Caine's Arcade, End of a Family Reunion and A Mirror for Keith

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Tuesday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com

Program scripts from week of April 16, 2012

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

Caine's Arcade

It is easy, in fact too easy sometimes, to talk about all the negatives about the media.  Trust me when I say that there are plenty of negatives out there.  The reality is that the media is also a wealth of wonderful well done moments as well.  We wouldn’t care so much about it if they didn’t.

So I’m very happy to spend a little time taking about the media doing something right.  If you’ve never heard of Caine’s Arcade go to your favorite search engine the next time you’re on line and search for it.  It’s C-A-I-N-E’S Arcade.  Then watch the video.  It’s about a nine year old boy who had to spend some time in his father’s store last year.  He took the empty cardboard boxes and turned them into an amazing homemade game arcade.  Watch the video for the rest of the story.  It’s a high quality film that is worth every minute of it.

Now that’s cool in and of itself but that’s not really what takes this story to the next level.  The video debuted one week ago from Monday of this week.  Caine’s dad makes a living for his family but it’s obvious that they haven’t made it into the 1%.  The filmmaker decided to use the video to try and raise a little money for a college fund for Caine.  He set the goal at 25 thousand dollars.  The donations blew by that in about 48 hours.  So they upped to 100 thousand dollars.  One week later, on Monday the 16th of April the fund stood at 165 thousand dollars with a second 165 thousand dollars set aside to create a Caine’s Foundation to help other kids go to college.  The Goldhirsh Foundation has offered a matching grant of up to 250 thousand dollars for every dollar given to Caine’s college fund.

Caine is now a media star.  He’s being interviewed by all the major news outlets.  His success is the subject of a very serious (and I might add very interesting) article in Forbes magazine.  All of this because of three things.  First and foremost because a nine year old had the imagination to see a game arcade in a pile of cardboard boxes.  Second because his father allowed him to go for it.  And third because the internet allows people all over the world to share in that story.

There’s a purity to this story and a purity to the way it has been told.  Give credit to the film maker and the media in general for letting the story be the story.


(Caine's Arcade link, the scholarship continues to grow!)

End of a Family Reunion

There’s a part of the media world that the public doesn’t pay a whole lot of attention to but with which the media itself is obsessed.  They’re called the ratings generally.  There may be slightly different names in various media but the concept is always the same.  Measuring the number of viewers/listeners/readers who are using the media.  What the audience sometimes forgets is that it’s not about “Who Is #1”.  These are not standings like baseball or football.  The ratings are about money pure and simple.  The more folks involved with your content the more you can charge for advertising.

Traditionally ratings have been done by age demographics.  There are other ways of analyzing the audience but at the foundation has been division of the whole based on age groupings.  At the top of the heap is what is sometimes called the Prime Demographic, 25-54.  The idea is that this group of people are at the height of their income and buying potential.

I can’t remember who said this a couple decades ago but they noted that 25-54 isn’t a demographic as much as it is a family reunion.  Here’s an example - I turned 54 this year, my daughter will turn 25.  What do we have in common as consumers?  Very little really.  In general terms we don’t watch the same movies, TV, read the same material, visit the same web sites.  But old school ratings say we’re the same demographic.

That may changing soon.  CBS and General Mills have just released some new research about where audience demographics ought to be headed.  The change will be to more lifestyle based ratings.  The idea is measure actual media use and coordinate it with the actual purchasing patterns of the consumer as well.  In the end this will mean two things.  From the advertisers point of view it will allow them to target advertising much more accurately.  Which means I won’t have to watch as many ads that are of no interest to me.  The downside is that it means the advertisers will want to be mining our lives in greater detail.  I’m fairly confident that we’ll see increasing push back from consumers over who “owns” the data that describes our lifestyles.  The media will have to make some compromises so they don’t have to deal with a growing demographic of cranky, combative users.

A Mirror for Keith

A little bit of confession here this week.  There’s a part of trying to be the best that doesn’t always bring out the best in everyone.  I’ve been down that road.  There have been times in my career when I’ve been my own worst enemy.  What made the difference was finally accepting that the world wasn’t being any harder on me than anyone else and that I was the author of at least some of my own problems.  It was and is a tough a place to find yourself.  It’s even tougher to accept the truth and make the changes that are needed.  But if you don’t you end up being a bitter, lonely person sulking in the corner of your life and career.

So why the soul baring?  Because there is a prominent personality in the media that I think is long past having that moment and may be on the edge of seeing all his talent come crashing to halt.  I’m talking about Keith Olbermann.

Let me say up front that I think Olbermann is a major talent.  He’s as close to Rush Limbaugh as the political left has ever managed to come across.  Like Limbaugh he’s intelligent, acid, and not afraid to say whatever is on his mind.  Like Limbaugh his ego is unrestrained and mouth takes him to places that he should have probably avoided.

What makes Keith unique is that his success has been at such a consistently high level no matter what he does.  He was brilliant on ESPN bringing a whole new style to being a sports anchor with his partner Dan Patrick.  CNN, MSNBC, and most recently Current TV have all given the talented commentator ever higher profile positions.

The problem is that Olbermann has earned a reputation for being a problem child.  His departure from ESPN wasn’t pleasant, MSNBC dropped his contract and now Current TV has done the same.  And it’s clear that at least some of the problem is Keith himself.  When he doesn’t like what’s going on he simply doesn’t show up.  When he does show up he has reduced co-workers to tears and had temper tantrums.

A 53 year old with as much talent as Keith Olbermann shouldn’t need to play that way.  It’s time for Keith to sit down with a mirror and have a serious talk with himself.  The alternative is bitterness and loss of everything he could be.

Call that the View From the Phlipside.

Sons of the Fathers, Troll Laws, Little Screen Viewing

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Tuesday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com

Program scripts from week of April 9, 2012

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

Sons of the Fathers

It was the most frightening and disturbing story I’ve come across in a very long time.  Just one of those things that create a disturbance in the Force.  It’s almost beyond description it’s just so wrong at a fundamental level.

There’s a rumor the Beatles might get together again.  Now many of you will instantly wish to point out that two of the Beatles are dead and therefore, barring the Zombie Apocolypse, a reunion is unlikely.  That would still leave open the question of whether John and George would do the tour before or after they ate Paul and Ringo’s brains.  Another comment for another day.

No in this case it would kind of be the Beatles version 2.  It appears that there is at least some conversation going on among the sons of the originals about coming together to form their own band.  Reports from England say that James McCartney has approached Sean Lennon, Dhani Harrison and Zak Starkey about the idea.  So far it’s just in the talking stage.  Curiously the only son who isn’t really open to the idea up front, according to McCartney, is Zak Starkey.  But Ringo has another son who might step in.

All of which leads to one inevitable reaction.    NOOOOOOOOOO!  Don’t do it guys, in fact don’t even think about it.  Put it out of your minds.  Make it a topic of conversation that is simply never broached.  Go so far as to shun forever anyone foolish enough to bring the concept up again, in public or in private.

Do I even need to list the reasons why this is such a bad idea?  The chances of this being a winning idea are so vanishingly small that there’s just no percentage in trying.  The standard by which such a group would be judged is impossibly high.  As good at the Beatles were the pedestal gets hoisted even higher when people start talking about the “next Beatles”.  It can’t be easy living in the shadow of a legendary father so why push yourself even deeper into that shadow?  At best you become a novelty act and at worst, well the worst doesn’t even bear thinking on.  It’s not even a matter of trying a different musical style.  It would still be Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr(key).  Maybe you could get away with a tribute special event concert, a new “Concert for Bangladesh” kind of thing.  But beyond that?  Let’s just say Love Me Don’t.

Troll Laws

If you spend any amount of time on the internet you will have come across the most irritating aspect of life online.  The internet Troll.  A troll is someone who breaks into an online conversation with inflammatory comments, insults, or topics that have nothing to do with the discussion at hand.  Trolls are inevitably people who want the attention on themselves.  They are bullies who try to push other people around in an environment where they know they are safe from virtually any form of retaliation.  The worst that can happen to them is being banned but any troll knows multiple ways around that particular barrier.  There really is only one good defense against trolls and that is encapsulated in the conventional world wide web wisdom that says “Don’t Feed the Trolls”.  If you ignore them they almost always go away.

At least that was the only effective way of dealing with them.  Maybe there’s a new one.  Or maybe not.

The great state of Arizona is looking at an amendment to it’s communications harassment act that reads:

"It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend, to use any electronic or digital device and use any obscene, lewd or profane language or suggest any lewd or lascivious act, or threaten to inflict physical harm to the person or property of any person."

To harass, annoy or offend.  All of a sudden being an online troll is a criminal act, at least in the state of Arizona.  The bill has passed both Houses in Arizona and as of the time I wrote this I couldn’t see if the Governor had signed it.

If you’ve ever had trouble with a troll your first reaction to this idea is probably positive.  The problem is that the language is so broad that virtually all of us could probably be prosecuted under it.  Let’s face it at some point or another you’ve probably annoyed someone on Facebook or a blog or left a comment that set somebody off.  All of a sudden snark the life blood of online commentary could be outlawed.  Suddenly our courts will have to attempt to determine “intent to annoy”.  And I think we can count on the trolls delighting in trying to use the law for their own purposes.

In the end the easiest answer remains Don’t Feed the Trolls.

Little Screen Viewing

Recently I’ve noticed more TV shows telling me to check out their online site so I can enjoy more special offerings while the show is on.  And I’ve always thought that was dumb.  My TV is in one room and my computer is in another so it’s not like it’s convenient.  I know that more and more people have laptops which overcomes that problem.  But I thought it was just silly to sit there with your laptop while you watched TV.

Till I realized I’d been doing it for a year.

Not with a laptop but with my Nook Color.  One of the great things about this version of the Barnes and Noble e-reader is that it can function partially as a tablet computer.  I can access the internet via WiFi and surf around to many common web sites.  Where I do it most often is when I am watching movies.  I will inevitably go to IMDB, the Internet Movie DataBase, and check out the cast list and the trivia about the movie.  Sadly I must also confess that I am probably driving my lady wife and daughter crazy by sharing all this information while we watch the movie.  What can I say, I’m just a bad person.

Some research shows me that I am very much not alone in this particular practice (using a tablet computer while watching TV not annoying my wife and daughter).  Something like 70% of tablet users will be checking out something with the computer while watching TV.  This is leading more and more TV shows to figure out ways of capturing both sources of attention in the viewer.  During NBC’s Biggest Loser we are encouraged to surf on over to the show’s forum area and talk with both other viewers and some past contestants about what is happening on the show.  Look for other programs to synch up the broadcast and online content so that at crucial moments suddenly a new feature will be revealed online.  Some of these are being coded so that it even works that way if you are watching the show at a later time.

The concept is challenging from a variety of stand points.  Not only are there the technical challenges but also the question of how determine viewer ratings.  Am I one viewer split between two media or am I a discrete viewer for each one even though I’m doing it at the same time?  Advertisers will want the ratings to accurately reflect where my attention really is before they spend the big bucks.

My wife and daughter would probably just like me to be quiet.  Not sure how the technology will deal with that problem.

Call that the View From the Phlipside.

Boot The Reboot, Statistical Dream Killers, Show Me the Money

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Tuesday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com

Program scripts from week of April 2, 2012

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

Boot The Reboot

I walked into the living room at my house a couple days ago and my wife was watching the latest Star Trek movie.  As always I was struck by how wonderfully the cast generally catches the feel of the characters.  Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock and especially Karl Urban as the younger Bones McCoy.  I’ve always thought they did a wonderful job stepping into some iconic roles.  Then I remember what they did at the ending of the movie.  The movie rejects the established universe and it’s story line.  And it makes me crazy.

There are a lot of concepts floating around.  In music there’s the cover version.  Today you can add in the concept of the re-mix.  Both are artists bringing a new vision to the source material. And I don’t have a problem with that.  In movies you can have a sequel, you can have a re-make and I don’t really have too much trouble with either of those concepts either.  In writing there are fan fics and what are called slash fiction.  I don’t even want to go there.  There is a real challenge in trying to do any of these especially if the original material is iconic.  You just knew that Scarlett the sequel to Gone With the Wind had virtually no chance of succeeding.

And that may be why folks go for the re-boot.  The re-boot takes the original and dumps whatever portions of it you just don’t want to do any more.  For me that’s an artistic cop out.  Worse I think it’s actually a kind of artistic vandalism.  If the artist really thought they had a new vision of the story then you do a re-make.  You’ll need to make sure that you can take the story to a new level if you go that road.  Or you can take the easy way out and simply say “We’re going to re-boot the story”.  We’ll keep the characters but dump the rest.  The James Bond franchise has done it for years.  Keep the title and the character names and do you own thing.
For me it is massively disrespectful to the artists who broke the trail and created the world you want to play in.  It strikes me as arrogant to pick up someone else’s work, and simply start saying “Nope, nope, nope, not gonna do any of this.  I want the story to go this way”.  Then maybe you ought to try and create your own stuff.

We live in an age when re-booting various franchises is an accepted practice.  I think that’s sad and disturbing.  There may be no new ideas in the world.  The least we ought to be able to do is be respectful of how those ideas have been handled in the past.

Statistical Dream Killing

Usually I comment on a story directly.  In this case I want to comment on how a story was covered.  And no doubt how it will be covered again the next time.  I’ll also admit right up front this is a fairly nit picky kind of point.  But what’s the point of being a talking head if you can’t stamp your feet occasionally about a pet peeve?

In this case the story was last week’s Mega Millions jackpot which reached over a half a billion dollars.  That was B as Boy Isn’t That a Lot of Money Billion dollars.  It’s simply an absurd amount.  In fact one expert who had helped set up the lottery noted that they NEVER expected a jackpot to get that high.  It was a once every 200 years kind of event.  And it happened in the first decade or so of the lottery.

Those are the kind of stories I enjoy hearing when one of the lotteries heads for the stratosphere.  Give me stories of what people would do if they win the big one.  For the record I will be retiring in very short order if I ever win a really big lottery.  You can drop the Protestant Work Ethic right into the dumpster as far as this boy is concerned.  I will be a man of leisure.  Extremely leisurely leisure.

But guaranteed, every time you get one of this big jackpots you are going to get lots of tedious killjoy statisticians and mathematicians blathering on.  If you want to note that my chance of being hit by lightning is better than winning (and that seems to be the favored image) then fine.  Add it as a tag line and be done.  Instead what we get are long tedious discourses on how buying lottery tickets are a bad gamble, they’re a poor investment.  They go on in great details about how the numbers clearly indicated that playing the numbers (which is what a lottery is) is just a really bad financial decision.

Hello McFly we know that.  Apparently statisticians are humorless, whimsey free, never dreamed a dream buzzkills.   I have an investment advisor to help with my investments.  I drop a fiver down on the possibility of a dream.  Yes, my individual chance of winning is microscopically small.  But SOMEONE has to win and it just might be me.  It’s fun, it’s a dream, it’s “Hey, you never know”.

But the odds that we’ll be dragged to this same no fun, fantasy free zone the next time we pass triple digits on a jackpot are a lot better than you chance of getting by lightning.

Show Me the Money

I’m a little puzzled by this next story.  In fact I’m not sure I can offer any kind of an answer for the problem at all.  It’s the problem of local coverage of sports.  And the fact that it seems to be on the decline even while America remains absolutely sports crazy.

I’m not talking specifically of the Jamestown area or even western New York.  In fact there is an increasing trend toward diminishing local sports coverage in a lot of media markets nationwide.  Many newspapers have cut back on the numbers of reporters who are sent on the road to cover local teams.  Even baseball coverage in some markets has seen the beat writer staying home while the team is on the road and relying on news service coverage.  There are rumors even in Buffalo that the local TV stations may be looking at decreasing the amount of sports coverage on the newscasts.  As I noted before this is a sports crazy country and the media usually jumps on the bandwagon of where the people are there also you will find the bucks.  So if you had asked me which was more likely to get cut news coverage or sports coverage I just might have said news.  News divisions, especially in TV, are notorious for their high cost versus income ratios.

The rationale is that with more and more network and internet coverage the local sports reporting isn’t needed.  The problem I see with that argument is that if your team isn’t one of the top maybe 10 teams in that sports or in a major sport the coverage falls off dramatically.  If you’re a Yankees or Red Sox fan, a Patriots or Cowboys fan, or a Heat or Lakers fan you’ll have no trouble finding coverage.  If you’re say a Buffalo Bills fan or a fan of Major League Lacrosse well you just might be in a world of hurt for serious in-depth coverage.  The same goes for local colleges.  If you’re rooting for THE Ohio State University you’ll have no trouble following the team.  If the local media isn’t following the University at Buffalo how are you going to follow the team?  Even ESPN isn’t stepping in the void.  While they opened several city specific channels online they stopped after New York, Chicago, LA, Dallas and Boston.

As I said I’m not sure what the answer is here.  But it sure seems like there’s an enormous market hole developing that somebody needs to step into.  The catch phrase from the movie Jerry Maguire is “Show me the money”.  I would think that if you’re in the media looking for a market segment with major opportunities for growth there might just be some money shouting your name.

Call that the View From the Phlipside.

Book Reviews

Ghost in the Wires - Kevin Mitnick -  I have a sneaking suspicion that I've read this book before.  It's the story of the man dubbed "The World's Most Wanted Hacker", Kevin Mitnick.  The book is interesting because the author is quite up front about what he did.  He hacked (or illegally entered a computer system electronically) into a LOT of systems.  He wasn't alone in doing that.  In some ways he was simply better and more successful than anyone else.  At the time the authorities didn't really understand what was being done and they certainly didn't understand WHY it was being done.  As a consequence they went after Mitnick and others as if they were pursuing Satan himself.  Mitnick notes that he never did his hacking for profit.  He didn't steal things to sell to the highest bidder.  In fact if the stolen software didn't help him hack a little deeper he wasn't really interested in it at all.  The entire process was a matter of trophy hunting, of challenging himself to see if he could do it.

Now that doesn't justify what he did or excuse the behavior.  He broke the law and went to jail.  But some of the descriptions and tactics used by the authorities are pretty idiotic and scary.  In the end Mitnick finds a way to use his considerable skills on the side of good.  He is now a security specialist who helps companies protect themselves from people like Kevin Mitnick.

You don't need to be a computer geek to enjoy this book (though I'm sure that geeks will get a slightly deeper enjoyment out of it than the rest of us).  Mitnick's writing is accessible and he explains the technical stuff in a manner that is clear and useful in moving the story forward.

Rating - *** Good Read

Legacy of Ashes - The History of the C.I.A by Tim Weiner - Weiner is the long time New York Times writer who has covered the intelligence community for two decades.  Here he has written a critically acclaimed history of the Central Intelligence Agency that should turn the stomach of any American at any point of the political spectrum.  Quite simply the number of outrageous, idiotic and outright deceitful actions of the Agency far out weigh its successes.  If you think doctoring the intelligence to meet the needs of its political masters or its own internal pre-dispositions is a recent trend Legacy of Ashes is a stunning shattering of that myth.  From  Allen Dulles to William Casey the CIA has a history of insisting on its own way no matter how wrong headed it may be.  It has deceived Presidents and sought to control American foreign policy.   At the same time Presidents misuse and abuse the Agency as well.
   I honestly found that I could only read a chapter or two of this book at a time (even though Weiner is a great writer and connects the dots beautifully.) before the overwhelming idiocy of the history overcame me.  From its cowboy roots in the war time OSS through the Cold War, Viet Nam and right up to today the story of incompetence, dishonesty, power grabs and out right clinical insanity is gripping.  This is the ultimate rubber necking at a train wreck.  It would be funny if the safety of our nation didn't hang in the balance.

This ought to be required reading for every voter in the nation.

Rating - **** Recommended Read

Southern Seahawk - Randall Peffer - This is the first book of a trilogy and the second book of Peffer's that I've read and reviewed (First book here).  Southern Seahawk is nothing like the previous book.  This is historical fiction centered on the factual Rafael Semmes.  Semmes was a U.S. Navy officer who like many officers of the time chose duty to his home state over duty to his country.  Here in the North we are taught to look down our noses at folks who made that choice but it was a very real and difficult choice at the time.  Semmes is given a steam powered commerce raider christened the CSS Sumter.  He would become a major thorn in the side of the northern Navy.  This first book takes Semmes from his decision to chose the Rebels through most of his time on the Sumter.
   Peffer once again shows solid skills in creating believable characters of depth and putting them in interesting and complex situations.
   I'll be honest and say that I found the book easy to put down but never easy to walk away from.  This is a portion of Civil War history I never knew.  If you love the Civil War, Navy stories, sailing stories, even a little spy story I think you'll enjoy this book.

Rating - *** Good Read

Social Media Madness, Oprah Slipping and On Truth and Facts

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Tuesday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com

Program scripts from week of March 26, 2012

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

On Truth and Facts

One of the big discussions these days in the world of journalism has to do with whether or not the old school rules still apply.  Rules about verifying and multiple sources.  Some very simple concepts that were universally accepted if admittedly not universally applied are now being called into question.  Concepts like what a fact is.

The most recent focus of these kinds of questions has been the National Public Radio program “This American Life”.  REcently the show ran a piece outlining alleged poor working conditions at Chinese factories that produce some of the Apple product line.  The story was based largely on the word of an off Broadway performer named Mike Daisey.  Turns out that not everything that Daisey presented to the producers was in fact, fact.  When “This American Life” discovered that they withdrew the story.  Daisey has taken something of a beating from the bastions of the press.

It may surprise you to discover that I don’t intend to join them.  When Daisey presented material to the radio program that clearly didn’t meet the standards that they outlined in detail to him he screwed up.  But there’s another question here.

It’s the question of Truth versus Fact.  While my career has been largely in the media my training is in the theater.  So I understand that Mike Daisey firmly believed and still believes that he told the Truth.  The problem was he was asked for the facts.  So in the end I can’t let “This American Life” completely off the hook.  They KNEW he wasn’t a reporter.  They KNEW he was a storyteller and performer.  It’s not actually Mike Daisey’s job to verify the facts.  As a performer he doesn’t care as much about the facts as he does the truth.
Now that distinction is going to set some people off.  So let me give you an example.  One of the great plays of the American theater is Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie”.  The story is based on Williams’ own family.  It’s about as factual as Daisey’s story.  But it is absolutely the truth.

Mike Daisey and “This American Life” both let their desire to tell the story cloud their judgement.  They are both at fault.

And that is both the facts AND the truth.

Oprah Slipping

It’s kinda funny.  Last week I talked about how in the last year Charlie Sheen had gone from rags to at least on the road back to riches.  In that same basic time period it appears that one of the most successful women in the media has gone exactly the opposite direction.

When it was first announced that Oprah Winfrey was shutting down her fabulously successful and long running daytime TV show and was going to launch a cable network I was dubious.  Not because I didn’t believe in the power of Oprah.  If you’ve been paying any attention at all over the last couple decades you know that only a fool doubts the influence of Oprah.  TV, film, magazines and book publishing have felt the power of the woman who beat Phil Donahue in his own back yard.

My problem was and is the idea that any one person actually has enough going on to make themselves the center of an entire 24 network, even on pay TV.  The idea was that her extremely dedicated following would love a network that was programmed according to Oprah’s sensibilities.  An audience that had proven itself ready to read what Oprah told them to read and watch the movies Oprah told them to watch would certainly flock to the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Turns out, not so much.  Launched in January of last year the Network lost some 100 million dollars last year and could lose over 140 million this year.  Discovery Network who bankrolled OWN is getting antsy.  Oprah’s network has cut 20 per cent of the staff and axed the Rosie O’Donnell show.

In the end the real question is - why did anyone think this was a good idea in the first place?  The thing about the day time TV show was that there was Oprah.  It was all about Oprah and it was on one of your local TV stations.  So it was easy to find.  My satellite provider carries OWN so I went to look for it.  Found it.  At channel 189.  Right between G4 (which is a video game based channel.  Had to look that up) and the National Geographic channel.  Not exactly the high rent neighborhood.

So the channel doesn’t give you much of Oprah other than her name and it’s a little hard to find.

And people wonder why it’s losing money hand over foot.

Social Media Madness

 This was a story that I read, and I stopped and I shook my head and then I went back and read it again.  And it still said the exact same thing.  That some businesses during the interview process for new employees will require the candidate give them the user name and password for the candidate’s Facebook account.  And they were absolutely serious.

The story leads me to two different lines of thought.  Let’s take them one at a time.

This is yet another reason to think twice and sometimes three times before you post some things to any of your social media sites.  I am especially concerned about some of my younger family and friends.  They post all kinds of things on their Facebook pages.  A lot of the activities aren’t necessarily a good idea in and of themselves.  Posting pictures or descriptions of those less than wise activities is an even worse idea.  You know that advertising campaign out of Nevada well what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas only when you learn to keep your big fat Facebook shut.  And employers have figured out that if the job they are trying to fill has any level of “character issue” attached to it you can learn a lot about potential employees by asking to be friended by the candidate on social media.  Yes you can just set up a “professional” Facebook identity but remember that you’ll need to maintain BOTH of your sites otherwise it’s just too obvious that you’re hiding something.

On the other hand this new trend is quite simply insane.  For example I will often use Facebook as a quick way to communicate with my wife or with my brothers.  Upon occasion those conversations will involve personal and family issues.  Because those are done as direct Facebook messages they never appear on the public page.  If a potential employer has access to my username and password there is no part of my online social life that would be private.  And this is a POTENTIAL employer.  I think there’s a very strong likelihood that this kind of request is illegal.  At the very least it’s intrusive and offensive.  I can only imagine that some employers think that the jobs market is so tight that they can get away with anything.

I hope they’re wrong.  I know they will be if they are ever foolish enough to make such a request of me.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.