Category Archives: Media

Finding common ground on the war on religon

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The war on religion continues. By now, I’m sure you are familiar with the story surrounding Kim Davis, the clerk in Kentucky who was jailed for failing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Her plight has garnered international attention and prompted Republican presidential hopefuls Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz to meet with her, pledging their support.

What you may not be aware of is Davis is not alone in having to decide between her duties and her faith. Meet Charee Stanley, a recently converted member of the Muslim faith and flight attendant for Express Jet. She has been suspended for refusing to serve alcohol which goes against her Islamic faith. Stanley has filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming the airline refused to make a reasonable accommodation.

What is interesting is that both women are basically making the same claim that religion trumps law. It was not too long ago when a boxer named Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces during the Vietnam War. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually overturned his conviction. That defiance did not make him very popular during that time, but he some how overcame it to become “The Greatest” (even if it was self proclaimed).

So where does all of this leave us? The argument of religious freedom versus government will no doubt continue to be a moving target that will never be totally resolved. I just wonder if Huckabee and Cruz will fight as hard for Stanley’s religious freedom as they have for Davis.

Come On Man!

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HC LogoThe Houston Chronicle (Houston’s misleading news source) posted a story today about Houston radio ratings for the month of July.

Instead of a well thought-out article by David Barron, who actually understands ratings and the radio market, they opted for the madding slide show in the aggravating attempt to get more page views by click bait.

After a quick re-cap that really doesn’t put the data into perspective, they encourage the reader to check out where their favorite station sits in the rankings.

Ham OperatorEven before you can click and start down the magical journey of images, there is a glaring error, the first photo shows a ham radio operator which begs the question; huh? What a ham radio operator has to do with radio ratings is a mystery, much like Area 51 and likely to be solved in our lifetime.

Moving on, the next slide shows KPRC-AM with an unidentified talent (using the term very loosely). In the information they indicate their rating is a 0.8 and a 0.6. While showing two different numbers is confusing, they don’t bother to show rank, so it’s hard to know if that’s good, or that’s bad.

KROIThe photo for KROI-FM shows it when it was an urban gospel format. The caption (probably taken from the original story) explains that the station has seen changed formats two times and is now known as Boom 92 (but hey, it is a fun photo).

Some other highlights include the photo of cars lined up at a gas station to represent KTHT-FM radio, somebody from KHMX milking a cow, John Lander for KKBQ-FM (which has to be more than 30 years old) and my personal fav, a photo of Hudson and Harrigan (love those guys) for KILT-FM (610) which lists the station as having sports format. Obviously, they are mixing up KILT-AM and KILT-FM, but as they say on the Monday night football pre-game show on ESPN; “Come On Man”!

kilt

While radio ratings may not be a big story, putting a tease and link on the Chron.com home page suggests they think it noteworthy and yet don’t feel it necessary to fact check any of it. Even readers are posting comments about how dated/wrong the slide show is.

You can click here to see the awarding winning journalism here.

Reality TV gets a little too real

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trumpAmerican’s love their reality TV. From The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Big Brother, America’s Got Talent, Chopped, Project Runway and others, viewers are keeping their eyeballs on the boob tube.

That’s why it should come as no surprise that America is obsessed with the latest reality show; the GOP Republican Presidential Nomination race.

The star of this latest show is no stranger to this genre of entertainment. Donald Trump, star of The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice, has literally sucked all the air out of the room with his flamboyant showmanship leaving all challengers to come up with ways to get noticed.

  • Rand Paul posted a video of him taking a chainsaw to the tax code promising to kill it much like the car salesman in Used Cars.
  • Lyndsey Graham took to YouTube to teach us all how to destroy your cell phone after The Donald gives out your number on network television. I was shocked that he still uses flip phone from era long, long ago.
  • And, in what may be the most bizarre episode yet, Ted Cruz posted a video entitled  “Making Machine-Gun Bacon with Ted Cruz,” with the final moments showing the junior senator peeling a piece of meat off the barrel with plastic fork, putting it in mouth, and humming, “Mmmm, machine-gun bacon.”

Sadly, all of these demonstrations of statesmanship have had little impact on the polls. Trump still leads by a large margin which leads to the question; why? Do republicans really believe Trump has the right stuff to be president?

My guess is that voters want someone on that campaign trail who is not afraid of having an “oops” moment and really say what they think (even if it’s a bit wacky). They want that infamous off-the-cuff style of talk that Trump is famous for. Immigration, the economy and the other issues of the day will be hit with a barrage of Trumpism’s that will be sure to keep the candidates on their toes.

It truly is Must See TV.

Media bias or stupidity?

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CincinnatiPoliceShootingThere’s a lot not to like about the story of University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing being indicted on a murder charge in the shooting death of Samuel DuBose.

Much like the Sandra Brown being pulled over for failing to signal when changing lanes, DuBose was stopped because the car he was driving did not have front license plates. It is hard to fathom how two seemingly innocent events could turn so tragic, but something else caught my eye; how certain media outlets built graphic art to promote their coverage.

As you can see, the photo of Tensing shows him smiling, in uniform with an American flag behind him. DeBose’s photo was a mugshot taken when he was arrested for drug charges.

This of course blew up social media, calling the graphic everything from inconsiderate, to racist, to just plain stupid. Most of the outlets have removed the graphic, but as everyone should know, nothing dies on the internet.

It can be argued the graphic, just like the traffic stops were not meant to internally do harm, but if I was a black man, I think I might feel differently.

Gazing into the crystal ball

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n.teslaI came across this story today and was blown away on how brilliant Nikola Tesla was.

Check out part of this 1926 interview where Tesla predicted the creation of the smartphone.

“When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket.”

I sometimes catch myself wondering what life will be like 100 years from now, and realize I don’t have a clue. And for you guys out there thinking about the new world order, consider what else Tesla told the interviewer.

“This struggle of the human female toward sex equality will end in a new sex order, with the female as superior. It is not in the shallow physical imitation of men that women will assert first their equality and later their superiority, but in the awakening of the intellect of women.”

Reporting the news

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I had the chance to help an old friend. Kris O’Donnell who works for WIVB-TV was looking for someone to talk about the flooding that is taking place in Texas. Thanks to the great Jeff Dunn at LSC, I was able to provide some video for her. The best part was having my two brothers getting to watch it.

They used several clips and made this one available on YouTube.

Stop or I’ll shoot!

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Crowd_PhonesThere’s a new debate brewing with the burgeoning use of photos/videos being recorded on cell phones and people’s right to privacy. What started off as harmless (although increasingly annoying) selfies has now turned into everyone becoming guardians of truth, justice and the American way.

In Texas, the Austin-based American Phoenix Foundation has had 16 people with hidden cameras at the Capitol for six months in a bid to expose “hypocrisy” by Texas lawmakers.

There have been several House Republican lawmakers who expressed concerns with some of the group’s tactics, saying they were approached in an aggressive manner by people with hidden cameras to secretly videotape encounters that has raised alarms for Capitol security. Between gun advocates openly carrying down the hallowed halls of the capitol and covert videographers, it’s a wonder anyone feels safe there. Good thing they installed those panic buttons.

John Beria, spokesperson for the group said “they’ve collected quite a bit of content that I think will probably be very good, but a camera is nothing to be worried about if you’re not doing anything wrong” which is exactly the same argument used by proponents of red-light cameras. I guess you can have your cake and eat it too.

Now comes word that it’s not only politicians who are worried about being filmed. The airline industry is also taking notice. American Airlines updated its internal policies to allow employees at the airport, including ticket counters, gates, cargo, baggage, and onboard, to stop passengers from taking pictures.

“The policy is in place to protect employees and customers,” says Andrea Huguely, an American Airlines spokeswoman.

We’ve all seen the cell phone videos taken by passengers during those moments in the not so friendly skies. It’s hard to blame someone not being comfortable when dealing with an unruly passenger and there are 37 cells phone recording your every move.

And, it’s not only airline employees. Currently there are several proposed bills under the Texas Big Top (or State Capitol Building) are trying to tackle this modern issue. HB 2918 would make it illegal for private citizens to film police officers while conducting their duties. (This ban would not apply to members of the real-media).

So where does the right to document start and the right to privacy end? As usual, it will likely be decided by our elected officials and the courts.

Damn that traffic jam

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Cy Fair HoustonI had to do a double take when  I spotted The Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce marketing hand-out touting why “Cy-Fair is a Great Place to Live”.

What caught my eye was that piece used a photo that shows rows and rows of cars with brake lights. There is also a nice table showing traffic counts for various intersections.

The back side of the marketing piece says “Life in Cy-Fair” and Live…Work…Play.

While that might be nice for a business considering to locate in Cy-Fair, I really don’t think it would induce someone to move there. Hard to believe that someone thought the image of cars stuck in traffic would shine a favorable light to promote its community.

Heaven just got a little funner

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220px-Stan_Freberg_and_GongThe world is a little less funny today. Stan Freberg passed away yesterday at the age of 88. It is almost impossible to put into the words the profound effect he had on the world of media.

Freberg was known as a recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, author and arguable, one of the greatest advertising minds of all time.

Freberg was hired by Warner Brothers in 1944. In his autobiography, It Only Hurts When I Laugh,” he wrote about getting on a bus and asking the driver to let him off in Hollywood. There he found a sign advertising a talent agency, walked in and promptly started working for Warner Brother cartoons after an audition.

Later, Freberg started to release comedy albums on Capitol records. In one bit, Freberg spoofed Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel”; having the echo effect go wacky leading Elvis to eventually rip his jeans during the performance.

Following the success of his albums, Freberg landed his own radio show. Known for his biting satire and parody, Freberg was also know for standing up for his principles, refusing to accept alcohol and tobacco companies as sponsors, which killed his radio career after taking over for Jack Benny on CBS Radio.

Doing movies, radio and cartoons would be enough for any person, but his role in reshaping advertising revolutionized the industry. Freberg brought satire to advertising agencies, introducing humor to previously dull and unimaginative commercials. Freberg ended up winning 21 Clio awards for his work.

One of his classic moments involved proving radio was a better than television to advertise on by masterfully using sound effects to create the illusion of draining Lake Michigan and refilling it with hot chocolate, a mountain of whipped cream and dropping a giant maraschino cherry like a bomb by the Royal Canadian Air Force to the cheers of 25,000 extras viewing from the shoreline.

Rand Paul gets schooled

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RandPaulThere is much talk among educators on the importance of education, but it appears they should stand to do a little homework of their own.

Senator Rand Paul, who yesterday announced his candidacy for president, posted a “Stand with Rand: Kentucky” video on YouTube. The problem is the video violated copyright law.

YouTube’s Content ID system flagged a John Rich song in the video which the Warner Music Group, which owns the copyright yanked the campaign piece.

A big deal? Probably not, but does demonstrate the adage “the devil’s in the details” and how politicians and their campaigns need to pay attention to the little details, so the big messages does not get lost.