Bold or Desperate?

Theodore Roosevelt said the presidency was a "bully pulpit." The real power of presidents, he believed, was to promote proposals and ideas to an audience of millions. In the 1930s, Franklin Delano Roosevelt used network radio as his bully pulpit. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan used television. And perhaps Barack Obama is our first real Internet President.

President Obama recently appeared on a webisode of the Funny or Die show "Between Two Ferns." The result was surrealistic.

Questions...

•Why did the President do this?

•Describe the audience that watches "Between Two Ferns" on Funny or Die.

•Do you think it was a good idea for the President to do this? Why?

•Do you think the President got his message out?

•Why is Zach Galifianakis doing this show?

•Will web-based video eventually become mainstream television? Why or why not?

The Art of Protest

Pussy Riot may be the most controversial musical group in the world--at least in their Russian homeland.

The feminist, pro-LBGT, and anti-authoritarian group is known for its surprise public performances of punk-inspired protest songs. The most successful of these performances are edited into music videos. Many are disrupted by Russian authorities. Two Pussy Riot members recently served a 21-month jail sentence for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred." It is fair to say that Pussy Riot has a better reputation in the U.S. and Western Europe than it does in Russia.

The Winter Olympics in Sochi gave Pussy Riot a unique opportunity to spread its anti-authoritarian message worldwide. National Public Radio has posted Pussy Riot's Sochi video, including members of the group being whipped by Cossacks.

•Is the video effective at presenting its anti-authoritarian viewpoint?

•Why was it so hard for Russian authorities to control the pictures coming out of Sochi?

•What level of protest should have been allowed during the Olympics, and what would have been too much?

•Does the Internet help us understand one another, or does it make us angrier at each other?

•What are some other examples of artists, actors and musicians becoming instruments of protest?

Fangs and Fishnets

The emotional and intellectual lives of girls--how they view themselves, what they see as desirable, and what they want to do when they grow up--has changed in recent decades. And while there are still little girls who want to be princesses or Barbie, others are increasingly choosing playthings that reflect a different idea of femininity. The toymaker Mattel is finding that sales of its iconic Barbie line is falling, while its Goth-inspired "Monster High" dolls are becoming a surprise hit.

Could this have something to do with media? NPR reports.

Questions...

•Does media react to popular culture, or does media create it?

•What is going on in popular culture that likely fuels the success of Monster High?

•How do the Monster High videos help toymaker Mattel, even though the videos are likely free to watch?

•Are Barbie or the Monster High dolls potentially damaging to girls' self-image? If so, how?

Long Tail Studios?

CollegeHumor has 4.7 million subscribers, has won 11 Webby awards and is a leader in online comedy. It has amassed a largely teenage and young adult audience. This is an age demographic that is beginning to desert the multiplexes, but is frequently online.

This week, CollegeHumor will launch an assault on the traditional Hollywood Theater and multiplex system with the release of the movie Coffee Town. It will not be released to theaters or on DVD. It will be available only online. And it will bypass the massively expensive billboards, TV ads and other traditional promotion that is a hallmark of mainstream movies. Instead, it will be promoted through social networks and the CollegeHumor site.

It won't gross a tenth as much as The Lone Ranger, but it will cost less than a twentieth as much to make and promote. And it has around 4.7 million people who might give it a try.

Questions...

•What is good about seeing a big summer blockbuster like The Lone Ranger in a theater?

•What is good about seeing a movie as a paid download or video on demand?

•How is this an example of the Long Tail theory of media?

•Other than CollegeHumor, what are other groups and organizations that could make their own low-budget movies and show them, for a fee, to an online audience?

•Could a religion do this? How about a political organization? Could gun owners or environmentalists do this? How about a group devoted to the belief that UFOs are real?

Leaping to Attention

Publicity is the art of drawing attention, and sometimes that is accomplished through self-styled daredevils performing wildly-dangerous stunts. Long ago, people would wrestle bears, walk on airplane wings, or go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Newspapers would send reporters. Movie newsreels would send out a crew. Radio networks would broadcast live.

Media has changed, and so apparently have the stunts. Felix Baumgartner is the latest daredevil to capture worldwide attention with his 24-mile plunge from a helium balloon to the New Mexico Desert.

What makes this stunt a game-changer is how it used social media. By encouraging tweets, posts, and reposts, Baumgartner and sponsor Red Bull siphoned some of the attention away from the baseball playoffs, the NFL season and other more conventional sporting events.

Questions...

•How do you gather a large audience in old media like television and newspapers? How do you gather a large audience in new media like YouTube and Twitter?

•Does this event work better with new media or old media? Why?

•Why do you think Red Bull sponsored this and not an insurance company or a car maker?

•Where do you expect Felix Baumgartener to turn up in the media now that he has everyone's attention?

•What does this sponsorship do for Red Bull's image?

•How do we know this isn't a hoax?

How To Be a Rock Star in 2011

The big recording companies are reeling. Record stores are pretty much dead. But musicians, if they are good and lucky and pick a good nice, can do surprisingly well by selling their tunes over the Internet. Jonathan Coulton is one of those Internet-made success stories. NPR reports.

War of the Websites

Could another "War of the Worlds" hoax be brewing, with old media and new media joining forces to fool the public into thinking the world is about to end due to an unfortunate arrival from outer space?

Well, maybe. An upcoming movie dramatizes a long-time Internet rumor that the Mayans predicted the world would end in 2012 after another planet or large asteroid hits the Earth. Sony Pictures, the distributor of the film, is behind some fake websites that add fuel to the myth while creating publicity for the film.

Some real-life scientists are speaking out to separate scientific fact (there is no evidence that the Earth will end in 2012) from media-hyped fiction.

This medianote is based on a Los Angeles Times article.