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I like Dave Winer's answer: "Asking why you should use blogs is like asking why you should answer the phone. It might be a customer, a developer who wants to use your services, or a reporter who wants to write about the company. Your competitors answer the phone, so you should too."
It would take a stick of dynamite to get me off TypePad but I must say I was impressed with eponym ("make a self for your name"). Pretty slick for a free service and for $5 a month you can get rid of the ads and branding. I played around for most of an hour and liked what I say a lot better than Blogger. I'm gonna keep playing with this but if you're thinking about starting a blog and you want to go free until you see if it's for you, or if you're just sick of Blogger, eponym might be a good place to start. [via Micro Persuasion]
From MercuryNews.com: "XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. announced a new channel lineup Monday, expanding the number of channels by a dozen, adding several new music and news channels while deleting some others. XM will also add seven regional news and talk channels, bringing its new channel total to 176 from 164. In the fall, XM is also launching a channel with talk show host Oprah Winfrey."
I remember hearing abot the Oprah channel but somehow missed the "regional news and talk channels" item. Uh, I think our company does regional news.
Scott Adams recently invited readers to "ask for my opinion on any topic and I will give it to you in the clearest possible terms (as many as I can get to)." They did and he did. And I found myself agreeing with about 98% of his answers. It's a lengthy post but well worth the read. A few of my favorites:
Q. Who, out of any person, would do the best job of dictator with total control of the world, and please give a real response.
A. Bill Gates. He’s rational, experienced, and has a good track record of helping the disadvantaged through his charitable trusts.
Q. Can you give an easy solution for all the Middle East problems, including but not limited to ethnic issues, religious issues, corruption issues, oil issues, nuclear issues, and last but not least, the poor history of this region in the soccer world cup?
A. There is no solution. But I often wonder what would happen if we surrendered, apologized for interfering in the region, and withdrew all financial and military support for everyone including Israel. I think Israel would survive just fine, countries would still sell us plenty of oil, and our enemies would get busy killing each other. We learned from the Cold War that enemies really do need a reason to want to kill you. It’s not for entertainment.
Q. Most futuristic thing you wish would be invented now?
A. Orgasm ray gun.
I'm still struggling to post regularly. How in the hell do people with kids find time to blog? How do people with jobs find time to blog? (Yes, I hear whining, too) Between work, the dogs, Barb (not necessarily in that order), exercise, eating, sleeping, American Idol and a weekly nap...there's just no time left. I'm telling you, this blogging thing would be a lot easier if you were out of work.
09:00 a.m. - Get out of bed. Shower and shave (optional)
09:30 a.m. - Breakfast at the Towne Grill
10:30 a.m. - Large Rocket Fuel at The Coffee Zone
10:45 a.m. - Barnes & Noble
11:45 a.m. - Lunch (Pastrami on Rye at the Sub Shoppe)
12:45 p.m. - Home. Half hour of fetch with Luch and Ripley
01:15 p.m. - Nap
02:30 p.m. - Surf the Web/blog
05:00 p.m. - More fetch with Lucy and Ripley
05:30 p.m. - ABC World News Tonight
06:00 p.m. - Feed the dogs
06:05 p.m. - Check email; surf/blog
06:30 p.m. - Dinner with Barb (microwave something or take her to Chili's)
07:30 p.m. - Free time
08:30 p.m. - Surfing/blogging
10:00 p.m. - Daily Show
10:30 p.m. - Colbert Report
11:00 p.m. - Unstructured online time
12:00 p.m. - Reading in bed
01:00 a.m. - Lights out
Of course, things would slow down a bit on the weekends.
It's a little too early to say that our company is blogging (corporately). But there's a teensy, weensy spark that could become a flame. Clyde Lear --our CEO/President/Founder and All Around Good Guy-- has dipped his toe in the blog pond. Several us always thought he'd be a natural and today's post would seem to confirm that. For reasons known only to him, he asked a few employees at random what they were reading and posted the results. Why do I think this is worth a mention?
No news release. Nothing about our company's growth. Just a little nugget about the people that make up our company. He didn't ask the senior management staff what they were reading. He walked down the hall and asked the folks in the cubes. Clyde was once a journalist and has always been a good writer. I hope he becomes a regular blogger. He'll have interesting and important things to say.
On Sunday, Paul Dana was killed in a horrific crash at the Toyota Indy 300. One of his final interviews --perhpaps the final interview-- was not with a radio or TV reporter. It was with AgWired, a blog/podcast. AgWired's Chuck Zimmerman was a fan and obviously moved by the loss.
Despite the doubts I raised in the previous post, there is plenty of podcast cream rising to surface. In the interest of balance, I thought I should mention a couple:
The Castrol SYNTEC folks hired Funkmaster Flex to host their Unlock the Power podcasts. The Funkmaster is a DJ and car customizing expert who hosts tv shows like ESPN2's All Muscle and Spike TV's Ride with Funkmaster Flex.
I listened to a 13 minute interview with NHRA driver Ashley Force. About half-way through Ashley puts in a plug for Castrol but it flow nicely with the interview and sounded...honest. Much more effecitve than a produced thirty-second spot. Be interesting to see how they work in the sponsor if the interviewee is not a driver. [via Micro Persuasion]
MommyCast is a couple of moms "holding the world together, one child at at time." They just about They've produced 72 shows and generated enough of a following to attact a sponsosr (Dixie). The one I listened to was about dads who stay at home, or wish to take an active role in raising their children much to the dismay of their employers. The sponsor got a quick mention in the open and again at the close and a "brought to you by Dixie" graphic on the website.
Stephen Baker (Blogspotting) says the novelty of podcasting has worn off (for him, perhaps others). He prefers "pure music" when he works out (not Coverville). He points to a recent consumer survey conducted by Bridge Data that indicates more 80% of podcast downloads never make it to a portable player or another device - they are consumed on the PC (or, worse, never listened or deleted)."
I subscribe to half a dozen favorite podcasts (Diggnation, TWIT, Business Week, Podcast 411) and listen to them on my nano. But I'm not surprised that most folks can't/don't choose to do so. I thought about this a good deal this past week as we met with various businesses and organizations to talk about podcasting and how it could be used to communicate with a variety of audiences (internal and external). Imagine a bunch of grown-ups calling some teenagers into the conference room: "We've decided we want to hold a company rave and we'd like for you to tell us what this is all about and how to do a good one."
While it's relatively inexpensive to produce a podcast, it's damned hard to do a good one. Companies think in terms of ROI and I'm not sure podcasting will pass that test when you are conditioned to buying "spots" in radio and TV shows with ready-made audiences.
Here's what I think will happen. A few really savvy businesses or organizations will find someone that really understands podcasting and trust them enough to produce a good one for them. They might hire this person or "sponsor" an existing podcast. Over time, the podcast will develop a following. But we're talking hundreds of listeners (maybe thousands if it's REALLY good)...not hundreds of thousands or millions. How much trouble and/or expense will a company go to in oder to reach this relatively small, albeit targeted, audience?
Another possible scenerio is what I think of as the "homegrown podcast." Some guy that works at Lowe's, for example, starts doing a weekly home improvement podcast. He's pretty good at it and gets a little following. He plays it for the boss who likes what he hears and agrees to pick up the costs and buy some better recording equipment. In return for a couple of brief --non-intrusive-- mentions about this week's specials. In the Hollywood version of this story, Lowe's corporate jumps on the bandwagon.
My gut tells me this is a bottom-up medium. It requires a lot of passion...some juice. People have "passion" and "juice." Corporations do not. Corporations have spreadsheets. Really good ideas come from individuals, not organizations and institutions. I wonder if that isn't true of blogs and podcasts as well.
Interesting answers to that question in the latest PEW study (PDF). For those of us with broadband, 49% got yesterday's news from the radio...while 43% got it from the Internet. Will there come a time when more people get the news from the Internet than radio? If so, what does that mean for News/Talk radio? What does that mean for regional news networks like ours? [via Radio Marketing Nexus]
According to the PEW Internet & American Life Project (PDF), the gap between rural and non-rural America in home broadband adoption is narrowing. By the end of 2005, 24% of rural Americans had high-speed internet connections at home compared with 39% of adult Americans living elsewhere. [via AgWired]
This week's Living Healthy Podcast was nice and laid back. Henry gave us the 411 on allergies. My favorite moment was when he suggested a "cat-ectomy" for people allergic to felines. In just four more shows we will have been at this for six months.
Many of Henry's patients --our target audience-- seem unable to figure out how to listen or subscribe to the podcast. I tend to take a lot of this for granted and would welcome any suggestions on how we could make that process more intuitive. We're using the standard icons, badges and text links ("Download MP3 file"). Take a look and email or comment ideas on how to improve.
This is kind of cool. Paula Cordeiro --who blogs (NetFM) from Lisboa, Portugal-- linked to a recent post (that really belongs to Glen Gardner). Since I can't read Portuguese, I can't tell you much about Paula's blog. But I appreciate the link. Obrigado.
Missouri House Concurrent Resolution No. 13: Now, therefore, be it resolved by the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-third (Missouri) General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, that we stand with the majority of our constituents and exercise the common sense that voluntary prayer in public schools and religious displays on public property are not a coalition of church and state, but rather the justified recognition of the positive role that Christianity has played in this great nation of ours, the United States of America.
Bill of Rights, Amendment 1: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
I don't know about this one. KTRS (St. Louis) talk show host Dave Lenihan was immediately fired after he used the word "coon," a racial slur, instead of "coup" in describing (Condoleezza Rice's) attributes for the post of NFL commissioner.
"She's been chancellor of Stanford. She's got the patent resume of somebody that has serious skill. She loves football. She's African-American, which would kind of be a big coon. A big coon. Oh my God. I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that."
I don't know about this one. It sounds like a one-time, slip-of-the-tongue. Fruedian? Maybe. But there appears to be no history of bias or racial slurs. Anybody that's been on the air knows that --eventually-- something slips. You have to look at intent here. If Mr. Lenihan is a racist... it's probably not hard to tell that. Read the transcipt and tell me if I'm wrong here. Why not ask the listeners? Not just the folks that grabbed the phone and called to complain, but a reasonable sample. If there's a clean concesus that his remark was intentional, he's gone. If there's even a possibility it was a slip, with no malice... keep him on. I think I might have taken Mr. Lenihan off the air...had a long talk...maybe talk to members of the community...and then make a decision.
Nobody panics when Rush Limbaugh refers to "these people," clearly referring to people of color. But Rush is bringing home the bacon. Sounds like Mr. Lenihan was new enough to be expendable.
Scott Rosenberg recounts how he got the news that the next version of Windows will be delayed, and what that might mean for people in the news business:
As tech news goes today, so ultimately will go the rest of the news. It's not the death of newspapers or pro journalism, but it's further evidence that the pros face an extremely tough challenge: they're rarely going to be first, so they'd damn well better be good. But it's hard to hire enough good people to be good at everything; a newsroom has only so many seats, and the Web's supply of amateur experts, anonymous insiders and random kibitzers with an occasional insight is limitless. The pros had better prepare to be outgunned.
This competition will force journalists to stop being lazy and to find and reconnect with what is unique about their work, now that so much of what they used to do is being done for free, and often well, by amateurs.
If I had the time (and the nerve), it might be interesting to look at every story one of our networks did for the past 30 days. Put a check-mark beside every story that was "original"...that we didn't get from an affiliate, a news releases, or from some other source.
The next question might be: Did we do this story any differently or better than the other news organizations that covered it? Like the man said, we're rarely going to be first, so we damn well better be good. [via Scripting News]
If you want to hear the pure, silly joy of podcasting...take a listen to Diggnation Episode #37 with Kevin rose and Alex Albrecht. THIS is what twenty-something, geeked out guys sound like. This is what some older, less-geeky guys sound like. And this is what middle-aged, geek wannabe's sound like.
We live on a three-acre, mostly wooded, lot. And I challenge you to walk 50 yards without stepping in a pile of Golden Retreiver poop. As he so often does, Dave offers fresh insight on this endless and thankless task. A couple of my favorites:
You shouldn't use kitchen utensils to pick up canis crap. My neighbor uses a large soup spoon, and I just can't endorse that. Nothing I would ever put into my mouth will be used to pick up fecal matter, because I'm fairly aloof, and often deep in thought. What if I got confused?
The tool you use says a lot about your personality. A scoop indicates a straight-forward person who attacks a job quickly and efficiently. A dustpan-type tool is a sign of creativity, the user approaching the job with a flair for the dramatic. In my case, I use this thing that resembles a piece of earth-moving equipment. It indicates power, control, and a penchant toward genius.
The Army says it will allow soldiers to sport tattoos on formerly forbidden body spots -- the hands and the back of the neck. About 28 percent of Americans under 25 say they have tattoos. Of those aged 25 to 34, the percentage is about 30 percent. Young adults are 10 times more likely to sport permanent skin illustrations than are members of their parents' generation. [Thanks, Jeff] Previous posts on "tattoos."
I'm sitting in my room at the Fairfield Inn in Indianapolis, cruising down that old Information Highway via their free (and speedy) wi-fi. I keep flashing back to the mid-90's when even sending an email was agonizing at 16.2. And I was uploading audio files and images. It was tediouss beyond all description. And now I'm blazing along as though I were sitting at my desk at Learfield HQ. I know, I know... it's like the Aboriginal tribesman standing at the kitchen sink, turning the water off and on. Amazed at this mirical. I will NEVER take a fast net connection for granted.
Still battling bloggers block. Nothing on Sunday and this pathetic note today. And the next couple of days will be sparse as I journey to the Land of Hoosiers for some client meetings. It's a sad day when your go-to guy for blogging and podcasting is a 58-year-old former DJ. Naw, that's a good day. Looking forward to the trip but still haven't figured out how to slip away from dinner with the client to watch American Idol. Maybe a little time away from the box will re-charge the old fuel cells.
Let's add V for Vendetta --the new film by The Wachowski Brothers-- to the top of my list of Movies I'd Like to Watch with George Bush (GoodNight, and Good Luck; Dave; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; 1984; Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room). The wonderful vocal performance by Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith from The Matrix) carries the movie. Everyone who is more "terrified" by the people running our country than all the crazies in Islam, take one step forward.
Update: Review by Joshua Tyler, Cinema Blend.
This morning we recorded the 21st installment of the Living Healthy Podcast, Dr. Domke answers some common questions about alcohol and alcoholism: Should all people avoid drinking? Is it true that alcohol can prevent heart attacks? Is alcoholism a moral weakness, or is it a chemical imbalance that is caused by genetics? I just drink beer, so I can't really be an alcoholic right? I don't drink every day, so I can't be an alcoholic, right?
Sheryl Crow has posted an open letter to her fans on her website. It's an update on her health as she begins a series (33) of radiation treatments.
I am doing really well. Strangely, I feel clear and optimistic...perhaps more than ever. I am on day 4 of my 33 radiation treatments and am feeling really good. As you know, my breast cancer was detected very early and I am completely blessed that it was removed and all I have to undergo in the way of treatment is radiation, strictly for preventative measures. I am told I will suffer fatigue starting about week 3 and some redness and some skin irritation in the final weeks. My great radiologist did tell me that my left breast would be firm and perky when I've completed the treatments and I asked if she could go ahead and radiate the other while she was at it. She said no.
She's looking forward to a tour this summer which she describes as "... a celebration every night of how lucky I feel with this life I have been given."
Does this lady have a good attitude, or what? [Thanks, Ann]
Chuck gave me this one at lunch and I couldn't wait to try it on a couple folks when I got back to the office.
Our company produces the play-by-play broadcasts for some of the top colleges in the country. We pull audio highlights from each game and end up with dozens by the end of a game day. Arguably, the very best moments of the game.
I'd put a couple of sports goofs in a studio with 30 or 40 of these little nuggets and just have them play them, one after other. Just a little set-up on the front end and maye a few seconds of react. Lay some funky music under the entire thing. No mind-numbing analysis or second-guessing. Just play the highlights. And then put it up as a weekly podcast. I think fans would eat this up with a spoon.
Reaction was mixed. I used to pitch ideas like this as though my life depended on them. These days, I toss them out like cheap beads from a Mardi Gras float. If you catch one, good for you. If not, they were only cheap beads.
Steve Rubel says Mark Cuban owes much of his success to his willingness to "read the manual." He always keeps up with the changing world and recognizes the trends early. Today the "manual" is living. It's the blogosphere.
For sometime now, I've been embarrassed that our news network websites were not RSS enabled. Very lame. Big Andy worked a little magic so we could add this essential feature. If you're interested in news about Missouri, Iowa or Wisconsin...you can now subscribe to our news and/or sports feeds. A necessary step to get some podcasts going, too.
I spent a good chunk of the past week trying to convince some of the Grownups at our company that a well executed blog might be a better way to communicate with employees than an eight-page memo that comes out three times a year (as an email attachment). Take some rusy pliars...get a good grip on one of my molars...twist slowly back and forth until the tooth comes free. But god bless 'em, they paid me for every minute I worked. Whoo wah!
Nice lunch with Chuck who is doing nothing less than redefining the agriculture marketing space. His company is two years old and is doing everything right (IMHO). Chuck's a Viet Cong sapper running quietly through the jungle in a pair of rubber shower thongs...while big media and marketing companies are sipping mai tai's in a Saigon bar.
From the Nielsen/NetRatings press release (PDF): "Nielsen//NetRatings... announced today that the number of active broadband users from home increased 28% year-over-year, from 74.3 million in February 2005 to 95.5 million in February 2006. Broadband composition among the U.S. active online population has seen vigorous growth during the past three years, increasing at least ten percentage points annually and hitting an all-time high of 68% for active Internet users in February 2006." [via RAIN]
Tornados hammered parts of the midwest Sunday night, including Springfield, Illinois. TV was off, cable down, power out, Internet out, newspaper 12 hours from publication...but radio station WMAY was on the air, doing what radio does best. GM Glen Gardner shares this sement from a caller that illustates how to keep radio relevant. [AUDIO: 2 min MP3]
Notice that the person on the air who took the call didn't interrupt. Didn't feel the need to jump in and start yapping. That is so rare. If radio has a future --and I hope it does-- it won't be endlessly playing the same 400 songs or turning the signal over to Rush for 3 hours. It will be in on-the-ground, local relevance like this. Thanks, Glen.
Radio research firm Bridge Ratings projects HD receivers will be in the hands of 1.06 million consumers by the end of 2007, 2.0 million by the end of 2008 and 8.84 million by the end of 2010. Meanwhile, Bridge predicts that XM Satellite Radio will grow to 9.0 million subscribers by the end of 2006 as rival Sirius grows to about 6 million subscribers over the same period. (R&R via RAIN)
Barb says Julia Louis-Dreyfus' new series (The New Adventures of Old Christine) sucks. As did Watching Ellie (2002). Same for The Michael Richards Show (2000) and both of Jason Alexander's short-lived series: Bob Patterson and Listen up.
My first reaction to these sad efforts was, "Give it up." But I've change my mind. These three actors gave us some of the best moments in television comedy. Yes, the writing on Seinfeld was great but the actors were damned good, too. If they want to do another series --or half a dozen-- they've earned the right. Even if they suck. And a few stinkers won't tarnish my memories of their Seinfeld performances. Those are in the vault.
In June of 2002 I finally got DSL service. For two years prior to that I paid $100 a month for an ISDN line (128kbps). That's just Internet, mind you... local and long distance extra. Pricy, but the alternative was dial-up. I'm currently paying $65 a month for 3 meg DSL access.
Today a nice young man at Sprint upgraded me to 5 meg DSL service for $40 per month. In a perfect world, someone from Sprint would have called or emailed something along the lines of, "Mr. Mays, as a long-time Sprint customer, we wanted to let you know you can get improved services for less money. Shall we sign you up?" But I'm not complaining. I'm thrilled I lived to see this day.
Three of our four state radio networks do sports reports as well as news. It's state tournament time and each of the networks are providing coverage. Depending on the network, we do two or three brief (2-3 min) reports a day.
Doesn't give much time to cover all the games of the tournament. Throughout the years, we tried various formats that would appeal to our affiliates but --as a general rule-- each station only cared about the teams from their region of the state. This is a little less true in Iowa and Wisconsin. But the state tournament is just not a big deal (to radio stations) in Missouri.
You smell another Long Tail example, don't you?
We knew there were "x" number of fans who cared very much about the games...but had no way to get our reports to them. And now we do. I've been following Missourinet Sports Director David Sprague's reports from the state tournament. He filed a dozen reports over two days and you can see/hear a few of them here, here and here.
I assume he was in press row with his laptop and digital camera, posting reports to our website, with no limitation on the length or frequency of his reports. No satellites, no studios. Of course, the next thought that pops into my head is that any talented reporter (or fan) could have covered the state tournament just as easily as David did. It all comes down to the quality of the reporting, not to advantages of distribution. I realize I'm stating the obvious here, but after so many years of trying to meet the needs of our affiliates and their listeners, it's...liberating...to be able to finally reach them directly.
If I were still programming the old KBOA, I like to think I would have a heavily-promoted website with a special "State Tournament" section on my sports page. And --as a Missourinet affiliate-- I'd have David load it up with lots of reports on the teams of local/regional interest. I'd take everything he had time to produce.
If you spot any interesting online coverage of state tournaments...put a link in the comments below.
I mentioned how much I enjoyed watching Maria Bello pull on her unders in the film, Duets. I failed to mention that she will be appearing in an upcoming film based Christopher Buckley's Thank You for Smoking, a very dark and funny novel. No idea if the movie will live up the the novel but you can listen to an interview with Buckley here. The film stars Aaron Eckhart with supporting roles by Bello, Rob Lowe, Katie Holmes and William H. Macy.
Netflix is just one more example of "the long tail." I wanted to watch Duets last week but the guy at the video store looked at me like I was crazy. "We don't stock the really old movies."
If you work at Blockbuster, 2000 probably seems like eons ago. So I had Barb move it up on her Neflix list and the DVD arrived in yesterday's mail. IMDB users rate the movie 5.7 out of 10 but I loved it both times I've watched it.
Huey Lewis plays a professional karaoke hustler who reconnects with his daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow) and a bored suburban businessman (Paul Giamattie) turns outlaw karaoke singer. But the most amazing performance was Andre Braugher's.
Huey Lewis obviously performed his songs and it sounded like Paltrow did. But can Andre Braugher really sing that well? Probably not.
Favorite line: "Sorry, I'm going out for a pack of cigarettes."
Most erotic scene: Maria Bello pulls on her undies. Sweet Jesus.
Two of my favorite bloggers have recently shared insights on appreciating being normal.
Jeff Jarvis "...learned that the people in front of me are going at their own speed, probably for a reason. They’re not trying to get in my way as I rush past. I need to stay out of theirs. And I need to be grateful that I can rush past again. I need to appreciate normal."
Scott Adams is "...so freaking happy I can’t even describe it. And when I speak to a packed ballroom, like today, I feel reborn. It is pure joy, and I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. Every day feels like a gift now. And that, my friends, is the rarest neurological disorder of them all."
Mark Ramsey asks: How much are you investing in podcasting vs. HD radio? And points to research comparing the two. As near as I can tell, the radio guys are putting the same old shit on their HD channels while podcasters are doing a million different things. At work they keep telling me, "It's not about blogging and podcasting." Uh huh. [via Tod Maffin]
Chlamydia, Genital Herpes, Genital Warts, HIV, Pubic Lice. Just a few of the STD's discussed in Living Healthy Podcast #20. Not a pleasant subject, but important. Did you know that one out of five adolescents and adults, have had genital herpes? Or that by age 50, at least 80 percnet of woman will have acquired genital HPV infection (genital warts)? Me either.
LHP is not a cool, sexy podcast (well, #20 is kind of sexy) but it's important stuff. I'm proud that we've stuck with it for 20 weeks. Lot of podcasters don't make it that far. If --as George Costanza says-- you are "out there"... you should listen to this one.
I'm just barely able to grind out one post a day lately. From the moment I get to work and boot up the box, I'm doing something web related. And lately, it's been blog related. And I think that's likely to increase. I gotta tell you... it makes it hard to come home, boot up another computer and start surfing/blogging. I'll try to catch up this weekend. Whatever "catch up" might mean in this context. Don't get me wrong. I love every minute of the work. But here I am at 9:40 p.m. scrambling for one more post. Do the mechanics down at the Toyota dealership race home to start working on their own car?
From a story by Pam Baumeister on the Salt Lake Tribune website:
"Jennifer Napier-Pearce has been in the media for many years. She has been a news director, a morning radio anchor, a radio reporter, and a writer for a number of publications. A Utah native and graduate from University of Utah, she and her husband, John Pearce, spent several years in Silicon Valley, where she earned her master's degree in journalism from Stanford University. When they returned to Utah and started a family, Napier-Pearce returned to radio journalism. After she had been in "real" radio at KCPW for five years, she felt ready to move on. That's when her husband, a litigation attorney and fellow Web techie, discovered podcasting. She has been producing her own podcast, InsideUtah.com, for almost a year and has interviewed more than 120 people. The show posts on the Web every Friday; most are under 30 minutes."
We in MSM often take comfort in the notion that we have nothing to fear from "citizen journalists" because they are rank amateurs, unlikely to find or properly report a story that we didn't already do or decided didn't need to be done.
Here's an idea for our statewide news networks: Do a podcast about Missouri (or Iowa, or Wisconsin) podcasters. Might not be many/any with heavy news chops like Jennifer, but who knows until you look. We could do a weekly round-up, featuring brief segments from the best and most interesting. We might even encourage people to do news podcasts from their communities and use our networks to promote them.
Warning: InsideUtah.com requires RealPlayer. I would not install RealPlayer on one of my computers if you put a gun to my head. It dicks with all your media settings and you'll play hell trying to un-dick them.
I'm a sucker for movies by M. Night Shyamalan and never guess the the surprise endings. Favorite line from The Village: Sometimes we don't do things we want to do so others won't know we want to do them.
City folks just don't get it! That's the tagline for FarmersOnly.com, the online dating service for "sincere, down-to-earth people who respect and chesrish the rural lifestyle." It's the brainchild of Jerry Miller and the site appears to be red-hot. Getting lots of MSM coverage.
I spoke briefly with Jerry this afternoon. Andrew McCrea (American Countryside) did an interview with Jerry (AUDIO: 4 min MP3) and he wanted to take a listen. How good is his idea? He's been contacted by the producers of American Idol in connection with a new reality show they're developing that sounds like "Who Wants to Marry A Farmer?" They want to tap Jerry's database. I do NOT doubt the folks behind American Idol.
This is what I love about the web. There are lots of online dating services and match-makers but Jerry saw an unfilled niche and ran with it.
My, that was quite a little dry spell. Thought I better post before some of you get worried enough to call a neighbor to come peek in my window to make sure I'm not sprawled on the kitchen floor with a broken hip.
Watched two documentary films in the last few days. Super Size Me and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. I was very disturbed by both of these films.
Gonna be a long time before I eat another Big Mac (or Sonic Coney, for that matter). My take-away from Enron? Our country is hopelessly corrupt and greedy. And maybe...just maybe... we do not live in the best country in the world. (Gasp!) Don't bother looking for the Comments link. I'm not in the mood to listen to a bunch of "patriotic" horse shit. If you have something to say, start your own blog.
Tod Maffin says a proposed new bill will be the "death of radio."
It’s 2012. You turn on the radio. Some song is ending. The DJ introduces the next song and you only hear the opening second of it, when suddenly, a voice cuts in and says:
“I’m sorry, but since you indicated your household has more than four people in it, and you haven’t licenced your home for ‘public performance’ of musical works, we are unable to play this song.”
This just became a very likely reality thanks to U.S. lawmaker Mike Ferguson. He’s introduced an audio broadcast flag bill that would let the FCC force radio stations to provide “so-called “flag” technology be used to prevent content on HD Radios and satellite digital radios from being re-distributed.”
Cool. I can't wait to buy a new HD radio with this cool feature. Worser and worser.
Light (no?) posting for a couple of days. Off to Tulsa for a last visit with my brother and his family before they return to Indonesia. Gonna miss 'em. Probably won't see them again for 2 or 3 years. Next trip will be to enroll Ryan in college. We've had some good visits and they're ready to go "home."
You know I like chimps. And I'm especially fond of the careerbuilder.com chimps. But the marketing chimp that came up with Monk-e-mail is my favoritest one of all.
And wouldn't our newscasts be more fun if we could just do them as Monk-e-mail? Not to mention the savings. [Again, via Micro Persuasion]
Tom Foremski (SiliconValleyWatcher.com) on press releases:
The press release is a statement announcing a product, service, office opening, financial results, partnership, customer win, and a hundred other types of commercial activities. Press releases are nearly useless. They typically start with a tremendous amount of top-spin, they contain pat-on-the-back phrases and meaningless quotes. Often they will contain quotes from C-level executives praising their customer focus.
Press releases are created by committees, edited by lawyers, and then sent out at great expense through Businesswire or PRnewswire to reach the digital and physical trash bins of tens of thousands of journalists.
Ever have to come up with a "quote" for a release?
Press Release Drone: "Can you give me a quote for this release. I just need about two lines?"
Me: "Uh, how about blah blah blah blah?"
Press Release Drone: "Perfect!"
I was never any good at writing press releases. Thank god I didn't have to do it often. But after four years of blogging, I am incapable of writing the bull-shit that is every press release. Sorry, no can do.
BTW, Mr. Foremski doesn't just crap on press releases, he offers a better way. [via Micro Persuasion]
Older readers will remember the "Point/Counterpoint" segment on 60 Minutes. The liberal Shana Alexander would sqauare off against the conservative James J. Kilpatrick (they tried it again in 2003 with Clinton and Dole but it sucked).
My pals Darin, John and Scott are talking about doing a podcast based (loosely) on this idea. Darin is somewhere out in William F. Buckley land and John sort of neo-sixties liberal. I think Scott will serve as moderator. I'm trying to be supportive but... I don't know. We've heard so much polticial talk in recent years, it feels like it's all been said. Which suggests a different approach.
The lads make a list of the 25 most important issues facing the country. They each go into a studio and record 2 minute rants on each topic and plug the audio files into an online database (at "JaneYouIgnorantSlut.com").
Visitors select a news story from one of the top five of the day ("George Bush visits Afghanistan and Pakistan")...click a button...the website generates ten questions and randomly selects 10 rants from each pundit...and strings it altogether. Instant podcast!
The guys won't have to sweat over a hot microphone every week and no one will ever know.
Sony Ericsson has introduced a couple of new Cyber-shot digital camera phones that come with 3.2-megapixel cameras and are designed to work with Blogger. Snap a picture...bada-bing...it's on your blog. The cameras are equipped with more goodies than most manual cameras, including autofocus, red-eye reduction, digital zoom and a flash. They also come with a music player, video player, FM radio, push e-mail, a memory stick slot and 64MB of internal memory. Google will also be made the standard search engine on all Sony Ericsson phones with Internet access. [Thanks, Morris]
