HOLLYWOOD RAGS FIND ECONOMY A DRAG!

I remember the old black and white movies and the Variety newspaper headlines they would show about the celebrity character in the film. They were big (usually all caps) and often highlighted with an exclamation point. With that, I couldn't resist giving homage to this old style when I learned recently that some of the movie industries biggest newspapers are facing serious troubles.

Mediabistro notes that "for more than 75 years, Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter have battled to be the movie industry's top newspaper, but recent layoffs due to the recession and competition from Internet blogs has Hollywood wondering if it will soon become a one paper town."

Advertising revenues are plummeting, even during the Oscars season where it is very common for the movie studios to spend big money on full page ads to get their films the recognition they believe is deserved. There are few things more powerful than an Oscar to get people into the movies. The public relations value is without compare. Furthermore, although Variety and the Reporter are expensive to buy ad space, they are less expensive than ads in publications that have larger audience. So with those ads movie makers can hit their target constituents hard to get the statue, but this year they are not doing it.

Don't worry though, the studios are still promoting their films, but they are using bloggers and other online media rather than spending big budgets on forms of promotion that often solicits skepticism rather than interest. Here are a few factors working against the Hollywood newspapers:

• People are more influenced by the opinions of others than they are ads. Ads are insincere, "you mean they think you should watch their movie?" This is not a surprise and the movie makers are becoming aware of this reality.


• The Hollywood set are more technically savvy than the larger population. These people are less likely to wait for a newspaper or look for one when they know the absolute latest information is on their laptop or mobile. News is about currency and that is exactly what print newspapers lack. The suffering that is rampant among old media in general is even greater in Hollywood news.


• Although Hollywood fairs better than other industries in times of recession, everyone including tinsel town is operating with far more caution.

Increasingly print media is simply losing its relevance. People want what they want, when they want it. This does not bode well for print media, no matter the industry.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Jett Travolta's Death Says Something About News Authority

I was surfing around the Web today while watching football games and I stumbled on a notice that John Travolta and Kelly Preston's son, Jett died today while they were vacationing in the Bahamas. I wasn't particularly familiar with the site and so I immediately went to look for more information. After all, as a person who was a teenager in the 1970s, I was as big a John Travolta fan. Also, Jett's news was tragic regardless of what you thought of his acting parents. Soon I found TMZ reporting this and I knew that site had more credibility than most entertainment news sources, but this young man was only 16 and the source was still "entertainment news." I was looking for a more reliable source.

Soon I began to find it in more traditional sources and learned that young Jett often suffered seizures and John Travolta had been quoted saying "we almost lost him" in a TV interview a few years ago. However, the cause of death was conflicting. Some sources said he injured himself in a bathtub, while others said it was a seizure. I assume it will be concluded that if a head injury was involved, it started with a seizure.

It took a few"clicks" before I found a page that I considered authoritative and it made me think about the way people perceive web sources. In spite of the rise of blogs -- there are over 133 million of them on the Internet -- I believe people still want to get their news from traditional sources. The more traditional, the better, it appears. I didn't fully embrace the validity of the story until I read it in Reuters (showing my bias for business news I assume).

As someone who writes four or five posts a week, I find this a little disconcerting. Although it is true that some blogs carry more authority than others and this one is written by someone with twenty plus years experience in journalism, it is still a blog. When I did my search based on authority, I instantly dismissed articles that were blog sources.

There are reasons why there are 133 million plus blogs on the Internet today and it isn't because people have nothing better to do than write them (well, not all of them at least). I know many read mine, as I find quotes by me on other blogs and news articles and I get emails and calls from others about my posts. But the gap between traditional and new media remains obvious.

Note: I hate for my analysis to distract from the tragedy of the passing of a teenager who is far too young to die. However, I will leave stories about him to those who are more eloquent than myself to write such. I leave it to those who know him and the family far better than I do. As a father, I find this story particularly tragic and send my sympathies.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Traditional Media Continues to Shrink

Recently I was at one of my son's college football games visiting with him and his friends. In spite of our continued yelling for our side, they lost by a pretty significant margin and I had that sense that the game was over by the third quarter. So I focused more on conversation and talked to a bright and polite young man about his career future. "So, what are you planning on doing after graduation?" "A journalist," he said, quite innocently. Whenever people tell me this, I instantly want to laugh because I assume they are joking. Unfortunately, this was a very nice kid and he was ever so serious.

Being in radio and involved in a media news website, I meet young people virtually every day who are interested in journalism and are getting degrees in such. Where are their parents when they need them? Getting a degree in journalism today is like getting a degree in computer science when I went to college in the early 1980s. The only difference is that journalism majors should know better and so should their parents.

From the information I received in a recent Revolving Door Newsletter, it appears the traffic is going in one direction when it comes to media, and that is the exit door. The newsletter reports that "the axe fell at NBC Universal with 500 layoffs underway, including 30 from its sales staff. Elsewhere, CNBC laid off as many as 55 staffers and "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on hiatus." We also learn that "long-anticipated cuts finally came to Viacom, with 850 losing their jobs. Some 300 of those were from MTV, and top managers won't receive salary increases... Veteran CNN correspondent Miles O'Brien will leave the network, which is shuttering its science, space, and tech unit..."

In the book publishing world, Revolving Door reports numerous senior staffers at leading publications have left and "Simon & Schuster let go 35 people, including Rick Richter, president of the publishing company's children's book division... Thomas Nelson, the world's largest Christian publisher, laid off 10 percent of its workforce. "

From the magazine sector we learn that "Time Inc. is having trouble finding volunteers to take buyouts at its New York-based magazines. People completed its layoffs, while Sports Illustrated needs to hand out 20 pink slips. Elsewhere, seven staffers at Coastal Living, part of the company's hard-hit Southern Progress Group, will be let go. Time Out New York's investors put the magazine up for auction, hoping to get $40 million. Giving the timing -- terribly economy, advertising slumping, etc. -- you have to wonder just how bad things have gotten at New York's listings bible.

The list goes on. Traditional media is in huge trouble and is not only the victim of the Internet, but of its own inherent weaknesses. Solid journalism based on information and not opinion is hard to fine. If you want someone to tell you how they think about something, ask your next door neighbor. That is exactly what millions of people are doing by reviewing the 133 million blogs available on the Internet which operate on virtually no overhead. Another challenge of the journalism profession is that those who cover the stories of the day in every genre often have no idea what they are writing about. Journalism should be a double major accompanied with something of something so that they know how to cover that issue.

Unfortunately I don't see the industry changing. Instead, I see it continuously seeking scapegoats for its demise. Instead of being a worthy profession, I am afraid it is going to continue to slide down the track of being the butt of a bad joke.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Lessons from the Slightly Famous

The pursuit of one’s “fifteen minutes of fame” is easier now than any time in history. No longer do the masses have to live in the shadow of the famous because they have the tools to cheaply make a name for themselves.

YouTube has been a significant driver in this effort. People are battling it out with mattresses in a college dorm, a kid jumps from a second story window on a trampoline (bad idea), a person cries out in defense of an actress taking a pounding from the media. These people become the talk of the web for a least a day or so. There are those who seeking fame for reasons other than ego and entertainment purposes and they are a growing breed of entrepreneurs.

In the old days the media drove information. Occasionally a person got his letter to the editor in the newspaper, he or she would get on the radio as the “person on the street.” Besides such scenarios, there was a huge chasm between the media and the average person. The Internet is changing all of that.

In the book, Get Slightly Famous, author Steven Van Yoder writes about the forces available online for the average person to leave his mark and to get noticed. They do so in order to set themselves apart as the expert and to get the notoriety and recognition of such. This becomes a way to attract new customers.

In the early days of the Internet people simply had a website. These domains were little more than 24 hour brochures. Now there are far more tools available.

Blogging. People create their own web platforms where they tell people their unique opinion on politics, finance, marketing, movies, and more. Whatever their passion, vocation, obsession, or all of the above. Recently an article I wrote had close to 120,000 impressions on one day on Reuters.com. An article I wrote on Neil Cavuto of Fox News and Business led to his office contacting me and wanting to find out if I would be interested in having him on my show. The reach of blogging is breath taking.

Podcasting. This includes video and audio. Audio is cheap to start, in some cases it is even free. Video costs more, but could leave a bigger impression. The web is about the convergence of media – bringing several types of media to one place. Essentially, individuals can create a media network of their own.

Social networking. Twitter, Plaxo, and LinkedIn are just a few of the tools that business leaders are using to tell others about their influence.

But the Internet is not the only vehicle available:

People are writing books like never before. With Print on demand technology, people can self-publish at a fraction of what it use to cost and not fill their garage with books that may or may not get sold. Such books are not typically being written in order to become rich, but to be semi-famous.

People are buying air time on the radio and TV. They are not buying commercials where they can be lost among the many who merely sell, buy are buying programs that demonstrate their expertise as a way to attract customers.

People are giving speeches. Most towns have numerous organizations that are looking for speakers. Chambers of commerce, Rotary Clubs, and networking groups to name a few. When you give a speech to such groups you further differentiate yourself as the expert and find it very easy to find the clients that create more business.

The only downside to such activities is that it is difficult to make your website the place to be found without traffic or to be identified as the person to give speeches. Furthermore, there is an opportunity cost to pursuing such activities. You are trading the thing you do for a living to pursue the opportunity to get more business.

There is a company I am working with that is making this transition easier for entrepreneurs called USBusinessDaily.com. They have a free white paper that is available for the asking at Info@HoustonBusinessShow.com. I strongly encourage you to request it today.

Kevin Price articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Am I Committing an Error in the Way I Blog?

Today I scrolled down my blog just to see "how it looked." Had I chosen interesting titles? Were my posts appropriate in length? What about the photos? That is when I got a little concerned. Every post on the page that were photos were of men. Furthermore, they weren't even particularly handsome men (no offense guys!), in my opinion.

I felt compelled to change that trend and do it fast. So, out of curiosity I put "the most beautiful woman in the world" in Google to see what results I would get. What popped up were several references to Aishwarya Rai (photo), whom I have never heard of before.

Who is Aishwarya Rai? She is a well known Indian actress who won "Miss World" in 1994. All of you men who are wishful thinkers, give it up, she recently married a popular Indian actor Abhishek Bachchan. She doesn't bring any particularly interesting business or political story to this blog, but she does bring a much needed mix to the pictures on this site.

Do Blogs Hurt Journalism?

I'm not much of a fan of the editorial bent of PBS, but I do love how thorough it is in its coverage. Tonight I saw a documentary on its program Frontline, where it discussed the impact that the Internet was having on journalism (it is significant and the network actually did a fine job demonstrating such). Over all, the future is very dim for paper and ink of newspapers in particular, according to the first episode in a series.

You would think that liberals would be thrilled because of all the ink that won't go into polluting the environment and all the trees that would be spared. Furthermore, since the blog is the new force that seems to be replacing traditional media (according to the program) and it is dominated by liberals, you would think PBS would be dancing in the streets! PBS seems to have a very different view.

Frontline argues that the only serious journalism is in traditional media and in newspapers in particular. For years the front page of the New York Times has provided the lead stories of the nightly news programs at CBS, NBC, and ABC. If newspapers keep getting smaller and editorial staffs keep getting leaner, who will write the truly "serious" stories?

Yet, the program pointed out that some of the most serious stories of the last year became that way because of blogs. In particular they mentioned the incredible story of former Rep. Mark Foley and his potential inappropriate relationships with young pages that many believe contributed to the huge problems Republicans faced in last November elections. There is also the story that CBS News' anchor Dan Rather had a deceptive and politically motivated source on his broadcast about the military service record of President George Bush that was driven by a blog. That story was so damaging that the veteran newsman was forced to resign after four decades at the network. These stories were powered largely by "unprofessional" bloggers and not the major media.

I'm not convinced that traditional journalism is any where close to dying at the hands of blogs. However, if they do die, I am actually very optimistic about the ability of the bloggers to find the stories that were covered by traditional journalism. Real people who live where the stories happen, not typical academicians who are often politically motivated and unschooled in the real world. Sure, the vast majority of the bloggers are ideologues. But at least their readers know it since I have seen very few who hide behind the mask of a so-called "objective media standards."

As a strong believer in the free market, I'm not at all surprised by the decline of the press at the hands of the Web. Newspapers had been taking a beating for years with the rise of Conservative talk radio in the 1980s. Before most had ever even heard of the "World Wide Web" newspapers were being sold and merged, left and right. When I was growing up it was common for their to be a morning and evening edition every day. We haven't seen those for years. The market provides what the people want. And, although disheartening to the liberals out there who really believe they know what is "best" for us, I believe that the market will also provide what we need. A largely unpaid and volunteer army of journalists that is committed to the truth as they see it; yet honest enough to admit when it is merely their opinion. If "professional" journalists had done that, they may not be on the brink of extinction today.

The Balancing Act of Blogging

I was very slow to get on the blog bandwagon. It isn't because I don't have a lot to say (I'm full of opinions), but that I have such a limited time. Of course, many of the millions who have a blog could say the same thing, and there is no question in my mind that the blog is going to remain a powerful force in media. I decided I simply had to jump in.

Early on I did very little. I think I was averaging around one a week and was very proud of myself for doing that much. Now I average around four a week and feel guilty when I miss more than a few days. The big concern facing every blogger is, what do I write about? How do I keep up the pace at a rate that readers desire? When I made the decision to take this seriously, I stewed on that concern for quite a while.

Now it seems I come up with something, even when I don't feel particularly inspired. There's always a crazy news story, self consumed politician, or great new idea that gives me fodder for writing. Still, I have these periods, like last week, where it felt like I could write in my blog every day. In fact, I felt like I could write posts several times a day during that time. After a couple of days of this I kept thinking in the back of my mind, "I'm going to run out of material," or "I'm using up several weeks on this week alone." But then I will counter, "that's silly, be inspired, write more."

Well after a week of what felt like hyper-blogging, this week has been a little slow. But what I have found over time is that blogging is a discipline, like anything else, and writing posts leads to the writing of more posts. Why did I write this post? Well I said it was a slow week. But I also hope that this proves to be helpful for others who have slow weeks of blogging too.

Why Can't Blogger Spell "Blog"?

I love to write and have done it for many years, but any reader of this blog can appreciate the fact that I need a spell check. Often my entries includes terms such as "blogs," "blog", "blogging," etc. You would think that a website such as "Blogger" would easily approve such terms. Think again, any word that has the root "blog" turns up as misspelled on this site.

To me, this doesn't make sense. How is it possible? This is a Google owned company and not some minor player on the Web. I've spoken to friends and colleagues and they seem as confused as I am. My oldest son, KJ, thinks that Blogger may use the Microsoft Word spell check for corrections. If that is so, it is using earlier editions because I believe the most recent Word includes blog.

Whatever the case, I think this demonstrates how rapidly things are changing. So amazing are the shifts that even a company like Google has difficulty keeping up with them and incorporating them in a site that is as important as Blogger.