Just had to go looking for it -
My Slaughterhouse Five post from CodePink House this summer is here.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Quotidienne
I am very tired now, because I have gone to three conferences in a row. My friend Anne calls this the "information uptake" phase, and it always seems to go on forever, and it is very confusing and frustrating, especially when you are working on a campaign for an industry that is dying in front of your eyes. This sense of panic that a lot of us have is sheer nonsense. I keep telling people who are working on the journalism campaign that never once in the history of America has there been a product that appeals to millions of people, and the absence of someone to sell it. The question with journalism is not which business model. The really really hard part is figuring out how to reconstruct its ethos as a public service profession.
Speaking of panic, apparently there is this retro WWII era poster that is a huge hit all over Britain right now:
Millions of British terrified by the economic crisis are putting them up in their homes. What's really hilarious about it is the history: there were 3 posters made - this was the worst one, actually saved for the event of massive bombing and carnage.
From Barter Books:
Maybe I can find a copy of the one about cheerfulness and courage instead?
---
I am one month into DC habitation and I am fascinated. The cherry blossoms are like a gift; they are like pink frosting on the marble and concrete. It is an astonishingly international place, and now that I have a month before I go back on the road, I am going to spend my time immersing myself in African film and Turkish music.
The weird concrete blocks of the interior of the metro (see below) just make me think of "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd.
It is a former slave city. That is very disturbing. There is no working class. There is the professional class, and the service class. And the service class doesn't have suffrage.
However, there is so much to hope about. So much. If grassroots organizations like the Main Street Project can be telling the FCC what to do, then things are looking up.
The GhostNet story freaked me out a little. Not so much in what it said (which is not new) but the possible ramifications and implications of nationalistic responses to massive spy threats in the Internet. I'm sure I am not the only person worrying about this but I haven't had time to search for "GhostNet" in the deep well of brilliant, incisive writing that is Twitter.
And why Viet Nam?
Speaking of panic, apparently there is this retro WWII era poster that is a huge hit all over Britain right now:
Millions of British terrified by the economic crisis are putting them up in their homes. What's really hilarious about it is the history: there were 3 posters made - this was the worst one, actually saved for the event of massive bombing and carnage.
From Barter Books:
At the end of August 1939 three designs went into production with an overall print budget of 20,600 pounds for five million posters. The first poster, of which over a million were printed, carried a slogan suggested by a civil servant named Waterfield. Using the crowns of George VI as the only graphic device, the stark red and white poster read 'Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution will Bring Us Victory'. A similar poster, of which around 600,000 were issued, carried the slogan 'Freedom is in Peril'. But the third design, of which over 2.5 million posters were printed, simply read 'Keep Calm and Carry On'.
The first two designs were distributed in September 1939 and immediately began to appear in shop windows, on railway platforms, and on advertising hoardings up and down the country. But the 'Keep Calm' posters were held in reserve, intended for use only in times of crisis or invasion.
Maybe I can find a copy of the one about cheerfulness and courage instead?
---
I am one month into DC habitation and I am fascinated. The cherry blossoms are like a gift; they are like pink frosting on the marble and concrete. It is an astonishingly international place, and now that I have a month before I go back on the road, I am going to spend my time immersing myself in African film and Turkish music.
The weird concrete blocks of the interior of the metro (see below) just make me think of "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd.
It is a former slave city. That is very disturbing. There is no working class. There is the professional class, and the service class. And the service class doesn't have suffrage.
However, there is so much to hope about. So much. If grassroots organizations like the Main Street Project can be telling the FCC what to do, then things are looking up.
The GhostNet story freaked me out a little. Not so much in what it said (which is not new) but the possible ramifications and implications of nationalistic responses to massive spy threats in the Internet. I'm sure I am not the only person worrying about this but I haven't had time to search for "GhostNet" in the deep well of brilliant, incisive writing that is Twitter.
And why Viet Nam?
Monday, March 16, 2009
Revolutions We Need: On women and media reform
On the Issues, one of the leading magazines on progressive women's politics, asked me to contribute to their current issue on "Revolutions We Need," on media reform and what it means for women. This is what I wrote:
Finding the Power in Women’s Voices, by Hannah Miller
A growing group of organizations work on what is called "media democracy," that is, changing the structure and legal framework of the media so that it reflects something a smidgeon closer to the actual public – including women.
In all its complexity, the media – TV and cable, newspapers and film, magazines and podcasts – can be understood quite simply: it's just a group of people sitting in a circle, talking to each other, debating over the issues they care about.
But in American culture – our common circle – some speakers are deemed important than others. Some speakers always go first and speak as long as they like; some utter a few words. More often than not, it is men who start the conversation, who carry the conversation, who are the very topics, and women who respond, stay silent, or are not discussed at all.
And this is one revolution that we need, on the airwaves and on the page: to give back to women the power of their words.
Continued here.
Finding the Power in Women’s Voices, by Hannah Miller
A growing group of organizations work on what is called "media democracy," that is, changing the structure and legal framework of the media so that it reflects something a smidgeon closer to the actual public – including women.
In all its complexity, the media – TV and cable, newspapers and film, magazines and podcasts – can be understood quite simply: it's just a group of people sitting in a circle, talking to each other, debating over the issues they care about.
But in American culture – our common circle – some speakers are deemed important than others. Some speakers always go first and speak as long as they like; some utter a few words. More often than not, it is men who start the conversation, who carry the conversation, who are the very topics, and women who respond, stay silent, or are not discussed at all.
And this is one revolution that we need, on the airwaves and on the page: to give back to women the power of their words.
Continued here.
Friday, March 13, 2009
"The Apprentice" - PA Governor Edition
Can I just say right now how effing boring the race for the next PA Governor is shaping up to be? Seriously. It hasn't even started and I already am bored. It's the same old same old: craggy looking white guys bellying up to the center, available in only two flavors: a) Former/Current/Wannabe CEO or b) Tough on Crime. There looks to be nothing enjoyable or interesting about it, especially when you factor in the coming head-in-hands frustration of the choice organizations, and even worse, a possible rise in hate crimes directed at Pennsylvania's Latino communities as the Republican party tries to pick off NE votes with hatin' on the immigrints. GROSS!!!
Dr. Cornell West said it best: with all the talent we have in this country - why are these the people who run for office?
The only possibly entertaining candidate, Don Cunningham - who could have performed at his own events with his rock band, 'Don Cunningham and His Cabinet' - is staying put in the Lehigh Valley.
Anyways. I am not seeking a solution here, I just had to get that one off my chest.
To leave you with something funny at least, I will share a story from elections (and newspaper owners) past.
This is from a former Inquirer editor, talking about working for the shady character Walter Annenberg before the paper was bought by Knight:
"Annenberg shamelessly used his news columns to embarrass candidates who dared to run against his favorites. One day in 1966 a Democrat named Milton Shapp held a press conference while running for governor and Annenberg’s hand-picked political reporter asked him only one question.
"The question was, “Mr. Shapp, have you ever been admitted to a mental institution?”
“Why no,” Shapp responded, and went away scratching his head about this odd question.
"The next morning he didn’t need to scratch his head any more. A five-column front page Inquirer headline read, “Shapp Denies Mental Institution Stay.”"
Dr. Cornell West said it best: with all the talent we have in this country - why are these the people who run for office?
The only possibly entertaining candidate, Don Cunningham - who could have performed at his own events with his rock band, 'Don Cunningham and His Cabinet' - is staying put in the Lehigh Valley.
Anyways. I am not seeking a solution here, I just had to get that one off my chest.
To leave you with something funny at least, I will share a story from elections (and newspaper owners) past.
This is from a former Inquirer editor, talking about working for the shady character Walter Annenberg before the paper was bought by Knight:
"Annenberg shamelessly used his news columns to embarrass candidates who dared to run against his favorites. One day in 1966 a Democrat named Milton Shapp held a press conference while running for governor and Annenberg’s hand-picked political reporter asked him only one question.
"The question was, “Mr. Shapp, have you ever been admitted to a mental institution?”
“Why no,” Shapp responded, and went away scratching his head about this odd question.
"The next morning he didn’t need to scratch his head any more. A five-column front page Inquirer headline read, “Shapp Denies Mental Institution Stay.”"
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Can Someone Make a Porno Called "Deep Packet Inspection"?
I am getting waaay too media geek here, but I just want to say that whoever invented the phrase "deep packet inspection" has given we public interest/net neutrality peeps a great organizing tool. All you have to do is say it a couple of times and someone in the room starts giggling, and then asks you what a packet is.
The only other thing I want to say today was how ironic it is that the Internet, possibly the greatest democratizing force in thousands of years of human history, was invented by the U.S. Department of Defense.
That's something to smile about.
The only other thing I want to say today was how ironic it is that the Internet, possibly the greatest democratizing force in thousands of years of human history, was invented by the U.S. Department of Defense.
That's something to smile about.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
A little bad marketing goes a long way
From Salon... funny stuff.
------
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The death throes of my newspaper
Nancy Mitchell
A couple of years ago, back when those of us who worked at the Rocky Mountain News still thought a redesign would save us, management asked some focus groups to "brand" the newspaper for marketing purposes. For reasons that are still unclear, they came back with automobile metaphors:
The Rocky is a Ford. Dependable, solid. The working man's vehicle. The words "blue collar" may have been used. Our arch rival, the Denver Post, was deemed a Buick or a Cadillac, something more refined, more expensive. Sleeker.
Great, I thought, sitting in an auditorium of equally confused journalists who wanted nothing more than to get back to the newsroom. So are we an Escort or an Explorer?
The "brand" results were turned into a campaign in which the Rocky was described as a "Power Tool" for our readers. It was plastered across the sides of a newly acquired black Hummer that occasionally drove around Denver but mostly sat in our parking lot.
Friday, the Rocky, with a daily circulation of 210,000 and 457,000 on Saturdays, became the nation's largest newspaper to cease publication in an economic recession that already has sent the Chicago Tribune and both of Philadelphia's daily papers running for bankruptcy cover, among others, and put a For Sale sign on the Miami Herald. If we were a Ford, we ran out of gas 55 days before our 150th anniversary.
The rest is here.
------
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The death throes of my newspaper
Nancy Mitchell
A couple of years ago, back when those of us who worked at the Rocky Mountain News still thought a redesign would save us, management asked some focus groups to "brand" the newspaper for marketing purposes. For reasons that are still unclear, they came back with automobile metaphors:
The Rocky is a Ford. Dependable, solid. The working man's vehicle. The words "blue collar" may have been used. Our arch rival, the Denver Post, was deemed a Buick or a Cadillac, something more refined, more expensive. Sleeker.
Great, I thought, sitting in an auditorium of equally confused journalists who wanted nothing more than to get back to the newsroom. So are we an Escort or an Explorer?
The "brand" results were turned into a campaign in which the Rocky was described as a "Power Tool" for our readers. It was plastered across the sides of a newly acquired black Hummer that occasionally drove around Denver but mostly sat in our parking lot.
Friday, the Rocky, with a daily circulation of 210,000 and 457,000 on Saturdays, became the nation's largest newspaper to cease publication in an economic recession that already has sent the Chicago Tribune and both of Philadelphia's daily papers running for bankruptcy cover, among others, and put a For Sale sign on the Miami Herald. If we were a Ford, we ran out of gas 55 days before our 150th anniversary.
The rest is here.
This is a gravity wave.
Cool, huh? Waves in the sky! This is what caused our big snowstorm. They are responsible for transferring energy from the troposphere to the mesosphere. Here is the Wiki entry.
I think they are also the name of a Jimmy Buffett song, natch.
Monday, March 2, 2009
On Retreat, of Sorts.
On retreat of sorts in Saint Petersburg, Florida, after my first week in DC - a week of crampedness, discomfort, awkwardness with my power and rhythm in such a fortress of a place. I burned the week to death. I worked so hard.
But I escaped just in time to get away from the snow! Hooray.
This week in to the Poynter Institute, the journalism thinktank on the water; visiting with my cousin Jennifer Miller, with whom I spent every summer and winter for most of my life, with whom I return to the soft tones of my childhood language; going to Clearwater to watch the Phils on my birthday; eating strawberries. Looking at the blue sky. And - just waiting. The storms come, whether I go looking for them or not. I don't need to push like a crazy woman.
I'm gonna see what I can do about journalism. But it will be tricky. This is not an industry that is accustomed to having any relationship with public policy (when it comes to itself, any way.) I don't know... this is like food safety or something. If we don't have quality information, then there is no political decisionmaking.
But I escaped just in time to get away from the snow! Hooray.
This week in to the Poynter Institute, the journalism thinktank on the water; visiting with my cousin Jennifer Miller, with whom I spent every summer and winter for most of my life, with whom I return to the soft tones of my childhood language; going to Clearwater to watch the Phils on my birthday; eating strawberries. Looking at the blue sky. And - just waiting. The storms come, whether I go looking for them or not. I don't need to push like a crazy woman.
I'm gonna see what I can do about journalism. But it will be tricky. This is not an industry that is accustomed to having any relationship with public policy (when it comes to itself, any way.) I don't know... this is like food safety or something. If we don't have quality information, then there is no political decisionmaking.
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