MetaFilter posts tagged with TV and media

Advertising in the public interest

Rhaomi — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:54:54 -0800

"What if America wasn't America?" That was the question posed by a series of ads broadcast in the wake of the September 11th attacks, ads which depicted a dystopian America bereft of liberty: Library - Diner - Church. Together with more positive ads like Remember Freedom and I Am an American, they encouraged frightened viewers to cherish their freedoms and defend against division and prejudice in the face of terrorism (seven years previously). The campaign was the work of the Ad Council, a non-profit agency that employs the creative muscle of volunteer advertisers to raise awareness for social issues of national importance. Founded during WWII as the War Advertising Council, the organization has been behind some of the most memorable public service campaigns in American history, including Rosie the Riveter, Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, and the Crash Test Dummies. And the Council is still at it today, producing striking, funny, and above all effective PSAs on everything from student invention to global warming to arts education to community service.

Additional resources: A-to-Z index of Ad Council campaigns - Campaigns organized by category - Award-winning campaigns - PSA Central: A free download directory of TV, radio, and print PSAs (registration req'd) - An exhaustive history of the Ad Council [46-page PDF] - YouTube channel - Vimeo channel - Twitter feed

Japan's Media Environment

armage — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:21:13 -0800

Japan -- Media Environment Open; State Looms Large (August 2009, PDF) A detailed, 67-page overview and analysis of Japan's traditional and new media environment published by the Open Source Center, an office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The worst face of intellectualism: the bluestocking

MuffinMan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:44:39 -0800

On British TV last night, Gail Trimble, a Classics scholar at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, singlehandedly trounced the opposing team in University Challenge. To some a smug, bluestocking know-it-all, to others a role model. Cue the fightback and lots of questions about whether we, as a society, actually like really clever people and specifically, clever women?.

(Internetworking Frequency, 2.4 gigacycles.)

TheOnlyCoolTim — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:36:35 -0800

The Early Television Foundation and Museum Website covers the nascent days of the nation's pastime, with interesting items like mechanical TVs and programming schedules from 1939.

FCC, I have a complaint!

oxford blue — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:28:20 -0800

The talk show host, Miss Oprah Winfrey is illegally invading my privacy to promote show ideas on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Further, each time I gather evidence of proof, she pays people with her talk show earnings money to bribe them to destroy evidence. Many more complaints to the FCC about selected tv shows here.

Take your forms wrestled from the void and get the hell out

1f2frfbf — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 07:37:48 -0800

Wayne White's paintings Wayne Who? He left Tennessee to study at the New York School of Visual Arts with Art Speigelman (he posed holding a broomstick for some of the characters in Maus) and Red Grooms. He came back to Tennessee to do puppetry work for a children's show called Mrs. Cabobble's Caboose, (5th link down, mpg) which in turn caught the attention of CBS who hired him to do the set direction for Pee Wee's Playhouse (I'll defer to this excellent post for Pee Wee videos), for which he played Mr Kite, Randy and Roger the Monster. Where else have you seen his work? The video for Peter Gabriel's "Big Time", and the video for the Smashing Pumpkin's "Tonight, Tonight". This was inspired by my tiny little comment here and he seems to be mentioned in passing here and here. Also: Waxy weighs in along with jonson, his IMDb profile and his Wikipedia entry. Not for use with some sets, consult doctor before taking internally.

this was our president

kliuless — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 09:25:14 -0800

Bill Clinton on Charlie Rose - on display: Thoughtful Visionary as well as Political Animal; cf. Howard Dean and Jimmy Carter.

a true American hero

amberglow — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 23:44:39 -0800

Milo Radulovich, RIP --thrown out of the Air Force during the Red Scares, he fought back--Radulovich's case (and the new medium of TV) showed millions the impact McCarthy was having and the absurd lengths he was going to. He himself wasn't ever accused of being a Communist himself tho: ... His sister had picketed outside the Book Cadillac Hotel when it refused a room to black entertainer Paul Robeson. His father subscribed to newspapers from his native Yugoslavia and had participated in a sit-down strike at Hudson Motor Car Co. ... 1998: Michigan Legal Milestone--"Milo Radulovich and the Fall of McCarthyism" NYT Obit: Milo Radulovich, 81, Dies; Symbol of ’50s Red Scare--...“the first time any of us appreciated the power of television.” ... The Red Scare revisited: inside McCarthy files HUAC Army-McCarthy hearing transcript

Watch Iran's new media coup, Press TV, online

hoder — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:21:10 -0800

Watch Iran's new media coup, Press TV, online and take a look at its news website.

"LOCK UP THE DATE!" --FBI for writers

amberglow — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 09:15:44 -0800

FBI 101 -- "Essentials for Writers," an "exciting and informative" interactive workshop for writers being offered to members of my union -- the Writers Guild of America, East - by the FBI Office of Public Affairs and FBI New York. ... -- Very interesting account of a workshop the FBI puts on for writers in NY. What's in it for the FBI? ...The only question we have for you is 'Will it show us in a good light?'" ...

Perverted Justice & Dateline NBC: Repsonsbile for Conradt's death? Yea/Nay/Otherwise.

Rev. Syung Myung Me — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 19:09:55 -0800

The Shame Game. Perverted Justice (prev.) and Dateline NBC's series of To Catch A Predator specials are of questionable-at-best morality and have received much fl ak, particularly on the part of the former party. At the Columbia Journalism review, Douglas McCollum shares the case of Louis Conradt Jr., who killed himself upon being pounced upon by police and Dateline's cameras. McCollum also takes issue with NBC's paying of Perverted Justice for their services. And, for the other side, PJ's rebuttal.

Toob to Beeb

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 13:38:40 -0800

"I feel guilty because I have friends that are working really hard to get into television or acting and I'm just sitting here having not done anything more than enjoy playing with gadgets."

Susi Weaser (24) makes little one-minute gadget reviews and posts them on YouTube . The BBC must have liked them - because they hired her.

911 redux: would you watch?

CunningLinguist — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 15:32:22 -0800

On Sept. 11, CNN will replay its coverage from 2001 in real time, online. They will make their little-noticed Pipeline service free for the day.

He's a family guy!

SirOmega — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 20:22:10 -0800

The Parents Television Council has released their list of the top 10 worst shows for family viewing. The Fox network led the way with six of the ten shows, Family Guy, American Dad, The War at Home, The O.C., That 70s Show and Arrested Devlopment. The PTC also released a top-nine list of shows that are family friendly (they claim they couldn't find a 10th show to complete the list), leading the way is Three Wishes and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They also accuse Fox of being deceptive with their marketing of their Sunday night lineup, and using cartoons to pedal the "filth" to children.

Where America Meets the World

kliuless — Thu, 26 May 2005 19:37:13 -0800

Foreign Exchange TV with Fareed Zakaria - I'd heard about it, but thought it was only showing on OPB; checked again and lo and behold all the episodes are online! Watched a couple episodes so far; they're pretty good, esp if you're into foreign policy and stuff :D

After all, it's the wave of the future, wave of the future, wave of the future, ...

kliuless — Mon, 23 May 2005 04:17:45 -0800

Steven Levy and Mark Pesce on the future of television. Oh and Conan O'brien! :D [via]

We got Tom Brokaw at ABC and we can get you.

CunningLinguist — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 05:27:41 -0800

"You have the audacity to call me intelligent.” We covered Spongebob promotes the gay here. Now comes an amusing coda: a catfight between the Dobson forces, who started an anti-media email campaign, and Keith Olbermann, who printed and ridiculed said email. Dobson's people claim victory because Olbermann spent so much time on them, and Olbermann, a trifle defensive about the secular media, makes more fun.

American Muslim TV is here

exhilaration — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 17:19:03 -0800

Bridges TV was launched today and plans to "celebrate the American Muslim lifestyle and culture". Unlike satelite channels Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, Bridges TV plans to focus on English-speaking American Muslim youth rather than their parents. So what kind of cheesy programming can you look forward to? "One show features a Muslim newspaper reporter named Jinnah who solves whodunits. A soap opera explores the melodrama of a Muslim father confronted with his daughter's desire to marry a non-Muslim." It should be noted that Al Jazeera plans to launch an English-language channel in 2005.

Nippallujah

CrazyJub — Sat, 03 Apr 2004 08:36:30 -0800

Start saving for your childrens future therapy. What they learned this month is dead bodies being burnt and strung up on a bridge is ok to print on the front page of a newspaper, and watch on the news at dinner time; but you better not see any nipple, even for a half a second.

Simpsons stars strike for more 'D'oh!'

BurnedEve — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 09:43:30 -0800

Simpson stars strike for more 'D'oh!' The voices of the Simpsons are on strike for $360,000 an episode. Seems almost reasonable for such a pop culture phenomenon, but the voiceover work equates to one work day per episode.

It's not censorship if it doesn't work

Ignatius J. Reilly — Wed, 23 Jul 2003 09:57:02 -0800

GOP Warns TV Stations Not to Air Ad Alleging Bush Mislead the Nation Over Iraq They claim that the ad itself is dishonest, and cite the obligation of broadcast outlets to be free of misleading information. “Such obligations must be taken seriously. This letter puts you on notice that the information contained in the above-cited advertisement is false and misleading; therefore, you are obligated to refrain from airing this advertisement.” Despite the implicit threats, only one station has refused to run the ad, a Fox station.

So the FCC might let me be...

Bixby23 — Wed, 14 May 2003 17:40:53 -0800

So the FCC might let me be... On June 2, FCC commissioners will vote on proposed changes to U.S. media ownership rules. Proponents of eliminating a ban on "cross ownership" argue that mergers between local newspapers and radio and TV stations in large and medium-sized markets will boost the quality and quantity of local news reportage. The nonprofit Consumers Union calls the ban "critical to the independence and diversity of our nation's media". Let the FCC know where you stand (third item on list).

The power of presentation.

Vidiot — Fri, 21 Mar 2003 17:48:39 -0800

Decoding Visual Language Elements in News Content is an MFA thesis examining how layout, cropping, image selection et al. influence the way the content is perceived. The interactive demo is especially interesting; you can take some TV and magazine layouts and switch out pictures and other elements. It's fascinating to see how different cropping and tints affect your impressions of the content. Media literacy -- especially right now -- is a good thing. (Link via Stan Chin.)

pizzasub — Thu, 03 Oct 2002 07:19:45 -0800

That's whack. CNN Headline News general manager Rolando Santos told the San Francisco Chronicle this week that he's looking to mix "the lingo of our people" -- words like "whack" and "ill" -- into newscasts to attract young people.

dejah420 — Tue, 16 Jul 2002 09:21:26 -0800

Popup ads on your TV So, the media moguls have decided that they're tired of you ignoring their advertising...and thus, they will now insert popup ads into the live feeds. And you thought product placement was annoying. From Slashdot