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Among the ranks of talking heads populating the world of TV punditry are many men and women from the newsrooms across the country. For some, it comes easy. But not everybody is born to bloviate. And so one Washington P.R. firm is training journalists with little or no TV experience for their star turns as pundits. OTM's John Solomon attended one class to see if he had what it takes.
This summer, the highest-rated prime time show in New York City wasn't CSI or Law & Order. It was La Madrasta, a telenovela produced in Mexico. The telenovela form has been a TV staple south of our border for 50 years, and recently has emerged as the vehicle Spanish-language TV is riding to success in the north. Robert Huesca, a communications professor at Trinity University, tells Brooke that while the form is quite fixed, the content of telenovelas remains very much in flux.
It was back to the future for CBS this week, as the network launched a podcast version of "The Guiding Light," a soap opera first broadcast as a radio show 68 years ago. But even though soap operas may have started as audio-only, nowadays it's pretty clear they're dependent on the visuals. And so we got to wondering, what will these things sound like, anyway?
Remember the V-chip? It’s an electronic circuit that can be used to filter out shows you deem offensive. Recently a group of media companies banded together to better publicize the device, which seems awfully altruistic. After all, why would CBS want to help us block out CSI? The answer: they hope to show that parents are better arbiters of taste than Uncle Sam, who appears to be gearing up to clamp down on decency standards. Salon’sMichael Scherertells Bob that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is among those leading the charge.
Those concerned about indecency on the airwaves have a new ally in the innermost halls of broadcast regulation. Penny Nance has been hired by the FCC as an advisor on indecency issues. Nance is a former board member for Concerned Women for America, a group dedicated to "helping…to bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy." Bob talks to Mediaweek reporter Todd Shields about the appointment and its implications.
Last month, ABC's Nightline aired an interview with self-described "terrorist" and Chechen separatist leader Shamil Basayev. In response, Russia revoked its accreditations for all ABC journalists. It's not the first time a government has tried to curtail the speech of its enemies. For years, the British government waged a similar battle against the I.R.A. and Sinn Fein. Anne Cadwallader, a British reporter in Belfast, is opposed to both instances of censorship. She explains to Bob why words are more important then the mouth they come out of.
Time was when TV Guide was a kind of Bible. If you wanted to know which "Bat Channel" to tune into, it was right there in those weekly listings. But the magazine recently decided to transform into itself a full-sized glossy, with pared down listings and more emphasis on celebrity. Blogger and veteran TV Guide staffer Jeff Jarvis tells Bob that print listings are a thing of the past.
Reality shows offer a glimpse of real life, unmediated by script-writers or story boards. Right? Wrong, says Daniel Petrie, Jr., president of the Writers Guild of America, west. According to Petrie, reality show editors serve the same function as traditional writers, piecing together story arcs out of hundreds of hours of raw tape. And thus, he tells Brooke, they should be recognized under the same union rules that govern traditional TV contracts.
