Mixing Muppets, Memories and Mass Media

I was correct! I got at least one chance to blog by the holidays. More like remembered I have a semblance of a blog. Not much to report at Casa Ortiz/Wallen except for the warm fuzzies Mindy and I felt watching "The Muppets. According to social media, we're not alone, waxing nostalgic about a weekly TV show that many of us Gen Xers adored and a few Gen Yers have seen in syndication or by other second-hand means.

Memories of Muppets movies past - the good and mediocre ones - cascaded over us. Random visual cues made me giddy like a little gurl: A Kermit the Frog wristwatch (you remember wristwatches, right?). I had that as a kid. A stuffed Kermit the Frog. (I had that, too.) The disco dance floor and screen frame for Amy Adams' diner song. And of course, "Rainbow Connection."

It helped that a fervent fan Jason Segel co-wrote the script. The musical numbers and overall writing, for the most part, are fun and clever enough to help established fans reconnect with the past and to link newcomers, raised on YouTube and Radio Disney, with a once proud franchise. The joy of seeing seemingly pre-destined Muppets toiling in their post-"Muppets Show" real-lives.

I don't pretend that the Muppets' voices and characterizations are a little "off." After all these years, why wouldn't they be? Today's Muppets are Jim Henson's enduring legacy; they aren't the original Muppets I worshipped in the late '70s and early '80s. The cameos - also bridging the generation gap - work. The plot for this particular "re-imagining" of a classic franchise succeeds. We could debate the particulars -- whether there was too little of the adults or too much of them -- all we want. But "The Muppets" met my and Mindy's expectations of revisiting a wonderful part of our childhood in such an entertaining manner.

The rest of Thanksgiving weekend was pretty easy-going — separate fulfilling meals with Mindy's family and my family. (Tamales and ham got into the mix.) There was the miracle of the Longhorns and Cowboys winning the same day. The rest of the time was spent merely lounging around the house, watching sports and staying practically glued to my chair while fighting any remote temptation of exercising or checking work email. (OK, I lie. I did check my work email on my mini-staycation. You thought I went to the gym on Turkey Day weekend - ha! You know that's unpossible!) Inevitably, so much holiday weekend time spent at home meant I was exposed to the daredevil spirit constantly displayed by our felines, such as Tubby the Orange (pictured).

I also can’t forget a San Antonio College mass communications student named Stephanie who interviewed me just prior to Thanksgiving, at the office, as part of her class assignment. Ah yes, I recall that SAC mass comm assignment — interview a local professional journalist. For my assignment, I dressed up (as if I were going in for an actual job), went to WOAI radio and interviewed a reporter. Jim Forsyth, if I’m not mistaken. Can’t remember, it was 20,000 years ago. Comparatively speaking, Stephanie did great. She was well prepared, articulate, had plenty of questions/follow-up queries and I gave her probably way too much info. Funny. I’m a soft-spoken, social wallflower, but actually talk to me for a few minutes and, before you know, it can’t stop gabbing. Well, that or an adult beverage or 3.

But perhaps the best part of my chat with Stephanie, beyond the obligatory media industry takes and advice, was anecdotal. I shared with her how so greatly enjoyed co-creating the San Antonio Scene alternative newspaper. (A-ha, a few of you locals perhaps saw our attempted challenge to the S.A. Current, lying on a newspaper rack somewhere around town.) Journalisting friends Raul and Martin (along with pals Diosdado and Daniel) and I produced a few issues on a shoestring budget, from our own homes, over the course of a year. It flamed out gloriously and I’m still in debt from that endeavor. But it continues to rank among the most fun profession-oriented activities in which I’ve ever been a part. I miss you, San Antonio Scene, vaya con Dios!

Stephanie’s interview also sparked another heartworming childhood memory, which actually makes things here come full circle. (You’ll see in a second.) The student asked when and how writing and journalism may have first entered my life. At age 10, I was an information junkie. At that time, being an info junkie – for me – was having my mother buy subscriptions to Astronomy and Time magazines. You read right…I SUBSCRIBED to Astronomy and Time at age 10. It was pouring through BOTH of San Antonio’s metro dailies. (Ours was a S.A. Light familia). It was reading copies of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics that my grandfather had stacked near his living room recliner. It was viewing the Weather Channel’s Atari-like radar screens and weather maps and the greatness that was the original CNN Headline News, when they actually had 30 minutes of national and world news around the clock, not the tabloid- and pundit-laden crap “HLN” has now. A shell of its former self. A shame.

But also at that age, while I didn’t literally envision myself being a future journalist, the way newspapers were produced piqued my curiosity. So much so that I asked my aunt Yolie, who worked at a paper company, to bring me home reams of dot matrix computer people (two sheets together roughly equaled the size of that era’s broadsheet newspaper page. I cut out pictures and articles from the Light, pasted them on differently sectioned “pages” of my “newspaper,” applied markers in different colors to various pages and – voila – I had my own “newspaper.” I had my own masthead, but sure, another publication’s copy and artwork. Somewhere in a closet at original Casa Ortiz lie Polaroids of me proudly showing off my mock dot matrix sheet newspaper. One of those pasted stories featured -­ you guessed it – The Muppets.

The more things change, you know the rest.

An ode to newspapering

It is a curious feeling to have survived a round of massive layoffs at a newspaper company. While very fortunate for the time being, there is pain and remembrance for those who were forced out and a sobering reminder of how our once-vibrant industry was.

I've always considered myself lucky to be doing what I love and be paid for it (well, some there is a relative semblance of compensation ;-) I am not naive to not realize what stubborn perils and outdated business models have brought newspapers and magazines to the breaking point (and total death for some that have been around for more than 100 years).

But to say print periodicals are a thing of the past is, too, myopic and ignorant. For your consideration: The Canmore Leader in Alberta, Canada ran a story about the industry's state, poking holes in the theory that the Web is the only way to go nowadays.

"The ad revenue scenario no longer only applies to print publications, the 'State of the News Media' reports says. Ad revenues for online publications were down 48 per cent in 2008," the Leader article stated.
The article goes onto the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which just closed as a print paper and went totally online: Very little original reporting is online and not much professional/objective reporting is done for the Web.

The Leader story continues: "Supporters of community journalism can find a seed of hope and should know that they are the backbone of a cure. The results of a recent Globe and Mail online poll suggest that readers care. Around 10,000 people, 72 per cent of those polled, said it’s important to have local newspapers. Only 10 per cent said, 'No, I don’t read my local paper.' Only 18 percent said, "No, online media can fill the gap."

It didn't help matters that, as a David Sirota column explains, money-bleeding newspapers cut down on strong local reporting - the key to garnering and maintaining loyal audiences - in favor of cheaper national "news," much of which is sensational/quasi-celeb crap that sometimes contains a thinly veiled bias. Then there's that contemporary human nature problem of most people, particularly younger folks, whose shrinking attention spans enjoy flashy, noisy 30-second soundbites.

Leaving the future of print journalism solely to the mere idea of subjective bloggers and so-called "citizen journalists" is not appealing to me as a purist. And I'm sure many other readers, advertisers and media practitioners feel the same way.

A Globe and Mail story puts it this way: "...nobody has been able to explain is how the Internet will be able to fund the extremely expensive and often dangerous work of reporting. Nobody has been able to convince surfers used to a completely free Internet that they should pay for news stories. And online advertisers pay their hosts very little for the space."

A senator's proposal to have the federal government allow newspapers to operate as non-profits really won't help. After all, as critics say, that could invite (ultimately) government control. It's not a cure in any way. All that could happen - and it'll take time - is for newspapers to resize, restructure and reevaluate their business practices, advertising marketing strategies and reporting priorities.

Remember that it has always been up to your local newspaper -- be it the major metro daily or the small town semi-daily, alternative weekly or the suburban weekly -- to serve as your main source of reliable, accurate, updated news and human interest features in an array of fields. It is your newspaper who gives you stories about what your children achieve in school or what corporation is dumping toxic waste in your backyard.

For a purist reader or writer, there are few things better than waking up, checking your email to see if anything's blown up or a war started the previous night, drinking a coffee (or breakfast shake) and browsing through the morning edition.

A tangible publication (of usually news you can use) you can take with you anyplace. You can't really do that with the Web. And no, not even your iPhone or clone will really ever be an apt replacement. So newspaper haters/misunderstanders -- suck it!

Tribune Trouble

Ah, how the mighty fall. Even in this cynical age, it’s unusual and unsettling to see industry giants to fall victim to the new recession. In Monday’s case it was the Tribune Company, which filed for bankruptcy. It’s $12 billion in debt.

It was intriguing when last year Sam Zell, a former successful radio and real estate investor, bought the long-standing company with reckless Mark Cubanesque zeal and took it private. But many observers immediately noted flaws in Zell’s business plan for the newspaper-heavy firm, which in recent years had diversified itself in an attempt to remain competitive in the new yet more pitfall-filled economy (namely acquisition of the Chicago Cubs).

Zell says the bankruptcy won’t affect operations at the Cubs or the newspapers or the relatively new employee ownership stock plan. Uh-huh. Ultimately, indeed it’s true. Newspaper-heavy companies must seek ways to diversify its portfolio and remain relevant in the eyes of their readers and advertisers. If that means finding unique ways to compete with burgeoning news websites, so be it.

The web, for the most part, is the future that partially is already here. A venue for people to access a variety of constantly updated information at a moment’s notice. It’s more than valuable and, for most people, easily accessible.

But one can never really replace the unique feeling ­– especially for those who can’t afford mobile technology – of having a newspaper, feeling a tangible piece of information, entertainment and history, right in the palm of your hands. So in the meantime folks, let's save those newspapers -- especially the one I'm working for!

Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid

So many things about which to blog, such little time in which your attention spans exist. First off, it's been a hectic month. No doubt some of you have heard that my fellow Prime Time Newspaper editorialists and I have moved from our comfy confines in northeast San Antonio to downtown. To the Express-News building. Yes. There.

It was the choice of the E-N/Hearst, which couldn't pay $75,000 to install a new advertising/data entry/pagination system at our (now former) office. So off to downtown we went, where we now cope with paid parking, longer commutes and the idea that downtown of a city where I've lived all my life suddenly no longer appeals to me.

Despite the rigors of the first week where we're still getting used to our new digs and said new computer system, there are other things to look forward to. There's a chance to delve into an array of happy-hour spots in the downtown area. We'll have a little Thanksgiving potluck deal Wednesday. We do occasionally bump into cool friends already working for the Express-News. In any event, I strive to persevere.

Onward to - THE TRANSITION. Team Obama and Biden are changing things for sure! When you consider Clinton retreads as change! Okay, so far there no sexy, daring, outside-the-box picks have been made thus far when it comes to the cabinet and other key positions. As for my pick'em forecast, it's a mixed bag at this point. The speculation about Hillary being secretary of state is throwing many for a loop, but it's definitely the Clintonistas pushing for her to get some top spot, and not some paean position.

Eric Holder is one of my picks for attorney general. Yeah, he'll get some grief from Senate Repubs during the confirmation process. Well, heck, which nominee won't? Another two throwing me for a loop -- Janet Napolitano for homeland security and Tom Daschle for health and human services. No doubt, both individuals would serve good roles in Obama's administration. But I'm definitely not envisioning either person for the cabinet positions for which they seem to be nominees.

Penny Pritzker is taking herself out of consideration for a job, particularly secretary of commerce (there goes my pick). Alas, this may prove beneficial to Obama as Pritzker has business links to the most dastardly of industries -- subprime mortgage lending. And there's stronger speculation that Robert Gates may remain at The Pentagon for a while. If Obama wants to prove himself an agent of change, a direction from appointing Washington insiders, including Clintonites and Bushites, would be wise. If only someone can tell him and his advisers this through his www.change.gov website. Speaking of which, I need to submit a resume through there. I wouldn't mind battling 200,000 other applicants for a gig in Obama's D.C.

Onward to -- the attempted auto industry bailout. Perhaps the funniest thing I heard all week were executives from the big three U.S. automakers, rationalizing to Congress as to why they deserve a bailout: Their current financial crisis is NOT their fault. The execs say the crisis isn't due to their lacking a quality product or slow progress toward fuel-efficient vehicles or the current business model.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Oh the crisis is most definitely the fault of the automakers. It's not the fault of union workers and all their supposed benefits and salary gains over the decades. It's because they refused to acknowledge foreign automakers manufacturing (for the most part!) better quality (and smaller) vehicles. It's because they have been so reluctant to gradually move away from hydrocarbons at the end of fossil fuel era and towards fuel-efficient vehicles, which more and more people want in an uncertain economy where oil and gasoline prices could skyrocket once more at any moment. And it's because automakers -- led by executives touting bloated salary and perk packages and a serious disconnect from middle-class reality -- adamantly oppose public-sector solutions for employee health care and pension plans.

So, should we bail out our car industry? To a certain extent. A short-term bail out may be required, much smaller than the one dedicated toward the corrupted finance industry. But in return (and right now), the automakers should design a long-term plan meant to accomplish a strong American auto manufacturing industry that features a strong unionized force, a public-private solution for worker health care and pensions, and a MAPPED OUT TIMEFRAME AND COMMITMENT toward a product line that emphasizes fuel-efficient vehicles of better quality. Not too much to ask, is it?

Onward -- to other things:

* 24 and Jack Bauer are back in a two-hour movie that sets up the new season. Yay!

* Have you seen the full trailer for J.J. Abram's new "Star Trek" flick? Whoa! Good lord, everyone's nuts in there!

* The thought of canceling Pushing Daisies is absurd but not unexpected. Even in an age where more people have more entertainment options than ever -- options other than watching TV -- networks remain finicky about what low ratings constitute cancelation. And meanwhile we get stuck with crap like "reality" TV and atrociously written, uninspired programs.

* Farewell, Moral Orel. We hardly knew ye. When it came to an animated, subversive satire about modern Christian prostelitizing, Moral Orel nailed it. And using the Davey and Goliath look was genius.

* I cannot wait for the return of Lost, Galactica, Boondocks, Doctor Who, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Torchwood. I...just...cannot...wait.

* Superjail is astonishingly surreal and insane. (Sorry, my Adult Swim geekdom runneth over.)

* And Sarah Palin...umm, go away now.

OK, you may resume your regularly scheduled lives.