The Sternberg Effect
Blog
The cable news industry says coverage of attempted coup was must-see-TV
Still more work to be done to regain trust, no matter how many people watch The Trump administration has been great for the news media. (Prior to the coronavirus.) Subscriptions, ratings, and traffic have been up; political advertising, as the New York Times wrote in November, “has been a gold mine.” But the administration also … Continue reading
The world watches American democracy shake
But will the news media change its ways? The fever that has enveloped the Republican party for the last decade, from the Tea Party to Trumpism, reached new heights yesterday as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Since December 12, the president tweeted at least nine times about a “Stop the Steal” protest in D.C., shepherding … Continue reading
It's B2B media's moment
From M&A deals to experimenting with revenue streams, verticals are the hot thing In the past few months we’ve seen private equity firms swoop up niche media titles, and then give those companies some cash to go and buy other properties and companies to help the company grow. But we’re also seeing how niche verticals … Continue reading
IBM hires Gary Cohn, former Trump economic adviser
Is there a new calculus for brands hiring administration officials? It’s not easy being a ~BRAND. You pay millions of dollars to create an image, spend millions more on sending that message of your image out to the masses through print, tv, out-of-home, digital ads, corporate sponsorships, stadium namings, media partnerships, anywhere you can slap … Continue reading
The unforced errors of media, from booking to sourcing, when it comes to its role in spreading lies
Lost my mind just a couple of times. Happy New Year! It’s good to see you. Hope you had a relaxing and safe holiday. Lots has happened since we last chatted. When I was a lowly public relations professional, paid to place clients into all sorts of publications, I worked for an eccentric, if not … Continue reading
The year that was
Or wasn’t, depending on your POV Welcome to the 159th (!!) and final edition of the Media Nut for 2020. When I started this little newsletter after I was laid off in April, I didn’t imagine that a) I’d be writing this every day and b) there would be 3,588 people who’d subscribe. Truly amazing, … Continue reading
When two companies allegedly collude against an industry
This looks baaaaaaaaaaad In 2018, during a Senate hearing on Facebook, Senator Lindsey Graham asked Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg about who Zuckerberg considers to be a Facebook competitor. “There are three categories I would focus on. One, are the other tech platforms. So Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft; we overlap with them in many ways,” Zuckerberg … Continue reading
With so much media analysis, news organizations still can't frame stories properly
What happens when you know both the disease and cure but don’t actually do anything about it? The last four years should have taught us that language matters. We should have learned from the very first day of the Trump administration that when you have officials who blatantly lie about things that are easily proven … Continue reading
Let's talk about fraud
In the newsroom and on the business-side. It’s Friday, the day after a snowstorm, so let’s talk about fraud. Journalism is a hard industry. Reporters talk to people, take complex stories and try to contextualize an event, or series of events, to make them readable. And this, perhaps, is the biggest challenge of being a … Continue reading
Snow day!
Enjoy it, if you can. Hey all. Taking a snow day today, doing the dad thing and shoveling (and hopefully not doing the other dad thing and hurting myself while I shovel), and then playing with the kids. Snowpeople will be made; maybe even go sledding. Will also get a fire going, watch a movie … Continue reading
Brevity for news can be good. But not on Facebook.
The soul of wit is about to become the soul of despair. My liege and madam, to expostulateWhat majesty should be, what duty is,Why day is day, night night, and time is time,Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time.Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,I … Continue reading
The government continues to flood the zone against Silicon Valley
Orders and subpoenas, oh my! Perhaps emboldened by antitrust lawsuits against Facebook and Google, other arms of the government, both at the federal and state level, are picking up the baton. On Monday, the FTC in a 4-1 vote issued orders to Amazon, ByteDance, Discord, Facebook, Reddit, Snap, Twitter, What’sApp and YouTube to provide the … Continue reading
On newspaper opinion sections and op-eds
What do opinions mean when they are everywhere? This has been a ~year~ for the national newspaper opinion and op-ed pages, playing a role in America’s discourse (even if that discourse is louder online than at the dinner table). Which, if we want to take a dispassionate view, is exactly the point of the opinion … Continue reading
When homepages tell a story
Has the prime publisher real estate lost its value? Today is an interesting day for homepages. Sorta. I went to bed last night not knowing who won Time’s Person of the Year; it was a choice between Dr. Anthony Fauci and frontline workers, President Donald Trump, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and … Continue reading
Washington's revolving door
What the political press hasn’t learned over the last four years Washington is broken. This we know. But that phrase typically lends itself to conversations about our government. President Trump’s “Drain the swamp” message resonated with Americans because we have long considered Washington to be a corrupt arena in which the powerful grow their power … 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
