Message from Michael - Haiti - January 18,2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        January 18, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

      HAITI AND NEWS MEDIA

      SLACKTAVISM AND FICLETS

      WASHING THE DIRTY LAUNDRY

      BEECHWOOD 4-5-7-8-9

      COCKTAIL CHATTER

 

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. 

 

      HAITI AND NEWS MEDIA:  In the Haitian Vodou religion there is a phrase – Sa Nou Pa We Yo.  It translates to – Those We Don’t See, or The Invisible Ones.  A belief, according to Goucher College professor and writer Madison Smartt Bell writing in The New York Times, that those who die inhabit a parallel universe close to the living.  With a history of poverty and neglect, that phrase could probably be applied to all Haitians.  Now though with the media coverage of the devastating earthquake, we are getting to see them in all their misery and hurt.  The question being asked by some is whether that attention will continue.  The answer to that may come in the form of social media and social networking.    

As usual, there is the ‘standard’ coverage, with the networks scrambling to get their anchors and A-team correspondents there.  The TVNewsers section of the Mediabistro.com website has a running tally of some 30 reporters and anchors sent to Port au Prince.  Interestingly, just about every on-air person has said the same thing, it seems to me, that the cameras can’t catch the feeling or the magnitude of the devastation.  Major newspapers were also scrambling, especially since The Columbia Journalism Review reports that only the Associated Press had a foreign correspondent in Haiti.  Both Reuters and Agence France Presse employ Haitian-born reporters.  There are several Caribbean news sites, including website Radio Station World which lists 78 radio stations in Haiti broadcasting on the web.  Again, in what appears to be common place with such events, Twitter and most particularly Twitpic led the mainstream media coverage, according to an analysis by the Sydney Morning Herald with some of the first pictures and stories out.  In addition, less than five days since being created, Facebook site Earthquake Haiti has more than 264,000 members.  PC World cites a wordpress blog, Haitifeed, as one of the best sources for its steady stream of first hand accounts, mixed in with mainstream media accounts.  One of the better sites for getting an overview look at the media coverage of the Haitian tragedy is webjournalist.org, created by Professor Robert Hernandez of the University Of Southern California – Annenberg which shows a variety of multi-media displays of the earthquake, including before and after aerials of the area.  The website shows what some of the creative “mainstream media” can do, including CNN’s iReport section which Hernandez rightfully notes, “was made for a story like this.”            

      SLACKTAVISM AND FICLETS:  As much as the new media and social networking tools have played a big part in the media coverage, they may play an even bigger part in the thing they are named for – new and social – as in helping people in new ways.  For example, more than $7 Million has been raised by the Mobile Giving Foundation just over the weekend.  By simply texting the word “Haiti” to one of several different numbers, you could donate $5 or $10 to groups ranging from the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, to The Salvation Army, UNICEF, American Red Cross – any one of 20 groups.  The amount is added to your monthly cell phone bill, meaning you don’t have to use your credit card.  The beauty of this, is that it is so easy that it overcomes people’s inertia in giving – what the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association called “slacktavism” – a term that refers to people with good intentions but closed wallets.  Also on Facebook, a guy named Stephen D. Chowrono has started a group called “for every person who joins I will donate $0.05” to the earthquake victims.  More than 260,000 people have joined and he has donated $3,200.  On community website, Live Journal, they’re holding an auction of items donated by members with the proceeds going to Haiti relief.  One of them is a Ficlet, which refers to really, really short, short stories and which, apparently, lots of people know about (no, not me.)     

      WASHING THE DIRTY LAUNDRY:  All right, I will admit I use the Don Henley song too often when talking about journalism, but there is one line in the song that really applies to a study released by Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism:  “When It’s Said and Done, We Haven’t Told You A Thing.”  Apparently that’s true, especially of so-called new media.  In a study of the ‘news ecosystem’ in Baltimore, designed to find out who really produces what in news, the authors say eight out of the ten stories (83%) were simply repeats or re-packaged versions of previous stories.  And of those stories that were actually and truly new enterprise stories, nearly every one (95%) came from so-called ‘traditional media’ – either newspapers or local TV, with newspapers (roughly 48%) outweighing local TV (28%) by a significant margin, followed by specialty newspapers (13%) and radio (7%).  At the same time, the report found that local TV produced more content than newspapers and that local TV was ‘more local’ with two thirds of its stories (64%) local compared to about half (53%) for newspapers.

Not that the traditional media have anything to be particularly proud of, according to the study.  The study found, for example, that The Sun newspaper produced a third less (32%) stories last year than it did in 1999 and three quarters (72%) less than in 1991.   Even less to be proud of, and running counter to everything we broadcast teachers teach and we consultants advise, the report found ‘official news’ dominates what it called the news ‘echo chamber’ with nearly two-thirds (62%) of all the news coming from government officials.  It was to the point that the official news releases were being ‘reported’ word for word.  In part the study says that was because of the emphasis on using the new technology to break news. 

The report focused on Baltimore as a microcosm of what is happening in the news business, and although the authors were careful to say it is only one example, the implication was that what they found there was indicative of what is happening everywhere.  Interestingly, the study authors found 53 different news outlets in the city, ranging from the daily newspaper, weeklies, local television, news/ talk radio, blogs, websites by former journalists and even some news twittering.  Most of those new media efforts were more of an “alert system,” according to the study, with the Web in particular, clearly the first place of publication for all the media.  But those same websites also had some of the oldest news, including ‘numerous examples’ of other people’s work being carried without attribution and even old stories that were obsolete being carried well after events had changed and the original website having updated them.               

      BEECHWOOD 4-5-7-8-9:  More than one in five (22.7%) of American homes use ONLY wireless phones and have NO landline phones, according to a national health survey by the Centers  for Disease Control.  That survey took a snapshot of the first half of last year, and the percentage has been rising a steady five points each year, according to the authors.  The one in five figure is double what it was in 2006 when one in ten homes had only wireless phones.  What the study called ‘wireless-mostly households’ in which there are wireless and landline phones but almost all the calls are made wirelessly make up a seventh (14.7%) of all households.  Not too surprisingly, younger people are more likely to go wireless, with, for example, nearly half (45.8%) of those adults aged 25 – 29 living in households with only wireless telephones.  It’s roughly a third (33.5%) for those aged 30 – 34, but more than that (37.6%) for those even younger – 18 – 24.  Men (22.5%) and women (19.8%) are about equally likely to live in a household with only wireless telephones.  People living in poverty are nearly twice as likely (33%) to be wireless only than higher income adults (18.9%).  In keeping with that, and the study’s focus on health, the report found that wireless-only adults are more likely (35.3%) to binge drink than landline households (19.3%); more likely to be current smokers; more likely to have been tested for HIV, and twice as likely (29.4%) to have no health insurance than landline households (13.7%).  Finally, a question, does anybody out there know what the headline refers to, and do any of you remember when phone numbers had word prefixes?        

      COCKTAIL CHATTER:  A 12-ounce cup of Starbucks coffee has nearly double the caffeine of a 16-ounce cup of coffee from either McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts.  That’s about 260 mg’s of caffeine versus the other’s 140 mg’s.  According to the article from Fast Company from which this is drawn, the Starbucks injection is only slightly short of that from a 12-ounce can of Jolt, at roughly 280mg’s which, in turn, is only slightly short of the 300 mg’s which is labeled “caffeine intoxication” or “the jitters.”   Just so you know, Coke, Mountain Dew and Diet Coke hover around the 50mg mark.  If you want to see the numbers for yourself, the link is http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ben-paynter/ben-paynter/caffeine-charting-your-morning-buzz.  In the category of whose-ox-is-being-gored decision making, when Americans were asked specifically which of 14 federal programs to cut, only two programs would be cut and, even then, only one in five would agree to those being cut.  Nine of the programs would actually get increases, according to the survey on the Pew Center’s Databank, and three would remain the same.  Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the programs Americans would cut are assistance to needy people around the world (ironic, considering the Haiti situation) and the State Department.  If you want to see the specifics, go to  http://pewresearch.org/databank/dailynumber/?NumberID=906 .  And, finally, in the category of OMG-I-wished-I-could-do-that, a one-time surfing bum has started a time share with a difference.  After sailing around the world in a 52-foot catamaran, Gavin McClurg put together a package of investors who bought shares in a much larger sailing vessel at $20,000 a share for the right to spend a week or two aboard the sailing ship.  According to the article in Forbes magazine, you can go to an archipelago, the South Seas, the tropics… you name it.  If you want to dream a little, here’s the link:  http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0118/entrepreneurs-offshore-odysseys-timeshare-share-float.html .   

      SUBSCRIPTIONS:  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 -- January 12, 2010 -- Trends and Toys

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        January 12, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

      THE OPAQUE CRYSTAL BALL

      TRITE BUT TRUE

      THE ELECTRONIC CRYSTAL BALL

      TOYS ON PARADE

      LOOKING FOR VIDEO WITH ALL THE RIGHT DEVICES

      FOOTNOTE – HAPPY TRAILS

 

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. 

 

      THE OPAQUE CRYSTAL BALL:  As promised in the final Message from last year, the first message for this year will be a look ahead.  After reading numerous articles from various publications, it comes down to this – Thank God, 2009 is over.  Or put another way, 2010 has to be better.  Okay, I admit, that’s not good enough.   But it doesn’t get much better than that when you look at the various predictions and prognostications.  For example, online video is going to surge in growth.  Whoa, color me surprised.  Not!  (More on this below.)  Anyway, as we’ve noted before, word of mouth is the most powerful persuader.  An explanation for the video growth may be that “visual buzz”, according to an article in Promo Magazine may be even more powerful.  Just behind that soothsaying observation about online video in the number of forecasts is that going green and going mobile are the other two major trends going to happen.  All three consulting groups responding to broadcast news report The Rundown’s annual ‘year ahead’ survey said it – go mobile, use mobile, win mobile.  Not to discount this, but for perspective, research firm eMarketer reports that mobile advertising will account for $416 Million of the $25 Billion that will be spent overall for online advertising.  Of course it is the fastest growing, expected to reach $1.56 Billion by 2013. New Media guru Daisy Whitney chimed in with a similar message in her five trends to watch in 2010, noting in particular Mobile App company Scvngr which designs games that can be adapted to specific locations from San Francisco to New York. 

In very much a similar vein of forecasts that are fundamental, the experts are predicting advertisers will turn to digital media more and more in 2010.  But putting some hard numbers to that predictable prediction, a survey of advertising execs by Round2 Communications and reported by Media Daily News says three quarters (72%) will increase their spending on digital media.  More than four out of five (86%) say their spending on ‘traditional media’ (broadcast TV, radio, print) will either remain flat (45.7%) or drop (40.3%).  It should be noted that despite all the woes associated with print, the article points out that print still garners the lion’s share of media spending with nearly half (47%) saying it is their major investment.  Part of the reason for the surge in digital, according to “longtime industry practitioner” Keith Kelsen, as quoted in Marketing Vox, is better engagement, better measurement, better standards and more investment.           

      TRITE BUT TRUE:  Content is King.  How often have you heard that?  Well, revelation of revelation, Kelsen also says that even in the digital world, “content will be the #1 trend.”  It’s a slightly different take on the theme, but also familiar and similar, the folks at Nielsen say even in the Internet world, “the audience is the center of everything.”  Isn’t that a great way to put it?  Also in the ‘trite-but-true’ category, is another forecast that also has an interesting ring to it – “clear is the new clever.”  This clever turn of phrase comes from Rosen, quoted above, who believes brands need to be more transparent in how they do business.  And, oh, yes, social media.  That, too, is one of the major trends to watch in the upcoming year.  Trite, but true.       

      THE ELECTRONIC CRYSTAL BALL:  Maybe, possibly, probably, the best predictor of the future came in the form of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that just ended.  Veteran publication PCWorld summed it up humorously and somewhat accurately when it reported that CES should stand for “Crammed with E-Readers and Slates.”  For example, if you think Kindle when you think e-book, think again.  There were seven new versions introduced, all with features that the others don’t have.  And if you think slate refers to a rock formation, think again.  It is a keyboard-less, thin, compact touch video screen that allows you to do a lot of what a computer traditionally has done.  If you wonder, by the way, what’s the difference between a slate and a tablet… well, most observers admit there isn’t a difference.  Just different names.  Anyway, add to the PCWorld equation, 3-D, and you would probably sum up CES pretty well. 

There were some fun, fascinating and futuristic developments, but it’s some of the less spectacular devices unveiled that will really show what the future holds.  For example, 17 products using the Superspeed U.S.B. 3.0 connection device were unveiled.  Before you say whoop-de-doo, know this key fact—the speed of transfer jumps from an impressive 540Mbps for 2.0 connectors to a wow-whopping 5Gbps for 3.0 devices.  That means that game, that file transfer, turns minutes to seconds and seconds to near instantaneous.  Something I noticed, which others didn’t talk about much, was the number of devices (computers, slates, tablets, iPhones, Smartphone’s) that incorporate touch screen technology.  Also in the semi-dull but nevertheless-important category, was the issue of the Open Internet which all parties at the show appeared to agree to, and the lurking issue of using broadcast spectrum for broadband use.  But it’s the ‘toys’ that make consumer electronics a $165 Billion business, according to numbers presented by CEA President Gary Shapiro.     

      TOYS ON PARADE:  Probably nothing says more about the ‘toys on parade’ atmosphere than the fact that Ford has introduced a touch dashboard on its cars which allows you to connect to the Internet via USB port, play different media on its screen display and operate mobile apps.  Driving?  That’s something else.  And what could be as much of a commentary as anything, a) the company introduced the device at the Consumer Electronics Show and not at the Detroit Auto Show, and b) if you checked media coverage of the two shows, CES got probably ten times as much coverage as the once vaunted auto show.  In any case, in the Last Gadget Standing part of the show, tech journalists and bloggers pick out their ten favorite gadgets.  This year’s pick included the Haier Ibiza Trainer which combines a music player with a pedometer, with a calorie counter, with a heart rate monitor; the Sony Dash which is likened to a bedside radio except that it has more than 1000 apps on it, to connect you to music sites and news sites, YouTube, Pandora, Epicurious, Crackle and Blip.tv – all to help you get up in the morning.  And you’ve no doubt heard about all the 3-D television devices introduced, but Acer has gone a step further, introducing a 3-D computer.

      LOOKING FOR VIDEO WITH ALL THE RIGHT DEVICES:  Going back to the earlier prediction about online video growth, nothing says that more than the number of video devices introduced at CES.  There’s the Boxee Box which connects the Internet to your TV, which isn’t so new, but its marketing people say it’s so easy – even a zebra could use it.  I didn’t know zebras were not supposed to be smart.  Anyway, there are others.  Both LG and Panasonic introduced Skype support for their HDTV’s so you can video chat with friends and family in high definition.  Scary thought.  Settop maker Syabas introduced PopBox, a home media player with 20 partners, letting you connect Blip.TV, Twitter, Clicker (which finds premium videos on the Inter) to your TV easily and simply.  Router maker D-Link introduced a media streamer called the Pebble, which lets you play video, still photos and music from your home network or connected devices, even feeds from a security camera.  Data storage maker Imation introduced a yet-un-named wireless USB ‘shark fin’ that plus into your LCD television via HDMI, grabbing audio and video from your computer at 15MB per second.  D-Link also introduced a boxie little device that, appropriately, uses the Boxee home media management system to stream Internet video to your TV wirelessly.

      FACTOID FEVER:  As an alternative to Cocktail Chatter, here are some digital media factoids from your friends at Nielsen.  There are 195 Million active U.S. Internet users.  Now, this part didn’t come from Nielsen, but I have to add it here – China has more Internet users – 365 Million – than the U.S.’s total population.  Isn’t that a wowser?  Anyway, back to Nielsen, 160.3 Million people accessed the Internet via a broadband connection.  That’s 82.2% penetration and up 16% from 2008.  There were 138.4 Million unique viewers of video in 2009 – up 11.4% from 2008, who streamed more than 11.2 Billion videos.  Any more questions about online video growth?  On the social networking front, Nielsen reports that Facebook reaches more than half (56%) of the ‘active U.S. internet universe” with those users spending an average of six hours a month socializing thusly.  The average U.S. worker spends five hours a month in general visiting social networking sites at the office.   While the amount of time, people spent on social networking sites nearly tripled (277%), Facebook quintupled (grew 500%) year to year.  And, finally, indicative of the change in Facebook from a college and high school site is the fact that it is the #3 site visited by users 65 and older.         

      FOOTNOTE:  As a personal aside, the start of this year saw the end of a news tradition.  Kim and Dick Standish announced that the long running (28 years) newsletter The Rundown has published its last edition.  The weekly ‘message’ was a compendium of what worked and what didn’t work, success stories and not-so-successful stories about the broadcast news business.  From the General Managers, News Directors, Marketing Directors, producers and reporters in the trenches.  Now we have to say (and Kim would admit) that it’s not quite up there with the announcement that the ‘bible of the newspaper industry,’ better known as Editor and Publisher, has ceased publication, but it’s right up there.  That’s another comment on media and wowser – E&P ceasing publication.  Anyway, our best to Kim and her husband; and here’s a tip to some academic researcher, the back issues and archives would be a treasure trove of the history of the business.     

      SUBSCRIPTIONS:  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.