Comical Pirates and a Gubernatorial Candidate

Glendale College hosted a campaign appearance by California Treasurer Phil Angelides, who is running for governor. Some of those lenses were less than an arm's length from his face.

Until I read an article entitled "Menace to Comic Heroes?" in the Los Angeles Times the other day, I hadn't really considered the idea that comic books might begin to be digitally pirated. But apparently it's going on and an already beleagured little corner of the mass media is beginning to feel the financial effects.

***HOLLYWOOD BOWL TICKETS ALL SOLD: This morning, I sold the last of my Hollywood Bowl Tickets for this Friday evening. We will have a delegation of 85 strong (provided everyone shows up) to see Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show. It should be a fine evening. If you are a student who still wants a ticket, check in class tomorrow and Friday to see if anyone wants to sell. Work schedules change, boyfriends get dumped, etc. There's often someone who wants to sell at the last minute.

Reporter's Dilemma: To Take a Leak, or Not

Today's medianote comes from a National Public Radio story about the growing debate over whether journalists should be prosecuted for reporting classified information that has been leaked to them by sources inside the government. On the one side is the public's right to know and the First Amendment right to a free press. On the other side is the government's responsibility to protect the public during wartime.

I have a concern and an observation about this. First the observation: If a journalist published leaked classified information in the Los Angeles Times, and that action becomes a crime, why arrest only the reporter? Shouldn't the editors and other gatekeepers who allowed the story into print be held responsible too? The federal lockup could get pretty crowded.

Now the concern: I'm well aware that the American news media was censored during the First and Second World Wars. And I agree that it was OK to have restraints against reporters providing advance information about the D-Day invasion, or something like that. But our current situation is different. The world wars ended, and did so by mutual agreement. Civilian enterprises including the news media were encouraged to go back to a peacetime footing. But today the situation is not so clear-cut. How will we know if or when the war on terror is won? It's hard to imagine every one of the loosely-aligned terrorist groups opposing us getting together to sign a peace treaty. In the absence of that, under what circumstances would our federal government declare the war on terror over and accept a resumption of the news media's typical peacetime role as a watchdog over government? This is a role, I might add, that sometimes includes the reporting of leaked information.

It could be a long wait.

Securing Freedom of Speech on Campus

Glendale College's El Vaquero is one of many college-level student publications in California that would have greater protection from administrative censorship if a bill recently passed by the California Assembly becomes law.

A federal court decision out of the Midwest (Hosty v. Carter) has many editors and faculty advisers of campus newspapers worried that college and university administrators may become more active in censoring student publications.

In California, the state Assembly has fired back, voting 76-0 for a proposed law--AB2581, authored by Assemblyman Leland Yee--that would ensure free speech and free press rights on California State University, University of California, and California Community College campuses. The proposal is now in the state Senate, where it is expected to win passage. the bill would then be sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has not taken a position on the issue.

MC101s generally endorsed the need for a free and open campus media, although several students in one of my classes questioned the need for student newspapers. The majority, however, felt that student newspapers were valuable sources of information and opinion, in addition to being a training ground for aspiring journalists.

The Da Vinci Post

Today's medianote was about the weekend's huge opening for "The Da Vinci Code" and what this means for the film industry. Clearly this film has struck a nerve, drawing large audiences worldwide (the opening weekend box office was surpassed only by "Star Wars: Episode III"). Furthermore, the audience has skewed a little younger--drawing more young adults--than was predicted.

Another fascinating part of this is the lack of widespread protests surrounding the movie. Certainly there were picketers and some angry moments, but there was no formal worldwide boycott by the Catholic Church and certainly nothing like the huge, angry, violent protests a few months ago in reaction to cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper.

As for the church, the decision to not boycott may be a good public relations move. According to a recent poll by Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates, a formal boycott of the film by the church would have been counterproductive. Some MC101s agreed, saying the film would have become a "must see" for them if it had been subjected to a formal worldwide boycott.

BON BON: Can Privacy Survive in a Wired Society?

After an assignment that took the MC101s all through the Getty Center, some of us got together on the lawn above the Getty Gardens. Some brought lunch. Others just savored the moment.

There is no medianote today. MC101s showed up in massive numbers (nearly a hundred students and guests by my preliminary count) at the Getty Center this morning, followed by a smaller (but still respectable) turnout this afternoon at the Museum of Television & Radio.

So you get a bon bon. Today's online confection is from one of my students who brings his laptop to class. He came upon this Flash-animated call to action on the American Civil Liberties Union web site. It presents a scenario in which, not too many years from now, the communications technology that we have come to know and love has been used (or misused) to create a comprehensive electronic dossier on each of us. And government or the big credit reporting organizations or the big Internet companies (or somebody) has created an enormous national database that knows all about us. The result is funny, exasperating, and a little chilling.

I see the guarding of our privacy as a bipartisan issue. After all, you never know who will be in power 10 or 20 years from now.

Getting "Upfront" with the Advertisers

Today's medianote comes from a National Public Radio story entitled "Ad Dollars at Issue in the 'Upfronts'." The upfronts are events where the major broadcast television networks show off their new shows to major advertisers, who may buy advertising time if they like what they see.

This is a particularly nervous year at the upfronts as the networks confront a stagnant TV ad market, in contrast to the strongly-growing world of online advertising. More than ever, the networks are desperate to make the case that their programming draws in mass audiences in a way that Internet sites seldom do. And for the advertising executives, the upfronts present an opportunity to find next season's hit show before the advertising rates jump up to hit show levels.

Disney to Shape Up Its Future Promotional Campaigns

Today's medianote was based on a Los Angeles Times article entitled "Disney Loses Its Appetite for Happy Meal Tie-Ins." Disney, apparently under the influence of Steve Jobs, will not allow its characters to be included in Happy Meals after this summer's releases of "Cars" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." Apparently, Disney does not want to get on the wrong end of the childhood obesity issue.

I'll do the audio post on this medianote on Tuesday after I've discussed it with more of my classes.

***TUESDAY, 5/16, 3 PM: I've now got the audio post up after talking with more of my classes about this medianote. Sorry about the cough halfway through the audio. I picked up a cold over the weekend.

BON BON: It's Jerry Time!

This is a quiz day in Mass Comm 101, so it's time to roll out another bon bon...

By this time in the semester I appreciate an occasional mindless diversion, especially if that diversion has some vague tie-in with Mass Comm 101. It's Jerry Time! fits the bill quite nicely. It is a small collection of webisodes about minor problems that crop up in the life of Jerry. These very small tales are told with goofy graphics and Jerry's deadpan, monotone narration. And, perhaps surprisingly, it all works. Or not. You be the judge.

When, If Ever, Should Journalists Get Involved?

Today's medianote was based on a recent ABC news story about abusive relationships in step-families. The report included video of a man hitting, slapping and verbally abusing his 15-year-old daughter. National Public Radio did a story on the public outrage over ABC's refusal to alert authorities as soon as they saw the disturbing video. The NPR story was our jumping off point for a discussion about when, if ever, should the need to help someone outweigh the need to get a story on the air or in print.

Your Incredible Mutating Television

On Saturday, May 6 some 41 Mass Comm 101 students and guests went to Glendale's Alex Theatre for a matinee presented by the Alex Film Society. The festivities centered around a screening of the Beatles' film "A Hard Day's Night."

Just what is television in 2006? Is it something you watch on a screen in the living room? Is it something that plays in the background as you pump gas or wait in a doctors' office or travel on a crosstown bus? Or is it the video that you see on popular web sites such as YouTube.com?

According to a recent Calendar section article in the Los Angeles Times, it's all of that and more. Staff Writer Paul Brownfield says he watches homemade videos wherever and whenever he wants (for example, from his video iPod as he crosses Wilshire Boulevard). Other times, he is made to watch professionally-produced programming during those moments that he is a captive audience (as he waits in the supermarket checkout line, for example).

The result is a wildly experimental era in which video programming can and is about anything and everything or nothing at all. The resulting product can be both dreadful and fascinating.

Should Beetle Bailey Meet the Grim Reaper?

Today's medianote was based on a Los Angeles Times article entitled "Comic strips' plight isn't funny" that was in the April 27 Calendar section. According to the article, newspaper comic strips are falling on hard times. Space available in newspapers for comic strips is shrinking, and what is available often is given over to long-time comic strips like "Blondie" or "Peanuts Classics." These two are what the article calls "legacy strips," comic strips that continue on after the original creator as died.

Some comic strip creators, including Berkeley Breathed of "Opus" and Wiley Miller of "Non Sequitur" believe that legacy strips are taking up newspaper space that ought to be given over to newer, fresher, edgier comic strips. On the other side of this controversy is Cathy Guisewite of "Cathy" who believes that the legacy strips are classics that should live forever. Her solution is that newspapers should simply give over more space for comic strips.

I'm cool with any arrangement that that will keep "Brewster Rockit" in the Times.

Better Learning Through Video Games

Today's medianote is based on a National Public Radio story about a video game that teaches methods of non-violent protest. The story was the jumping off point for questions about whether video games can be used for more than entertainment. Can they teach important lessons?

Some students dismissed the topic. They felt games were games and entertainment should not be confused with learning. They allowed that video games might be able to teach some basic lessons to little kids, but that's about it. Others thought that the interactivity in video games might just make them into pretty good teachers.

***AUDIO POST DELAYED: A really good audio post on this topic (I was unusually lucid, if I do say so myself) is apparently floating around in cyberspace. When it turns up I'll post it.

***FRIDAY 7:15 A.M.: It's finally here...

Are You Flirting with Me, or Just Selling Breath Mints?

As I wrote this medianote, I was overcome with a deep yearning for instant noodles. I think the Shrimp with Lime flavor is particularly good. You ought to try it.

Today's medianote comes from a National Public Radio story about the growing use of word-of-mouth advertising. College-age adults are frequently recruited to chat up friends and others about various products. According to the experts, this type of advertising is particularly effective when it seemingly flows naturally out of a spontaneous conversation.

By the way, about those little flakes on your shoulder, I know of a shampoo that can take care of that...