predictive modeling’ formula based on people’s ‘consumer marketing data’, such as magazine subscriptions, shopping details, catalog purchases, leisure activities indicated by online activity, and, of course, social networking site information.  The results, according to the report in The Wall Street Journal, were “persuasive in its ability to mimic traditional techniques.”  Or, put another way, there is enough online information for insurers to figure out your lifestyle, habits, all that says about you and whether you’re a good insurance risk.  Somewhat disconcerting, a spokesman for my own insurance company, USAA Life Insurance, which is one of the more conservative insurance companies in America, said the “methodology is sound.”  The insurance company (ies) are careful to say the data isn’t being used for a final decision (in brackets – yet), but only as a filter. 

As one insurance consultant put it, people need to realize that “they are significantly increasing their personal transparency… (and that) it’s all public and it’s all electronically mineable.”  The point is that every time you go online, you leave behind ‘digital bread crumbs,’ some intentional, some unintentional.  When it’s intentional, it’s personalization; When it’s unintentional it’s a potential portal to your privacy.  But in either case they lead back to you.  And that ends today’s editorial.  Now, on to the news.

      I READ THE NEWS TODAY, OH BOY:   And who better to talk about 400 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire, than Twitter.  Several media websites and services are speculating (or reporting, depending on how you look at it) that the microblogging site, which has been cited as a source in several major news stories, is looking at a ‘Twitter News Service.’  Twitter co-founder Biz Stone told Reuters about the idea of a ‘partnership’ with news organizations, only to have the ‘official’ Twitter spokes-person later say he was just being imaginative.  Part of the ‘speculation’ came from the Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford conference in which Stone also raised the question and where he also said that the service, valued at $1 Billion, was not for sale for $4 Billion or $5 Billion.  Several sites also note Twitter’s own blog two years ago about the Los Angeles earthquake in which it was four minutes ahead of the local television news station and nine minutes ahead of Associated Press.  In that same blog, Twitter referred to itself as a “personal news service.”  Faithful Message readers can probably cite several other instances – from Mumbai to Haiti to Iran -- in which Twitter tweets played a key role.  As a footnote to this, it should be pointed out that Twitter-ites’ (Yes, I just made up the name) refer to the service as an ‘information network’ not a ‘social network’… for what that’s worth.

      BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID:  All you traditional news media companies.  Yahoo is coming to get you… with an army of 400,000 ‘contributors.’  In May of this year, Yahoo bought Associated Content, a ‘custom content’ provider for $100 Million.  Regular readers will remember previous Messages about so-called custom content, or custom publishing, or what some critics derisively call ‘content farms’ in which content is created primarily as a driver for advertising.  Now, Yahoo will act as the coordinator of all such content and the contributors, to produce material for its various websites and partner websites.  As the headline in Advertising Age succinctly put it, “Yahoo cranks up Content Machine.”  And a content machine it is.  The other two major custom content groups are Demand Media and Examiner.  Coincidentally, and, depending on your point of view, another reason to be afraid, another article in Advertising Age, tells the story of a former assistant at a car dealership who turned to writing for Examiner after being laid off.  She reportedly made $100,000 in the past year.  Pretty remarkable under any circumstances, but especially with the content farms which pay an upfront fee of anywhere from $2 to $50 per article with an additional $1 to $5 for every additional thousand page views generated.  The secret to her success?  Writing about celebrities like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, along with Dancing with the Stars, and DisneyLand.  As a ‘positive’ aside to this, search giant Google is planning to introduce a ‘source tag’ system into its search engine so that the original URL, or originating source, of an article can be properly cited.   As a PS, I always wondered where the phrase in the headline comes from.  The answer is the movie, The Fly, with Jeff Goldblum.

      LOST IN SPACE:  It was only 18 minutes, but for that brief time earlier this year, one-seventh of the entire world Internet traffic, including major U.S. corporations and U.S. government agencies, was re-routed through China, according to a China-US technology group and MIT’s Technology Review.  Experts still debate whether it was intentional or unintentional – an accidental ‘hijacking.’  China’s state-owned ISP, China Telecom, says it was an accident:  a quirk caused by a small Chinese ISP updating its routing information.  Regular readers of the Message will remember a similar incident two years ago in which Pakistan’s state-owned telecommunications company managed to take YouTube off the entire world wide web for two solid hours on a Sunday afternoon.  Again, there is the question whether it was intentional or unintentional.   

      COCKTAIL CHATTER: Three state schools in Britain are outsourcing the teaching of math to India.  According to an article in the technology section of The New York Times, London-based Brightspark Education started the outsourcing program using 100 teachers in the Punjab as an alternative to private tutors, allowing the students to go online to get their lessons.  The reason?  Of course, it’s cheaper.  Look out, Lady Gaga.  The latest pop sensation is a 3-dimensional hologram that packs the concert halls in Japan.  Robot and Artificial Intelligence website SingularityHub.com reports that Hatsune Miku is the creation of  Crypton Future Media and uses vocal synthesis software and visual projection to put the ‘virtual diva’ on stage, backed up by a real-life band. You can see her perform (where else) on YouTube.  Click on the “World Is Mine” video which actually shows her in concert.     

      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 Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.  You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.