Archive for October, 2008

Halloween Special: Remembering the ‘Paul is dead’ hoax

By 1969, the world has already experienced the summer of love, the murders of Martin and Bobby, and fear and suspicion was rampant. So when a college student named Tom called a popular Detroit radio DJ talking about evidence he discovered that suggested that Paul McCartney of the Beatles had died, it set the world on fire.

Even though there was no internet chat rooms, blogs or 24-hour cable news, this rumor spread very quickly and was difficult to refute, given the volume of so-called “evidence.”

The shortened version of the story is that Paul McCartney had a minor car accident in 1966. Rumors about the accident were amplified to the assertion that he had crashed his car and was beheaded. He was then replaced by a lookalike, but the Beatles had left clues in their music and album art about the switch.

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Morning Show Scope: WRKT (Rocket 101)

Editor’s Note: Make sure you visit The Press and Tower tomorrow for our Halloween special…Classy 100’s Ron Arlen helps us with a special remembrance and I’ll give you a hint: you won’t have to read the post “backwards” to get the real message.

This is the third in our series of excerpts from Erie radio morning shows. We call them “scopes,” where we eliminate all of the commercials and music to “telescope” and focus on the air personality content.

The Rocket 101 Morning Crew of Mojo and Nat have the distinction of being Erie radio’s longest running morning show, having been together for 15 years. Allen Carpenter as AC joined the crew last spring. Rocket is tied for third place in the Spring 2008 book, obviously deriving much of their strength from the consistency of their morning show.

Take a listen to the scope and please offer your constructive comments, and I’ll weigh in sometime this weekend.

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Some famous political commercials

So next week at this time we “should” know who the president-elect is and we will be able to watch Dancing With The Stars or a football game without seeing the guy with the protruding ears, or the protruding cheek.

But there’s still a good full week of political commercials to go, so I thought I’d exasperate the issue by showing famous political ads from days gone by.
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Times-News picks Obama, Dahlkemper

This is not Grandpa Mead’s newspaper anymore.

Though it’s not unheard of for the Erie Times-News to endorse a Democrat for president, the paper’s Editorial Board has historically leaned conservative with their national picks.

That’s why it is a little shocking that the paper, which continues to be owned by the very pro-business Mead family, not only endorsed Barack Obama for President, but also Kathy Dahlkemper for Congress in the 3rd District.

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Poll: has election coverage been biased?

Last week we asked about your next technology purchase. The largest percentage said they would be buying a flat-screen HDTV. The next two most popular purchases were a gaming console and Blueray DVD player.

This week, I want to get your opinion about the media coverage of the presidential race. On Wednesday the Pew Research Center released an analysis of how the press reported the 2008 campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain. Their opening statement says it all:

“The media coverage of the race for president has not so much cast Barack Obama in a favorable light as it has portrayed John McCain in a substantially negative one, according to a new study of the media since the two national political conventions ended.”

What do you think? Has the press been down the middle or biased either way.

Has the presidential election media coverage been biased?

  • Yes...the media has favored Barack Obama. (76%, 35 Votes)
  • No...the media is playing it right down the middle. (15%, 7 Votes)
  • Yes...the media has favored John McCain. (9%, 4 Votes)

Total Voters: 46

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Deep Background for Oct. 26-Nov. 1, 2008

We celebrate randomness each week on Deep Background. Tell us your scoops, ask the hard questions, be silly or sarcastic…just as long as you are appropriate and civil.

If you have a item you’d rather handle privately, please send me an e-mail at joel@nataliemedia.com.

Embrace the chaos!

Press and Tower Podcast-Oct. 25, 2008

In this show, we talk to Peter Panepento of GlobalErie, about nonprofits and social media, the adoption of new media by the traditional Erie media providers, and a review and look ahead for his blog network. Give our fast-paced conversation a listen, and let us know what you think.

Download The Press and Tower Podcast for October 25, 2008 or listen below.

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