The Sternberg Effect
joshsternberg
Nielsen wants to deliver you targeted ads on your TV
Digital and linear getting down and dirty. The defining phrase of the digital advertising era—delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time—has always been farcical, at least on its face. We know the example: you buy a pair of sneakers online, and then you get pummeled with sneaker ads for three … Continue reading
Some final(ish) thoughts on the election
Can we stop making journalists *the* story? Last week, an eternity ago really, we talked about how “media” has become its own story of the U.S. presidential election. Where the spotlight used to be on the candidates, it now shines brightly on media personalities. In a way, it’s inevitable. Big production budgets, fancy “magic walls,” … Continue reading
F R I D A Y
(And we have a new president. I think?) Enjoy the weekend. The next few weeks are going to be long. Thank you for allowing me in your inbox, today and everyday. If you have tips, thoughts on the newsletter or want to help me run for Congress in 2022, drop me a line. Or you … Continue reading
Mind The Gap
(Also, never tweet) There are only three things guaranteed in life: death, taxes, and brands doing ill-advised posts on social media. The Gap entered into the Brand Fuckup Hall of Fame with this tweet of unity and love, clearly not reading the moment, both in society and on Twitter, two places where comity doesn’t exist. … Continue reading
Some loose thoughts on the election
I watched Hubie Halloween last night and that was a good decision. A few loose thoughts today, since my brain is officially chocolate pudding. As we talked about yesterday, over the last 20 years, the media has become a concurrent narrative of the election. (Axios has some data to support this.) Last night was no … Continue reading
A walk through Election Nights' past
How “the media” has become as much the story as the candidates. Once upon a time, Election Night was about the election; its candidates and how citizen’s votes helped push their chosen candidates’ vision for the nation. But then 2000 happened and the election turned into a media story. Twenty years ago tonight I went … Continue reading
An Election Eve poem
Sure, why not? With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore, a poem about the last four years and media. Twas the night before the election, when all through the land Everyone was nervous, every woman and man; The last four years has put stress on us all And the media, too, has had its stumbles and … Continue reading
The McRib is back
One of the best marketing stunts dusts off the cobwebs. Five straight days of rain leading into “the most important election of our lifetimes”™ hasn’t unconvinced me that we are indeed Muggles and there are wizarding things afoot. (I started reading Harry Potter to my 6-year-old, so, sorry!) Speaking of wizardry, let’s talk about some … Continue reading
Media sales teams' budgeting process in the Covid Era
Can’t look to 2020 to budget for 2021 There are very few immutable laws when you’re a media seller, as the nature of the job is to be flexible, bending at the whims of media agencies and RFPs and clients and internal bosses. However, when it comes to budgets, the phrase, “If you don’t use … Continue reading
Should reporters participate in democracy?
It’s weird that we even have to entertain this question. On Monday, we talked about the sacred cow of newspaper endorsements and how it’s time to put them out to pasture. Today, another one has moo-ed across the lawn: journalists giving money to politicians. Business Insider has an in-depth piece on 39 journalists across a … Continue reading
Facebook rewards engagement. And it's ripping us apart.
The echo chamber is real and not at all spectacular. We are just a week from Election Day, a misnomer in this weird year, as there have already been 64 million votes cast. And starting today, Facebook’s policy of pausing all campaign-related ads kicks in. But does that really matter? Lol no. Facebook political ad … Continue reading
What's a newspaper presidential endorsement worth?
Not much, really. And yet every four years we go through the motions. As we’re eight days away from “the most important election of our lifetime”™, it’s also time for the ritualistic newspaper editorial board presidential endorsement. One of the (many) things we should have learned from the 2016 presidential cyclone is that newspaper endorsements … Continue reading
On sourcing and story frames
The anatomy of a political story. Sometimes it is about the ethics of journalism. Take this story in the New York Times about how voters in suburban Atlanta are voting for Donald Trump. This has been a recurring story, how people across the country support the president. What makes this particular story from Elaina Plott … Continue reading
Pernod Ricard wants to halt the spread of hate
Perhaps it should stop donating to politicians who think elsewise? Pernod Ricard, the $9 billion French alcoholic beverage company, wants to “help stop the spread of hate” online. Following this summer’s #StopHateForProfit campaign, which saw about 1,000 advertisers (including Pernod Ricard) pause or pull spend across Facebook, Pernod Ricard is creating its own thing called … Continue reading
Augmented Reality picks up steam
A couple old friends pop back onto our radar Snapchat had its earnings report yesterday, and while there was no mention of lightsabers or spaghetti, the company continues to show that both advertisers and users are more interested in an augmented reality than in our own current hellscape reality. Which, I guess, seems pretty obvious. … Continue reading
Unnecessary Journalism Phrases
- How about “lifeless body” when describing a dead person? Here’s a good (bad)...
- bobbymacReports: A growing number of stories with a growing number
- Alliterative Journalism Phrases
- Apologies on the lack of posts
- While not necessarily an unnecessary journalism phrase, friend...
- 50. Old Man Winter - 11/7/11
- Push The Envelope Submitted by unretrecissement and her...
- 49. A.M. in the Morning/P.M. in the Afternoon/Evening, at Night - 11/3/11
- 48. Emergency Situation - 11/2/11
- 47. Roll(ed)(ing) in his/her grave - 10/31/11
