Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Why, YES. Yes, they did. THANK YOU for noticing, Someone.
DID TV MEDIA MISS THE POINT ON STIMULUS?
NEW YORK – There were plenty of familiar faces on-screen during TV coverage of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan, people like James Carville, Laura Ingraham, Karl Rove, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Joe Trippi and Dick Morris.
What it lacked, some critics suggest, were people with real expertise in what the $787 billion plan will mean for the economy and for communities and individuals. In short, it was treated like just another political battle.
Of the 681 people who appeared as guests on a dozen cable news and four network Sunday morning talk shows in the three weeks that ended last Sunday, only 41, or 6 percent, were economists, said the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America.
That count alone indicates a lack of effort in tracking down what was most important about the story, said Erikka Knuti, the organization's spokeswoman.
"Hearing whether or not this package is going to work is more important than who has the snappiest quip," she said.
Media Matters didn't keep track of interview subjects on the most-watched newscasts, the broadcast network evening programs, but the conservative Media Research Center did. About 13 percent of the people interviewed on economic recovery between Obama's election and final passage of the bill were economists, the group said.
That's almost one per substantial story, but Dan Gainor, vice president of the MRC's Business & Media Institute, said that ratio was "appalling."
Piling on the criticism, the Center for Economic and Policy Research said the media had "badly failed" to inform the public about what the stimulus plan means. The group said news organizations also didn't keep things in perspective, focusing on criticisms of the bill that were a very small part of the pricetag.
To a certain extent, networks could be accused of unimaginative bookings, going to people they know very well. Media Matters counted 19 separate appearances by CNN financial correspondent Ali Velshi during the three weeks. The three people who opined most about the bill on Fox News Channel were regulars Morris, Rove and Juan Williams, the group said.
Even some of the economists used were familiar to viewers, like Web site maven Arianna Huffington, former game show host Ben Stein and Paul Krugman, columnist for The New York Times.
Two shows the group monitored, hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper and Campbell Brown, had no economists during the three-week period. By far, the most economists on any show (10) were on Fox's new Glenn Beck show.
Ian Cameron, executive producer of ABC's Sunday morning "This Week," said the trend had less to do with unimaginative bookings than 24-hour cable's need to draw contrast and promote verbal battles.
"On this debate, the sharpest contrast was in Washington," Cameron said. "To some degree, there was more debate on this plan inside Washington than there was outside of Washington."
NEW YORK – There were plenty of familiar faces on-screen during TV coverage of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan, people like James Carville, Laura Ingraham, Karl Rove, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Joe Trippi and Dick Morris.
What it lacked, some critics suggest, were people with real expertise in what the $787 billion plan will mean for the economy and for communities and individuals. In short, it was treated like just another political battle.
Of the 681 people who appeared as guests on a dozen cable news and four network Sunday morning talk shows in the three weeks that ended last Sunday, only 41, or 6 percent, were economists, said the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America.
That count alone indicates a lack of effort in tracking down what was most important about the story, said Erikka Knuti, the organization's spokeswoman.
"Hearing whether or not this package is going to work is more important than who has the snappiest quip," she said.
Media Matters didn't keep track of interview subjects on the most-watched newscasts, the broadcast network evening programs, but the conservative Media Research Center did. About 13 percent of the people interviewed on economic recovery between Obama's election and final passage of the bill were economists, the group said.
That's almost one per substantial story, but Dan Gainor, vice president of the MRC's Business & Media Institute, said that ratio was "appalling."
Piling on the criticism, the Center for Economic and Policy Research said the media had "badly failed" to inform the public about what the stimulus plan means. The group said news organizations also didn't keep things in perspective, focusing on criticisms of the bill that were a very small part of the pricetag.
To a certain extent, networks could be accused of unimaginative bookings, going to people they know very well. Media Matters counted 19 separate appearances by CNN financial correspondent Ali Velshi during the three weeks. The three people who opined most about the bill on Fox News Channel were regulars Morris, Rove and Juan Williams, the group said.
Even some of the economists used were familiar to viewers, like Web site maven Arianna Huffington, former game show host Ben Stein and Paul Krugman, columnist for The New York Times.
Two shows the group monitored, hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper and Campbell Brown, had no economists during the three-week period. By far, the most economists on any show (10) were on Fox's new Glenn Beck show.
Ian Cameron, executive producer of ABC's Sunday morning "This Week," said the trend had less to do with unimaginative bookings than 24-hour cable's need to draw contrast and promote verbal battles.
"On this debate, the sharpest contrast was in Washington," Cameron said. "To some degree, there was more debate on this plan inside Washington than there was outside of Washington."
Thursday, February 12, 2009
NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE.
SET YOUR DVRs.........Irish supergroup U2 have found what they are looking for to promote their new album in the United States -- a five-night gig on the "Late Show with David Letterman."
For the first week of March, U2 will perform every night on the late night chat show, CBS said on Thursday. It's the first time a musical act has been booked for an entire week on the show.
U2 starts the weeklong gig Monday, March 2, and ends it the following Friday. During the week -- on March 3 -- the band and its label, Interscope Records, will release the album "No Line on the Horizon."
The band recorded its latest album in Morocco, Dublin, New York and London.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Demystifying L.A.
I gave a teaser with my last post. I'll lift the veil a bit here. I've been a member of One on One for a couple years now. EVERY connection I've made in the on-camera world, I've made through them. It's how I booked my first real TV gig (and why I have another Law & Order audition tomorrow). They're amazing.
Every year they do a trip to L.A. for a series of workshops/classes/interviews. And I'm going. It's shit-or-get-off-the-pot time, kids. I want to do TV. Period. As such, it only makes sense to try and establish myself as a bi-coastal presence. So, fingers crossed.
Below are some testimonials from former LA trippers as well as my own free shill for the One on One cats.
Every year they do a trip to L.A. for a series of workshops/classes/interviews. And I'm going. It's shit-or-get-off-the-pot time, kids. I want to do TV. Period. As such, it only makes sense to try and establish myself as a bi-coastal presence. So, fingers crossed.
Below are some testimonials from former LA trippers as well as my own free shill for the One on One cats.
Monday, February 09, 2009
It's Official
March 11-20th15 Agents
5 Casting directors
1 potentially large step forward
...Fingers crossed.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Even QUEENS????
Yes... Even Queens.
Oh, and Bloomie...? SUCK IT.
N.Y.C. So Costly You Need To Earn Six Figures To Make Middle Class
More than $2,000 a month for day care. Some of the highest phone bills in the country. Jam-packed, 50-plus-minute commutes to work.
You knew it was tough to live in New York City — but this tough?
A new report shows just how ugly — and expensive — New York City can be, especially for the middle class, squeezed by skyrocketing living costs and stagnant wages.
The study, released Thursday by the Center for an Urban Future, shows that New York City is hands-down the most expensive place to live in the country.
Among the findings:
· A New Yorker would have to make $123,322 a year to have the same standard of living as someone making $50,000 in Houston.
· In Manhattan, a $60,000 salary is equivalent to someone making $26,092 in Atlanta.
· You knew it was expensive to live in Manhattan, but Queens? The report tagged Queens the fifth most expensive urban area in the country.
· The average monthly rent in New York is $2,801, 53% higher than San Francisco, the second most expensive city in the country.
“Income levels that would enable a very comfortable lifestyle in other locales barely suffice to provide the basics in New York City,” the report concludes.
Other belt-tightening details include:
· New Yorkers paid about $34 a month for phone service in 2006. In San Francisco, similar service cost $17 a month.
· Home heating costs have jumped 125% in the past five years and are up 243% since 1998.
· Full-time day care costs can run up to $25,000 a year for one child, depending on the neighborhood, or about as much as some college tuitions.
· Meanwhile, wages in the city have remained mostly flat in all boroughs but Manhattan — even during the boom years from 2003 to 2007.
It’s not only money that makes life here hard, researchers said — which might not be news to most New Yorkers.
Take commutes, for example. The report found that many New Yorkers put up with commutes double the national average of 25.5 minutes.
Commuting to Manhattan from St. Albans, Queens, can take 51.7 minutes, while getting there from Canarsie, Brooklyn, can run 50.8 minutes.
Researchers said the combination of skyrocketing costs, stagnant wages and a deteriorating quality of life forced hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to flee the city for cheaper areas during the boom years from 2002 to 2006.
The report found that more New Yorkers left each year during the boom than left during the dark days of the early 1990s.
Center for Urban Future Director Jonathan Bowles noted that the number of people fleeing the city has slowed since 2007 as the rest of the country has sunk into recession, jobs have dried up nationwide and home values here started to sink.
Mayor Bloomberg downplayed the report but said he is concerned about the constant drumbeat of job losses in the city.
“There is turnover all the time. That’s very healthy,” Bloomberg said. “We’re doing fine, but it is very worrisome, the number of people who are losing their jobs.”
Oh, and Bloomie...? SUCK IT.
N.Y.C. So Costly You Need To Earn Six Figures To Make Middle Class
More than $2,000 a month for day care. Some of the highest phone bills in the country. Jam-packed, 50-plus-minute commutes to work.
You knew it was tough to live in New York City — but this tough?
A new report shows just how ugly — and expensive — New York City can be, especially for the middle class, squeezed by skyrocketing living costs and stagnant wages.
The study, released Thursday by the Center for an Urban Future, shows that New York City is hands-down the most expensive place to live in the country.
Among the findings:
· A New Yorker would have to make $123,322 a year to have the same standard of living as someone making $50,000 in Houston.
· In Manhattan, a $60,000 salary is equivalent to someone making $26,092 in Atlanta.
· You knew it was expensive to live in Manhattan, but Queens? The report tagged Queens the fifth most expensive urban area in the country.
· The average monthly rent in New York is $2,801, 53% higher than San Francisco, the second most expensive city in the country.
“Income levels that would enable a very comfortable lifestyle in other locales barely suffice to provide the basics in New York City,” the report concludes.
Other belt-tightening details include:
· New Yorkers paid about $34 a month for phone service in 2006. In San Francisco, similar service cost $17 a month.
· Home heating costs have jumped 125% in the past five years and are up 243% since 1998.
· Full-time day care costs can run up to $25,000 a year for one child, depending on the neighborhood, or about as much as some college tuitions.
· Meanwhile, wages in the city have remained mostly flat in all boroughs but Manhattan — even during the boom years from 2003 to 2007.
It’s not only money that makes life here hard, researchers said — which might not be news to most New Yorkers.
Take commutes, for example. The report found that many New Yorkers put up with commutes double the national average of 25.5 minutes.
Commuting to Manhattan from St. Albans, Queens, can take 51.7 minutes, while getting there from Canarsie, Brooklyn, can run 50.8 minutes.
Researchers said the combination of skyrocketing costs, stagnant wages and a deteriorating quality of life forced hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to flee the city for cheaper areas during the boom years from 2002 to 2006.
The report found that more New Yorkers left each year during the boom than left during the dark days of the early 1990s.
Center for Urban Future Director Jonathan Bowles noted that the number of people fleeing the city has slowed since 2007 as the rest of the country has sunk into recession, jobs have dried up nationwide and home values here started to sink.
Mayor Bloomberg downplayed the report but said he is concerned about the constant drumbeat of job losses in the city.
“There is turnover all the time. That’s very healthy,” Bloomberg said. “We’re doing fine, but it is very worrisome, the number of people who are losing their jobs.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
