On Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 3:55 PM, Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > > There are countless media consultants and media workshops teaching > people how to get their message across in the media. The discussions > with experts tend to become ritualized and devoid of content. And > people who know lots of content may not come across well on TV or may > just be uncomfortable and may decide not to appear or may not be asked > back after an appearance.
And it is here where someone who was wise within a cable network would say, "What if we helped you become a better speaker? What if we paid for the media training?" The equivalent of a farm team, if you will, of voices and perspectives that aren't on there? > As easy as it is to say that CNN should drop their go-to list of > analysts, any new analysts they get will soon enough hire media > consultants to help their appearances and in due time they will > resemble those they replaced. This is completely not a bad thing, as I don't think someone will proverbially go dry after only a couple conversations. > A lot of what analysts are asked to do is to determine the > consequences of current decisions or pending decisions: will the > healthcare plan create more jobs or cost jobs? Would a tax on soda > lower the obesity rate? How will state cuts in education funding > affect students graduating three years from now? The easiest answers > are content-free, cautiously predicting one way while hedging, or > being a hack and spouting the party/foundation ideological line > without going into particulars. This is what others have called the "horse racing" aspect of broadcasting. It's much much easier to put someone on the air to talk about winners and losers from a political perspective (and, I'd add, with the same level of accuracy as most handicappers) or find a "hired hand" who knows the content, but only from the perspective of their employer (think any analyst from the US Chamber Of Commerce, who is about as in touch with small business as my dog) than to bring someone in who knows the ins and outs of an issue without having a hand in the game. As a total aside: I'm on the bus now and Jeanne Moost's segment is on the WoF puzzle. They finally got the raw video from Sony for her segment. Good boy, CNN! Now heel for your treat and scratchies. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
