Pixels Still Don't Compare To Newsprint

There are many lessons to be found in Barack Obama's electoral success, but one of them has nothing to do with race, politics or government. Instead it's a lesson about the tactile nature of history.

At a time when daily newspapers nationwide are struggling to merely survive, the morning after the Obama victory they couldn't print enough copies to meet reader demand. New York Times corporate bonds may be rated as "junk" by credit agencies, but on this day the line would-be readers stretched around the block outside the Times building.

Some papers went so far as to reprint copies of Wednesday's paper again on Thursday. Or offer it as an insert in their Sunday editions. The reason? Millions of people wanted a keepsake, for themselves, for their children, for their grandchildren. And for that, a download just wouldn't do. You can't hold an image on a computer screen. You can't fold it over and place it in a scrapbook. You can't gently open old, yellowed pages and be transported back in time. On this day, all the things that are commonly seen as limitations suddenly became competitive advantages.

People want history they can hold, not simply look at. Better get your reservation for the special Inaugural editions in early. It promises to be another sell-out.

Listening to the newspaper...

One of the "not-all-that-secret" secrets of TV and radio news, especially local news, is how assignment editors and producers often find inspiration in the pages of local newspapers.

Most broadcasters don't have the staff, or the resources, to chase down difficult stories. Historically, that's been the domain of print journalists. After all, a newspaper reporter travels with a notebook, an MP3 recorder and maybe a laptop computer. A TV news reporter often brings along a half-million dollars worth of expensive electronic equipment. And the deregulation of radio has made news a rarity, except on all-news and Public Radio stations.

For years, my daily commute to and from Manhattan involved me juggling a copy of The New York Times, along with a briefcase and a beverage on an NJTranist bus or the Subway. But now that I'm working in central Jersey, I'm driving to and from work. That pretty much put an end to my Times addiction. And while there is always the on-line version of the paper, I treat it like most things on the Web... something to be scanned, quickly pondered, then abandoned for a new URL.

I always thought it was a bit of a cheat when NPR stations interviewed print reporters. Kind of like creating stories by talking to ourselves. But I must admit my opinion has changed, now that Public Radio stations like WNYC are my primary vehicle for in-depth news coverage.

Times reporters and editors show up with what I once considered alarming regularity. Now, I'm grateful to hear them. After all, it's a long ride from Exit 9 to 14C on the New Jersey Turnpike, and I appreciate the literate companionship...

Good-Bye Trenton, Hello Williamsburg

Once upon a time... up to last week, in fact... The New York Times had a section they called Metro, short for "Metropolitan." It was the paper's way of acknowledging that intelligent life (and subscribers) might exist outside of Manhattan. They even had a news bureau in Trenton, and a printing plant Edison, NJ. Now all three are history... the bureau, the printing plant and the section. Just like the proverbial "good old days," local news is relegated to the back end of the first section, under the banner New York.

In a way, it's not surprising. Hemorrhaging almost as much red ink as Wall Street, The Times... like the victim of a merger and acquisition deal gone bad, is trying to cut its way back to profitability. But its absence will be noted by some of us who reside on the west bank of the Hudson.

With about 40% of the newsroom staff of The Star-Ledger accepting buy-outs, and other papers struggling even after substantial downsizing, it looks like in-depth news coverage of the Garden State will likely become the near exclusive domain of the AP and New Jersey Network. We'll miss The Times distinctive, if at times dismissive, voice. Somehow, reading blogs on nj.com just isn't the same...

What Price Olympic Glory?

The Beijing Olympics ended less than a month ago, yet television networks worldwide are already calculating their bids for national media rights to the 2014 and 2016 Games. The key word here is media. Because increasingly ad revenues are being derived from non-traditional sources, including streaming video, podcasts, VOD and distribution via mobile devices.

Talk about a gamble... It's not just a question of NBC trying to figure out how people will use existing digital technologies six to eight years from now, but also what impact new (as yet unimagined) innovations might have. There's also the problem of "digital seepage." No doubt foreign rights holders will be on-line with own Olympic program streams as well. With viewers becoming increasingly tech savy, they may start designing their own personal Olympic screening schedules.

But despite the current economic climate, I'm sure broadcasters will be able to somehow scrape together the billions of dollars necessary. I'm less confident they'll be able to maintain the national distribution monopolies they've enjoyed in the past. Makes Las Vegas-style Texas Hold 'Em actually seem tame.

How 'bout that Cloris Leachman, huh?

In response to someone who accused my posts of perpetuating "Doon and Gloom," you should know that the other night I spent some "quality time" watching the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars. Another ratings sucess for ABC. And how 'bout that Cloris Leachman, huh?

Initially Talent/Reality shows, like Dancing with the Stars, were seen by network executives as little more than stop-gap programming during and after the writers strike. But as viewers of traditional programming migrate to more daring cable fare, Talent/Reality shows are filling the ratings gap. The genre is especially popular with the 20% of the country doesn't have cable or satellite. Like it or not, increasingly they are the "core" audience for broadcast networks.

So I predict more primetime singing and dancing in the weeks to come. In addition to the on-going Presidential campaign, that is...

We Never Saw It Coming

While time and again the media is making comparisons between America's current economic crisis and the Great Depression of the 1930's, there is one central element that they seem to miss. Today's financial chaos was born out of my generation's love of debt.

Whether it was the CEO's and stockholders of multi-billion dollar corporations, or average homeowners, everyone wanted to leverage their existing assets in order to create greater wealth. And debt was the way to do it.

This would have struck my parents, children of The Depression, as sheer folly. Their generation knew nothing is ever certain in life, that cherished assumptions could disappear virtually overnight. Sudden bank failures. Valuable stock certificates reduced to scrap paper. They'd seen it all.

My generation, raised during the prosperous decades following World War II, only knew optimism. Our parents sacrificed so we could enjoy. And enjoy we did! Yet, in the great scheme of things, a few decades isn't a particularly long period of time. (Even if the big hair and padded shoulders of the 1980's now seem like another century...)

We had no idea things could ever go so wrong. Or that we didn't understand the implications of the complex financial strategies we so eagerly embraced. My generation is largely a stranger to sacrifice, adherents to a philosophy that assumed life inevitably progresses, and with it comes personal fulfillment and inevitable wealth.

The fact that the news media is missing this story shouldn't be surprising either. The reporters and editors charged with unraveling this puzzle -- Gen X, Gen Y and Millennials -- are even further removed from the events, the psychology and the tragedies that took place nearly 80 years. Having failed to learn those lessons ourselves, it's not surprising we didn't pass them along.

The China "iPhone Girl" Mystery

Over the past week, her face has graced Chinese websites like Shanghai Daily, CCTV and China Radio International. In fact, she's become such a celebrity, an entire site is devoted to her international web appearances. (See iphonegirl.net.)

But who is China's iPhone girl?

It all started when someone in the UK unpacked a brand spanking new iPhone and discovered it already contained a picture... It turns out she is a factory worker at the facility in China's Guangdong province where the fancy gadgets are made. That accounts for the young woman's rather interesting attire. Either the iPhone was being tested (maybe) or a couple of assembly line workers were fooling around (more likely), but in either case they forgot to erase the evidence.

Of course, it didn't hurt that this anonymous factory worker comes across as sweet and winsome. Soon the mystery photo was making the rounds of global iPhone user sites and blogs, eventually making its way back to China.

The company that owns the factory confirms she is one of their employees. And, at least up until now, there is no evidence she has been disciplined for what is probably a workplace infraction.

Actually, they should give her a raise! After all, she puts to shame suggestions that all manufacturing workers in southern China toil away in brutal, sweatshop conditions. And unintentionally became a global media celebrity in the process.

BTW, even though the iPhones are made in China, they aren't available there... at least not yet.

Bill Clinton music bloopers!

I don't know who is in charge of picking the music at the Democratic convention, but if I were Bill Clinton I wouldn't be happy. Just before the former President was introduced, the band was playing the old Aretha Franklin tune "Chain of Fools." Following his speech, the band broke into "Addicted to Love." Was somebody trying to send a message here? Did Rudy Giuliani switch the sheet music?