The Sternberg Effect
joshsternberg
A Chapter Closes On A 500+ Year-Old Book
At the end of the last year of the first decade of the revolutionary 17th century, Galileo looked up to the heavens and made a simple, yet stunning observation: the Moon is not, as believed, to be a perfectly smooth sphere.
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Critical Analysis of “Page One: Inside the New York Times”
It’s been a very long time since I wrote a critical content analysis of a film, so I decided to write one about “Page One.” A note: This is unedited and very, very long, and is not meant to be a “like it or not” review, but instead, to use a theoretical lens to discuss this particular documentary. This critique looks at “Page One” through an expository mode of representation lens, which is meant to highlight a) how to read documentary film, b) how this film uses a the expository mode of representation to push its agenda and from that, c) can documentary film be objective? Continue reading
Thoughts on Immigration
One of the great things about America is that just about everyone, at some point in their familial line, has an amazing and compelling immigration story. We often forget this, as we spit venom towards those who cross our borders, a tactic that has been replayed again and again over the generations.
We’re a nation of nomads, of frontiersmen and women, of expansionists.
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42
Yesterday, April 15th, was, as noticed on here, a day that has a significant amount of history to it. One thing left of that list, was that it was the day that Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier. To honor Jackie’s influence in baseball, Major League Baseball retired his number, 42, several years ago and has proceeded to have its players wear number 42 every April 15th.
The only active player who gets to wear 42 every other day of the year is the incomparable Mariano Rivera. But, interestingly, the number 42 has a certain significance in baseball history.
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Should We Be Mad?
A few days ago, after catching up on a few Daily Shows, I ranted on Tumblr about being mad: We should be mad as hell right now. Mad at the government for not fulfilling its duty of protecting those who need protection; mad at the media for propagating untruths over and over again until we … Continue reading
On Being Stood Up and Generational Differences
I had two meetings scheduled today; one with a mid-to-late 30s guy and another with an early-to-mid 20s guy. Both are in the media space, each working for hugely influential companies.
The older guy sent me an email this morning saying something came up – let’s postpone. We communicated and rescheduled. These things happen. The second guy never came to the restaurant we were supposed to meet at. Yep, I was stood up.
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Beware the IRS Phishing Scam
Fifteen years ago, I was almost a multi-millionaire. I received an email from a Nigerian prince whose parents died in a tragic plane crash and he needed to move money around, so he naturally contacted me, a complete and utter stranger, asking if he could wire me $7 million into my bank account, of which I’d get to keep half. I’d have to fill out some forms which included my social security number, bank routing number, etc., and then I’d have a cool $3.5 million to my name. Not bad for an 18 year old college freshman.
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Thanksgiving Tradition
Every Thanksgiving in NYC (since I’ve only lived in this area, not sure if Alice’s gets played around the nation – do they play the song where you live?) at 12:00pm, radio stations play Arlo Guthrie’s classic, Alice’s Restaurant. No matter what I’m doing, I make sure to sit on my parent’s old, yet incredibly … Continue reading
Exporting American culture
America’s imperialism – how we export our culture – tries to win the hearts and minds of others. Interesting how the Iranian regime responds (from the NYT):
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Tumblr
This post originally ran on Mediaite. I wanted to add it here because this blog has gotten lonely and wanted some company. But please feel free to read this and other posts of mine over at Mediaite.
For 50+ years, if someone were to mention The Big Three Networks, one would automatically know the conversation was about ABC, NBC and CBS. Over the past several years, a new Big Three Networks has emerged, only now it’s the social networks of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (and while the folks at MySpace believe they’re in this cadre, who really uses MySpace anymore except for the next promising local band?).
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Nine Years
Nine years. 3,285 days. Man, time flies. One of the things that make us, well, us is our capacity to communicate complex ideas (another awesome human characteristic is our opposable thumb, but that’s for another day). We are story tellers and each generation has their story to tell, typically marked by an Earth-shattering experience.
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Heading home
I’m on the 139 (NJ Transit) heading back to my childhood home for Labor Day BBQ, pool party and some golf with a whole bunch of friends. As I sit in the front passenger seat (I’m a bit neurotic when it comes to riding on buses, I need to be in the first seat so I can see what’s in front of me), hometown favorite Bruce Springsteen (he grew up next town over) comes on Pandora (incidentally, I’m listening, of course, to the Phish radio station). All the while, I’m on the surprisingly open road we call The Turnpike, which is usually a parking lot on the Friday of a major holiday, or any Friday in the summer, really.
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The WTC Mosque
So imagine this scenario:
You just finished reading your big book of answers when you hear a knock at the door. You think to yourself, well, it can’t be Trouble because there was a knock. Trouble enters without letting you know. You walk to the door where you find three close friends. You let them in, but they seem different. There’s a look of fear, and a look of sadness in their eyes. This is when you realized Trouble can come into your home, invited, masked as Friendship. Your friends see your big book of answers sitting on the table and they tell you, “We’re sorry, but you have to come with us.” You’ve heard stories, you know what happens next, so you say, “Let me tell my kids I love them.” Your friends, the ones who have aligned themselves with Trouble in order to protect their families, lead you out of your house, as they take your big book of answers with them to be tossed aside, burned and destroyed.
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Learning How To Use Sunblock
I am not what you’d call a beach person. When I was younger, I would go to Jones Beach (Field 6) with my dad, but when we moved to NJ, I just stopped going. Maybe it was because the water was usually gross; maybe it was I hated the sand in my bathing suit; or maybe it was because I never tanned, just burned (my Eastern Eurpoean genes are working hard this week).
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Communications Renaissance: Thoughts From Guest Lecturing
Last night, I had the pleasure of guest lecturing at NYU for a class about PR 2.0. About 2 minutes into the class, I felt right at home. Maybe it was because the class was intimate – only 8 students; maybe it was because the professor, Matt Knell making me feel at ease. Or maybe because I’ve been there before, in front of a class of people wanting to learn.
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Unnecessary Journalism Phrases
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