FCC Comments That Didn't Make My Story

  As I write this, I've just filed my story for tomorrow's paper about the FCC's media ownership hearings. And there was just so much that I couldn't fit in the 20-inch newshole given me for print.

The hearing itself was an odd mix of community activist revival meeting -- thanks to the many anti-consolidation activists mobilized by local, regional and national grassroots organizations -- and big media schmoozefest. I constantly found myself running into people I hadn't seen in person for years; a pleasant side effect from years of covering media in this town.

In the end, there was no way I could fit all the public comments-- which ranged from former Tampa mayor Dick Greco to former U.S. Rep. Jim Davis -- into my newspaper story. So I thought I'd throw some up on the blog for further perusal.

Let's start with my fave, 27-year-old Brandy Doyle, a freelance reporter for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune who had the stones to stand up and condemn media consolidation at the New York Times Regional Media Group-owned newspaper:

"Dailies like the Herald Tribune cut corners by outsourcing much of their local news coverage to freelancers like myself...I have no professional contact with others who write for the paper, I get no feedback from my editor, and I have never been asked to write a second draft of a story...The Herald Tribune isn't a bad paper. But unfortunately, it is a typical one...uncovering and exploring local issues just doesn't fit into the business model of today's media outlets."

Bill Carey, general manager of WFTS-Ch. 28: "Anyone with a computer can now compete in local news...(he tells story of a 15-year-old who films news events in his neighborhood and posts to a Web site)...He sticks to local news, and local news for him is what happens in his neighborhood. That's the future challenge to ownership and market share. In the past, a 15-year-old delivered the news by throwing it on your doorstep. Today, he brings it to your TV screen."

Robert Dardenne, journalism professor, University of South Florida St. Petersburg: "Economy of scale -- certainly in news content -- shows little indication that it helps people who use news nearly as much as it does those who produce it...Knight Ridder (now McClatchy) admirably covered the lead up to the Iraq War...(But) critics amply demonstrate that coverage of most other major media significantly promoted government viewpoints and restricted access to other perspectives. This powerfully illustrates the potentially disastrous weakness of a dominant media willing to sacrifice journalistic principles for economic gain."

Jim Davis, former U.S. Representative now working for law firm which represents some TV stations: "I opposed much of the relaxation of ownership limits....There's a lot of people here because they don't think their voice is being heard....(But) there has been more hard news and quality of coverage (in Media General's convergence). We're allowing the future of the newspaper industry by allowing cross-ownership."

Steve Wilson, former investigative reporter at WTVT-Ch. 13, who sued the station amid claims he was fired over a tough story on chemical giant Monsanto: "At one of this market's leading stations, decisions about which issues to cover have been second-guessed and controlled by the parent company 800 miles away. And I'm not talking just about some corporate news executive who directs decisions at some two dozen stations the group owns in several states...I'm talking corporate marketing men deciding what news viewers will and will not see."

In the interests of fairness...

Here's one activist's take on trying to watch the hearings through a Media General web portal.

And here's an op-ed the Tampa Tribune published Sunday from the Tampa market manager for Clear Channel Radio, which owns eight radio stations in our market and -- surprise! -- favors loosening media ownership rules.

Here's my preview story from Sunday on the whole shebang.

How to Speak to the FCC

So you've heard about tonight's hearing by the five members of the Federal Communications Commision on media ownership, and you've decided to try and speak to the folks who eventually will decide how much media any one company can own in a given community?

Be prepared for a serious wait.

The commissioners have scheduled a seven-hour hearing tonight at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center to discuss how the various media ownership rules have impacted the Tampa Bay area. Anyone can sign up to speak during the public comments sections of the hearings, addressing a group of officials who rarely get together in one place outside Washington D.C.

If you're planning to try and speak, a few tips gleaned from the experts:

*Even though the hearing doesn't start until 4 p.m., show up when doors open at 3 p.m. to sign up if you hope to snag a speaking spot; there's lots of folks who want to talk.

*With only two minutes speaking time provided to each citizen, personal stories illustrating aspects of the ownership issues at hand work best with the commissioners.

*If you have more to say, prepare a written statement that you can hand to the commissioners for addition to the permanent record.

*If you can't get to the 3 p.m. signup, you can always ask a friend to do it for you. But each person can only sign one name, so that person would have to sacrifice their shot at speaking for yours.

Grass roots advocacy groups have been working hard to organize groups of speakers for this event, the fourth of six public hearing scheduled by the FCC on the issue (another advocacy group speaks out here). The other two hearings haven't yet been scheduled, but those in the know don't expect the commission to really start moving on revamping media ownership rules until 2008 -- smack in the middle of an election season.

There may be no more important time for your voice to be heard as a citizen. Perhaps we'll see you out there tonight.

Here's the updated agenda for tonight:

4:00 p.m. Welcome/Opening Remarks

4:30 p.m. Panel Discussion 1: Market Overview / Tampa, Florida Case Study
Dan Bradley, Media General Vice President of News for Broadcast
Bill Carey, General Manager of WFTS-TV and Incoming President of the Florida Association of Broadcasters
Robert Dardenne, Associate Professor in Journalism and Media Studies at Univ. of South Florida-St. Petersburg
Steve Erlanger, President, Hometown News
Ronald Gordon, President of ZGS Broadcast Holdings
Jim Johnson, Publisher of State of Sunshine, a political blog covering the state of Florida
Eric Klinenberg, Associate Professor of Sociology at New York University
  Patrick Manteiga, Editor and Publisher of La Gaceta
  Pat Roberts, President of the Florida Association of Broadcasters
Art Rowbotham, President of Hall Communications
Steve Wilson, Investigative Journalist

5:30 p.m. Public Comments

7:30 p.m. Break

8:00 p.m. Panel Discussion 2: Perspectives on Media Ownership
Gerardo Reyes-Chavez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Glenn Cherry, President/CEO and Chairman of the Board of Tama Broadcasting
Roswell Clarke, Director of Technical Operations and System Admin., Cox Radio-Tampa
Bob D’Andrea, President of the Christian Television Network
Dr. Karen Brown Dunlap, President of The Poynter Institute
Bob Gremillion, President, CEO and Publisher of the South Florida Sentinel
Carol Jenkins, President of The Women’s Media Center
Larry Lee, Jr., Owner of WFLM-FM/WIRA(AM), Port St. Lucie, Florida
Luis Lopez, Director of Public Relations, Hispanic Alliance of Tampa Bay
Carlina Rodriguez, Director of Organizing Spanish Language, Screen Actors Guild of America
Sam Rosenwasser, President and General Manager of WTSP(TV)
Rich Templin, Communications Director, Florida AFL-CIO
 
9:00 p.m. Public Comments

11:00 p.m.  Wrap-Up/Adjournment

The moderator will be Louis Sigalos, Chief of the Consumer Affairs & Outreach Division, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, FCC

A live audio cast of the hearing will be available at the FCC’s website at www.fcc.gov on a first-come, first-served basis.  The public may also file comments or other documents with the Commission and should reference docket number 06-121 when filing by paper or submit your filing electronically by going to http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi and enter proceeding number 06-121. Filing instructions are provided at http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/comments.html.

Laziness or Stone Incompetence: Fox and Friends Reports a News Parody as Real News

Anyone who has burned a few brain cells watching Fox News Channel's shameless morning show Fox & Friends, knows they have mostly a tenuous connection to evenhanded news reporting.

Still, it was amazing to watch this crew of knuckleheads recently report a satirical Onion-style news parody as an actual event. According to Think Progress, a humor Web site exagerrated a real event, where students placed a ham steak next to a group of muslim students as an awful joke. The satire amplified the administrators' reaction to the prank, playing into Fox & Friends' tired complaints about political correctness run amok.

Any real news organizartion would have a made phone call or two to check the facts, or at least looked to see if a reputable news agency was reporting something similar. What irritates me the most, is that these are the same people who fly into a rage if someone says Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas -- but they expect a group of muslim students to tolerate a prank in which a plateful of food considered taboo in their religion is placed next to them in a cafeteria.

See it here or below.

Imus Forum Brings Lots of Talk, Few Answers

I'm amazed and gratified that so many people took part in the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists public forum about race and gender in media post-Imus Thursday night.

But I, and many who attended, still left the building feeling a little dissatisfied -- as if we had an itch that wasn't quite scratched.

The panel was impressive: Bubba the Love Sponge, Sirius satellite radio; Victoria Lim, consumer reporter/anchor, WFLA-Ch. 8; Fisher, morning personality, WSUN-FM (97X); Leon Russell, former president of Florida NAACP; 
Doug Wagenvoord, co-owner WTAN-AM (former local home for Imus); Ahmed Bedier, Council for American Islamic Relations; Jay Black, journalism ethics expert, University of South Florida; L.I.F.E., area spoken word artist; Birgit Van Hout, Community Tampa Bay; Leon Russell, national NAACP board member; DJ Ekin, mix show coordinator, WBTP-FM (The Beat); Carolyn  Lighty, co-founder Tampabayin.com.

I think it's because we were so locked into our own perspectives, we couldn't bend much to the perspectives of others. And, as Birgit pointed out to me afterwards, bending too much means enabling or prolonging stuff that shouldn't stand, like Imus' racist humor.

Fisher talked about joking on his show about going to Ybor to "pick up some b----s," which drew lots of criticism. Fisher, backed by Vicki Lim, said his comment was a joke because it is the opposite of who he is. Others who didn't know him, felt his casual use of the term revealed exactly how he felt about women.

Still, we drew 75 people in an event organized and publicized in 10 days. And the sight of so many panelists networking after it was all over -- the Christian rappers hanging with the radio station owner, the spoken word artist hanging with the shock jock producer -- was still gratifying.

Read about it here. Check out a 6-minute report on WMNF-FM between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Short Takes

When Jesse Jackson criticized the lack of minorities on MSNBC during the Don Imus flap, anchors there were quick to point out Allison Stewart, host of the noontime show The Most. So it is ironical to note that Stewart's now leaving the channel, becoming another TV news expatriate who has fled to National Public Radio.

To it's credit, NPR is responding to criticisms about its lack of diversity by trying to hire on air reporters of color, including former ABC News correspondent Michel Martin, News and Notes host Farai Chideya, and now Stewart. She joins Luke Burbank in fronting the new, two-hour morning show targeted to young listeners -- well, aged 25 to 44, which is young for NPR -- and the new 24-hour news servies, also for young-uns.

--- I'm appearing once again on Rob Lorei's WEDU show Florida This Week, kicking around issues such as Howard Dean's bluster about Florida moving its presidential primary and the release of jail inmates due to overcrowding in Pinellas.

FCC Witnesses Include a Blast From Local Media's Past: Former WTVT Reporter Steve Wilson

I was scanning through the list of area media notables tapped to testify as part of the Federal Communication Commission's Monday hearing on ownership issues, and I saw a startling name.

Steve Wilson.

Wilson, local news junkies with long memories will recall, worked as an investigative reporter with WTVt-Ch. 13 with his then-wife Jane Akre. The two left the station after wrangling for months over an investigative story on growth horemones given to dairy cows. Station officials claimed the pair made allegations they couldn't back up and were too resistant to reasonable editing, Wilson claimed the station was cowed by hormone manufacturer Monsanto's threats of legal action.

I always thought Wilson and Akre's stories were imperfect pieces that raised interesting questions, but were mostly derailed by the then-general manager's distaste for investigative work and a growing personal animosity between him and Wilson.

I'm betting next week's pay he's going to tell the FCC commissioners that his story was scuttled by Fox higher-ups outside Tampa who didn't want the hassle with Monsanto. But I've always felt the real story of what happened there is much more complex and had less to do with corporate intrigue than Wilson and Akre believed.

Here's the FCC's list of the meeting's agenda and witnesses. If you're planning to try speaking during the public comment sections, make sure you arrive at 3 p.m. when doors open to sign up.

Agenda and list of witnesses follows:
(All Times EST)

4:00 p.m.       Welcome/Opening Remarks

4:30 p.m.       Panel Discussion 1: Market Overview / Tampa, Florida Case Study

Dan Bradley, Media General Vice President of News for Broadcast

Bill Carey, General Manager of WFTS-TV and Incoming President of the Florida Association of Broadcasters
Robert Dardenne, Associate Professor in Journalism and Media Studies at Univ. of South Florida-St. Petersburg
Steve Erlanger, President, Hometown News
Ronald Gordon, President of ZGS Broadcast Holdings
Jim Johnson, Publisher of State of Sunshine, a political blog covering the state of Florida
Eric Klinenberg, Associate Professor of Sociology at New York University

                Patrick Manteiga, Editor and Publisher of La Gaceta
                Pat Roberts, President of the Florida Association of Broadcasters

Art Rowbotham, President of Hall Communications
Steve Wilson, Investigative Journalist

5:30 p.m.       Public Comments

7:30 p.m.       Break

8:00 p.m.       Panel Discussion 2: Perspectives on Media Ownership
        Gerardo Reyes-Chavez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Glenn Cherry, President/CEO and Chairman of the Board of Tama Broadcasting

        Roswell Clarke, Director of Technical Operations and System Admin., Cox Radio-Tampa

Bob D’Andrea, President of the Christian Television Network
Dr. Karen Brown Dunlap, President of The Poynter Institute

        Bob Gremillion, President, CEO and Publisher of the South Florida Sentinel
        Carol Jenkins, President of The Women’s Media Center
        Larry Lee, Jr., Owner of WFLM-FM/WIRA(AM), Port St. Lucie, Florida
        Luis Lopez, Director of Public Relations, Hispanic Alliance of Tampa Bay
        Carlina Rodriguez, Director of Organizing Spanish Language, Screen Actors Guild of America

Sam Rosenwasser, President and General Manager of WTSP(TV)
Rich Templin, Communications Director, Florida AFL-CIO

               
9:00 p.m.       Public Comments

11:00 p.m.      Wrap-Up/Adjournment

The moderator will be Louis Sigalos, Chief of the Consumer Affairs & Outreach Division, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, FCC

A live audio cast of the hearing will be available at the FCC’s website at www.fcc.gov on a first-come, first-served basis.  The public may also file comments or other documents with the Commission and should reference docket number 06-121 when filing by paper or submit your filing electronically by going to http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi and enter proceeding number 06-121. Filing instructions are provided at http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/comments.html.

Sign language interpreters and open captioning will be provided for this event.  Other reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request.  Include a description of the accommodation needed, and include a way we can contact you if we need more information.  Please make your request as early as possible.  Last minute requests will be accepted, but may be impossible to fill.  Send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (tty).

Spanish language translation service will be provided at this location.

For additional information about the hearing, please visit the FCC’s website at http://www.fcc.gov/ownership.  Press inquiries should be directed to Clyde Ensslin, at 202-418-0506, or David Fiske, at 202-418-0513.

As Criticism Turns to Hip Hop, Russell Simmons Comes Up with the Perfect Dodge

It's the best head fake I've ever seen in a media debate.

Well aware that all the folks P.O.-ed by the tsunami of outrage that kneecapped Don Imus' career would soon turn to gangsta rap to settle the score, onetime rap impresario Russell Simmons came up with a public relations move that proves why he was always the slickest operator in hip hop.

Simmons' solution? Let's ban all the words that upset people -- from the clean versions of hip hop singles.

He's been talking to media outlets everywhere about his plan for deleting "ho," "bitch" and "nigger" from the already highly edited "clean" versions of rap records played on the radio. It's a great dodge for the hip hop industry for several reasons.

1) It focuses people on the specific words rather than the ideas behind the words. You don't have to debate how women are treated in rap lyrics if you boil it down to banning a few words from versions of songs that the vast majority of hip hop fans don't buy, anyway.

2) It takes responsiblity for the material from the artist who created the song to some nameless record company editor patching together a radio-friendly single. The artists -- who are still Simmons' main constituency -- don't have to change a thing.

3) It allows folks like Simmons to keep playing the philanthropist to the wider world without challenging rap artists to really adopt new messages or tell stories in a different way.

4) It allows gangsta rap artists to keep filling their albums and non-radio product with the same awful messages for fans, while cleaning up the product most likely to reach those who are criticizing hip hop -- the stuff played on the radio.

Like I said, masterful.

  Unfortunately, this latest gambit isn't even a band-aid. Sooner or later, rap artists must learn how to preserve their creativity and vital spirit while chilling out on the more harmful messages.

In a better world, old heads like Simmons would be helping the young bloods figure this out, instead of trying to head fake the critics. But sometimes, it's hard to take the hustle out of a hardcore entrepreneur.

Forum on Radio, Rap and Media Images Post-Imus TONIGHT!

I had a great time appearing on Rob Lorei's afternoon news and public affairs show on WMNF-FM Wednesday talk about the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists' public forum tonight on race, gender and media post-Imus -- scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Campus Activities Center on USF's St. Petersburg Campus.

Feel free to join us tonight. We hope to have a wide assortment  of guests on our panel, from shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge, to the owner of the radio station which aired Imus locally, and area notables from radio and hip hop communities. Join us!

 

American Idol Recap: When Does It Get Too Cruel?

How do you raise more than $30-million for charity and still wind up looking like a total schmuck?

Just ask the producers of American Idol's outrageously excessive Wednesday night charity show, Idol Gives Back.

Besides producing an oddly entertainment-deficient cavalcade of stars that looked suitable for a Simpsons parody, they had the awful idea to spend the whole two hours jerking around all six remaining contestants -- saving the big goose egg for one of their most popular contestants, 17-year-old Jordin Sparks.

You see, the contestants spent the entire live, two-hour schmoozefest thinking one of them was about to get kicked off the show. Host Ryan Seacrest did his usual gig of asking them to stand one by one, throughout the 120-minute show, and telling them if they were safe or not.

Down to the final two contestants, Chris Richardson and Sparks, Seacrest -- who had been promising a shocking result -- tells the less popular Richardson he is safe, which leads Sparks to think she's gone. Seacrest waits several long seconds before telling her she's also safe-- they're not eliminating anyone.

The look on the 17-year-old's face said it all. Though she tried to regain her composure as the show finished off, she clearly was distraught at being led to believe she'd been ejected from the show, barely able to stop crying. And the look on Seacrest's face hinted he knew the bait-and-switch was a bad idea the moment he sprung it on her (to avoid ejecting someone during a charity event, TWO contestants get kicked off next week -- thanks American Idol!)

I'm so cynical about Hollywood, I'm wondering if all this televised humiliation wasn't deliberate -- producers pulling an awful prank just to get the chattering class going on the cable channels and morning shows tomorrow, in some twisted hope of reviving interest in the show.

If so, it's a disappointing commentary on just how far Idol producers will go to protect their golden goose -- scaring the crap out of a 17-year-old kid on national television, live.

All this, and I still have a few questions:

--Why do singers who have been in the business for decades -- including Philip Bailey of Earth Wind and Fire and Annie Lennox -- sound so much worse in live performances on Idol than the wannabes?

---Why did Simon spend his whole time visiting poor people in Africa looking like he was afraid to touch anything?

---Was he really unaware that thousands of people go hungry every night in Los Angeles and a humongous soup kitchen feeding them was just blocks from his home?

---Why did it take visiting guest host Ellen DeGeneres to kick in $100,000 to boost the effort? Simon has earned enough to buy a small South American country, surely he could have kicked in a few grand. 

Unlike other critics, I don't think the charity stuff ruins the vibe of idol. I think the crassly commercial air of Idol makes any sustained philanthropic effort look insincere. No wonder Bono could barely stand to make a 5-minute, pre-taped appearance (And Celine Dion?  Dueting with Elvis? Whatever Idol producers are smoking, they need to cut back. Fast.)

I wonder, after Idol finishes giving back, if it can get back any of its self-respect or integrity?

Rosie's Gone From The View: Will We Ever Really Know Why?

Bombastic comic Rosie O'Donnell confirmed what some media outlets had been reporting almost since she joined The View a year ago: She's leaving the show when her year-long contract expires at the end of June.

TMZ.com broke today's news yesterday in an uncomfirmed report; by late morning, ABC was confirming the news and all the cable channels were all over it.

The only question left: will we ever really know why?

Here's Rosie's spin, delivered just a few minutes ago on The View: "I’ve decided that we couldn’t come to terms with my deal with ABC, so next year I’m not going to be on The View. However, I will be guest hosting, I’ll be doing one-hour specials on autism and depression, things that I'm interested in. I’m just not going to to do the everyday thing. They wanted me three years, I wanted one year…it just didn’t work, and that’s showbiz. But its not sad because I’ve loved it here and I love you guys and I’m not going away, I’m just not going to be here everyday.”

The expected gushing then commenced, with everyone who she dissed and fought with on previous shows talking about how much they love her and will miss her. The only one I really believed was show creator and star Barbara Walters, who seemed misty-eyed at the prospect of losing the one performer who made her midday gabfest relevant again.

Her spin: “I am sad, because I induced you to come here…we have had, to say the least, an interesting year. We’ve had an exciting, fun-filled provocative…we’ve all loved it. You will be missed. I do not participate in the negotiations for Rosie…it was between your representatives and ABC daytime. This is not my doing, or my choice.”

Of course, they all said similar things when Star Jones left the show, even though she was ousted by Walters and the powers that be for her erratic behavior and over-the-top greed in grabbing freebies for her wedding.

Star's biggest problem, really, was that she was nearly as big a pain as Rosie, but didn't generate nearly the media heat or ratings.

CNN had a correspondent  from TMZ.com theorizing that O'Donnell was freeing herself up to launch her own talk show in fall 2008. PR machine and mortal O'Donnell enemy Donald Trump wasn't buying it on Fox News, where he insisted Rosie got fired by Walters and ABC over her ribald routine at the tony Matrix awards for women in media Monday.

"She is the most disgusting person," said the always diplomatic Trump just before O'Donnell's announcement. "Rosie's a loser, she continues to be a loser, she was fired by ABC and I'm proud to say I probably had a hand in this."

In his dreams. I'm betting TMZ is closer to the truth. ABC and Walters had plenty of chances to offload O'Donnell for much worse behavior -- inlcuding making fun of the way Chinese people talk on air. And if they were planning to get rid of her, believe me, they would have been auditioning replacements already (they probably haven't done so until now, for fear of scuttling any last-minute chance at a deal). What remains amazing is the undeniable charisma O'Donnell brings to daytime TV, despite a brutal, bullying opinionated style that puts off even those who agree with her.

Two questions left now: Who will replace her? And will they even try to diversify the show by bringing on another person of color?

Can YOU Make a difference for Bright House?; Moyers Takes on the Press Over Iraq

Neighborhood Times staff writer Paul Swider came up with an interesting TV story for today's newspaper, talking about Bright House's latest gambit to separate itself from certain competition which starts with a V -- and its called YOU on Demand.

Capitalizing on the media world's mania for anything remotely connected to YouTube, Bright House is creating a channel on its digital cable service that will feature videos sent in by viewers on DVD and VHS. The pitch: now you can watch user-generated video on your TV screen instead of your computer screen.

I, of course, was immediately skeptical. Bright House chooses which clips will appear and under what categories,taking lots of control from users; all the material will be family-friendly, so forget about the equivalent of YouTube faves such as SNL's uncensored D--- in a Box segment and Michael Richards losing it onstage; and there's no way to submit material online, because the quality of Web video these days isn't good enough to spread across a digital cable TV system.

And in these days of pedophile paranoia, will parents want to put their kid- focused home movies on a service anyone with digital cable can access? Even YouTube allows users to restrict viewership of clips if you only want friends to see the stuff you place online.

But I am a paid cycnic. Frankly, its interesting to see the unique features each cable company is coming up with to woo customers. Bright House has even created an entire news service -- Bay News 9 and its offshoots -- to keep its 900,000 Tampa Bay area households in the fold.

And I wouldn't be the first TV critic to underestimate the audience's passion for user-generated media stuff.

Short Takes

I have often found Bill Moyers' passion for liberal causes undermines his journalism a bit -- ironically, i'm sure there's plenty of folks who say that about ME -- but there is no denying he's uncorked a great look at the media's failure to critically examine the Bush administration's case for war with Iraq, airing tonight on PBS.

This is hardly a new concept. But when Moyers, who served in Lyndon Johnson's administration as that Democratic president was starting the Vietnam War fiasco, tells people he sees parallels in today's Iraq misadventures, it's time to start listening close.

Check out his compelling interview with National Public Radio's Terri Gross on Fresh Air here.

Speaking of Fresh Air, this NPR junkie has heard some way cool interviews there recently. St. Petersburg's own Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales talked turkey about his revolutionary online encyclopedia. And the program offered a collection of material from three past interviews with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam, who died Monday from injuries sustained in an auto accident.

DEGGANS Pundit Stuff

I'll be appearing on Rob Lorei's afternoon news and public affairs show on WMNF-FM at 1:30 p.m. today to talk about the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists' public forum Thursday on race, gender and media post-Imus -- scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday at the Campus Activities Center on USF's St. Petersburg Campus.

Tune in and feel free to join us tomorrow. We hope to have a wide assortment  of guests on our panel, from shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge, to the owner of the radio station which aired Imus locally, and area notables from radio and hip hop communities. Join us!

Lou Dobbs Offers Free Airtime to Candidates; David Letterman Becomes a Fanjaya

CNN's favorite news blowhard, Lou Dobbs, is offering every presidential candidate two minutes of uninterrupted face time on his ever-growing evening news show.

The only catch: You gotta play ball with him, too.

In exchange for the airtime, candidates also have to face some grilling from Dobbs, who has turned demgoguing illegal immigration and middle class taxation issues into an art form. It will interesting to see how many contenders submit to this exercise.

Here's the release from CNN:

"In his series, “2008: Time for Answers,” Dobbs will invite presidential candidates to appear on Lou Dobbs Tonight to explain specifically how they would tackle the most pressing issues facing American families including healthcare, illegal immigration, public education, the war in Iraq, border and port security, and trade policy.

A candidate would be granted two minutes for each topic, followed by discussion with Dobbs on that issue. CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight airs at 6 p.m. . 

                “People want to know about a candidate’s positions on issues that affect their lives, not just fundraising and horserace politics,” Dobbs said. “I welcome a substantive dialogue in this important election season, and I believe our viewers will too.”

Who Knew Letterman Was a Fanjaya?

Courtesy of the CBS Press Office in Battle Creek, Michigan, here's an advance look at Sanjaya Malakar's appearance tonight reading the Top Ten list on Late Show with David Letterman.

The theme: Top Ten Things I Learned on American Idol.

10.       The camera adds ten pounds to your mohawk.

9.         Work hard and make sacrifices, you can finish in 7th place.

8.         It’s very important to “Keep it real, dawg.”

7.         I should have gone for the immunity idol – oh wait, that’s “Survivor.”

6.         On-camera Simon is a bit nasty, but off-camera, he’s a total jerk.

5.         Voting for yourself 100 times an hour causes some wicked carpal tunnel.

4.         When you forget the words, just do this.

            (Sanjaya belts out a riff like“Ohhhhhhhh”)

3.         Honestly, I thought I was auditioning for “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”

2.         Nothing.

1.         America loves performers with bad hair – right, Dave?

Pandering on Cho Images; Public Forum on Race, Gender and Imus Thursday

Fox News Channel's entire business plan is built on pandering to its audience, so I wasn't surprised to see Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace's somewhat sanctimonious announcement that his program would not feature any images of Virginia Tech shooter Sueng-Hui Cho.

After all, the mothership channel had already overloaded on images of the young psychopath, dropping use of images from the video package he sent to NBC News late last week once backlash began to build over the flood of pictures the shooter clearly intended to deliver to the media.

"If, like us, you are tired of the attention Cho Sueng-Hui has received, attention he apparently craved,you will understand the decision we've made," Wallace intoned at the start of Sunday's show. "Over the next hour, you will not see a single picture of the killer."

What this is intended to accomplish, besides denying the few audience members who hadn't yet seen Cho's face the chance to learn what he looked like, I'm not sure. Cho is already a household name, immortalized by a week of non-stop news coverage and the horror of his crimes. His picture is already all over newspapers, magazines, TV screens and the Internet, just as he intended.

The fact is, journalists have to report the news. And while I think you an certainly argue that news outlets should have been more responsible in using the images Cho provided when they first surfaced, the responsible course now is to use the images in moderation -- not ignore them to score points with your viewers.

Sopranos/Cho Tie In?

I almost hate to mention it, but I was pretty unnerved by how closely actor Ken Leung resembled Cho in last night's Sopranos episode. Leung is a way cool actor with a growing list of interesting credits (He was the Quill guy in the last X-Men movie, for instance). so I hated to make this connection. It even sounds vaguely racist to insinuate that one of the few -- probably the only -- Asian American actor to get a significant role on the Sopranos also looks like a mass murderer who is also Asian American.

For those who didn't see, Leung played Carter Chong, a troubled young man in the same psychiatric facility as Corrado Soprano -- a sidekick to the aging gangster with persecution and anger management issues who winds up attacking the elder Soprano when he feels the old man has betrayed him.

But there he was, choking, beating and kicking Dominic Chianese's Uncle Junior in a bizarre bit of media serendipity - given that this episode probably was filmed and scheduled long before Cho conceived of his awful rampage.

Given all the media angst about evoking images of the VT shootings, my wife wondered why HBO didn't just pull the episode. But with the show on a countdown to finality that the whole world is watching, pulling an episode probably wasn't the easiest thing to do -- no matter how much one character resembled the country's worst mass murderer.

Check out this great column by Times staffer Chuin-Wei Yap on his feelings of shame after learning the VT shooter was Asian American.

DEGGANS Media Tour Takes Shape

I'll be taking to the airwaves this week to drum up awareness of the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists' public forum Thursday on race, gender and media post-Imus -- scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday at the Campus Activities Center on USF's St. Petersburg Campus.

I'm due to appear tomorrow morning on Mark Larsen's morning show for WWBA AM 1040 at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Those of you with long memories will recall Mark's stint as late morning guy on WFLA-AM back when they had more than two local radio shows during the week.

I'm also scheduled to visit Rob Lorei's news talk show on WMNF-FM 88.5 on Wednesday afternoon at about 1:30 p.m. rob always asks great questions and gets the audience involved, so that should be fun.

Mostly, we're hoping to get people to turn up for this discussion which is mostly focused on getting the community talking about issues the media has debated with itself or nearly two weeks.

Feel free to join us and add to the discussion!

 

Town Hall Meeting Thursday: Race, Gender & Media Post-Imus

For those of us who have criticized stereotypical images in media, Don Imus' dethroning was a watershed event.

All of a sudden, everyone was talking about the impact of harmful images in media, and acknowledging that if such imagesecho historic stereotypes. they ought not be tolerated.

To keep the discussion going locally, the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists has teamed with the Department of Journalism at the University of South Florida to present a town hall meeting bringing together area radio, journalism and academic figures within the community.

Scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, April 26, the town hall will take place at the Campus Activities Center at the University of South Florida, the corner of 6th Ave. South and 2nd St. South in St. Petersburg. Admission is free and all are invited to attend.

We are still asking area notables to join us for the discussion. But here are some of the people we've already lined up:

Bubba the Love Sponge, Sirius satellite radio

Charles Cherry, publisher, Florida Courier and co-owner, WTMP-AM

Ahmed Bedier, Council for American Islamic Relations

Jay Black, journalism ethics expert, University of South Florida

L.I.F.E., area spoken word artist

Birgit Van Houck, Community Tampa Bay

Deborah Hinds, WMNF-FM and Planet Soul.com

We're asking you to do two things. First, spread the word about our effort -- we need to work hard to let people know what we're doing and get a huge crowd for a community discussion. Please feature this as a Public Service Announcement or notice in your media outlet if you can.

Secondly, we would love to have more panelists involved in our discussion, particularly from the radio industry. So feel free to email me back or call me at the number below if you are interested in sitting on our panel.

Here's an update from the pew center on attitudes about Imus according to race:

"Americans, both black and white, generally agree with the punishment radio host Don Imus received for the racist and sexist remarks he made about the Rutgers University’s women basketball team. Nonetheless, there are substantial racial differences in views of Imus’s punishment, and an even bigger gap in opinions about news media’s coverage of the story.

Roughly twice as many whites as blacks believe his punishment was too tough (35% vs. 18%). And while 62% of whites say that news organizations are giving too much coverage to the Imus story, just 31% of African Americans agree.

The latest installment of Pew’s weekly News Interest Index, finds that public interest in the Imus story was fairly modest, particularly when compared with news coverage of the controversy. The news coverage index for April 8-13, compiled by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, showed that Imus’s downfall was the second most-covered story of 2007, filling 26% of the overall newshole for the week. But the Imus story trailed the situation in Iraq was the week’s most closely followed story. About a quarter of Americans (26%) cited the situation in Iraq as the story they followed most closely, compared with 20% who cited reports about Imus’s remarks.

The survey is for immediate release, and is available on our website http://people-press.org"

Journalism or Opportunism: Did NBC Step In it Again?

How do you feel about these images?

 

Much as they may resist it now, many journalists felt an awful sense of completion when these photos came across the transom. Before NBC News dug them out of the lump of madness mass killer Cho Seung-Hui express mailed to them, police and press had a tough time piecing together the story of a quiet loner who suddenly decided to kill as many of his schoolmates as he could in the most brutal mass shooting in recent history.

In the videos he recorded, some of which NBC played Wednesday evening and Thursday, viewers saw the barely-coherent ramblings of a man who had objectified al the frustrations of his life into a single, nameless group -- classic signs of severely disordered personality, according to the many experts interviewed in segments Thursday.

Still, many in the public objected to giving the killer the widespread publicity he clearly intended with the mailing -- sent just before Cho committed the bulk of the killings Monday. Two families of victims canceled interviews with NBC News Thursday morning, and the network spent all day explaining its dissemination of the images, via anchor speeches on the Today show, NBC Nightly News and MSNBC.

By midday, NBC News had issued this statement: "Upon receiving the materials from Cho Seung-Hui, NBC News took careful consideration in determining how the information should be distributed.  We did not rush the material onto air, but instead consulted with local authorities, who have since publicly acknowledged our appropriate handling of the matter.  Beginning this morning, we have limited our usage of the video across NBC News, including MSNBC, to no more than 10 percent of our airtime. 

Our Standards and Policies chief reviewed all material before it was released. One of our most experienced correspondents, Pete Williams handled the reporting. We believe it provides some answers to the critical question, "why did this man carry out these awful murders?"  The decision to run this video was reached by virtually every news organization in the world, as evidenced by coverage on television, on websites and in newspapers.  We have covered this story – and our unique role in it – with extreme sensitivity, underscored by our devoted efforts to remember and honor the victims and heroes of this tragic incident.  We are committed to nothing less."

But evil network TV outlets and newspapers  weren't the only one who used the Cho photo. His arms were open wide on the home page of the Huffington Post Thursday morning, gats in hand like some odd mix of SWAT dude and cowboy.

Still, by Thursday's end, every TV outlet had done a story on the question of whether the video should have been used and most promised to limit or eliminate its use from their airwaves -- even Entertainment Tonight claimed to be taking the high road by not showing clips from Cho's "multimedia manifesto." It was a tough buffeting for NBC News, which had already spent a week in the media wringer over the Don Imus scandal. Experts at the Poynter Institute debate the choice here.

Personally, I think NBC News screwed up by placing its logo so prominently on the images it released. Though it is standard practice to make sure every usage of the photo reminds people where it came from, in this case, it made viewers think NBC News was trying to profit from a killer's awful media strategy.

So what do you think? Did NBC go too far? Or was this journalism we all needed to see?

Alec Baldwin Loses it On His 11-year-old Daughter

How do you get back at a blowhard movie star dad who curses you out on a voice mail message? If you're 11-year-old Ireland Baldwin, you leak your dad's abusive voice mail to TMZ.com, and watch as a Golden Globe-nominated actor is revealed as the kind of guy who will call his pre-teen daughter a "thoughtless pig."

Listen to the 30 Rock star's tirade here, if you can stand it. Considering that a judge has scheduled a hearing on Baldwin's visitation rights, I'm betting somebody has some anger management classes in his future.

UPDATE: Baldwin offers his side, if you can call it that, in a posting on his Web site here. He's also drowing in guestbook comments from folks who are not so forgiving. 

Daily Show Uses Kid Gloves on Steve Stanton

When I heard everybody's favorite news satire was coming here to send up the Largo city manager who wanted a sex change, I feared the worst.

Turns out, the only people who needed to fear were the knuckleheads who wanted him fired. Check out the show's piece, titled "Suddenly Susan," here or in embedded video (story doesn't actually start until about a minute into the playback):

Bye-Bye-a, Sanjaya: With Most Controversial Contestant Gone, Can Idol Stay Interesting?

Sinister Simon could barely contain his glee Wednesday, as it became increasingly obvious talent-challenged singer Sanjaya Malakar was going to hit the bricks.

But his departure from the show Wednesday will prove a double-edged sword for this, the most boring Idol competition in years. He was the last x-factor - a clearly overmatched singer whose plucky charm and androgenous good looks convinced a legion of tweener fans to keep him in the game long past his sell- by date.

I was amazed Wednesday because one of my predictions about Idol actually came true (not the one about him making the top five, I know). But weeks ago, I noted that Idol often has a weird period in the middle of the contest where less talented contestants try sex appeal (Haley "Legs" Scarnato), attitude and charm to try staving off their inevitable demise.

Sanjaya's fall also proves one of two things: that all the talk about influencing voting by Howard Stern and assorted Web sites was the B.S. I always thought it was (a guy with 1-million or so listeners isn't going to influence a contest which draws 38-million votes), or Idol producers made sure that, once Sanjaya's presence really started hurting the show, he was gone.

Snarky Simon did have to drop the attitude for a moment, concluding his own brief apology tour for an unfortunate camera shot which made it look like he was sneering at Chris Richardson's condolences to families of the Virginia Tech shooting victims.

Cowell hit host Ryan Seacrest's radio show and tons of news outlets to explain he was rolling his eyes at something else Richardson said; Idol producers showed footage and audio to prove Cowell's point, and last night the camera never got close to him when Sanjaya's ejection was announced (a result which caused lots of celebration in Casa de Deggans, I can tell you).

Let's hope last night's show also proved a wake-up call for contender LaKisha Jones, who has seemed to think she can sing anything with little danger of ejection. Now that Sanjaya is gone, it is obvious the audience is voting mostly on the stregnth of each week's performances -- she can't afford another Diamonds Are Forever, or she'll be gone too.

So, we are saved from the sight of the man-child until his inevitable, computer corrected album hits the streets and Fanjayas can indulge their, um, unique tastes again.

And since the three mostly talented singers left are obvious -- LaKisha, Jordin and Melinda -- it remains to be seen how Idol is going to keep this game interesting for another seven weeks (?!).

-- Famous Fanjaya Howard Stern is calling for an investigation, saying Idol producers culled out all the power dialing votes to make sure he lost.

DEGGANS Punditry off the Charts

I've had an interesting 10 days or so, as the Don Imus controversy has turned me into both reporter and subject on the same issue. I've talked with radio jocks in Seattle and Denver, fielded questions on CNN and local TV and even hung out with Bubba the Love Sponge Wednesday on his satellite radio show.

What kicked it off was a call from a colleague, David Bauder of the Associated Press, who knew I lead the Media Monitoring Committee for the National Association of Black Journalists. His clip on my Imus musings was published everywhere from CBS News to the San Francisco Chronicle, spawning a deluge of phone calls  from other media outlets.

There's been some inaccuracies -- WTVT anchor Kathy Fountain says on her blog I called for Imus to lose his job when I very clearly said on her show that I DIDN'T agree with the NABJ's position that he should be fired -- and there was a jock in Denver who didn't let me say ten words before kicking me off his show. How's that's for an open mind?

Anyways here's the appearence on Ch. 28 anchor Brendan McLaughlin's political show Flashpoint; here's a transcript of my appearance Sunday on CNN's Reliable Sources. So far nothing on Bubba's website, except yesterday's message: "On Today's Show- 3:30 PM Eric Deggans, St Petersburg Times TV/Entertainment Reporter, Penthouse Pet: Kelle Marie."

At least I got top billing.

   

 

American Idol Recap: Simon Loses It For Real

Okay. Now Simon's reeally P.O.'ed.

This Sanjaya thing was okay when the goofy man-child was knocking off also-rans like "Legs" Scarnato and that guy with hair like Sideshow Bob.

But now he's in the Top 7. And with actual singers like LaKisha Jones turning in increasingly worse performances (she gets my pick for Jennifer Hudson treatment -- one top contender always gets voted off early, and i'm afraid girlfriend is in the cross hairs if she doesn't pull herself together), there's always the chance Sanjaya could squeak by into the top five -- my prediction -- or worse.

Surely Simon Cowell is seeing his golden goose headed for the chopping block. And with visions of his multi-million dollar ride ending, he let loose with an avalanche of insults he seemed to be saving since the ponyhawk episode.

"Oh shut up Ryan," he exploded, going after unctuous host Seacrest after a typically lackluster Sanjaya performance -- this time, a bland cover of Bonnie Raitt's "Something to Talk About (odd to hear a rendition of a blues singer's pop hit during country week, but OK). "It was as bad as anything we've seen at the beginning of American Idol...It was hideous." For another hideous moment, see my pal Sean Daly's blog about Cowell's most unfortunate eye roll.

True enough, Sanjaya's overturned the gossamer-thin pretension that Idol is a singing contest,  prompting producers to promise in the latest edition of Entertainment Weekly  that he will not win (isn't that odd, to have people who are putting on a contest promise that one of the contenders won't win BEFORE the contest has ended? Maybe instead of a vocal coach, Sanjaya needs a good attorney).

What does seem obvious, is that ratings would be tanking ever harder if Sanjaya wasn't providing some buzz. Country night was a another dud, with star coach Martina McBride coming off so blandly that its no surprise image-challenged Phil Stacey finally found his groove here; his strong showing may even keep him out of the bottom three, where LaKisha, faux-Timberlake Chris Richardson and, with any luck, Sanjaya are headed.

Imus the Second Most-Covered Story of the Year

It certainly felt like it to me, at the center of the storm, but the Project for Excellence in Journalism has confirmed that Don Imus' swift career destruction was the second most-covered story of the year, beating out the Duke rape case, the battle over immigration, and yes, even Anna Nicole Smith (the debate over the troop surge in Iraq was tops).

I'm still doing interviews on the subject, even. I'm supposed to appear on Bubba the Love Sponge's Sirius satellite radio show today to discuss Imus and more (there's rumors he may have used the n-word in private!). This time, I get to visit his Tampa studio, which is outfitted with a camera system, an array of sexual aids and a stripper pole. Yee-ha.

Back to Imus: Who knew one of radio's biggest bigots could produce such a far-rreaching discussion on race? One of the best products of this roiling dialogue has been Oprah Winfrey's two-day examination of hip hop culture, After Imus: What's Next?.

Like most big media outlets, Oprah preferred to ignore the debate raging in the black community over these issues until Imus made it a juicy viewer magnet. Still, her shows allowed average black women to express their pain over the misogynistic tone of rap music to those who make it, in much the same way average black folks could protest the institutionalized racism of Imus' show.   

Best of all, this debate happened in a forum where white folks could see it go down. So now they know what some of us have known for years -- that some black people have been trying to curb the excesses of gangsta rap for more than ten years.