ARTelevision

Time.com press release:

Sunday, Sep. 26, 2004
10 QUESTIONS FOR SUMNER REDSTONE:
VIACOM CEO SUMNER REDSTONE’S REACTION TO CBS BACKING DOWN FROM BUSH SERVICE STORY ‘WAS ONE OF SEVERE DISTRESS,’ HE TELLS TIME


NEW YORK: “My reaction from the beginning was one of severe distress,” Sumner Redstone, chairman and CEO of Viacom, says when asked about his reaction to when CBS News backed down after defending its story on Bush’s service record. Redstone spoke with TIME’s Neil Gough in Guangzhou, China, where Redstone announced new business ventures in China country for MTV and Nickelodeon.

Asked if Dan Rather would be able to remain as long as he wants as anchor Redstone said: ”I already said that I would wait for the report to try to determine whether there should be any consequences to anybody at CBS News. I have found him, by the way, to be a very good reporter over the years. And, frankly, a very good friend. And I grieved all the more because of that friendship.”

Redstone on the role of politics: “There has been comment upon my contribution to Democrats like Senator Kerry. Senator Kerry is a good man. I’ve known him for many years. But it happens that I vote for Viacom. Viacom is my life, and I do believe that a Republican Administration is better for media companies than a Democratic one.”

When asked how closely he’s been following the CBS News controversy, he says, “Let me first give you some perspective. Neither I nor any executive at Viacom has any access to or plays any role in the news reports that come from CBS. Like you, we read about them in the newspapers. Notwithstanding that, I have, for obvious reasons, been carefully monitoring the situation. I have been talking continually with (CBS president) Les Moonves and with the members of the Viacom board. Now we have set up an independent panel—and believe me, it is independent, and believe me, it will move very fast—and I am satisfied that they will reach the right and appropriate conclusion and we will then act accordingly.”

When asked if he foresees this incident as having any short-term or long-term impact on the brand, he says, “Of course it’s had a short-term impact. It would be foolish to deny that. But long-term impact? No. Certainly not economic. Eight of the top 10 shows in all of television are shown on CBS. That’s an extraordinary record that can’t be overlooked because of this incident. And what advertisers buy are programs.”

When asked if he sees a need for a change at the News division, he says: “I think it would be too early for me to judge. I intend to maintain a kind of independent view until I see what this panel has to report. And then you can assume that whatever is appropriate will take place.”

When asked about Dan Rather, and if he will be able to remain as long as he wants as anchor, Redstone says, “I already said that I would wait for the report to try to determine whether there should be any consequences to anybody at CBS News. I have found him, by the way, to be a very good reporter over the years. And, frankly, a very good friend. And I grieved all the more because of that friendship.

When asked about politics, Redstone says, “There has been comment upon my contribution to Democrats like Senator Kerry. Senator Kerry is a good man. I’ve known him for many years. But it happens that I vote for Viacom. Viacom is my life, and I do believe that a Republican Administration is better for media companies than a Democratic one.”

When asked if the China market has opened up, he says, “I have been coming here for many years. Those years were spent for the most part in building relationships of friendship and trust with the various officials of the Chinese government. And as a result, from a commercial standpoint the doors have just opened—and they have opened wide.”

Asked how his channels do in China, he says, “Nickelodeon is the highest-rated product on the CCTV (China Central Television) kids’ channel. And we expect to triple our distribution by the end of the year to make the total distribution of MTV China about 10 million.”

Asked how China channels do in the U.S., he says, “We believe in cultural exchange. We’ve gotten CCTV into a lot of hotels in the U.S. We export their product through the MTV Music Awards, which is a joint venture with CCTV. We are doing the things we think will endear us ultimately to China and keep opening the doors.”

Asked if censorship in China is an issue, he says, “We really don’t have that problem. The programming on our channels in China is co-produced with a Chinese company. We are very conscious of the taste of the Chinese people and the Chinese government. And therefore we don’t produce material that invites criticism from China.”

.................

This guy is a realist.
There should be more of them in big media.
He's the captain of a giant org that needs some discipline. I see some strong implications in his statements that should filter down through the ranks of his operation in the near future. If you've been following all the news on Viacom ventures this year, you may see evidence here that the relationship between this once-responsible company and the government that tolerates it may be changing. That would be a change for the good, IMO.

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OpieCunningham

But aren't all those quotes, found in yet another media outlet, nothing more than mass media mind control telling you exactly what you want to hear?

ARTelevision

Yes, of course.

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Cynthetiq

I've never gotten to sit with the man ever, but I do know his secretary and his personal food assistant.

He's very down to earth and also a very credible man. He's a no nonsense guy.

one of the myths/legends of the office...

Sumner Redstone and Tom Freston, president of MTV Networks riding up the same elevator. Sumner shakes his head as he looks at Tom. Tom is dressed in a pair of jeans and button down shirt with a sports jacket on. Sumner says something to the effect of "You are worst dressed executive I employ."

Freston replied,"Yes, but I make you the most money."

Sumner responded, "You got me there..."

I didn't spend any pc time today so I didn't get to read the news, thanks for keeping up...

OpieCunningham

I could use a personal food assistant.

ARTelevision

Google Conforms to Chinese Censorship

Sep 25, 6:26 AM (ET)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google Inc. (GOOG)'s recently launched news service in China doesn't display results from Web sites blocked by that country's authorities, raising prickly questions for an online search engine that has famously promised to "do no evil."

Dynamic Internet Technology Inc., a research firm striving to defeat online censorship, conducted tests that found Google omits results from the government-banned sites if search requests are made through computers connecting to the Internet in China.

Steered by an identical search request, computers with a United States connection retrieved results from the sites blocked by China.

"That's a problem because the Chinese people need to know there are alternative opinions from the Chinese government and there are many things being covered up by the government," said Bill Xia, Dynamic's chief executive. "Users expect Google to return anything on the Internet. That's what a search engine does."

Xia suspects Google is cooperating with the Chinese government's censorship efforts to smooth the way for expansion plans that could help the Mountain View-based company boost future profits.

The Chinese government lashed out at Google two years ago when it temporarily blocked access to the company's main search engine before relenting under public pressure.

Google acknowledges its Chinese language news service - introduced on a test basis two weeks ago - is leaving out results from government-banned sites, but the company believes the omissions jibe with its long-standing mission to make its search engine efficient and useful.

If Google were to display results from sites the Chinese government blocks, computer users would end up clicking on links that lead nowhere - something the search engine has always tried to avoid.

"Google has decided that in order to create the best possible search experience for our mainland China users we will not include sites whose content is not accessible," company spokeswoman Debbie Frost said Friday.

Only a "tiny fraction" of Web sites are being excluded by the Chinese news service, Frost said. Xia said his tests indicated Google is excluding Chinese results from at least eight sites, including www.epochtimes.com and www.voanews.com.

Google says the Chinese news service draws upon roughly 1,000 sites - a broader array than in Germany, which trolls 700 sites, and Italy, which monitors about 250 sites.

"It's probably killing them to leave some (Chinese) sites out of its index, but they have probably decided they are doing greater good by providing access to all these other sites," said Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li.

Complaints about Google's search results aren't new.

As its search engine has become more popular in recent years, Google has drawn fire for displaying some results too prominently and downplaying others.

Some organizations also have lodged complaints about the company's policies governing the kinds of ads it will accept.

Google's pledge to "do no evil" - trumpeted loudly by company co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin - is spurring even greater scrutiny of company behavior.

If it wanted to take a political stand, Google could consider posting a disclaimer on the Chinese news site advising visitors the search results may be affected by government censorship, said analyst Li.

A step like that, though, would run the risk of inciting the Chinese government to restrict access to Google's news service.

"Doing no evil doesn't necessarily mean Google has to be the progressive cause for change," Li said. "(In China), they are saying, 'This is the law of the land, and there is nothing we can do to change it.'"

.......................
China gets its way and Google gets to stay. One hand rubs the other. I scratch your back - you scratch mine. Go along to get along. I'm not at all sure that ultimately China will fare any better than the Soviet Union did in stemming the rising tide of free exchange of ideas trumping governmental restrictions. But for now, chalk one up to the forces of totalitarianism. How long can the bamboo curtain remain impervious to the global power of the Net? Time will tell...

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ARTelevision

from Variety.com

In the wake of CBS News' "60 Minutes" controversy, an influential Republican on Tuesday said he wants to convene a Capitol Hill hearing on TV news operations after the Nov. 2 election.



Rep. Joe Barton (news, bio, voting record) (R-Texas), chair of the House Commerce Committee, told a meeting of the TV engineering trade group MSTV in Washington that broadcast network news divisions "need to have safeguards to prevent reporters from infusing their opinions into news reports."


The lawmaker said he wanted to hear from execs of all the nets -- not just CBS -- and threatened to introduce legislation requiring TV news operations to impose safeguards against partisan bias seeping into reports. He backed off the threat of legislation when pressed for specifics.


Barton also implied that TV news is less reliable then the print media, adding that with reality TV such a force in the entertainment world in recent years, many TV news personalities did not begin their careers as "real journalists" working for newspapers and other print media.


CBS declined comment on Barton's remarks.


News execs emphasized that the First Amendment protects the media from government censorship.


Within CBS News, top Republican Dick Thornburgh and former Associated Press prexy-CEO Louis D. Boccardi continued their investigation of the botched "60 Minutes" story. Pair were appointed by CBS News prexy Andrew Heyward and Viacom co-prexy/CBS prexy-CEO Leslie Moonves.

.......................................................

Requiring TV news to be non-biased...what a concept.

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powerclown

In this week's Time magazine, the Chairman of CBS News, Sumner Redstone, mentioned that he was particularly distressed over the whole Rathergate debacle. In saying this, he also first mentioned, quote:

"Let me give you some perspective. Neither I nor any executives at Viacom has any access to or plays any role in the news reports that come from CBS. Like you, we read about them in the newspapers. Notwithstanding that, I have, for obvious reasons, been carefully monitoring the situation. ..."

Article

Strange days when the Chairman/CEO (and his executives) of a major news network refuses to take responsibility for what his tv anchormen report to the public. Its as if the inmates were running the asylum.

Cynthetiq

Sumner and the rest of the executives here at Viacom conform to corporate culture that lets people do what they do best. If you see it as the inmates running the asylum I guess that's a fair statement, but the more accurate statement is that management doesn't get in the way of the things that the groups are trying to accomplish.

The executives set the directives and boundaries and let the rest of the people do the things that they are good at doing.

ARTelevision

Cynthetiq, perhaps it has been that way.
But now...
Here's what I see him doing - you tell me exactly how much of a stretch you think it is.
He is sounding a distress call. To ignore the captain's distress is to bring distress upon oneself. This message applies to Rather and the CBS news operation, who have allowed political and personal agendas to tarnish the lustre of the Tiffany Network; Stern, who has allowed his infantile narcisissim to replace entertainment with political diatribe; the liberal media elite - whose agendas and candidates are, by his own definition, not good for his company; MTV, et. al. for the Janet Jackson debacle; and these are to just name a few of the most egregious cases. Can you see these signals in his statements? I most certainly can.

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Cynthetiq

I don't see him waving a flag of distress. I do see him voicing his concern.

One of the paradigm shifts that has happened over the years is that the media has moved from the simple slant-bias to all out blantant talking head/anchor bias. The commentators have moved from the sidelines of junkets and segments to whole hour shows on all mediums.

I'm not so close to the Viacom floors anymore... I don't get the pulse like I used to from them, but Sumner has always been keen on independent investigations which are paid for by Viacom so it's not really all that "independent."

He's a shrewd businessman, so long as he's making money he's not going to push someone into any corners to conform.

a small tidbit about him: He doesn't use the computer on his desk, he mainly looks at the quotron screen which is a direct stock feed. if that's down for more than 5 minutes he can be very cranky.

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powerclown

Understood. Yet, the CBS brand (and Rather) has taken a blow, or has it? The public does have a notoriously short attention span, that and new viewers/generations constantly coming aboard.
I can see this whole thing being a non-issue from a business standpoint. Running a business successfully - making money - is The Bottom Line. That's fine, thats the way it is. And in the context of this whole situation, your above quote about The Boss coming down on someone makes perfect sense.

ARTelevision

Cynthetiq,
I don't know how on earth else to read a statement like this:
"VIACOM CEO SUMNER REDSTONE’S REACTION TO CBS BACKING DOWN FROM BUSH SERVICE STORY ‘WAS ONE OF SEVERE DISTRESS,’ HE TELLS TIME"

If that was my captain, you better believe I would be reading it that way.

Also again, his statement:

"When asked about politics... “There has been comment upon my contribution to Democrats like Senator Kerry. Senator Kerry is a good man. I’ve known him for many years. But it happens that I vote for Viacom. Viacom is my life, and I do believe that a Republican Administration is better for media companies than a Democratic one.” seems to me to be a clarion call to a kind of realism that is taboo among the intelligensia these days.

The above quotes are just too revolutionary to take mildly, I think. If this isn't rocking the boat, well then the boat is just being pulled down by the weight of its own anchor in the sand - along side of the heads of its crew, who are evidently also waterlogged and sandbound and just about sunk.

Do I over-react? If this was my boss saying these things, I know what I would be thinking. I'd be calling for stories about the coming paradigm shift...

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tangledweb

It's a messy situation when the first thing that people can think of is to ask the government to step in and do things for us. Are we really so brain-washed as to think that this is a good situation? Anytime we have to reply on government to do things for us, we give away our personal freedoms one-by-one.

What perfect drones we have become for government. Just like little children, the first thing we are trained to do when things get out of hand is to cry "mommy" to the government so that they can step in and "make it all better" for us. Politicians calling for legislation for more government control is like asking for more gasoline to put out a fire.

Art said >> Requiring TV news to be non-biased...what a concept.

I hear new legislation may also be forming to require water to stop being so wet. It would probably be as successful...

ubertuber

Art, that story calls our system into question a bit... It makes me wonder whether he thinks his contribution or his vote is worth more in the process. It makes me wonder what it means that he would contribute in one direction while voting in the other - and if that indicates some distrust of the system on a basic level, even as he participates on multiple fronts.

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ARTelevision

ubertuber, realism is sometimes stranger than fiction. I admire his ability to separate his wishful thinking from his responsibilities.

One who can not grasp things in their pragmatic dimension is hopelessly lost. In that condition one speaks mainly to oneself.

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powerclown

Hehe, I like how you put that...

Who will win? Big Government or Big Business? It seems to me reasonable to think that, in governing a country, that country's media would fall under the jurisdiction of the government of the country it does business in. Probably somewhat naive of me. It does paint a bizarre picture - of Big Business running the show under a political construct such as the First Amendment. Art, would this be an American phenonmena or does this type of thing happen in other countries too?

Suave

I've observed my thoughts before, and try to do so with at least some frequency. Rarely do I find myself thinking of buying something, or of a TV show or a movie. My thoughts are generally more focused on real life, or hypothetical life (ie. real life that isn't real yet). One thing I do notice though, is frequently there are songs going through my head. Aside from that though, nothing untoward regarding the media.

ARTelevision

powerclown, great question. I figure this is how it is in postmodern USA at the start of the 21st century. The underlying power dynamics (media, government, intelligensia, populace, global audience) however, seem to me to describe the basal situation as it exists in other countries as well.

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ARTelevision

There have been some pretty good examples of MMMC during the 2004 Presidential election season. I thought I'd start with this one and perhaps work our way back.



enjoy.

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Suave

ART, if you don't mind me asking, do you happen to be a para-military type of guy?

tangledweb

I showed the last graphic to several people who were all very skeptical about the intent of the graphic. No one really thought there was anything to it that could have been intentional.

To quote an old saying, "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled off was making people believe that he didn't exist". I think the same saying could apply here. I wonder how many people run across this thread and think "what a crock of shit!" ? I get this response all of the time when I broach the topic with friends or acquaintances and I imagine that is what most of the controllers of information want.

ARTelevision

Suave, I'd like to answer your question, but it's not a term I use.

Anyway, I see the image as right down the middle of the topic of this thread. In the world at large, we see what we want to see - but in the media we only see what we are shown. This thread is really about drawing your own conclusions as to what the "meaning" of it all is.

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tangledweb

I know that this may cover ground that has already been covered but for the people who don't read the entire thread for content...

Art said >> in the media we only see what we are shown.

I wanted to add to that thought and state that the converse also applies.

We also DON'T see what Mass Media doesn't want us to see. It's really the same thing. MM is not only controlling the images and sounds that we are bombarded with, but they also selectively deny us information that works contrary to their goals. Whether you call it conspiracy or coincidence, we are completely at the mercy of the networks and news outlets for our daily information dose.

My local hospital just had it's first reported case of Mad Cow disease with the diagnosis of a 40 year old woman. She was given a terminal prognosis. No news reports, no newspaper articles, - nothing. It's big friggin news here in the USA when it happens somewhere else but when it hits here, not a peep.

From the lack of coverage, you might get the idea that there is no chance that anyone has gotten the disease and thus assume that there is no danger. If the newspapers and networks are right, there isn't. I will be curious to see how the next few days play out and see what comes of this.

Suave

Fair enough. It wasn't that important a question anyways.

As far as mass media control, that's why even reputable news stories should be taken with healthy skepticism. Fortunately, while "the media" (an almost ominous-sounding term in this context) does have a large influence on us as a society, if not as individuals, it is not focused on negatively affecting us. Generally, what is or is not shown by the media is selected because they want to intrigue more people, and therefore increase profits, so on the whole, negative effects are felt as an unfortunate consequence of relatively harmless greed. It gets more dangerous however, when one in control of a powerful information medium has a political/moral/etc agenda, which is thankfully either rare or relatively weak.

Cynthetiq

I thought this was an interesting read. It shows just how powerful the media really is in affecting cultural changes over a short period of time. Those of you who are geographically challenged Bhutan is between China and India.

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ARTelevision

Yes, absolutely. Thanks for that comprehensive post, Cynthetiq.

It's been clear to me for many decades that television is the most powerful tool for mind alteration that humankind has ever developed. And the manner in which it has been implemented and utilized is almost wholly pernicious. On balance, we are all the worse for it.

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ARTelevision

Adding propaganda to the long list of media flaws, there remains only one more intrerpretation to add at this time - it is the old CYA option. It's important to investigate the lies perpetrated by idealogues from all parts of the spectrum when deconstructing the messages we receive on a daily basis. And the CYA strategem is quite universal. An egregious example follows:
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from ... w w w . b r o a d c a s t i n g c a b l e . c o m

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweating Bush II at CBS

By Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/8/2004 10:44:00 AM


Players involved in the notorious 60 Minutes II story, reported by Dan Rather, which employed dubious documents regarding President Bush’s National Guard service, may have been rooting for a John Kerry victory.

No, it wasn’t that old bugaboo liberal media bias as much as it was a bias toward saving their own skins. The report from an internal investigation into the documents mess was purposely being held until after the election.

Pre-election, the feeling in some quarters at CBS was that if Kerry triumphed, fallout from the investigation would be relatively minimal. The controversial piece’s producer, Mary Mapes, would likely be suspended or fired, but a long list of others up the chain of command—from 60 Minutes II executive producer Josh Howard, to Rather and all the way up to news division President Andrew Heyward—would escape more or less unscathed.

But now, faced with four more years of President Bush, executives at CBS parent Viacom could take a harder line on the executives involved.

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ARTelevision

More news on this today.
.................

Media Research Center Releases
“The Ten Worst Media Distortions
of Campaign 2004”



“The media, I think, wants Kerry to win. … And I think they’re going to portray Kerry and Edwards – I’m talking about the establishment media, not Fox – but they’re going to portray Kerry and Edwards as being young and dynamic and opportunistic and all. There’s going to be this glow about them … that’s going to be worth maybe 15 points.” – Newsweek Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas, “Inside Washington,” WUSA-TV, 7/10/04.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The Media Research Center today released a special report, “The Ten Worst Media Distortions of Campaign 2004,” as compiled and ranked by MRC analysts.

“The liberal ‘news’ media have been as big an issue in this campaign as anything else. It is a fact: The media chose sides early and have acted as extensions of the Democratic National Committee and the Kerry-Edwards campaign,” said MRC President Brent Bozell.

The Ten Worst Media Distortions of Campaign 2004

Dan Rather’s Forgery Fiasco

Ignoring, Then Attacking, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

Pounding the Bush National Guard Story

Spinning a Good Economy into Bad News

The Networks’ Outrageous Convention Double-Standard

Swooning Over Edwards’ Image, Ignoring His Liberalism

CBS’s Byron Pitts Promotional Kerry Coverage

CBS Promotes Fears of a New Military Draft

Misrepresenting the 9/11 Commission on Iraq/al-Qaeda Links

Equating New Terrorism Warning to LBJ’s “Gulf of Tonkin”
Rathergate … CBS News had to appoint an outside two-member investigating committee to find out how and why a) Dan Rather aired a hatchet job on President Bush based on forged documents that CBS was warned about and b) CBS Producer Mary Mapes coordinated with senior Kerry adviser Joe Lockhart concerning the discredited source of those documents.

The Attack On The Swift Boat Vets … Last spring, over 250 Vietnam War contemporaries, including veterans who served with him when he was a Swift Boat commander and his entire chain of command, came forward to publicly challenge Kerry’s version of Vietnam and his anti-war activities. After being ignored for several weeks the media turned on these honorable men with a vengeance, rather than give them a shred of credibility.

Good Economic Numbers = Bad News? … When Bill Clinton ran for re-election in 1996, unemployment was at 5.2 percent, inflation 3 percent, and economic growth 2.2 percent. Today, as Bush stands for re-election, unemployment is at 5.4 percent, inflation 2.7 percent and economists’ consensus forecast for economic growth this quarter is 3.7 percent. Coverage of the Clinton economic data was overwhelmingly favorable (35 positive, 6 negative stories). Under Bush, it’s literally reversed to 6 positive, 38 negative. Numbers don’t lie. Bias is the only explanation.

The Networks’ Convention Double-Standard … Democratic speakers who savaged Republicans in Boston were touted by network journalists as “rock stars.” But journalists turned sour when covering the Republicans in New York. CNN’s Bill Schneider on the GOP: “This is a very angry convention, it’s a very belligerent convention.” TIME’s Joe Klein, a CNN contributor: “I’ve been doing this for a fair number of years and I don’t think I’ve seen anything as angry or as ugly as [Sen. Zell] Miller’s speech.”

CBS’s Byron Pitts, in a Pro-Kerry Class of His Own … Pitts, on the day Kerry accepted the Democratic nomination: “Tonight’s acceptance of the Democratic nomination is more than merely a day, it’s [Kerry’s] destiny.” Pitts, attacking the leader of the Swift Boat Veterans instead of addressing their charges: “Their leader, John O’Neill, was also Richard Nixon’s point man in attacks on John Kerry’s protest of the Vietnam War 30 years ago.” Pitts, on Teresa Heinz Kerry: “Both rich and reachable.”

CBS Cooks Up Fictitious Draft Story … CBS correspondent Richard Schlesinger focused this story around Beverly Cocco, portraying her as a mom “petrified about a military draft.” He never mentioned she is the activist leader of a group called “People Against the Draft.” He never mentioned that the Pentagon, the Republican Party, and the Bush campaign all oppose a new draft. Dan Rather introduced the segment this way: “A mother worries her son will be drafted. Does she have good reason?” Both Schlesinger and Producer Linda Karas cited erroneous email chatter about the draft as justification for doing an Evening News segment. Karas incredulously intoned: “The truth of the e-mails were absolutely irrelevant to the piece.”

“The major media are doing all they can to help elect Kerry, just as Newsweek’s Evan Thomas indicated,” said Bozell. “This report presents some of the worst media distortions this year, and proves beyond all doubt that the elite media are not objective or fair or balanced. They are liberal partisans who are sacrificing any remaining credibility in an effort to defeat President Bush.”

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I'm of the opinion that, although the distortions came from both sides - and they continue apace - that there is in fact an ideological predilection in what may be described as the old media - as opposed to newer channels - which may be said to lean toward bias in the other direction. In any event, it's more disinformation. Is it any wonder we carry on the way we do - all of us?

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Cynthetiq

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi...&date=20041108

November 08, 2004

Why we are slaves to marketing

by Kay McFadden / Times staff columnist

Here's a little experiment: Before you read this paper, relate to it.

Does the soft pulpiness and sober typeface make you think of mom and dad or a paper-pushing bureaucrat? Did your 50 cents purchase a sense of community or of individual distinction?

I know - you simply wanted some news. But as "The Persuaders" informs us at 10 p.m. tomorrow on PBS, that's probably just your cortex talking.

One of "Frontline's" best productions all year, "The Persuaders" is a fascinating delve into how today's marketers influence our choices, from cheese to political candidates to Boeing's plush Dreamliner.

The 90-minute show features media critic Douglas Rushkoff, who collaborated on last year's teensploitation exposé, "The Merchants of Cool."

This time, the bottom line is even colder.

"My theory is simple," says Dr. Clotaire Rapaille, introduced as the Fortune 500 king of consumer code-cracking. "The reptilian brain is always going to win."

It may seem less than revelatory to say emotion trumps logic when we make selections. But last week's election and the news media's subsequent surprise demonstrate that this rule isn't taken seriously enough.

"The Persuaders" interviews Frank Luntz, the nation's leading provider of market research to Republican and conservative politicians.

"Eighty percent of our life is emotion and only 20 percent is intellect,"
says Luntz, whose clients include Rudolph Giuliani and Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. "I am much more interested in how you feel than how you think."

Although the actual recent election isn't included, "The Persuaders" cites 2004's visceral campaign ads and the strategy of finding emotional issues likely to boost voting by certain groups.

Feeling also enables a person to sweep aside environmental concerns for the dominating thrill of an SUV or to opt for a sense of belonging that bolsters the cultlike enthusiasm surrounding Mac, Saturn and eBay.

Naturally, consumer companies have been well ahead in utilizing this trend.

That's where "The Persuaders" starts, by setting us amid the neural overload of Times Square and the musings of Ad Age magazine columnist Bob Garfield.

"Somewhere beneath all these ads is the city I grew up in," he says. "But over the last 20 years, it's grown a second skin: a twinkling membrane of commercial messages."

Garfield then proceeds to a party sponsored by Song, a Delta Airlines division trying to launch itself in a market already saturated with competition and low-budget price wars.

The saga of Song is meant to be a narrative thread. But while facets of the company's image-making process are interesting and even unintentionally funny, Song itself never gets off the ground and fades away before "The Persuaders"
is over.

Fortunately, it doesn't matter, because Garfield's pilgrimage through the world of Madison Avenue is so riveting. He wants to know - and so do we - how it became so simultaneously blatant and insidious.

The modern marketing era began in the early '90s, we are told, when traditional methods of selling based on performance no longer mattered because products were becoming too comparable. The bombardment of reiteration wore away credibility.

Moreover, the increasing clutter of ads made a different approach inevitable.
Advertising was undergoing a consolidation trend as frantic marketers began abandoning long-standing relationships in search of the new big thing.

That turned out to be lifestyle advertising. Starbucks flogged the notion of meeting-place community; Benetton made clothes buying an endorsement of multiculturalism; Nike touted personal transcendence through sports.

Since then, the notion of creating clubs to which consumers want to belong has become more and more refined. Product lifestyle is a total immersion experience.

Ad strategist Doug Atkin, a brand manager at Procter & Gamble in the mid-'90s, recalls the "Eureka!" moment when he heard a group of people wax enthusiastic about their favorite sneakers.

Atkin immediately proceeded to make a study of what he calls cults, ranging from Hare Krishna to Harley Davidson.

His conclusion: "People, whether they are joining a cult or a brand, do so for exactly the same reasons. They need to belong and they want to make meaning."

Corporations nowadays approach brand-building within a similar framework. And their mechanisms for targeting the faithful go well beyond mere demographics, as revealed in a look at the gigantic information clearinghouse Acxiom.

At Acxiom, the population has been sorted into 70 different types, drawn from a compilation of census input, tax records, marketing lists and purchasing data. It sounds absolutely hateful to be reduced to a type, but I guess that's part of belonging.

It also seems wrong to talk about guilty pleasures in a show devoted to dissecting our unthinking desires. But "The Persuaders" provides a bevy of ad clips that are fun to see.

Viewers also will notice that what seemed sophisticated 15 years ago now looks clumsy, even as commercials from 40 years ago provoke nostalgia. You almost wince in advance for the sure-to-become-quaint spectacle of today's hip iPod spot.

A major theme in "The Persuaders" is the constant state of war between consumer boredom and marketing blandishment.

This is never so pointed as in the segment dealing with television commercials, the lifeblood of two industries.

TiVo and similar technologies have enabled viewers to tune out. The empire has struck back with product placement, ranging from prizes on "Survivor" to actual story lines, as when "Sex and The City" made Samantha's boyfriend into the Absolut Hunk.

"The Persuaders" covers vast swaths of territory without neglecting many vital details. Wisely, it doesn't try to reach for any sweeping conclusions. The program's balance may lie in the fact that for every marketing tactic that appalled me, others were enticing.

But "Frontline" producers are discriminating.

They note there's a big difference between pushing products and political agenda - although ironically, only product claims have to be true. Tape this show and save it for the next election cycle.


Kay McFadden: kmcfadden@seattletimes.com

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

SecretMethod70

Our godly president:





An image just like the second one (yet an entirely different picture) was also used on the front page of CNN.com a day or two after Bush won the election.

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Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

ARTelevision

Cynthetiq, thanks much for the heads up!

Yes, sadly we overestimate our ability to make reasonable choices. It's vanity - pure and simple. We like to flatter ourselves. We have a great deal of vested interest in denying our sorry manipulable lot.

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create evolution

Cynthetiq

yes, I'm very much looking forward to this since it is being done by the same people that did Merchants of Cool about MTV. I know how much research we put into our products I have no idea as to what goes on at Disney or Time Warner, but I will guess that in order to compete at the best levels they have to be doing something along the same lines.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

KinkyKiwi

*runs over to the tv and turns it off*

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Play with each other. Play with yourselves. Just don't play with the squirrels, they bite.

Cynthetiq

the only problem with that is that it isn't just TV. It's all media from internet to print, TV to radio.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Cynthetiq

another review of the Frontline episode airing tonight.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Cynthetiq

from gothamist.com and they even see where their role is in the process...

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Stompy

I read through the first few pages of this thread and, don't take this the wrong way, I have to say that there's a lot of "tinfoil hat" wearing going on here.

I don't really ever listen to the radio. TV... I watch occasionally. One or two sitcoms, some Adult Swim, that's about it. Probably no more than an hour or two a week. I watch a lot of movies.

News... I don't pay attention to local news. I'll glance at CNN occasionally to see what's going on in the world.

I consider myself so far detached from effects of "media" and advertising that I had a very hard time relating to much of what was posted in this thread. I did, however, understand the points that were made on how one could probably misinterpret one thing as something else.

First off, I want to make a comment on the pictures shown - when I looked at the picture of the flowers, I saw flowers. When I looked at the Gin, I saw Gin. Later, when someone said, "Sex" is hidden in the pictures, I went back and saw it. Ok, nice optical illusion. What exactly does this prove aside from the fact that the eye tends to immediately focus on a more dominant color?

Same with the dolphin/sexual picture. All that proves is that it's a clever optical illusion - there isn't anything "hidden" going on aside from that. Your eyes see the picture and they naturally pick up the image of the two people. It'd be the same if the image was a plane, car, apple, whatever made up of small starfish or waffles.

Second, referring to the Palmolive pictures - what point are you trying to make? The arm belongs to another person with the words "Who can resist the gentle touch". As if hordes of people rush out to suddenly buy up the world's stock in palmolive or something. When I buy soap, I think, "I need some dish soap because I have dishes to wash. I don't give a damn what kind it is, it just better work good." Likewise if I buy bars of soap/shower gel. I buy what smells good and doesn't make my skin feel like crap.

Same with the Gin. Yeah, I could see how it somewhat resembles the word "sex" in the ice cubes, but there's no proof presented with that picture to show that the brain picks out that insanely hidden item to associate Gin with "sex". Did people get this sudden urge and say, "You know, Gin sounds pretty good right about now"? You have to look pretty hard to see it. When I buy alcohol, I buy whatever tastes good for the simple fact that I want to enjoy a nice buzz. I could care less if there's a bottle of absolut shoved up some girl's crotch or a bottle of budweiser being deep throated by a cheerleader. The last alcohol I purchased was a bottle of Barenjager. Honestly, I've never seen an ad for it in my life. I normally buy Corona - those commercials have people lounging on a beach enjoying a nice vacation. I could care less. It could show the bottles submerged in a vat of maggots. That particular beer tastes good to me, so it's what I buy. I'm assuming most people are the same way.

What's up with the picture of the water being sprayed everywhere? What, the water bottle represents a phallic object and the water spraying all over is supposed to be semen? It's bottled water. I think it's stupid to buy bottled water as it is, but that's another story.

I have an example: Axe body spray. Those commercials are so blatantly full of sex, it's not even funny. I can see how people would go out and buy that, because it smells good. Are people seduced by the sex? Probably, but it's an ad. The ad is saying, "Hey, if you want to smell good, come check this product out." No one wants to smell like ASS, right?

I believe that if you pay attention to one thing long enough, you'll see it all over. The same applies to certain mathematics and how people are amazed at how certain numbers are abundant in nature, etc. In this case, the obsessed topic happens to be sex. I'm not denying that the media puts images of sexy women to sell beers or whatever, but it's not like it's this grand conspiracy in an attempt to control your life make you buy strange amounts of palmolive, gin, or Dasani.

The kid looking anxious into the book while the woman in the background has her hand by her crotch... yeah, if you stare at it (like any other picture), I'm sure you can get a huge novel out of it: "Hey, hurry up and straighten your life out so we can go have sex. Then I can buy you a pizza and we can build some stuff out of legos!" I just have a hard time believing that people see something like that and suddenly get this urge to go take out a loan or think "shit, my life is in ruins."

The Phillip Morris picture w/ the kid on the snowboard... it looks like a match. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to have them embed a hidden cigarette in the outline of the skiier's jacket? Why a match? The subliminal mind picks it up, "Hey, let's go light a match. Yay."

Speaking of subliminal minds, last I heard, many studies have shown that there's no evidence of subliminal marketing on people. Or is that what "they" want me to think? The guy who put images of popcorn and coke in between clips in his movie theater.. didn't he later admit to lying about the fact that it drove up his sales?

Just because there's an ad for it on the TV doesn't make someone "consumer sheep" if they go out and buy something, either. No one is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to buy these things.

For example, I need a new vacuum. I happened upon a commercial for a Dyson vacuum that claims it works great and sucks up all kinds of junk out of your carpet. I went online, read reviews, and found that almost all who use it say it's damn great! So if I buy this, what exactly am I falling prey to? I DO need a new vacuum considering my old one is a POS.. and I DO want my house to remain clean!

What about commercials for places that have sales on clothes, or Best Buy ads that say, "DVDs are 10% off this week!" No one's forcing you to buy DVDs. It's saying, "Hey, if there's a DVD you want, come by our place because we're having this crazy thing called a sale."

Personally, I don't pay attention to most ads, and maybe that's the reason I'm skeptical about a lot of what's in this thread (or, at least, the first half). In the rare occasion that I do watch TV, I flip the channel whenever a commercial comes on. Commercials are a nuisance to me I guess I was lucky enough to associate "commercial" with "boring, change it now" as a child.

Like I said, if you pay attention and focus on one thing, you'll find it anywhere and everywhere you look.

...and They Live is a kick ass movie. You also need a video playback device and a television to watch it (they got you by the balls w/ that one!), unless you pick up the horrible censored version on USA or something.

I'll read the rest of the thread later, but so far it's interesting if you ever wanna stike up a chat with someone about off the wall conspiracy theories.

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ARTelevision

The thread is intended to raise questions, issues, and as a method of inquiry. It's a long thread. It evolves and moves in a way that covers many of the points you raise. There's a dialog that includes both sides of each - to the extent that folks have found them interesting. It continues to include other aspects of cultural manipulation and our susceptibility to it, moves to others, and never does, I think, reach resolutions, solutions, or conclusions. Welcome to the thread. I think it has some value to a kind of ongoing investigation of ourselves and what it may mean to be what we are and what we may or may not wish to be.

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Cynthetiq

well stated art, there doesn't seem to be any end to this discussion in any concrete conclusion. it is merely to raise awareness.

Stompy, MTV Networks spends lots of money on researching what's hot, what's not, and how things become hot. I know for a fact that they spend lots of money (I don't see the budgets, but I do know how much staff is in that department and I see the research that they purchase, collect, pore over, and make judgements.) The reason that they spend all this research money? So that the development money for shows pays the most. For every $1 MTV spends on producing a show they take in $2. I remember when I first came to the company and it was just 4 channels and then they launched TVLand. Ever since they they have had record profits as they continue to buy up and launch other channels. Today there are 18 cable channels in the US, and over 100+ countries. MTV is gearing up to open in China and in Africa.

Remember the old commercials "I want my MTV!"? Yes, that's clever marketing and brand building. There's not a single place on this planet that I can go to and tell someone where I work and them not say that at some point in time. That is the power of a brand.

You shared about AXE and not smelling like ass. You're very right, no one wants to smell like ass. But given the amount of competition when you look on the shelves for a deoderant product something has to differentiate itself, either commercial (AXE - sex, masculinity - Old Spice, feminity - secret,) cost, packaging color/shape.

Marlboro cigarettes used to be marketed to women. It was a poor seller. Once they found the cowboy theme, Marlboro has been one of the top sellers worldwide.

I do highly recommend checking out Merchants of Cool it's available to watch online. I'm just about to watch The Persuaders which I think will be equally eye opening.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.