David V. Lorenzo's Blog is now: www.careerintensity.com/blog

Trump Tells it Like It Is

On his blog, The Donald expresses himself directly about the New York Times.  This is one use for blogs – to set the record straight. 

Although he was never short on ways to express himself, Donald Trump can now use his blog as a way to combat negative press. 

His thoughts were replicated on Corante - New York.

"whatever we decide to print is the news, whether it is correct or not!"

[... brief digression about stock market portfolio...]

In addition, the current mess with Judith Miller has made me wonder what is going on there. What kind of reporting is The New York Times doing? Who are they really working for? Can we afford to believe anything they print? Do they have a conscience? Do they know that power includes responsibility? Do they even know what they are doing? I think The New York Times has some big-time cleaning up to do, but I wonder if it's too late."

Vodcasting – Here it Comes

CNET News has an interesting article on the potential for video on the new iPods. Here’s the money quite:

“Media analyst Rafat Ali, whose PaidContent.org Web site focuses on the economics of digital content, forecasts that many such start-up projects will fail due to lack of expertise and funding.

"Producing interesting video content is really hard," he said.

Previous Next Success will depend largely on programmers' resources and ability to grasp the complexities of a medium that is much more complicated than audio, Ali said.

"It's a matter of, how good is the quality, and how do they get funded?" he added.”

People will try it.  It’s only a matter of time.

The Future of Print

Today’s New York Times had an interesting article on the future of print media.  Here is the money quote:

“America is hooked on "companion" media, a pet platform that sits in the corner and pays attention to you when you pay attention to it.”

As the article also points out, cable TV was supposed to kill broadcast TV.  Digital downloads were supposed to kill the music industry and they didn’t.  Print is not dead.  It may need to reinvent itself to become more relevant but it will be around for years to come.

Eisner’s Out – All The Way Out

Here’s a link to the update on Bloomberg about Eisner severing all ties with Disney. Resigning from the board and refusing to serve as a consultant can only lead us to speculate about what Eisner has planned for his future.

One thing is certain:  The most dangerous person in the world is a guy / gal who can build a business and has an ax to grind.

Martha’s Mess

Laura Ries at The Origin of Brands evaluates the domestic diva’s performance in her first month out of The Big House (in this case it was an estate in Bedford, NY). Here are the money quotes:

“But there are some problems. Let’s start with the Apprentice. In a word, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart sucks. There is no reason for this show to exist except that NBC needed a show to fill its lackluster line up.”

I agree.  Get it off.  It’s a cheap knockoff of the original. Martha shouldn’t have anything to do with a knockoff.

“The second problem is Kmart. The problem here is the store itself much more than Martha’s foray into sheets and towels. Can’t she just somehow move her stuff into Target? I would much rather see her brand in the bright booming aisles of the chic Target brand.”

I agree again.  Rain man was right. Kmart sucks.  Sears does too.  They are like two drunks leaning against each other – destined to fall. Martha does not need to be associated with retail doom.

Martha may be able to turn it around.  It will depend upon how the advertisers feel about her.  If they come back, she’ll be back. 

Significant Shift in Ad Buys

Broadcasting and Cable had an article last week about a significant shift in advertising spending.  New media is seeing an influx of ad dollars.  Here’s the money quote:

“Advertisers are shifting as much as 20% of their media dollars away from traditional media—TV, magazines and newspapers—and moving them to emerging categories, such as the Internet or movie theater ads.

Overall, the buyers said the TV-ad marketplace is flat, and they looked cautiously ahead to next year.”

I guess this is the place to be.  More and more people are reading blogs and spending time on the internet.  So far this has not resulted in a reduction in the cost of traditional advertising time.  Simple economics dictates that this will result in even greater defection from the traditional media and toward more economical alternatives.

Thanks to Steve Rubel for pointing us to the article in B&C.

Cuban & The Times It's High Tech Accountability

In an earlier post I presented you with a link to a Mark Cuban quote. Cuban was unhappy with the outcome of the story in which the quote appeared. He posted the entire interview (which was done via e-mail) and asked the blog readers to make up their own mind.

Stephen Baker has issued a challenge to bloggers. Mr. Baker challenges bloggers to write the story differently given the current information.

Mr. Baker also states what he claims is a common complaint among journalists about blogs:

“One common complaint about blogs in the press is that they feed off mainstream stories.”

The press must get used to being held accountable by bloggers.  In the age of open source journalism, the public has the opportunity to vet every story.  In the past editors were the only people who had this type of authority.

Media has evolved and people are doing a little digging and coming up with alternate views of the topics that appear in the press. This may make the work of the reporter a bit more challenging, but ultimately it will lead to better journalism.

If you write the story, send me an e-mail; [email protected]

No More Famous Neighbors

It was a sad day Friday as my famous neighbors from CNN – the O’Brien’s – moved. 

I used to hangout in front of their windows and drink coffee and yell obscenities at Gary Bettman – the little, little man who calls himself the NHL commissioner.

The NHL offices and my office are next door to the Time Life building where CNN’s American Morning had its studio. 

Thanks, TVNewser

Lil Gary

The O'Brien's

Your Government in Action

I have always been fascinated by communications.  I am particularly intrigued by the people that shape the news we watch and read.  Here is a link to an anonymous blog on government communications practices written by an expert. 

If you like behind the scenes info, this one is definitely for you.

Satellite Hookup?

Here is a link to an interesting article on Satellite-Radio providers Sirius and XM potentially hooking up to provide content or merge.  The article appeared on businessweek.com on July 14.

Rumors about a merger started earlier this year.  AP did a story that received some attention back in January.

Mel Karmazin (AP Photo) - Sirius CEO - denied any merger talks at that time. 

On July 10, 2005, latimes.com ran a story that portrays the relationship between Sirius and XM as highly competitive and acrimonious at times.

I think that both of these businesses need one another as separate entities.  Competition is a good thing.  It provides an outside motivating force that will fuel sales and the quality of their programming.