Citizen Brand

A sign of the apocalypse

CBS Cancels The Guiding Light

April 1, 2009

-By Marc Berman

Veteran CBS daytime soap The Guiding Light, the longest running daytime drama in the history of television, will broadcast its final episode on Friday, Sept. 18, 2009.  

The serial debuted in a 15-minute format on NBC radio on Jan. 25, 1937 and moved to CBS (airing concurrently on broadcast and radio) beginning on June 30, 1952. The radio show ended in 1956, and The Guiding Light ultimately expanded to 30-minutes in 1967.

Ten years later it became a full daily hour.
 
“Guiding Light has achieved a piece of television history that will never be matched; it has crossed mediums, adapted its stories to decades of social change and woven its way through generations of audiences like no other," said Nancy Tellem, President, CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group. "This daytime icon will always be an indelible part of CBS's history, with a legacy of innovation and reputation for quality and excellence at every step of the way.  While its presence will be missed, its contributions will always be celebrated and never be forgotten."
 
There is no word at present what CBS will fill the weekday hour with.

(Courtesy: Mediaweek)

Newspapers on the computer? No way.

Thanks to Noah over at Fast Company for this prophetic look back to 1981 at a novel idea in the making. KRON-TV gets credit for the story.

It is time to get serious

The final act of the longest presidential campaign in the history of the United States has begun.

Our attention spans are being challenged.

Lipstick, hockey moms, pit bulls and pigs.  Is this really what we want to determine who our next President will be?

Are we left to listen to 30 second ads that go beyond distortion?

I celebrate my 53rd birthday on September 12.

All I want for my birthday is for my fellow Americans to wake up and tell the candidates, their confidantes, the pundits and the media to give us two months of serious discourse on what we need to do solve the real challenges we face.

It is time to get serious. 

Lazy media

It's funny how the media can't tell us enough about how political conventions these days are four day "infomercials" for the parties.  And yet, their coverage of them actually ends up validating them as infomercials.  The 24 hour cable networks keep repeating the same spin and punditry all day long and the three old school networks treat them as a four hour mini-series with a one hour episode each night.  Jon Stewart probably has it right.  Thanks to the Bulldog Reporter for this take on convention coverage via the host of "The Daily Show.

As Convention Coverage Locks In, Jon Stewart Hammers Mainstream Media for Lazy Campaign-Spin 'Regurgitation'

As Comedy Central's "Daily Show" descends on Denver for four days of coverage, Jon Stewart took after the "established" media for getting too cozy with candidates and regurgitating campaign spin when it comes to political coverage. In a breakfast with reporters, Stewart directed most of his ire at the 24-hour cable news networks, which he called "gerbil wheels," and said the media at-large had "abdicated" to what he called the "slow-witted beast." He said the never-ending television news cycle creates a "false sense of urgency" and forces reporters to "follow the veins that have been mined," instead of pursuing serious and in-depth reporting, CNN reports. Even as Stewart shredded reporters for, in his estimation, getting too cozy with and used by political candidates, he readily admitted that candidates flock to his show to attract his much sought after younger audience. "It's just one part of their sales pitch," he said, reports CNN political producer Sasha Johnson. Stewart said he found neither Sens. McCain or Obama particularly funny and it was "absolutely irrelevant" which one takes the White House because "the jokes will be there." He dismissed criticism that comedians are having a hard time joking about Obama because of his race and said "the age joke with McCain is somewhat meaningless because it's already trite." The choice of Joe Biden as Obama's runningmate, Stewart said, was refreshing because of the Delaware senator's large personality and endless possibility for jokes. "Biden is really nice. His style is so effusive and unguarded," Stewart said. "He's emotion plus." Stewart said politicians in recent campaigns are "animatronic" because all of the "humanity has been managed out of campaigns." He referenced the back-and-forth during the Pennsylvania Democratic primary over Obama's lack of bowling skills. "It's stunning where this election is going to be decided on," he said. "Or what we allow it to be decided on."

A Russert postscript

Thanks to one of my Barkley colleagues, Reid Stella, for pointing me to this perfect summation of what Tim Russert meant to us.  The piece is by Eugene Robinson of the Post.  Here is the link.

The question is who will take his place?  And not just in the chair on the Meet The Press set, but is their a journalist who can truly fill the Russert role?  I hope so.

Tim Russert

There is a vacuum in the world of journalism now.  Actually, it is bigger than that.  Tim Russert collapsed and died today while doing what he loved to do, preparing for another 'Meet the Press.'  It was his work on that program that he is most famous for, but in reality, he was bigger and more important than just a single television show.

What Tim Russert represented was the best of what great journalism has to offer.  He worked hard.  He was unabashedly enthusiastic about all things politics.  He was our guy.  He was representing us every Sunday morning asking the tough questions and always getting answers.  He was our guy.  He was there on election nights with straight talk about what was happening and what it meant to us.  And in this incredible election year of 2008, he had become a fixture in helping us make sense of the ins and outs, the ups and downs of this historic campaign.

I started out as a journalist and had always held up Edward R. Murrow as the gold standard.  He still is.  But in many respects, Tim Russert is the direct descendant of Murrow.  Two journalists who had only one mission - the truth.  Another great journalist, William Allen White would have loved Tim Russert.  As a member of the Board of the William Allen White Foundation, I plan on suggesting that we in some way honor him.  It would be a fitting tribute.

Thank you Tim Russert.  We can only hope that some of those you have inspired and mentored will pick up the ball that prematurely dropped out of your hand today at the young age of 58.

Of Bobby and Barack

It took 40 years.  America has fought four wars, one of which is still raging.  The world is a remarkably different place in June of 2008 versus June of 1968, but there is one very strong connection.  Barack Obama is the true heir to the presidency that should have been.

My personal political hero is Bobby Kennedy.  It has taken me four decades to find a candidate that I believe will make the kinds of changes we need.  Bobby Kennedy would have been a much different president than even his brother was.  Barack Obama will be a much different president than any we have had in the four decades since that turbulent year of 1968.  A year that shaped a generation's thinking and actions, including yours truly.

And yet Obama will mean much more than even RFK could have hoped to mean.  His is a truly historic campaign as was that of his worthy competitor, Hillary Clinton.  But the Clinton campaign did not comport itself consistently as one that deserved the historic tag.  It was at times difficult to watch and listen to the Clinton campaign.  In 1992, the Clintons represented change.  It was a change that was never fully realized as scandal and impeachment politics sidetracked the promised progress.

And now there are two.  McCain and Obama.  An aging war hero versus the young gun.  Two United States Senators.  Two men once again when many expected the first woman to grace the presidential stage.  The questions begin.  Can Obama convince Hillary's female and white male base to stay in the Democratic fold? Will the hundreds of thousands of young Americans who have been energized by Obama stay tuned and vote in November?  Will John McCain figure out a way to distance himself from his promise to stay in Iraq for 100 years?  Will Obama pick Hillary for VP?  Would she take it or tell him to take a hike?

But those are the questions of practical politics.  Obama has raised our sights to look beyond the mundane day to day politics.  He is challenging us to step up, get engaged and embrace real change.  He is a reminder to this child of the 60's of a time when politicians could be respected and be believed.

It took 40 years.

Horse Race Journalism

As the famous line goes - "We have seen the enemy and it is us."  We want to believe that we are paying attention to presidential candidates and their stands on issues so we can make informed and competent decisions in the voting booth.  But we can't help ourselves.  We get sucked into the "horse race."  Who is ahead in the Zogby Poll today; the New York Times poll tomorrow; and, the Nickelodeon/ESPN/O Magazine Poll due out tomorrow.....

As Super Duper Tuesday approaches, the latest national polling shows Barack Obama surging and closing the gap on Hillary Clinton.  It shows John McCain building a lead over Mitt Romney and it seems clear that Mike Huckabee is submarining Romney by splitting the "conservative" vote.

Polls are instructive.  They do give us a sense of where things stand at that moment in time.  But then we need a new poll right away to keep the buzz going....is Obama still surging?  Is McCain really starting to pull away from Romney or will the next poll tell us something different.

And so it goes.  The media serves as the drug dealer on the corner feeding the horse race frenzy.  Read this piece by Jay Rosen over at Pressthink to go a little deeper on this subject.  As you will see in Jay's piece, the media hasn't faired so well in their horse race predictions this year which has further contributed to this once or twice in a century electoral experience.  Of course the media's lack of success has also caused us no shortage of roller coaster rides as they attempt to fix their errors.  Jay points to one ray of sunshine in this exchange between Tom Brokaw and Chris Matthews on the night of the New Hampshire Primary:

"“BROKAW: You know what I think we’re going to have to do?

“MATTHEWS: Yes sir?

“BROKAW: Wait for the voters to make their judgment.

“MATTHEWS: Well what do we do then in the days before the ballot? We must stay home, I guess.”

Matthews was being the realist: Without who’s-going-to-win, “we” might as well stay home. Brokaw (now long retired as the face of the NBC brand) gave him an apt warning in response: “The people out there are going to begin to make judgments about us if we don’t begin to temper that temptation to constantly try to get ahead of what the voters are deciding.” But he was speaking as if the media had a mind and could shift course."

A novel concept indeed.....let the voters vote and then report on how they voted.

The nerve of those voters

All of us here at Citizen Brand - that would be me I guess - have to be willing to admit when we may have gotten ahead of ourselves.  But wait, I don't think we did.  Barack Obama still looks like the real thing from this vantage point.  So what exactly happened in New Hampshire the other night?

What happened was nothing more than what had been predicted to happen for a few weeks - Hillary Clinton would win New Hampshire and so likely would John McCain.  And that is exactly what happened when the voters spoke.  It is what happened between Iowa and New Hampshire among the media; the pollsters; the pundits; and the consultants that needs to be questioned. 

Think about it.  Two of the least ethnically diverse and not exactly wildly liberal states in the nation have said an African American or a woman should be President of the United States.  Forget the horse race the media foists on us every four years and focus on what has happened in the first two official contests of the 2008 Presidential election.  On the other side of the aisle, Republican voters have given the nod to a true evangelical and the straight talking, shoot from the hip, Vietnam POW.  Obama, Clinton, Huckabee and McCain are not the kind of candidates we are used to seeing in the race for the White House.

Lost in the shuffle right now are the two guys who we have been conditioned to seeing in the race - John Edwards and Mitt Romney.  Two white guys with good hair and good talking points.  Either one of these guys might make a good president.  But after seven years of the gang that can't shoot straight with us, the USA is ready for a big change.  And the differences on display for us with the Obama, Clinton, Huckabee and McCain variety hour have a little something for everyone.

Thus we have seen a different winner in every contest thus far.  (Wyoming GOP went for Romney by the way.)  Which brings us back to those pesky voters.  In 2008, I believe the more the media and the pollsters try to tell us what they think is going to happen, the less likely it is to happen.  If New Hampshire taught us anything, it may have taught us to wait for the votes to be counted and then see who the winners will be.

Voters are on to the exit pollsters.  After waiting 45 minutes to cast a secret ballot, the last thing any right thinking person should do is tell a complete stranger how they voted and why.  Let 2008 be the death of the exit polls.  Good riddance.

On to Nevada, South Carolina and 20 or so other states by February 5.  This is fun.  And it is important.

Fair and Balanced

Just when you think you have seen or heard it all, along comes a government agency to give us some great, new material.  In their effort to make sure we all knew they were doing everything they could to help put out the California fires, FEMA - the Federal Emergency Management Agency - decided to call a news conference last week, only no reporters showed up.  It didn't stop them though.  CNN  tells the rest of the story.

Of course, there is always a fall guy in a situation like this.  A hard lesson for sure.