Out of the Inkwell

2009-07-19T04:36:00.000-07:00

Time for some DVD reviews as I haven't posted any in quite some time:

The Strange One

I had the pleasure of interviewing Ben Gazzara several years ago when he appeared at CityStage in a one-man play on the life of Yogi Berra.

Even with a diminished vocal capacity Gazzara turned in a masterful performance that was compelling to this non-baseball fan.

That's why I was eager to see "The Strange One," released on DVD for the first time. It was Gazzara's first film role - in fact, he was the star of the film - and it's a fascinating look at a near pathological bully.

The title gives little indication of the film's story. Gazzara is Cadet Jocko DeParis, an upperclassman at a military college located somewhere in the deep South.

DeParis is a smooth talking, highly intelligent guy who has mastered how the college works. His latest exercise is to punish a faculty member who disciplined him by engineering the discharge of his son from the college. He does so in a way that implicates four other cadets who all realize that if any of them come forward they will all be discharged.

Shot in 1957, the film has a strong contemporary feel to it by implying visually the segregation of the time as well as noting in the dialogue the strong prejudice against anyone deemed "foreign" or "un-American."

The 100-minute film moves very quickly and the drama is compelling, as the young cadets must grapple with doing the right thing or saving themselves.

Some reviewers have noted a gay character in the film that provides another layer of social criticism. Paul E. Richards played a cadet nicknamed "Cockroach" by DeParis. Despite the abuse, Cockroach is drawn to DeParis and has based a novel on his exploits.

The film features other early performances by Pat Hingle, James Olson and George Peppard. Arthur Storch almost steals the show, though, as a freshman cadet who appears like Peter Lorre and is a pathological liar and coward.

Even when scene-stealers are on camera, "The Strange One" is always Gazzara's show. It's a fascinating film.

The extra for the disc is a new interview with Gazzara about the making of the film.

Tell No One

I'm not a big French film fan, so this title was positioned toward the bottom of the review pile, but I'm very glad I watched it. This murder mystery is a top-notch thriller that understands how to keep an audience on the edge of its seat.

Francois Cluzet plays Dr. Alexandre Beck, a successful pediatrician who has loved his wife since they were kids. She is brutally murdered and he is the prime suspect until the evidence pointed to a serial killer who is caught and convicted.

Eight years later he is still mourning her death and there is now new interest in the case when two bodies are discovered at the site of her killing. The police are now interested again in Beck, who is acting a tad suspiciously because he received an e-mail with a video from his long-dead wife.

Director Guillaume Canet wrote the screenplay based on the book of the same name by Harlan Coben and clearly Canet understands how a suspense film is supposed to work.

I think a reference to the work of Alfred Hitchcock is an appropriate compliment for this film. Canet doesn't try to copy Hitchcock's style, but the story of the unjustly accused hero is right out of the Hitchcock canon.

The film has an English soundtrack for those of you who are subtitled impaired, but as always I like hearing the inflections of actors even if I can't understand their language.

With solid performances, an involving plot and plenty of surprises, "Tell No One" should be at the top of your pile.

Elsewhere

Low budget horror and suspense films are a dime a dozen, but "Elsewhere" stands above the crowd. This independent production stays away from the standard elements of the genre - there is no nudity and very little on-screen violence.

In other words, writer and director Nathan Hope wants to present something more mature, something a little deeper than the typical horny-soon-to-be-dead teenager movie.

"Elsewhere" is set in small town in Indiana. Sarah (Anna Kendrick) has a pretty standard teen life of high school, a part-time job and coping with life as a child of divorce.

Her best friend Jillian (Tania Raymonde) has a greatly different life. Sexually active and dying to get of the town, she cruises for guys through her Web page. She plays the dangerous game of even meeting some of them and one day she disappears.

Her mother doesn't care. The police won't investigate. Only Sarah is concerned, along with another high school friend.

She discovers that Jillian isn't the only girl from the wrong side of town to have vanished in the past several years.

Part "Nancy Drew," part 21st century cautionary tale, "Elsewhere" develops into a pretty solid little thriller. Hope is also a cinematographer and although he wasn't behind the camera for this movie, the film has a great look that few low budget features have.

The performances are surprisingly good with Kendrick delivering an effective but low-keyed characterization and Raymonde - who has been a regular on "Lost" and "Cold Case" is bitter but vulnerable as Jillian.

"Elsewhere" is well worth checking out.

The Hunger Season One

It's difficult to produce a horror anthology series these days that breaks new ground. The two shows associated with the late writer Rod Serling - "The Twilight Zone" and "Night Gallery" - still pack a punch decades after their original run on television.

I fondly remember "Tales from the Darkside," back in the 1980s, that was partly the brainchild of famed horror director George Romero. I never cared much for "Tales from the Crypt" or "Freddy's Nightmares," although those shows did have their fans.

The "Masters of Horror" series on Showtime, featuring hour-long productions directed by people such as John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, Stuart Gordon, Dario Argento and Joe Dante, was pretty impressive.

Not having Showtime in the 1990s, I missed "The Hunger," another anthology show, which is now out on DVD in a four-disc set.

All of these shows have to have a point of view or specialty to make them stand out and "The Hunger" is no exception. Its gimmick isn't a crypt keeper; it's sex and nudity.

Although I'm no prude, I have to say that in the episodes I watched from this set - sorry, I didn't sit through all 616 minutes of it - the sexual scenes seem a little forced into the narrative.

The other problem is the writing as a whole is a bit weak with predictable endings or endings that make you scratch your head in wonder.

Perhaps there are some good episodes in this set, but I couldn't find them.

The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 6, 1949 to 1951

Let us now sing a song of Shemp -- Shemp Howard that is - and the center of attention in this new volume of Sony Home Video's on-going collection of the Three Stooges.

When I attended UMass back in the 1970s, Three Stooges film nights were highly popular and many were presented on campus with a sign outside the door of the hall assuring "No Shemp." Curly Howard was the preferred third stooge, but frankly this collection shows that Shemp -- who took over for Curly in 1946 - was pretty damn funny.

Shemp had been part of the act before his younger brother Curly joined it and struck out on a solo career in 1932. He was a successful and busy comic character actor in a long list of films and came back to the act only when Curly had suffered a stroke.

While Curly was frequently an almost surreal comic creation, Shemp's humor was more grounded in a sort of reality - if you can call the world of the Three Stooges "real."

Shemp's character struck a balance from the odd non sequitur humor of Curly and that of an actual human being.

This collection has some nicely polished short subject gems. The Columbia short subjects had the advantage of using the studio's standing sets from its feature films, which gave them a more expensive look than other shorts.

If you're an ardent Curly fan, I probably can't convince you this collection of 24 short is worth the money, but I know I would never hang a "No Shemp" sign at my door.

Defiance

This film came and went in theaters rather quickly and that is a shame, as director Edward Zwick's latest historic drama is a very moving film about a relatively unknown chapter of World War II.

In 1942, the Bielski brothers were forced to escape into the forest by the effort of the Nazis to hunt down and kill all the Jews they could in Poland and nearby Belarus. Eventually, as other people joined them, they formed both a resistance group that would engage the Nazi troops as well as a community that grew to 1,200 by the end of the war.

Tuvia and Zus Bielski, who settled in the United States after the war, didn't seek publicity for their actions, but historians of the resistance movement in Europe know their story.

Under Zwick's hand, this is not merely a war movie, but a film that examines how people behave under the duress of a situation such as war. The Bielskis were not saints, nor soldiers, but people who reacted in the best possible way to the horrible events they endured.

Zwick, who also directed "Glory" - another movie that shows a little known side of a well-documented war - is very capable to staging the battle scenes, but even more so in addressing the relationships between the brothers and their growing community.

Daniel Craig gets top billing as Tuvia Bielski while Liev Schreiber portrays Zus Bielski. Although Craig has had a long list of credits to his name before he donned the mantle of James Bond - a potentially restrictive career move - he shows here once again that he is a solid actor who is more than an action movie star. Schreiber confirms he is one of the most intense actors working on the scene today.

The extras include the obligatory "making of" featurette as well as a fascinating look at the Bielski brothers from the perspective of their children and grandchildren.

This film is well worth seeking out.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-07-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

Warning: The following post is about two movies in which genitalia talk! You've been warned.

The late Candice Rialson (far left) was a fixture of many drive-in films in the 1970s and probably should have been a big mainstream star. This is one of her best films. Check it out!

There are many films I have seen – or what to see – just on the basis of sheer curiosity. Why were they made? Who thought that particular premise would appeal to audiences?

And two films were at the top of my List: Chatterbox, a musical comedy about a young woman whose vagina begins talking and singing and Me and Him, about a would-be yuppie who suddenly can hear his penis talk to him and decides to follow his advice.

Any guy could tell you that move is quite foolish.

Chatterbox is a clearly low budget film aimed at the drive-in crowd from 1977. Me and Him was a studio release from Columbia. Chatterbox has no mainstream stars. Besides Rialson, the film boats of having Rip Taylor and Professor Irwin Corey in the cats.

Me and Him from 1988 features two almost A-list performers – Griffin Dunne and Ellen Greene – who either didn't read the script or just needed a paycheck. Badly.

Chatterbox was written and directed by Tom Desimone, whose other credits include the Linda Blair film Hell Night, a raft of other low budget films and television episodes. Hell Night isn't a bad little horror film of the dead teenager variety

Me and Him was shot and co-wrote by German director Doris Dorrie, who seems to have had a pretty active career. Maybe German dig the idea of a man following his penis' advice about women.

Now Chatterbox hasn't been legally released on DVD, but I did obtain a copy. I found Me and Him in a bargain bin on VHS years ago. I thought then a double feature of two films with similar premises would make for an intriguing afternoon.

It did. Along with two other cinematic adventurers we endured the better part of four hours exploring the dramatic potential of genitalia that could communicate.

The verdict: Chatterbox is actually a chaste little romantic comedy of sorts. While Rialson was topless aplenty, the film is really fairly innocent. While my fellow movie travelers couldn't help but see potentially smuttier jokes in certain scenes ourselves, the film makers didn't. Rialson does a great job as an ordinary young woman who doesn't want to be a media star because her vagina can sing.

Now I am prejudiced as I'm a big fan of Rialson. She left the business in 1979 and died in 2006. I doubt that she realized just how fondly people remembered her.

Chatterbox actually sets up a premise and attitude and sticks with it. Me and Him is an odd social comedy in which Dunne's penis first tries to lead him astray and then tries to get him back with his wife. There is not a laugh in the picture which quickly becomes very tedious.

If I had the chance to interview Dunne I would ask him about this film. It would probably be the deal breaker for the conversation, but that is my fascination with this kind of film – why did anyone think this was entertaining?

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-07-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

Illustration by Leo Pilares

The things I do: from the papers I edit

Natasha Clark, the Assistant Managing Editor at Reminder Publications, is a person who believes in public service, a personality trait I find most admirable until now.

She has been raising money for the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in memory of her late father Walt for a while now and recently she asked me if I could help.

No, it wasn't a request to join Team Walt for the Step Out Walk to Fight Diabetes scheduled for Sept. 27 at Look Park in Northampton. And no, she wasn't looking for a donation from me.

Instead she wanted me to volunteer to raise money for her team through potential public humiliation.

Since I am one of the almost 24 million Americans who have diabetes my staff has frequently yelled at me about my blood sugar I couldn't resist her offer.

Now there are many ways I could be humiliated in public as part of a fundraiser sitting in a dunk tank, having people take aim at me with pies or forcing me to shave my head or beard but Natasha had another plan in mind.

Would I kiss an animal at the Zoo in Forest Park if the public donated $250? That's it? Kiss an animal? I'm being let off easy.

Hey, I'm a farm boy. I've been around cows, goats, pigs, chickens, a mule, a pony, a donkey, ducks and sheep.

I'm also a dedicated dog and cat guy. I'm sure I've ingested plenty of animal spit and hair over the years through accident.

So, I go to the zoo and kiss a goat? No problem. However, as the late Billy Mays would say, "But wait! There's more."

I don't get to pick the animal and the powers to be decided it wouldn't be a domesticated farm animal.

I get to go wild.

So the readers of these newspapers can vote with their donations whether I pucker up with a llama or a camel. I'm just thankful I wasn't told to choose between one of the mountain lions and one of the bears.

So, this promotion can appeal to those who appreciate my work and would like to help out and those who don't care for me and would like to see me at least slightly embarrassed.

Send a check made out to the American Diabetes Association (put Team Walt in the memo line) and send it to Natasha Clark, Reminder Publications, 280 N. Main St., East Longmeadow, MA 10128.

Enclose a note with your check on whether you prefer me to kiss the llama or the camel.

As they say in Chicago, "Vote early and vote often." Donations will be accepted until Aug. 1. There is no minimum donation and any amount is appreciated in helping the ADA continue services to diabetics as well as finding a cure.

The animal you choose will be announced after Aug. 1 and a date and time for the exchange of pleasantries will also be announced so interested readers can plan to attend.

Like most working people, I've had to kiss a lot of unpleasant things in my life as part of my job. At least smooching a llama or camel will do some good!

2009-07-07T16:40:00.000-07:00

Odds and ends

Like the new header? It's by my buddy Dogboy Mark Masztal. I love it! Check him out at Barkings

Here comes a parade: Myself (in my summer hat at left) Amanda Lemon (one of our summer interns) and big bad Bill Dusty of The Springfield Intruder heading towards the governor's press conference in the South End's Emerson Wright Park recently.

Setting up at the press conference. I like the woman who is checking out Amanda's iced tea. Out of the Inkwell photos by Mary Cassidy

Look at what's wrong here? This program was from the big ceremony that transferred power from the Finance Control Board back to the city government and someone made quite an error in history.

Samuel Chapin is indeed the guy depicted in the statue but William Pynchon was the founder of Springfield. Should have called me or someone at the Quadrangle.

From the Hadley Flea Market: This building was on Worthington Street and was the home of Good Housekeeping Magazine and other publications.

2009-07-01T05:25:00.001-07:00

Indies

I love independent creative projects. Few things give me greater pleasure than discovering a book, a comic, music or a film that is not part of the great big corporate sausage factory. I recently wrote the following piece for the weeklies I edit. Check these comics and film out for yourself.

You might read "Entertainment Weekly" to see who and what is hot right now, but you have to do a little digging to see the up-and-comers.

The next great pop culture star probably may be found in an unlikely place: an alternative comic book show or a horror film convention. They might also come from your backyard.

At the recent annual show presented by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MOCCA) in New York City, cartoonists from western New England were represented at several of the many tables.

The MOCCA show is not about superheroes. You won't find tables of "Batman" or "Spiderman" back issues and merchandise. Instead, the cartoonists exhibiting there have more in common with the underground stars of the 1970s such as Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton.

The comics are more personal in story and design and can be funny, tragic, whimsical or profound.

"First Harvest," Trees & Hills' first paperback collection of work, made its premiere at the MOCCA show. Trees & Hills is a group of cartoonist from Western Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire that has published several collections of themed comic stories.

Co-editors Dan Barlow and Colin Tedford have put together a collection that is a sort of "best of" or introduction to the group's work. It's a wildly diverse collection and quite entertaining. For instance, Megan Baehr's work is done strictly in pictures with no dialogue, such as a great strip about hiking up a mountain. Anne Thalheimer takes the opposite tact with her story on Florence that is heavy on words and lighter on graphics.

Both approaches are completely valid and the rule seems to be for these creators to do what they want in order to tell their story.

Old comic book pros Stephen R. Bissette and Mark Martin are both contributors, but for the most part the talent presented here is fresh and new.

For ordering information on all of the Trees & Hills books, log onto its Web site. Modern Myths on Bridge Street in Northampton carries the new collection.

Among those newcomers in the Trees & Hills group is Colleen Frakes, who is a graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) in White River Junction, Vt., and the recipient of a Xeric Foundation grant to publish her work.

Frakes' "Space Ninja Versus Zombies" in the Trees & Hills book demonstrates her deceptively simple cartoony style. She uses her lines sparingly, but exactly.

This is much more in evidence in her book that also made its debut at MOCCA, "Woman King." Again, her simple style seems right at home telling what appears to be a fairy tale-type story about a girl who is adopted by bears.

There are many more dimensions to the story as well as a surreally disturbing theme that shows Frakes' accomplished grasp on the medium.

If you're someone interested in discovering the potential the medium has beyond conventional comic books, you need to discover Frakes' work.

Another graduate of CCS is Denis St. James (denisstjohn.blogspot.com), whose second volume of "Amelia" was also at MOCCA. "Amelia" is a horror comic that has moments of humor, but essentially is a pretty compelling fever dream of a narrative. Centered on a young woman who is trying to make sense of an artifact left to her by her mother, the book is genuinely disturbing in a way that horror fans should appreciate.

The Monster Mania show conducted in Cromwell, Conn., June 12 through 14 was another place where new talent was vying for attention.

While Low Budget Pictures was selling self-produced films such as "Teen Ape Camp," "Deathbone" and "Wet Heat" that flaunted their micro-budgets, there was another independent film at the show that clearly had greater intentions and succeeded in reaching them.

"Ninjas Versus Zombies" has one of the most commercial titles I could think of for a horror film and according to the film's press materials, the title and subject matter came from examining what kinds of films and titles seem to pop out from the walls of video rental stories.

The film is a horror action comedy in which a group of slacker friends are magically endowed with ninja powers so they can defeat an army of zombies created by a recently resurrected neighbor.

Writer and director Justin Timpane told Reminder Publications his intent was to make the best film he could and he took the extras step of shooting the entire film in his backyard and basement first as a rehearsal. He then shot the actual feature, screened a first cut for friends and then re-cut and re-shot the film to improve the story and pacing.

He said he wasn't afraid to re-write a character or find a better location in order to produce a better movie.

Timpane's efforts paid off with a fast-moving film that wisely presents a story that doesn't overwhelm its small budget. While there are some missteps the final scene is a bit confusing until one remembers a throwaway line from the climax of the story this is a fun film well worth discovering by horror fans.

The entire process from buying his equipment to receiving the batch of DVDs took from April 2008 to this May. His total cost including setting up his mini-studio was just under $18,000.

His greatest expense was paying for the use of some of the locations and feeding his zombie army.

Timpane said the films of directors and writers Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon and Sam Raimi inspired him, which was pretty clear to this viewer.

Timpane said he is now seeking professional distribution of the film as a direct-to-DVD. His hope is to be the "impulse buy," the second movie people might try when they are renting a big budget Hollywood production.

I think he has a chance.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-06-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

Caution: some mild swearing and city living frustration

The songs of summer

No, it's not the often incessant driving sounds of salsa music played out of cars and houses for the entertainment of everyone, including people who need to sleep or listen to their own frickin' televisions sets BUT CAN'T BECAUSE EVERYONE MUST LISTEN TO THE SAME GODAMM BEATS PLAYED OVER AND OVER AND OVER.

Excuse me.

No and it's not the sound of poor Gizmo the pit bull trying to get his owner's attention by barking for 20 minutes straight. Or the four or five or six dogs next door – we can't tell exactly how many, but we think it's a puppy farm of some sort.

Nope, it's the ice cream truck or trucks, I should say.

From 1957 to 1962, we lived at 104 Navajo Rd. in the Sixteen Acres part of Springfield. Ah, the salad days. There was a great variety of food trucks that came through the 'hood.

I distantly remember there was one that sold just Popsicles; another that was soft serve – the ubiquitous Mr. Softee; The Ding Dong truck that sold ice cream novelties; a old man and his wife who sold popcorn – really!; and the Roll Royce of ice cream trucks, the Good Humor Man.

What a buffet of options and if you had a dime you were in business. A quarter could send you into a sugar coma.

I never remember them coming around at night. Perhaps they did.

Fast forward a whole bunch of year – we have two regular ice cream trucks coming through the neighborhood with the worst recycling electronic jingles ever. I long for the day when a simple bell or buzzer was enough to alert the urchins.

Still every now and then I feel like running out to them with a quarter clutched in my hand only now it's more like $3!

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-06-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

Some of the best interviews

Recently I wrote about the three of the worst interviews I've conducted in my career as a journalist. Today I'd like to look at some of the best.

There's an element of bragging rights among writers when it comes to interviewing. It's our version of big game hunting. And I think most writers would agree that too often all you get with a celeb interview subject is 10 to 20 minutes. That's why long form interview/personality pieces are the Holy Grail for writers.

For me growing up, the "Playboy" interview was the gold standard. I think it is still the gold standard. In those pieces, a writer met repeatedly with someone over a period of sometimes months to get the best stuff. What a luxury that would be!

Generally if you have someone on the phone, you've got maybe 20 minutes before they have to move on. When I interviewed horror rock icon Alice Cooper, he had set up a number of 10 minute conversations. He was very prepared, very conversational and very professional. Obviously he was watching the clock, too and knew when to wrap things up. Could I have spoken to him more? Certainly, but those were the conditions for the interview.

Well, these following picks were for the most part longer term interviews and they are among my favorites because there was a a personal connection for me.

Vincent Price: the great actor appeared at UMass in 1983 for a performance of his one-man show "The Villain Still Pursues Me." My wife and I attended the show and the next day writer Stanley Wiater and I joined some Umass students for an interview with the man. Stan and I asked most of the questions and then walked out with Price. I taped the conversation and played it on my talk radio program. Stan sold it to Fangoria.

Price was engaged, witty and fulfilled all of my expectations as a fan as well as a journalist.

Jack Mercer: I spent over an hour with the man who was Popeye's voice for nearly 50 years at his home in the Woodside neighborhood of NYC. He and his wife Virginia were very gracious and as an audio souvenir I asked him at the end of the interview to say something as Popeye. Mercer's voice had a high pitch and it was amazing to hear him assume Popeye's gruff tones.

I couldn't look at him, though. I'm not sure why.

Jonathan Harris: The character actor best known for his role as Dr. Smith in "Lost in Space," was here in Springfield to appear at a primarily "Star Trek" convention. he was a joy to speak with and afterwards Harris wrote me a letter every time I sent him a copy of my animation magazine "Animato."

I would see him at other conventions and he would greet me warmly. He was so nice I couldn't tell him that as a kid I regularly hoped he would die so the Robinsons would finally get back to Earth.

Lillian Gish: The first lady of American movies had re-issued her autobiography in the 1980s and I contacted the publisher. I was informed that Gish wouldn't be interested in doing a radio interview, but I didn't believe it so I found her agent and asked her. Gish said, "Yes."

She was very sharp and accommodating and it was a thrill to speak with someone who career went back to some of the earliest days of cinema. Afterwards she sent me a thank you letter when I sent her a copy of the interview as it appeared in "The Valley Advocate."

Other satisfying interviews have included my three conversations with comic Dave Attell; interviewing Rachel Maddow after watching her perform her radio show; having Clayton Moore – the Lone Ranger on television – tell me that I actually knew something about his career; and meeting Maureen O'Hara and revealing to her I've had a crush on her since I was a kid – that effectively broke the ice.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-06-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

A new model from Newhouse?

The daily newspaper here has been doing a slow motion death scene for a number of years – one that I think could have been prevented if the right hands were on the steering wheel.

Despite the fact they are our primarily competition, I don't think a metro area the size of Springfield – about a half million – should be without a daily newspaper.

This week, two people – both of whom are reliable, non-gossipy sources – have told me they have been told that The Republican will cease to be in October.

Now this prediction came at the same time I learned The Republican has enacted a pay cut for its staff and laid off four copy editors.

And then my friend Josh Shear pointed to this column.

In essence, columnist Rick Edmonds writes how the Ann Arbor, MI daily is about to close and be replaced with a new business model:
"In several ways, though, the Ann Arbor plan goes further than Detroit or similar cutbacks at the East Valley Tribune in the Phoenix suburbs and hybrid formats at other papers:

The Ann Arbor News, after 174 years, will close as a business.

Its successor, AnnArbor.com, will be a new Web site, built from the ground up (and therefore supplanting MLive, the current site which serves several Michigan cities with locally tailored editions).

The News's distinctive headquarters, designed by prolific Detroit-area architect Albert Kahn, will be sold. AnnArbor.com has already taken the ground and top floors in a downtown office building, annoying some by supplanting a popular coffee store.

All the staff is being dismissed. Reporters and editors, whose salaries averaged around $50,000 according to one discussion post, can reapply for the many fewer jobs in the new venture, but the pay scale is being dropped to the mid-$30,000 range for reporters.

The new publication is being called a "print product" not a newspaper. Hints are that the Thursday edition may be light, targeted to weekend planning, Sunday including longer news takeouts."

Now will this be good or bad? Frankly at a time when many people who don't have home computers or high speed access and can't or won't invest in such things with the present economy, I think a combination of web and print makes sense to both advertisers and consumers.

As I have learned time and again from people being paid to study such things, content is king and making sure the content you create reaches a maximum audience through different platforms is the key.

The problem with many dailies that in the rush to shore up profits, they cut content. Or they put their content up on the web for free.

The secret is to know which story or feature is best served by which platform. I don't see that happening very much.

In any event, I know what I'll be doing this summer.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-06-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

Amy Fisher?!

Remember the "Long Island Lolita?" The teen who served seven years in prison for shooting the wife of her lover? Well, instead of being an answer to a trivia question, Amy Fisher, now in her thirties, has re-invented herself as a porn star and featured attraction stripper.

And we in Western Mass. will be able to see her next month as she is appearing at a Springfield Club.

The question is why would you want to see her?

She's not bad looking, but strips clubs are filled with not bad looking women – in fact really good looking women. The issue is the one reason a person might want to see her is due to her notoriety – a fame brought about by trying to commit murder.

Now for me, that is both a non-starter and a buzz kill.

Her appearance brings up questions about the nature of fame – who do we consider "famous" and why?

Frankly I'm fairly old school about this matter. I'm interested in people who accomplished something – writing a book, appearing in a movie, traveling the world, creating food in a kitchen – than I am in people whose celebrity hangs by the thinnest of threads, especially when that thread is attempted murder.

I guess the New York State Son of Sam Law doesn't apply to the book she has written or her recent porn tape or her dancing activities. It's too bad as I really do believe that crimes such as this one shouldn't be rewarded.

I'm no prude, but count me out for this boy's night out.
© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-06-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

Some bad Interviews

Interviewing is the currency of journalism. Calling a local politician and asking for a comment is interviewing as well as sitting down with a celebrity for a half-hour. I've done both.

The rule to remember is that in most interviewing situations the subjects want the exposure because in most cases they are selling something. So, most of the time, you'll find a fairly receptive person at the other end of your questions.

Of course, it helps not to be stupid. When I interviewed Leonard Nimoy about his photos on display at a Northampton, Ma. gallery I didn't talk "Star Trek." That would have undoubtedly been a deal breaker.

I pride myself on doing my homework, but I didn't the first of three times I spoke to comic Jim Brewer. I thought he was still on SNL and he delighted in telling me off. He's a good guy and greeted me with "Hey, faggot!" the next time we spoke.

I think that was a term of endearment.

Sometimes though there isn't either much of a connection or interest. For instance,

bad interview number one

Back in the 1980s when I was on talk radio I had the chance to speak with Cassandra Peterson – Elvira Mistress of the dark. I was/am a fan and looked forward to talking about her career in comedy, how her show was written, etc. Her flack informed me I was interviewing Elvira, her character and not Peterson and I shouldn't ask about her age.

Huh?

The result was an awful bit of radio with me trying to vamp with her shtick.

bad interview number two

Don McLean: consented to an interview and then put me and a couple of other writers off for an hour. Finally he admitted he didn't liked being interviewed, but knew he had to do it. I didn't play his records – yes, I was a fan as well – for years afterwards. Putz!

bad interview number three

The Valley Advocate sent me to the old Riverside Amusement Park to ride the new Loop Coaster on its opening day. It broke. It wouldn't, couldn't complete the loop. So I thought I'd talk to the guy in the Spiderman suit who was hired to help promote the coaster that day.

I asked his name. "Spiderman" was his reply. I asked again and then I got a reluctant "Peter Parker." I was then told that contractually when he was in the suit he was Spiderman. I left and wrote the lamest piece of crap ever in my career.

bad interview number four

I love interviewing comics, but this one was painful. Tommy Davidson is very funny, very talented and he seemed very agreeable on the phone. His answers, though, were almost all "yes" and "no." I remained convinced that he is a decent guy. Perhaps it was an off day for him, but it was like pulling teeth.

next up: the best interviews

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-06-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

Bits and pieces

Okay I promised a video of the talk rumble presented at this year's New Media Seminar and here it it:

As a fan of talk radio I love these things, especially when it's apparent the progressive hosts are much better informed that the conservatives one who are clearly spewing talking points more than anything else. Other topics that day included healthcare and that was pretty good as well.

More house cleaning:

The final Bissette caricature by outstanding artist Cayetano Garza, Jr.

And now a shameless plug: A piece I wrote is in the new issue of Filmfax. It's an excerpt from my animation book and my last ditch effort to get some publicity for it.

As a freelancer, I would recommend pitching to Filmfax, if you think you have a story that meets their criteria. They were easy to work with and paid me quickly upon publication. Sweet.

Finally for the day, I'm now on Facebook as GMichael Dobbs. Unless there is some sort of new social media that will wash my dishes, tie my shoes and convince my boss I deserve a raise, I'm at my capacity!

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-06-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

Liberal talk radio diva Stephanie Miller was one of the speakers at this year's New media Seminar in NYC.

Trip to NYC

As I walked around Manhattan on Saturday afternoon I was about as high as I could be without the benefit of drugs. My mind was reeling from the information I had seen presented at the New Media Seminar, the annual talk radio conference sponsored by Talkers Magazine.

Although the major media companies are in disarray thanks to greed, a decline in advertising and a reluctance to embrace new technologies, there are great opportunities for a re-alignment of the nation's media from rather soulless corporations back to local entrepreneurs.

No I don't believe as many self-serving futurist gurus that in a few years we will all disposable viewing devices that will carry books, magazines and the Web. We won't be able to afford it.

But the future seems clear there will be a true de-centralization of news media and a return to local and regional ownership.

Thanks God for that, although it is has at a price with many people in media today losing their jobs. Out of the rubble, though, I think people will build something much better.

Technology will allow people to create a lot of content – news, movies, comics, books – much cheaper and quicker, but as Talkers Publisher Michael Harrison said, you'll have to be good to be noticed.

Michael Harrison

Here's what I wrote for the 'papers I edit:

NEW YORK, N.Y. – For the past several years Michael Harrison, the publisher of the Springfield-based Talkers Magazine, has urged the talk radio industry to expand onto the Internet and to make spoken word content available in other forms to reach new audiences and to generate additional income.

At this year’s New Media Seminar, it was apparent some had listened and many more were willing to listen.

The annual conference, presented over the weekend by the magazine, drew hundreds of radio professionals from around the country.

Although the troubles facing daily newspapers have been well documented, radio is undergoing similar problems. Last month MediaWeek reported that in the first quarter of this year, radio advertising revenues fell 24 percent. The New York Times reported in April that radio conglomerate Clear Channel – which owns WHYN, among other stations in this area – may be the biggest big media loser in the current recession. The company has been selling off stations, laying off employees and owes over $16 billion in bank debt.

Harrison, a Longmeadow resident, said at the conference the Internet will not just change broadcasting, “it will change the human race.”

Speakers throughout the two-day conference urged the audience to embrace the Internet and think outside of the traditional ways to deliver programming.

Dan Patterson of ABC Radio News reminded people that “content is king.” Radio stations can make additional revenue by putting that content onto Web sites and providing incentives for audiences to go to those sites, he said.

He added that media professionals have to be “looking out on the horizon,” watching for new technological developments.

One of those new developments being used by some stations is the streaming video service provided by Ustream. Brad Hunstable, the founder of the company, explained how with just a simple Web camera or home video
camera and a connection to the Internet, his service could give people their own live video show on the Web.

His company is currently working with singers such as Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers in producing Webcasts to reach their fans. He said that Swift’s was done with the Web camera built into her laptop computer and noted with a smile that at one point her cat knocked the computer off the living room table.

Ian Freeman of Free Talk Radio said that he wanted to continue to work in talk radio, but wanted to be his own boss. He created a talk radio program that he produces from his living room in Keene, N.H., which he syndicates to 46 stations in this country, as well as on-line to listeners on http://freetalklive.com.

“The Internet is not a threat to broadcasting,” Freeman said. “It’s a threat to bad broadcasting.”

Cenk Uyger of “The Young Turks” has even further refined the model of Web-based shows. Not only does Uyger have a conventional show syndicated by Air America media, but he also has an audio broadcast on his Web site, www.theyoungturks.com, and videos that can be seen there and on YouTube.

What makes Uyger’s business model unique is that he is selling both advertising and subscriptions to viewers wishing to support his efforts by paying for his content.

He said the program is generating $20,000 a month in subscriptions
alone.

Expecting Web-based radio programming to grow, Denis McNamara of vTuner www.vtuner.com, explained that vTuner is a computer application people can
use to seek out Internet radio broadcasts from around the world. The program allows a listener to choose a format, a country of origin and language. McNamara and others anticipate that car radios will include vTuner technology to allow drivers to listen to Internet as well as conventional radio.

Currently, vTuner can guide listeners to 1,600 Internet-based broadcasts and McNamara said the number is growing.

An example of how these various media can work in unison to deliver news and information was celebrated with this year’s Sharon L. Harrison Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Service by a Radio Talk Show Host. The award was given to Scott Hennen of WZFG of Fargo, N.D. When North Dakota was hit with record-breaking floods earlier this year, Hennen set up a special Web site to deliver news to his audience. He used both audio and video reports
on the site.

With the decline in music radio – another panel was devoted to the growing number of FM stations turning to talk – talk radio host and FOX News host Sean Hannity predicted that “talk radio will rescue the media.”

Thom Hartmann, whose nationally syndicated show can be heard locally on WHMP, believes the “third Golden Age of talk radio” is here. He sees new ways of delivering content, such as through cell phones, as widening the
talk radio audience.

Thom Hartman

Despite the challenges facing the industry, radio veterans such as Laurie Cantillo, the program director of WABC, said she is “bullish on talk radio.”

“It’s the original chat room,” she said.

Springfield Mass. market superstars Bax and O'Brien were also among the speakers.

Video to follow tomorrow from the Talk Rumble in which a variety of hosts duked it out over a number of topics. Today, though, here's a quick look at the hotel where I stayed.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-06-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

On the road

I've just packed my bags to get ready for my road trip tomorrow to NYC to attend this year's New Media Conference presented by Talkers Magazine, the Bible of the talk radio industry.

The magazine is published in Springfield, so it's a local story for me the daily won't cover and it's also a great educational event. There's no fat at these things – just a lot of solid information that applies to a number of media. I wish I could say about newspaper conferences I've attended.

Here's the agenda.

While in NYC I'm going to try to swing by the annual alternative comic book show presented by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. I went last year and I was very impressed with the quality of work out there.Here is more info.

I've got one day off this week and even then I will need to take a couple of photos for work. Yay! I love 50- 60 hour weeks! I'm a middle aged American male doomed to an early grave through over-work!

Well I guess that was a little dark. Sorry.

Keep an eye peeled on my Twitter account as I will be posting often through the conference.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-06-01T17:37:00.001-07:00

Stereo sound be damned!

Birthday road trip

Thanks to our friends Kim and David, we had a little movie-going adventure for my birthday. We went to one of two motels in this country with a drive-in theater in its back yard, allowing you to watch the movies from the comfort of your room.

The Fairlee Motel and Drive-in is in the village – and a pretty one at that – of Fairlee in central Vermont on US Route Five and spitting distance from the Connecticut River.

Built in 1960, the motel operations are clearly not the central part of the business. Most of the rooms are rented as apartments and my wife and think that only two or three were actually available for lodging.

We arrived at 3 p.m. Friday and had to call the owners at their home to come down to register us and let us in a room. We were given the option of coming back at 7 p.m. when they were setting up for the movie, but we wanted to stash our stuff.

Despite the lack of emphasis on this end of their business, the room was immaculate with a small refrigerator, microwave and flat screen TV. And yes, the picture window did indeed look directly toward a drive-in movie screen. A vintage 1960 audio system – actually an intercom of some sort – was there next to the window.

Bring your own shampoo if you go and a glass for water as neither are provided. And if you can figure out the 1960s controls in the shower before you scald yourself, you're one up on us.

We decided after a scenic drive down Route 5 to nearby White River Junction that we would dine at the concession stand of which the owners took great pride. The food was expensive – two cheeseburgers, an order of onion rings, an order of fries and two sodas was $28 – but it was all prepared fresh and homemade and tasted great.

Now I didn't go to drive-ins as often as I would have liked in high school and college. The first reason that as a farm boy and I had to get up early. The second reason is that my girlfriend's father would have killed me.

My family did go when I was a kid and I have fond memories of taking a bath, getting into my pjs and being loaded into our 1955 Buick along with blankets and pillows for a trip to the drive-in. I did spill a cup of lava-like hot chocolate from the concession stand – damn those enticing commercials before the films! – on my mom once.

This trip proved quite nostalgic for me. I loved it and I was happy to see the drive-in fill up with cars full of families. The theater only shows films with a rating of PG-13 or less.

I wish this truck hadn't been in the way, though. We quickly discovered that we couldn't lay in bed and watch the movie. The angles were all wrong. So we had to drag the two chairs in the room into place.

But, once the show started there was a little of the old magic of seeing a movie on a big outdoor screen. And the movie, "Knowing," had a horror sci-fi theme as well – good drive-in material.

They even had a vintage animated intermission clock film between the features.

The next morning we found a great diner.

A a small but interesting flea market on the town green.

Although I couldn't really recommend the Fairlee experience to anyone but died-in-the-wool movie or drive-in buffs, we had a great time.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-05-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

Birthday meditation: The Song of a Geezer

Tomorrow I will be 55 years-old.

Yipes!

I share the date with Bob Hope, JFK and Patrick Henry, By the way, Vincent Pice and Christopher Lee are on May 27 and Peter Cushing on May 26.

I didn't feel any trepidation at 30 or 40 or 50. No big deal.

This one feels very different. I think it's because 55 is a retirement age for many folks – military, police, fire, state employees. It is literally a second chapter for many people.

Needless to say I won't be retiring any time soon.

What also concerns me is how close 55 is to 60. And that is a number that concerns me.

As a diabetic, even though my numbers are good, I will be dropping dead sooner than I should. So I have an even more limited time to git r done, in the parlance of the day.

So I have to worker harder to find a home for some books, figure out what my next career move should be – if there is one – and generally not waste any time.

That is the rub as many times I wonder just why I am forced to give up chucks of my increasingly valuable time to non-productive, non-fun pursuits.

At times I don't feel older. I'm glad I'm the age I am. Other times I admit to wanting to strangle people younger than me – much younger – who treat me as some sort of clueless old fart unaware of today's popular culture and fashion.

Screw them. Their pop culture frequently stinks.

I guess sometimes the dark side of the force is what keeps me going. I want to live a long productive life just to piss those folks off by my continuing existence.

Heh, heh, heh.

But if a bus hits me tonight, I'll go wherever knowing I've had a great life with a wonderful wife, a supportive family, a loving foster daughter and grandkids, some great friends and the satisfaction of actually doing a bunch of stuff I wanted to do. I didn't make much money, but at least I still have most of my hair and low blood pressure.

Hey, where's my cake from my favorite Italian bakery? I double up on the insulin. It's my birthday, dammit!

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-05-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

From Sgt. John Delaney of the Springfield Police Dept.

"On Friday, May 22nd at 9:45 P.M. Officers Anthony Sowers and Craig Davis were dispatched to the area of Bay and Marion Street for a large disturbance. When they arrived they observed the whole neighborhood gathered around a subject I.D. as 61 year old Randolph Barden of 147 Marion Street who was beaten up by the entire group and laying on the ground suffering from injuries.

"According to the entire neighborhood, right before Mr. Barden's "beat down" he was traveling through the neighborhood in a red Chevy Corsica with N.H. registration. He would drive up to little girls on the side walk and in front yards trying to 'entice' them into his car with candy. There were four separate little girls between the ages of 10-12. One of the victims stated that he tried to get her into the car during the week prior. He asked one of the girls for her cell phone number. Mr. Barden tried to entice the girls again on May 22nd and was caught by the adults in the neighborhood. Mr. Barden was transported to Baystate Medical Center for treatment. Detectives found Barden's car parked on Girard Avenue loaded with candy. The vehicle was towed as evidence.

"Detective Lieutenant Cheryl Clapprood and her team of detectives assigned to the 'Special Victims Unit' arrived to take statements from the children and witnesses. They applied for a warrant for four separate accounts of Enticing a Child Under 16. The warrants was issued and Detectives arrested Barden as he was being released from the hospital yesterday evening at 9:30 PM.

"Barden will be arraigned in Springfield District Court today. Detective Allen Mackler of the "Special Victims Unit" asked for high bail "to ensure the safety of the young female children in the neighborhood."

Neighborhood justice in the City of Homes!

2009-05-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

My lunch with Irish president

Normally I hate working on a holiday, but how could I resist accepting the invitation of Congressman Richard Neal – thank you sir – and attending a luncheon to honor Mary McAleese, the president of Ireland.

Here is what Forbes had to say about her last year.

McAleese made quite a swing through Western Massachusetts this weekend and Neal had about 150-200 local well wishers gathered at the Barney Carriage House at Forest Park for the meal.

Mayor Domenic Sarno if Springfield told me he was very impressed with the president and her husband – who is both a dentist and an accountant – and said that at an event the previous night at the MassMutual Center had shown a down to earth quality one doesn't naturally associate with someone carrying the title of "president."

What fascinated me was the mechanics of the event. Well before her arrival there were several Secret Service agents and advance staff members working with Neal's staff. When her motorcade arrived, more staff preceded her entrance and security agents stood around the large tent as well as in the audience.

I recorded her speech with my Kodak flip camera – pardon the shakiness but I didn't bring a tripod.

I left as dessert was being served and by then, as she ate her own strawberry shortcake, some people were coming to her table to say hello. I didn't feel comfortable doing this as I knew by speaking with one of her advance staff that she had to be in Worcester by 3 p.m. for an event. She had less than an hour to make it at that point, but I'm sure the state police escort would ensure her swift and safe arrival.

Besides let the lady eat her dessert!

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-05-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

Beginning of the end for the daily?

On May 4, the advertising director of The Republican sent out a letter to advertisers of an impending change in the paper's format that was described as "historic."

Beginning June 1, the paper will be a tabloid instead of a broadsheet on Mondays and Wednesdays. The letter from Mark French didn't list any reasons, but a semi-informed person will understand that this is another cost-saving move.

The next step will be the elimination of these editions and the end of the paper's status as a daily.

I really don't want to see this area without a daily paper, but I'm afraid that is what is going to happen.

Before you say, "Well MassLive will take up the daily slack of reporting,” remember that the bulk of MassLive's local news coverage is from The Republican. The question is whether or not the MassLive business model can support daily reporters.

Right now the development of economic models for Web-based daily local news products is in its infancy. The sour economy doesn't help as well. So-called futurists who like to kick the crap out of newspapers seem to forget this fact.
They also conveniently forget that many people depend on newspapers as a source for more in-depth reporting than they see on local TV and that the can afford a paper – especially a free one.

In a city such as Springfield, there are many people without a home computer who cannot be part of the new media. That's an economic fact. I doubt many of the futurist types I've read would be willing to shell out money to pay for computers just so their vision – and ego – is fulfilled.

The plain truth is that for our form of government to survive, the people need access to information. Right now, both the economy and the habits of many people will not allow a wholesale switchover to Web based media. Local news reflects the events that have the most immediate impact on a community and that news is the most endangered by what is going on in media.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-05-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

Once a week: animation

I'm going to write about animation at least once a week and today are two reviews of DVDs you might not be aware of.

Gigantor: The Collection, Volume One

When I was a kid and lived on Okinawa – my dad was stationed there – I regularly watched Japanese cartoons and other programs on the local station. Of course I didn't understand the dialogue as it was in Japanese, but like any TV-addicted child I was willing to watch whatever was one the tube.

So my brother and I watched Japan be defended every week from monsters by Ultraman and the cartoons "Big X" and "8 Man" regardless of our inability to follow dialogue.

Somehow, in all of this sampling of another country's pop culture for kids, we missed "Gigantor," a popular animated adaptation of "Tetsujin-28" manga – a Japanese comic book – about a 12-year-old boy who controls a huge robot.

Fred Ladd, the producer who had successfully brought over to this country "Astroboy," perhaps the best known and most highly influential Japanese animated series, bought the rights to "Gigantor" for American distribution in the mid-1960s. The show was a big hit in syndication.

Because of my own interest in animation – as well as my time in Japan as a child – I was more than interested in seeing these "Gigantor" cartoons; the first 26 episodes have been collected for this four-disc edition.

They might be a shock to today's anime fans used to accomplished animation and sophisticated storylines. "Gigantor" is a loud, boisterous, crude affair with simplistic plots and a hero who can make his robot do just about anything with his control box. It's interesting that the star of the show, the robot itself, has no personality. It is just a machine controlled by a young boy.

Entertaining in a cheesy way, I liked "Gigantor," but I have to admit that many animation fans might easily be put off by its inadequacies. Hardcore anime fans may be the most receptive audience.

The set included commentary from producer Fred Ladd as well as an interview with him and anime historian Fred Patten.
***
The Best of Dr. Katz Professional Therapist

The late animator Chuck Jones was responsible for some of the most memorable Warner Brothers shorts including "One Froggy Evening," What's Opera Doc?" and "Duck Amuck." He also produced and directed the animated "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," which is definitely a holiday classic.

I bring up some of the Jones' credits so when I quote him, you'll have some context. He called limited animation – specifically television cartoons such as "Yogi Bear" or "The Flintstones" – "illustrated radio." Jones said a good animated cartoon needs to carry the story and gags thought the visuals instead of through the dialogue.

Dialogue, though, is cheaper than creating the drawings necessary for good animation.

Jones died in 2002 and I don't know if he ever was exposed to "Dr. Katz Professional Therapist." I hope not. As limited as the Hanna-Barbera cartoons were, they are paragons of movement next to "Dr. Katz," which is truly "illustrated radio."

The premise for "Dr. Katz" isn't bad at all. Comedian Jonathan Katz plays a low-key therapist beset with a surly receptionist and a lazy son as well as an assortment of odd patients. His patients are played by other comedians, including Dave Attell, Kathy Griffin, Denis Leary, Richard Lewis and many more.

The animation is done in "squiggle-vision," a computer technique that jiggles the lines of the drawings to give the illusion of movement without there really being any. There is only the most basic animation in the series, such as mouths moving.

I suppose it was much cheaper to do this series in animation than in live action, as there is no artistic reason to use this very limited form, just a financial one.

The show can be quite funny, as clearly the comedians not only used good bits from their acts but also adlibbed with Katz.

The way I watched this disc for review was to close my eyes periodically, and yup, it plays just as well. It is truly radio with pictures.

If you're fan of contemporary stand-up comedians, you might like "Dr. Katz." Just keep your eyes closed.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-05-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

Fatman and fish

My buddy Dave D. and I participated in the annual Beaver Lake fishing tournament in Ware – Dave's home is on the lake – and with his expert guidance – he knows the fish are – I landed this 18 3/4 inch large mouth bass.

Don't worry, only minnows were harmed in the catching of this fish. He went back into the lake.

The following from www.mediabuyerplanner.com is pretty interesting.

Television station revenue is down steeply across the country - so much so that in many places, media conglomerates are combining television news broadcasts with their newspaper operations to avoid the possibility of having to close their TV news divisions altogether.

E.W. Scripps was down 20% in the first quarter, compared with the same quarter last year, while Belo was down 23% and LIN TV was down 21%. News Corp.’s station revenue fell 28% and the Walt Disney Company’s station revenue slipped 28%, according to The New York Times.

With TV station revenue tanking, Tribune Company has merged its TV stations with its daily newspapers in two markets - Miami and Hartford - in order to combine forces and fight the challenges facing the industries together.

Last summer, for example, Tribune CW affiliate WSFL moved into the same building as Tribune’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Now, employees of each are assigned to stories from a single assignment desk.

TV stations have also begun to share camera crews. NBC and Fox stations have created camera pools in cities including Philadelphia and New York.

SNL Kagan predicts that TV station revenue will fall 15.7% this year, with markets in Michigan suffering the most, due to the auto industry crisis. Things look slightly better for 2010, though declines for local TV will continue to be about 2% for the next five years, according to the updated Radio/TV Station Annual Outlook report.

BIA Advisory Services predicts that revenue television revenue overall will take a dramatic fall this year, plunging below the $20 billion mark.

After six years with industry revenue hovering between $20 billion and $22 billion, 2009 is expected to end at an even $17 billion in revenues, a 21.2% drop in two years from 2007’s $21.5 billion, BIA says.

LIN operates TV22 in our market. It's interesting that the media corporations are merging the two news operations to save the television ones.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-05-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

No more "free" content from newspapers?

From www.mediabuyerplanner.com

MediaNews Group, publisher of 54 daily newspapers including The Denver Post and the Detroit News, is making a major change to its business model and will begin charging for its newspaper content online.

The company has not yet revealed exactly what its strategy will be for charging for newspaper content. Rather, a memo to MediaNews staff (via Brand Republic) said that the group will begin to move away from making all newspaper content free online and will instead “explore a variety of premium offerings that apply real value to our print content.”

MediaNews hopes to convince readers that the print and online product has “real value;” if non-subscribers want to access online content, they will have to register and/or pay. “To be clear, the brand value proposition to the consumer is that the newspaper is a product, whether in print or online, which must be paid for,” the memo reads.

The company also plans to publish different content online and to distinguish it from its newspaper content, in order to reach a younger online audience. “Obviously, our sites must draw upon the content of the newspaper, but the presentation of that content will be different,” according to the memo.

The news follows the recent announcement by News Corp. that it will begin charging for individual articles and premium subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal website this year. Non-subscribers will be charged fees to read single articles. Other News Corp. newspapers will begin charging for content within the next year.

“We are now in the midst of an epochal debate over the value of content and it is clear to many newspapers that the current model is malfunctioning,” News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said during an earnings call last week. Murdoch said (via CNN) that the current free access business model favored by most content providers is flawed. “We have been at the forefront of that debate and you can confidently presume that we are leading the way in finding a model that maximizes revenues in return for our shareholders… The current days of the internet will soon be over.”

The New York Times Co., too, is “exploring a new online financial strategy,” Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. told shareholders last month.

Sulzberger suggested the Times would once again look at trying to charge for its content.

Newspapers across the country are facing bankruptcy and closures, and publishers are struggling to modify their business models in a way that will bring in enough additional revenue to survive and thrive. Zenith Optimedia predicts that newspaper ad revenue will fall 12% this year.

2009-05-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

Beaver Lake...chortle...snicker...he said "beaver"

Beavis and Butthead aside, here is my Cafe Press store and the first items that celebrate Beaver Lake in Ware Massachusetts and the home of our dear friends Dave and Kim.

Amazingly, there are plenty of lakes in this country adorned with the name of Beaver so I hope folks around the country will turn their wallets inside out for Beaver Lake gear, since I cleverly made it non-state specific.

Cunning aren't I?

The shirt's design is mine and the artwork is done by the talented Leo Pilares. Thanks you Leo!

Now how many can I put you down for?

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-05-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

A true test for Mayor Sarno

Here's the front page top of the fold story I wrote for our Springfield edition:

SPRINGFIELD -- Mayor Domenic Sarno met with various members of his administration on Monday to discuss a plan that would scrap the controversial apartment complex on Longhill Street in favor of building a new Forest Park Middle School on the site.

Sarno's Director of Communications, Thomas Walsh, released the following statement Monday afternoon from Sarno:

"Mayor Domenic J. Sarno had received information late last week indicating that the Longhill Gardens Project located on Longhill Street may be a viable site for the new Forest Park Middle School. At the direction of Mayor Sarno, city officials are currently looking into the feasibility of this site being a potential location for the new school.

"If the Longhill Gardens property is determined to be a feasible site it will save the city significant expenses on displacement and/or relocation costs that would be incurred for alternative sites in the Forest Park neighborhood. Presently, the Longhill Gardens properties are vacant.

"Mayor Sarno has directed city officials to work expeditiously and to report their findings back to him as soon as practically possible.

"Mayor Sarno maintains his commitment to continue working with the neighborhood to ensure that the best option for this location is ultimately chosen."

The question that confronts the mayor is whether or not the city can change directions at this point on how the property can be used. The state has already requested the release of federal HOME monies to help fund the apartment complex to be built by Winn Development and the city has made a similar request for the release of its HOME funds for the low income project.

The city has until June 30 to show the the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) "substanial progress" on the selection of a site for a new Forest Park Middle School in order to qualify for a 90 percent reimbursement of what is estimated to be a $32 million project.

School Committee member Antonette Pepe told Sarno Monday morning she is "upset and concerned that we could lose the money for the Forest Park school."

Pepe said the mayor needs to act quickly on the site selection to preserve the funding for the new school. She noted there are many people in the Forest Park neighborhood who support the use of the property for a new school. Although Sarno has not yet announced an answer to the question he posed to the state in March concerning the ability to change the apartment project to include 40 percent market-rate housing, he went ahead and requested the city's share of HOME funds with a form dated March 23.

The request described the project as being a total of 109 units and "all of the units will be utilized as family affordable housing." There was no mention of a change to include market rate units.

On April 30, Philip Dromey, the deputy director of the city's Office of Planning & Economic Development, sent Robert Paquin of the U. S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) the request for funds as well as a letter that dismissed the two objections made to the project, one by Springfield activist Karen Powell and the other from the McKnight Homeowners Association Inc.

The documents concerning the school project as well as the city's request for funds came through Springfield Forward, an advocacy group that has long opposed the current plans for the property, an apartment complex for low income residents.

Maureen Hayes, of Hayes Development Services in Springfield, sent Sarno an e-mail on May 4 with an outline of the middle school proposal. She described the current Forest Park Middle School as being in "deteriorating condition and its facilities are obsolete."

"Discussions on upgrading or replacing the school have been ongoing since the 1990s. In July 2007, the MSBA determined that renovating the current building is not an option due to its deteriorating structural condition. Immediately thereafter the city initiated an identification and feasibility study process in an effort to locate a potential site for a new middle school," Hayes wrote.

The new school would serve 660 students. The present one has 300 more students who would be assigned to other middle schools.

"Recently, CBI Consulting Inc., the consultants evaluating potential school sites, identified Longhill Gardens as a possible location. Based on a cursory review, Longhill Gardens seems to offer a number of advantages as a site for the new middle school: it is located in the Forest Park neighborhood; it meets or exceeds the minimum size requirement; it is in single ownership; it would require no displacement of occupants and it would involve no relocation costs," Hayes wrote.

George Pappas of Springfield Forward said his organization "consistently advised the mayor to build the new middle school at the Longhill Gardens location."

What concerned Pappas is what he described as "astounding" -- that Sarno's present discussion of the site for a school is coming at "the 11th and an half hour of this process."

He charged that Sarno has been "disingenuous" with his comments since March 2008 that he has been reviewing all of the options for the Longhill property.

"We now know that was not true," Pappas told Reminder Publications.

Pappas and his group have called on Sarno to retract his request for HOME funds in light of the report about using the site for a school.

Now we have a set of unresolved issues here:

1. Has the state ever replied to the mayor's request to add market-rate housing to the project?

2. Why did the city apply for the HUD HOME funds before the state have the mayor an answer?

3. Does this mean the mayor supports the project as planned – more low income housing?

4. Doesn't Win Development own the land?

5. Are there any other sites for the Forest Park Middle School?

6. Why has the city waited so close to the deadline to consider the site as one for the school?

If the mayor can address these questions to the satisfaction of the voters, he may be re-elected. If he can't his campaign will not be an easy one.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

2009-05-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

Animation puzzle solved...I think

I love rooting around the Hadley (MA) flea market and especially finding a pile of old Popular Science magazines as they frequently ran articles on animation. Perhaps it was a bit of a nod to Max Fleischer who had been the art director at the magazine.

The problem is that many of articles were either liable to error – such as the one profiling someone other than Jack Mercer as the voice of Popeye or writing about the Kong effects achieved by a man in a costume – or they were incomplete.

When I found the following I was amazed and a little cheesed that the name of the film profiled was not included nor were the names of the creators.

Well, the men who produced this film were German stop motion animators Ferdinand and Hermann Dieh and the name of the film is “The Race of the Rabbit and the Hedgehog." If the hedgehog looks familiar to you it's Mecki the hedgehog, an iconic German character who has appeared in a number of media as well as many. many dolls produced by Steiff.

The film as pictured in these stills certainly looks interested. I can't find out if it was distributed here and a Web search didn't yield a contemporary source for the film, but I bet if I read German I might be able to find it.

Love to hear more information about it.

From June 1939 edition of Popular Science

2009-05-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, folks this is why big corporate media sucks:

from Media Buyer Planner.com

President Obama’s three recent prime time news conference pre-emptions have cost the Big Four TV networks an estimated $30 million in ad revenue this year, executives say.

Fox rejected the President’s most recent press event on April 29, in a move that may serve as precedent for other networks to refuse future White House requests for prime time air time if they believe there will be no urgent breaking news to be discussed, writes Mediaweek. Fox lost as much as $6 million in ad revenue during the President’s second news conference, which forced the network to bump its hit show, American Idol.

While President Obama has proven a ratings darling, with his appearances on NBC’s The Tonight Show and CBS’s 60 Minutes giving major boosts in viewership, network executives - none of whom would speak for attribution - feel there have been too many demands at a time when too much money is at stake. They believe the President should speak to the nation earlier in the day, either from 7-8pm or during the evening news telecasts.

But while the networks claim to be considering refusing future White House requests, one industry observer says that will never happen. ABC, CBS and NBC all have nightly national newscasts, prime time news shows and Sunday morning news shows - and keeping the White House happy, and a future Presidential appearance a possibility, is paramount.

The smallest audience of the three news conferences turned out on April 29, but the event still reached 28 million people. The third press conference was down 42% from the first event.

So we're in a financial meltdown only dwarfed by the Great Depression, fighting two wars and trying to re-tool healthcare so American could actually be healthier, but we don't see the need to give Obama airtime if he requests it.

I think the president is operating on the concept that if the electorate understands what he is trying to do perhaps Congress will go along. And maybe, just maybe, he is giving the American people some credit for having brains.

We need information to function as a republic. Are we getting it?

Let's face it for the networks it's all bread and circuses, my friends. Let's have more Britney news, more Madonna adopting orphinks news, more American Idol chatter, more mindless celebrity slop, more time with former VP Dick Cheney sniping at the present administration, more inane real life crime shows, more shows with judges... you see where I'm going here.

This is why the big corporate media needs some sort of break-up. This is why local media must find ways to take their place. This is why an economic model for the Web must be devised.

Tomorrow: an animation riddle – at least for me.
© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs