Gender Questions, The New FM Challenge and The Cost of Friendship

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Monday 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.  Copyright 2013 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.

Program scripts from week of August 26, 2013


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. 

The Cost of Friendship                                                                                           

The other day Mrs. Phlipside was grumbling that she might have to unfriend someone on Facebook.  Seemed the person in question was spending a lot of time exercising their potty mouth on their feed and it was getting my lady down.  I know that I’ve downgraded several folks and dropped a couple more because they’ve had a negative effect on my enjoyment of Facebook.  Just like real life, sometimes you grow away from certain friends.  It’s not that big a deal.

At least I didn’t think so.  Turns out I might be wrong.  And that may mean all of us need to take a much closer look at who shows up on our Friends list.  How would you feel about some of those friends if you discovered they were keeping you from getting a loan or taking out a mortgage?

Turns out that some lending institutions are now reviewing the social media of folks who are applying for loans.  The idea is that if you have friends who discuss their debt problems you may be a greater debt risk.  At it’s simplest it’s a “birds of a feather flock together” concept.  

One U.S. company called Movenbank is working on a system where your interest rate might be related to your levels of friends or followers on sites like Twitter, LinkeIn and Facebook.  Other lenders are already using things like your payment record at Amazon, Ebay and Paypal right along side your credit score from the major credit ratings companies.

How you feeling about all your Facebook friends now?

Here’s the reality.  I have several friends or family members who have had financial problems, even gone through bankruptcy.  Being a decent human being I don’t walk away from them just because they’ve had financial problems.  And their financial problems don’t have ANY impact on how I pay my bills.  So I find this concept pretty idiotic.  And even for someone who likes social media I find the idea that my online “influence” is somehow an indicator of my creditworthiness as quite possibly the dumbest thing I’ve heard this year.

Tell me its a minor consideration way down the list and maybe I’d shrug it off.  But if you still aren’t sure you want to make the loan by the time you’re looking at how many Facebook friends they have let me make it easy for you.

Just say no.  Facebook should be for jokes, silly videos and cat photos.

The New FM Challenge                                                                                          

Sometimes a topic just keepings bumping into you.  Everywhere you turn, there it is.  The first couple times I thought it was unusual but since I assumed the topic was as dead as the Dodo bird I didn’t pay much attention.  Then it showed up again.  And again.

It started with MP3 players.  Two completely different ones at very different points on the cost spectrum.  Interesting but not compelling.  Then I came across an article talking about how it’s the next addition to cellphones from the folks at Sprint.  Then when MY new cellphone arrived (NOT from Sprint) it had it too!  So I guess I need to take note.

What’s this new addition?  Climbing back out of the scrap heap of history it’s...an FM tuner chip.

A little research shows that it’s not a brand new thing.  The difference is that with the addition of a large wireless provider making a commitment to making it a standard part of their product line suddenly local radio has a toe in the new media door.

I’ve heard plenty of people poo-poo this saying that there are plenty of apps that allow you to access all kinds of radio from all over the country, even all over the world.  Trust me when I say that I’ve listened to some great radio stations from Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, New York and more.  But on a morning when the snow is falling steadily and I’m trying to figure out how that’s going to affect my drive into work or home at the end of the day I want LOCAL radio.

Here’s the chance for local radio to get on the playing field of the technology that the majority of adult consumers are now carrying.  The question is what are they going to do about it?

The new environment has a lot more competition than before and competition that doesn’t play by the same rules.  But they are in the game.  I spend a lot of time talking about the challenge in a paradigm shift.  Radio is getting what they’ve been asking for, the core of the business, access.  If they think they can just keep cranking out the same bland corporate tripe against this competition it will all have been for nought.

They can either open the door in front of them or they can just curl up next to the Dodo bird.

Gender Questions                                                                                                                

He.  She.  Him.  Her.

Seems like pretty simple concepts to most of us I’d wager.  But in the past week the modern complexity around those concepts has leapt to the forefront of discussion in the media.

If you have been following the news you have heard the story of Army Private Bradley Manning.  He was convicted of illegally publishing secret military communications.  That’s the easy part of the story.  Manning has announced that he believes he is actually a woman trapped in a man’s body and has asked that he be referred to from now on as “Chelsea”.

You may or may not have any sympathy for this part of the story but trust me it creates an enormous issue for the media covering the story.  How do you refer to Private Manning?  Which personal pronoun do you use?  The New York Times has chosen to try and sidestep the issue by simply saying “Private Manning”.  The problem is that this is in variance with their stated policy to refer to people in the news by their preferred gender.  National Public Radio has made an even more unfortunate choice by announcing that until such time as gender reassignment surgery is completed they will continue to refer to “Bradley” and “he”.  That decision simply makes them sound judgmental and insensitive.

For activists in this area the answer is simple.  Just do it.  People should be referred to by the label and personal pronoun of their choice.  That sounds simple until you realize some people are making up their own.  The media has a legitimate concern about clarity.  We need to understand who and what is being talked about.  Suddenly talking about Chelsea instead of Bradley is going to lose some folks in the shuffle.

This discussion is brand new for a lot of people.  It’s also a subject that will be a struggle to comprehend for many people.  I’ve had a couple of these discussions over the last few years with people who were willing to walk me through some new concepts and I STILL don’t think I’ve got it down.

The best thing for the media to do right now is lead the way.  Take us through the concepts.  Help us understand what is trying to be said and why.  Shine a light and help us to understand what we see there.

In the end I believe that will bring us most successfully through the changes coming in those very simple concepts.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

Book Review - The Kingmaking

The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick - (2009)  - It takes a certain amount of courage to take on one of the most familiar legends in the English language.  Most of us have seen several versions of the story of King Arthur, Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table.  It's a pretty well established story.  So credit Hollick for taking it on and trying for a different feel.

This is the story of son of Uthr Pendragon who will grow to become the legendary Arthur Pendragon.  Arthur believes he has a claim on the English throne.  The path toward that kingship is filled with danger, politics and death.  He will make decisions that he will regret and nearly lose the great love of his life Gwenhwyfar.  This book is the first in a trilogy called Pendragon's Banner.

This version is much more realistic than the Disney version some of us grew up with or the stylized version of Excalibur and it bears no resemblance to the musical "Camelot".  In fact I should note that this is not a book for children or the squeamish.  There are several passages that some will find disturbing of rape and violent death.  At the same time given the realistic slant that the author is reaching for they are perfectly appropriate here.  This was a violent age and a casually violent one at that.

Hollick does a nice job telling the story.   She fills in gaps in the sparse actual history and makes reasonable reaches to tie the legend into the history of that time and place.  Because she leans toward more historically correct names and spellings the reader may bog down at times, especially with the more Welsh names.  She conveniently offers a pronunciation guide at the beginning that I found helped a lot.

The author is a former library assistant who fell in love with stories of Arthur and the Dark Ages.  She written several historical fiction novels that have been very well received.  "The Kingmaking" shows you why.

I found the book fascinating and look forward to snagging the next two in the series.

Rating - **** Recommended

Google World, What's Next and On Creativity

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Monday 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.  Copyright 2013 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.

Program scripts from week of August 19, 2013


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 Creativity                                                                                           

There are times when I just despair as I read through the news in the world of media.  We live in a time of absolutely incredible possibilities because so many more of us can be creative.  And yet I watch people in positions where they could do amazing things just get lazy and try to cheat.

Let’s talk about creativity in the TV/video world.  On the side of laziness and lacking in creativity we find Fox.  They have just announced that they will be creating an American version of the BBC program “Broadchurch”.  Now don’t get me wrong, I am second to none in my respect for the television programming done by our cousins across the pond.  

Here’s the problem with Fox re-making “Broadchurch”.  The show only debuted in England in March!  Add to that the fact that the original stars former Dr. Who star David Tennant and David Bradley who currently stars in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and you’re just setting yourself up to fail.  Don’t believe me?  Take a look at the recent attempt to Americanize the iconic English cop show “Prime Suspect”.  Crashed and burned.  But hey, stealing other people’s creative ideas is still easier than doing the work yourself.

On the other hand out in the wide world of video on the web you can find some very interesting and innovative stuff.

If you like scary, X-Files/Twilight Zone stuff you want to check out “Marble Hornets”.  My daughter got me turned on to this one.  Created by a couple of college buddies as a lark it has grown a dedicated following.  The budget is super low but they use that to good effect.  If you’re familiar with the online character Slenderman this falls into that universe.  And it is both compelling and utterly chilling.

At the opposite end you have “Pittsburgh Dad”.  Again, originally the work of a couple of buddies from my home town, this video series is dedicated to all of us who grew up in around the ‘Burgh and that special point of view that comes from the dads of that area.  Think of it as the Steel City’s answer to “All In the Family”.

There is some creative work being done out there.  Sadly not enough of it is being done by the big bucks people.

What's Next?                                                                                         

We’ve talked a lot recently about the future of print and newspapers especially.  In the midst of this last discussion a new question popped into my mind.

What’s next?

When it comes to old line media there are really two different stories.  There’s the big boys, the NY Times, the TV networks, folks like that, and then there’s the local media.  In our case folks folks like the Post Journal, local radio and Buffalo TV stations.  Those two groups are playing on very different ground.  One has a nationwide or even worldwide audience and potential paying customer base.  The other one has a much more limited base for income.  Consequently they may feel the financial pinch brought on by massive shifts in how media is consumed before the big boys do.

And that brings me back to the question of what’s next.  Or perhaps more pointedly, WHO’S next?  We’ve talked about local print and we’ve talked about the stresses on local radio.  They’re already there.  Who’s next?

I think it’s local TV.  Think about it.  More and more of the best of what’s on TV, the network programming, is available online.  You can watch it anytime, anywhere.  Beyond that what’s left?  Local News and lots of either re-runs or syndicated programming.  In reality I think most of us watched that because it’s all there was.  For re-runs of my favorite shows I can now turn to my home collection of DVDs and Blu-Ray.  As for the rest of syndicated TV?  I was raised to believe that if you can’t say something nice say nothing at all.

(Silence)

Local TV is rapidly becoming a dinosaur.  In fact some experts think that all TV, broadcast, cable and satellite, is headed for the door. There’s one primary bit of programming that may slow that change because it generates huge audiences and profits.  Live sports.  Because of its short “shelf life” (meaning you really need to see the game when it’s played or it’s just not as interesting) sports remain “must see TV”.  Once the leagues figure out how to make the money they need without having to put up with the network providers I guarantee they will be gone in a shot.

And at that point we will know the answer to “What’s Next?”

Google World                                                                                                                

Things have been busy in the land of Google recently.

Start off with Google bouncing the Youtube app from the Android store for the second time.  Google claims the app violates Youtubes User agreement.  This despite the fact that they worked WITH Youtube to create the app and, oh-yeah-by-the-way, Google OWNS Youtube.  Some weird interoffice politics there I think.

On the Google Glass front what may be a big step forward.  Google Glass are the high tech eyeglasses that allow you to access the web while you’re walking around.  I continue to have doubts about the wisdom of this idea but not everyone agrees.  Last week German automaker Mercedes-Benz said they will work with Google to integrate the Google Glass concept into some future models.  So we can expect them to be extremely well engineered and ridiculously complicated.

But my favorite story from the last couple weeks has to do with Google’s recent update on Gmail.  This is the new tabbed sort of your email that’s rolled out over the last month or so.  It’s been met with the usual grumbles from the usual suspects but I have to admit I’m liking it.  Those talented little Google algorithms (I have no idea what an algorithm is by the way.  It some kind of computer coding mathematics thing that borders on either magic or computers thinking for themselves, neither of which helps me sleep peacefully at night), these algorithms sort your mail.  Like taking all the ones trying to sell you something and putting them in a separate folder from the mail you might actually care about.  It allows me to sort through those things quickly and remove the 99.9% of them that I don’t want.

Well, not everyone is as thrilled by this as I am.  Care to guess who has the greatest complaint?  Yep, the email marketing community.  They complain that fewer people are likely to read their emails and that will hurt business.  I understand that the core of advertising is views.  The more time you can get you message seen or heard the more likely your message will sink in.  At the same time if the deal is compelling I’m more likely to open that email.  And if it’s from someone I do regular business with then it’s easy to move that to my Primary folder.

And then those clever little algorithms will remember to put it there in the future.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

Movie Review - Hudson Hawk

Hudson Hawk (1991) -  Eddie Hawkins, a.k.a. the Hudson Hawk (Bruce Willis), is the greatest cat burglar of all time.  He's just been released at the end of a 10 year stretch and is ready to go straight.  But a couple of lunatic billionaires with dreams ruling the world blackmail him into stealing the pieces of a device created by Leonardo Da Vinci that will turn lead into gold.  If he doesn't cooperate they'll kill his best friend Tommy (Danny Aiello). Along the way Eddie meets and falls for Anna, an historical expert with the Vatican who also happens to be a nun and a secret agent.  The evil Mayflowers (Richard E. Grant and Sandra Bernhard) are in cahoots with a rogue CIA agent (James Coburn) and his henchmen.  Who all have code names of candy bars...

Do I really have to go on?

This is not a good movie.  This isn't even a good bad movie.  It's just dumb.  In fact, my bet is that Willis and the other writers made a bet among themselves to see just how dumb a movie they could get the studio to actually pay to produce.  The script's IQ doesn't make it to room temperature.  The 3 Stooges would be offended by the poor quality rip off of their stuff that keeps popping back up in the movie.  Half the time it seems like Aiello can barely control his own laughter at the utter imbecility of the dialogue.  Nothing makes sense here.  The movie pulled an R rating for language.  There was no reason for the language that was used.  This really comes off as something done while the whole cast (and director) was drunk or as a "stick it to the studio".  The story is that the script was in constant turmoil and being re-written while being filmed (almost always a disaster).  It was the last nail in the coffin for the studio, Tri-Star.  It lost a ton of money on this barf burger.

This movie has one, and only one, redeeming feature.  Hawk  has a memory bank filled with the playing times of a wide variety of hit songs.  He uses them as timing devices for his crimes.  Near the beginning Willis and Aiello are fairly funny robbing an auction house as they sing "Would You Like to Swing On A Star" as the timer.  It's a fun scene which you can find at the link below.  That way you can watch the only part of the movie worth watching.

I mean the two mob guys involved in the blackmail are the Mario Brothers.

Awful.

Rating - * Forget It

Book Review - The Black Count

The Black Count - Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss (2012) - If you are at all familiar with French literature you know the name Dumas.  Alexandre Dumas (pere) and Alexandre Dumas (fils).  Father and son, and two of the great names of French writing.  Unknown to me, and I'd wager a fair number of you as well, is that there was an Alexandre Duma (grand pere).

His preference was to be known simply as Alex.  The eldest Dumas was the son of a minor French aristocrat and a Haitian slave woman who would rise to nearly rival Napoleon in his day.  Bonaparte would eventually turn his back on his fellow general and let him suffer in an Italian prison while Napoleon became emperor.  Because Dumas was persona non grata Reiss works hard to find background on the character.  The middle Dumas wrote a hagiographic biography of his father.  At the same time the general appears to have been an amazing person.  Brilliant general, outstanding swordsman and horseman, beloved by his troops as well as his wife and children.

I've always wondered at the rather rabid reaction to the Bonaparte name you sometimes find in European, especially English, histories.  He is generally treated rather warmly in American schools (at least when I went through) as something of French freedom fighter who goes a little wrong at the end.  I came away with a very different view of him after this book.  Nasty little man.

Dumas pere based one of his most popular books "The Count of Monte Christo" on his father's time in an Italian prison following the betrayal by Bonaparte.  The two year ordeal shortened the elder Dumas's life and he died at just 43 years old.

This is a fascinating piece of French history that I never knew and Riess does a wonderful job telling the story.  If you'd like a little adventure with your history I think you'll like this one.

Rating - **** Recommended

Movie Review - Le Mans

Le Mans (1971) - How is this not the greatest movie of all time?  It has Steve McQueen and race cars.  It is one of the greatest auto racing movies of all time.

OK, it's NOT the greatest movie of all time.  But it is a stunning racing movie.

The first thing you need to know is that this movie isn't about the people in it.  The first line by any of the major characters comes 37 minutes into the film.  There's not a lot of other dialogue prior to that either.  Mostly background chatter and the race announcer (which, if you know little about racing and especially Le Mans, is incredibly educational) but nothing that is vital the plot.

The story is very simple.  Michael Delaney (Steve McQueen) was involved in an accident last year at Le Mans that resulted in the death of a Ferrari driver.  This year he must not only compete with the other drivers but must deal with the demons of that accident and the presence of the Ferrari driver's widow Lisa (the stunningly beautiful Elsa Andersen).  The only other story line is with one of the other drivers (Ritter played by Siegfried Rausch) who is contemplating making this Le Mans his swan song.

The rest of the movie is about the racing.  If you're one of those people who watch races waiting for the crashes there are a couple of spectacular crashes.  (and if you are one of those people you're a cretin)

This is old school racing.  Safety harnesses had been introduced less than a decade before, the race tracks lacked modern shock absorbing barriers and run off areas.  Le Mans is a different kind of racing than most Americans know.  This is endurance racing.  Now before some Indy 500 fan or NASCAR fan starts yapping about their 600 mile races think about this.  Le Mans winners routinely log 3,000+ miles in 24 hours of driving.  All at speeds well in excess of 100 miles per hour.  In the end speed is not the essence of the race.  The technical name for this race is The Gran Prix of Endurance and Efficiency.  The goal is to endure.  24 hours with only the shortest breaks, 3 drivers rotating through the race, every system of the car stretched to its utmost.

If you're an auto racing fan this is a must have, ***** rating movie.

Rating - **** Recommended

The Future and The Post, On Interviews, and Rating the Ratings

 "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.  Copyright 2013 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.

Program scripts from week of August 12, 2013


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. 

Rating the Ratings                                                                                                        

I have recently been in the market for a new cellphone.  Doing my research took me deep into one of the most annoying parts of the World Wide Web.  Product ratings and reviews.

Can we just be honest?  Most customer review/ratings systems are a complete waste of time.  If I’m generous maybe 40% of those ratings are worth reading, positive or negative.  Then you get the reviews from people who want the product to be something other than what it is so they give it lousy reviews.  On top of those you will get the ratings trolls.  Usually anonymous reviews that may simply give a one star rating or might add something totally useless like “This product/manufacturer stinks”.  This inevitably results in the counter-troll reviews.  These are diatribes against the trolls for being stupid with a five star rating “to balance things out”.  Which it doesn’t, it just makes the ratings even less relevant than they were before.

All of which makes trying to figure out whether you want to buy something or not even tougher.

I would rely on the more “serious” review websites except they can be equally idiotic.  In looking at reviews for the phone I eventually decided to buy I found a 13 page review of it.  The problem was that the reviewer has decided how a smartphone should look and perform.  All smartphones.  In every price range.  The reviewer grudging acknowledged that the phone in question did a competent, even solid job at just about everything.  It’s a low, mid-range model.  But he just could not resist the urge to point out that it did not have all the latest bells and whistles.  It couldn’t compete with the latest state of the art smartphones out there.  Most of which cost in the 300-500 dollar range.  While this one sits at around 150.  In fact the next review site actually cited virtually every point made by the first website as proof that this phone was actually an excellent value because it was such a solid performer at such a bargain price.


The frightening thing is that I see the exact same scenario acted out in just about any market segment or product I come across.  In the end I’ve decided the next time I need some advice on what product to buy I can probably get just as high quality advice by just sticking my head out the window and shouting.

On Interviews                                                                                                           

While I don’t make my living in radio any more I still listen to a fair bit of it.  Not the popular music radio so much any more but lots of public radio like NPR and WRLP.  Which means I listen to a lot of interviews.  Especially a lot of longer form interviews.  And naturally that gets me thinking on the subject.

First of all let’s note that interviewing is hard.  Doing it well requires a lot of preparation and an agile mind that can follow the rabbit trails that sometimes lead to the best interviews.  You are often interviewing people that are either uncomfortable talking about themselves or who simply don’t want to discuss what you want to talk about.  Finding ways to keep the subject talking and involved is no simple process.  Making sure that you frame questions in a manner that precludes brief answers is an art form.  At the same time you need to know when to interrupt and re-direct the conversation in a different direction.  I have a lot of respect for really good interviewers.

At the same time I regularly hear even the very best make some really dumb mistakes.  I will now utter a little public radio heresy by criticizing Peabody Award winning radio host Terry Gross of WHYY, Philadelphia’s “Fresh Air” program.  Gross is considered one of the best cultural interviewers in the business and with good reason.  At the same time she drives me NUTS some days with long rambling questions that sometimes don’t even really wind up as questions.  She will also sometimes phrase the question in such a way that indicates what she thinks the answer is.  I don’t care what Terry Gross thinks the answer is, I want to hear what the guest thinks.

I also hear other interviewers who keep asking the question even after the guest is clearly ready to answer.  It’s like they’ve worked so hard on this question or turn of phrase they don’t want to miss out on the chance to get it on the air.  The problem is that it puts the interviewer in the wrong place.  In this case standing between the guest and the audience.

Listening to all these interviews makes me appreciate the good ones all the more.  Where the interviewer tosses out some great questions then steps out of the way to let the guest tell their story.  Stepping in only to prod the guest to keep moving.


It’s a rare and special gift that I’ve been enjoying these last several years.

The Future and the Post                                                                                                           

Over the last couple years I have returned to the subject of the future of the news media, most especially the future of the newspaper.  The Fourth Estate, as journalism and especially print journalism has been known, is a vital part of a free society in my opinion.  That’s why I think it’s a subject worth coming back to regularly.

Recently there’s been two big news stories about newspapers.  One was the sale of the Boston Globe by the New York Times to the owner of the Boston Red Sox.  The main reason why this made the news is that Times sold the Globe for 100 million dollars after buying it for just over a billion dollars. 

It’s the other newspaper story that I think is the more interesting.  The Washington Post was purchased just days later by Jeff Bezos, the founder of online giant Amazon.  With all due respect to the Boston Globe which is a great newspaper this sale is kind of mind boggling.  This is the oldest and most widely circulated paper in our nation’s capitol.  Winner of 40+ Pulitzers, the legendary home of Katherine Graham, Ben Bradlee and Woodward and Bernstein.  This is the paper that was instrumental in bringing down the presidency of Richard Nixon.  And Jeff Bezos that has done as much as anyone in changing how we buy pretty much everything.

I think there’s four important points to this story.  First, Jeff Bezos has deep pockets.  If they are going to find a new model for the news it’s going to take someone with deep pockets.  Second, this is a private sale.  Bezos will have no stockholders breathing down his neck which gives him room to try and find that new model.  Third, Bezos has a reputation for understanding technology and making it pay.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Bezos has no background in journalism.  Now that’s going to make a lot of the old school news folks nervous.  As much as I love old school journalism I’m afraid I think having a new guy in charge with no investment in the status quo to get in the way of new ideas is probably exactly what this industry needs right now.  The old school folks solutions have so far come up sadly short.


What we need is find the new way forward so that the news media can report the news rather than be it.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

Movie Review - Men In Black 3

Men in Black 3 - (2012) One of Agent K's (Tommie Lee Jones) old enemies breaks out of prison and time travels to the past to get revenge by killing K before the arrest takes place.  Agent J (Will Smith) follows the trail and works with the younger Agent K (Josh Brolin) to defeat the bad guy.

It's hard to know where to even begin with this one.  So let's just be brief.  This movie is easily the worst of the three MiB movies.  It lacks the charm and sense of humor of the original.  Brolin does a nice job of impersonating Jone's verbal delivery.  In the end neither he nor Jones himself are particularly interesting viewing.  The script forgoes any attempt at being original or clever and settles for juvenile visual gags.  They rely too heavily on special effects and then add a silly ending.  Michael Stahlbarg as the alien named Griffin is the only interesting part of the movie.

A really, really sad sequel.  Disappointing in almost every respect.  Agent J comes off as whiny and needy.  The bravado of the previous movies just comes off as self centered whimpering.  Tommie Lee Jones seems to just walk through the role.  Emma Thompson is wasted in the role as the new head of MIB Agent O because there's just nothing there.

I can understand why Will Smith has no interest in MIB 4.  Neither do I.

Rating - * Forget It

Life On the Farm, Stupider and Hot New Toy

 "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.  Copyright 2013 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.



Program scripts from week of August 5, 2013


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. 

Hot New Toy                                                                                                        

There has been a “Holy Grail” out there for a lot of technology companies for a while now. It’s the ability to hook up the computer to the TV and make it all work together. Apple TV has tried with limited success, Google TV has had only limited success as well. The technology isn’t all that tough but getting the user experience down to something simple and intuitive seems to be the hang up. If you’re going to ask the consumer to put yet another box on top of the TV (and in all likelihood ask them to do the wiring themselves) consumers have been underwhelmed. As much as we complain about the cable guy or the satellite company guy coming in to hook up the box it’s done and it works. 
And that means a lot in this market.
So when Google launched their new Chromecast device last month people sat up and took notice. Because it was plug in simple.
Let’s deal with one thing right off the bat. The device that you plug into the HDMI slot on your TV is called a “dongle”. Get your snickering over with now because that’s a term that’s been around for a long time. Give it a year and it won’t sound weird anymore. Dongle. OK? Good.
The great thing is that you just plug it in, very much like a USB jump drive. There’s not wiring, there’s not even a remote control. You connect and control Chromecast through your laptop, tablet or smartphone. Basically you can now “cast” or send whatever you watch on those devices, Youtube, Netflix, et cetera, to the Chromecast dongle and it plays on your TV. Simple. And even better, cheap. The Chromecast device is selling for $35.
As with any brand new device it has some bugs and bumps. It already supports Youtube, Netflix streaming and Google Play. But folks are lining up to help make the experience even better. Hulu, HBO Go and Pandora are all in talks with Google. Behind them come folks like AOL, Redbox Instant by Verizon, Vevo and Vimeo. 
After trying far more complicated solutions it looks like Google may have finally found the “Holy Grail”. The even better news is that Google’s competitors won’t be far behind.
The days of truly bringing all your media together in one place just might be just around the corner.

Stupider?                                                                                                           

I must confess that I seem to be developing a new habit. I’m not sure at the moment if it’s a good one or a bad one. I am becoming a serious multiple screen multi-tasker. When I’m watching TV I often, not always but often, have my laptop with me. I will sometimes have the TV on and muted while I’m working on the computer (like writing scripts for this program). I like to have IMDB open when I’m watching a movie or TV show so I can check on a detail or who an actor is. I may have a Pirates or Steelers or Bills game when I’m writing. Usually it’s not problem (although interrupting Mrs. Phlipside’s movie viewing to bombard her with movie trivia is not advised) but there are times when I just feel myself zoning out.
I have become a little more concerned when I saw a new study about two things. First, I discover I am not alone. More of us than ever before are multi-tasking with technology. This year alone time watching media will rise by 13 minutes on average leaving us just a few minutes shy of 12 hours of media per person.
That’s a little intimidating all by itself. Then I came across a study out of South Korea. The Koreans are the most digitally connected country in the world. What is being seen is a spike in what they are calling digital dementia. That’s when folks who spend a lot of time viewing media show the same kinds of memory loss more commonly associated with head injury or psychiatric illness.
Ummmm, excuse me while I lean over and turn off the TV.
Ok. Now let’s take a step back. The study was looking especially at the effect on children and teens. The problem is that it doesn’t seem to take into account normal responses in the teen aged years. Teens do tend to become obsessed with ideas at that age. Take a look at Beatlemania or Sinatra’s bobby soxers and tell me that doesn’t look like mental illness. Plus remembering phone numbers (which is one of the tests used) has changed because of our access to smartphones. My wife has had the same cell phone number for years. I have no idea what it is. It’s programmed into my phone so I don’t worry about it.
Do we all spend more time with media that we probably should? 12 hours a day? Yeah, that’s an easy one. Seems like the cure for this is easy. Step away from the technology and go watch a sunset. Or talk with your family.
It’s a win-win situation.

Life On The Farm                                                                                                                      

Consider today’s program a public service.
I’m sure you’re familiar with those annoying Facebook posts that say things like “Name a city whose name doesn’t have an “R” in it. It’s harder than you think!” (You mean like Jamestown, Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago?) or the “Like if you hate cancer!” ones. You’ve seen them. The ones with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of likes.
Most people fall into two categories. Those that click on those things and those that find them just too annoying to bother. I want to create a much larger third group. Those who know what’s going on.
It’s called “like farming”. And we're the farm animals.  The goal is to get a whole lot of people to connect with your page then sell it to an advertiser who now has a database to exploit. And that’s not the only thing they do. A lot of these involve photos taken from websites without permission or attribution, giving them a fake name and backstory, to generate likes. It’s a sham from start to finish.
Is this an end of the world kind of problem? Honestly, no. We are giving away our contact info right and left on the Internet most days. To be honest most of us don’t even realize how much of our info is out there and how freely we’ve granted the business community the opportunity to make use of it.
But there just seems to be something more insidious about this. There is something disturbing at a fundamental level about exploiting people’s decency for profit without their knowledge. The good news is that it’s a lot easier to fix than some of the problems with privacy issues on the World Wide Web.
Just stop doing it.
The reality is that you’re not accomplishing anything other than handing the keys to your digital life to someone you don’t know and don’t want to know. Oh there is one other thing you’re doing. You are annoying the daylights out of most of your friends.
I’m willing to stipulate that my friends are basically decent folks who hate cancer, love kittens and puppies and support our troops.
I’m hoping they’re smart enough not to continue to let themselves be “farm” animals.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

Book Review - The Three Musketeers

"The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas (pere) - 1844

Having just read a biography of Dumas's father (for which I thought I'd written a review but apparently not) I was happy to dive into this great classic of French literature hiding on my Nook.

The basic story is fairly well known - a young man, d'Artagnon, arrives in Paris looking to join the fabled Musketeers.  This is an elite group of guards assigned to the King.  He first fights, then is befriended by, three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis.  Together they drink and fight and laugh together through adventures that will take them to England and back.  Along the way they will face some dangerous foes.

To be honest my impression of the story before I turned a page came from the movies.  Which seemed to be mostly men in the absurd (to my eye) clothing of 17th century France having sword fights and being drunk.  It all seemed rather lightweight and silly.  On the other hand this novel (originally a serial) is highly regarded and it launched the fame of the elder Dumas.  So I swung into it.

What I found was a wonderful story and fabulous characters.  I know that d'Artagnon is the romantic lead and seems to get the hero worship but for me it was the silent but wise Athos that drew me in.  He is a man with secrets and burdens.  At the same time he watches over his friends and is there for them when needed.  In the movies Aramis always seems a bit hypocritical in his devotion to the church.  Dumas shows a young man struggling between his calling to God and earthly callings like friendship and duty.

As with any work translated into English the phrasing is sometime  awkward.  It's obvious that idiomatic phrases in French were rather woodenly translated into English so at times the writing is a bit strange.  That's clearly not the fault of the author.  Once source notes that one early translation by William Barrow discretely deletes any scene that seems to be about intimate relations.  While that may have made sense in 1800s England it is foolish now and you would lose some of the quality of the novel by reading such a translation.  My copy is the Barnes and Noble Classics edition and the translator is listed as unknown.

This is a great fun adventure novel filled with wonderful characters of real depth.  Well worth the read.

Rating - **** Recommended

Movie Review - Cold Comfort Farm

Cold Comfort Farm (1995) - Young Flora Poste (Kate Beckinsale) finds herself orphaned and with only 100 pounds income a year.  Her solution?  To live with (and off of) her distant relatives.  Somewhat to her chagrin the likeliest candidate is a distant branch of the family who claim that they wronged her father.  The Starkadders (Eileen Atkins, Ian McKelln, and Rufus Sewell among others) invite her to Cold Comfort Farm for a chance to make good on that wrong.  What she discovers there is a dour family focused on curses, death and sin.  Flora's relentless cheerfulness fights back little by little.

Based on 1930s novel of the same name by Stella Gibbons the story is a parody of a popular genre of the day.  Those novels played on what was seen as the strangeness and sorrow of country life.  The movie has the feel of  a parody of modern BBC's series.  Which is rather amusing given that this was a BBC made for TV movie.

So what is so appealing about this movie?  It is the fine detail given to each and every character.  These are characters that need that detail to be more than cartoon characters.  They are weird and idiosyncratic and eccentric and utterly delightful.  The Starkadders are never allowed to slip into caricature.  These are real people trapped in an unreal story.  And Flora will free them, each in their own way.

So much fun.

Rating - **** Recommended

Vanity Google, Apologize, Unsolicited Advice

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.  Copyright 2013 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.

Program scripts from week of July 29, 2013


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. 

Unsolicited Advice                                                                                              

Periodically on this program I offer up some utterly unsolicited advice to various media personalities and major corporations. I will be the first to acknowledge that there is no evidence that any of them have ever actually taken this advice.

But they should.


In this case my advice is aimed at the folks at the television broadcast networks. It’s a tough life at the networks these days. Once upon a time just a few decades ago they were the king of the hill. 


Today their viewership is falling overall across the board and for the second year in a row NO broadcast network show was even nominated in the Outstanding Drama Series category. That’s the serious win category. It’s the one that makes everyone sit and take notice of the quality work you do. So let me repeat myself. NO, as in ZERO, broadcast network shows were even nominated.


Ouch.


This prompted NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt to rise up on his hind legs and try to explain it all away. Kind of interesting that it’s someone from the #3 network making the noise. His arguments aren’t really worth getting into since they’re pretty mundane but I thought maybe it’s time for a little unsolicited advice.


The networks are desperate to figure out how to turn this all around. NBC’s plan apparently involves more “event programming” which apparently means mini-series about Hilary Clinton and live broadcasts. I think I’ve got a better idea. How about we actually try investing in top quality programming? Maybe take a page from the folks at the BBC and go for short run, high quality programming. I mean BBC is generally accepted as a quality TV producer. Take a look at the new “Sherlock” series. A season is 3 90 minute episodes. Dump some serious time, effort and yes money into creating some real “event programming”. Surround them with your best series TV.


My bet is that ratings will go up and award nominations will pick up too. Beyond that we’d finally get some TV worth watching.


But no one will listen.


Apologize                                                                                                              

Early on in my career I got into a dispute with one of my bosses. And yes it was just one of many, many such disputes I got into with various people. Who knew you could work with so many people who were wrong?

OK, not all of them were wrong.

But I still think I was right this time. I had messed up something on the air, misspoken myself reading a story, something like that. I apologized and went back and corrected myself. When I came off the air I was told I should never apologize because it just drew more attention to the mistake. Just read it correctly and move on.


The problem I have with this is that it assumes the audience is stupid. That they didn’t notice and if you act like it didn’t happen they’ll just forget about it. Pretending I didn’t do it didn’t work when I was 8 so why would I expect that it would work as an adult?

A couple of major news organizations found themselves in the same position. How they handled it is instructive.
A whole bunch of news organizations, including the L.A. Times and Business Insider, recently ran a quote by actress and new host on “The View” Jenny McCarthy about vaccines and autism. Now Jenny has said a lot of uninformed things about that subject but she didn’t say this one. The quote came from a satire site called “The Superficial”. When confronted with the mistake these organizations tried to bury the mistake. Which has allowed the false quote to continue to circulate with their names giving it weight.


On the other hand the Chicago Tribune recently ran a story about a disabled veteran and his seeing eye dog. Problem was the man in the story lied about being a veteran and how he’d lost his eyesight. The Trib ran an apology that explained what was wrong with the original story, took responsibility for not getting it right, explained the mistakes they made and promised that steps were being taken to insure that it never happened again.
So one news organization acted like professional adults. The other ones acted like guilty 8 year olds. Which one do you have more respect for? 

Cover of the Rolling Stone                                                                                                          

Have you ever done a vanity Google? That’s when you type in your own name to see what comes up. For public figures it has become something of a must do because it’s the fastest way to check out your online image. Google’s search will take things into consideration like the how often terms are searched for and common words associated with those terms.
For a cancer surgeon in New South Wales, Australia that was part of the problem. You see when you googled his name the search engine’s autocomplete function added the word “bankruptcy”. He claimed that this cost him patients and financial backers so he sued Google in California court.
This may sound silly but I guarantee the folks at Google don’t find it funny. It is one of a series of such suits brought against the search giant. Another suit had been thrown out in Wisconsin concerning a woman whose name brought up an autocomplete association with the prescription drug Levitra.
Here’s the problem I have with these suits. Both of the people in these two cases DO in fact have connections with the words they dislike so much. The doctor was listed as a creditor to a company that had gone bankrupt and the woman had already sued Yahoo over the same issue with Levitra.
The equations used to determine Google’s search process are way beyond my understanding so I thought I’d try a simple test. I googled myself.
With just my first name entered I got “Jay Phillippi Princeton” (I did some study there years ago), my full name then entries for Jay Leno, Jay Z and Jay McKee. By the time I got my full name in it was just the first two listings. So is that association with Princeton any fairer than the bankruptcy? No, although this makes me look good while making the doctor look bad.
The reality is that if you search the doctor’s name today you get dozens of stories about his suit against Google (which he has dropped without prejudice at the moment). All of which means that the word bankruptcy has that many more associations with his name.
I find it hard to blame Google for this problem. Your online reputation is made up of all the things that appear on the World Wide Web. For the professional it is more and more important that we spend some time working that system.

Call that the View From the Phlipside