November 30th, 2008 
joel Trying to burn off those added Thanksgiving pounds? Well, get worked up about your favorite Erie media dilemna (and there’s quite a few out there) and participate in Deep Background. Consider this open comment forum as a rhetorical StairMaster, as we together try to climb the mountains of issues facing our media outlets.
As always, slip me an e-mail if you’d rather (with no fear of mixing my metaphors) fly under the radar at joel@nataliemedia.com.
Embrace the chaos.
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Why don’t the folks in charge of the local media websites (goerie, yourerie, wicu, wsee) take the time needed to be sure their sites are updated? By the time some of these sites are updated, I can recite the content from memory. One reason behind having a website is the ability to show up-to-the moment content, not the same stuff I read in the paper three days ago.
Swing your golf club and hit a perfect short iron onto the sloping green. Precisely where the ball lands, the spin, the endless possible directions of slope, and more variables, determine if you will be closer to the pin…….
or trail helplessly farther and farther away.
The Butterfly Effect says the same thing, that is, the slight motion of a butterfly flap in Africa, can produce air motion, that can be picked up by heat and wind, and furied into a hurricane in Louisiana. Little events have BIG consequences.
Our local TV anchors have flapped in and out of our vision, with many a new face flitting into view, and disappearing. But the long term standby face was always there for comfort, believability, integrity, security, and habit.
That is history now. We know that chaotic forces are removing TV anchors into an endangered species.
I suspect that the little flap of Anchor Removal nationwide will lead to a hurricane of ignorance in the future.
Here come the layoffs as A Generation of Local TV Anchors Is Signing Off:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/business/media/01anchor.html?em
Kiran, we hardly knew ye .
WICU/WSEE to merge……….
or so I hear.
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/go-erie/TCKUKBHO62HBRBRD0
Danny,
That WSEE to WICU rumor has been swirling lately with increasingly frequency on several media websites. I wonder if the silence from WSEE’s Scott Bremner means anything?
(I could say more but that would only fuel the rumor mill)
It is new to me, Insider.
Consolidation is going on in every venue of our lives and commerce. It is as if, fewer and fewer can do more and more. At some point, there will be a total breakdown, OR sole control of everything by one entity….. likely the government given the propensity to buy everything at bailouts.
In the interest of Erie, PA, it would be reasonable to ascertain if the number of stations we have are actually needed locally. The answer would be found in a quick look back.
I recall ABC coming to Erie with a flurry of excitement that “Batman” would now be available. We then had all 3 networks represented. Our community has long supported 3 networks locally, and frankly, provided internships for many a college grad.
However, I do not believe the consolidation has to do with a change of Erie, PA or our needs.
The NETWORKS are going to consolidate as they continue to lose viewership.
Insane productions, too many ads of dubious quality, a failure to become inclusive with new media (all 3 should be on Ipods long ago), miserable web sites, failure to capture the imagination of Generation Text, the list goes on. All of the excitement that came with the appearance of “Batman” has been turned into a dread and a quick reach for the mute button, or better, the OFF switch.
Media has no one to blame but themselves.
Advertising should be LESS, with bids and dollars going to the very best productions. Imagine TV with very few ads,… of very great quality. Restrict the air time for ads, raise the price to premium levels for that time, and accept only the best ads money can buy.
Money would flow, folks would watch, and a little bit of enjoyment and education would return.
Instead, we have blaring noise and copycat programming, plus repeating a show that becomes a hit multiple times in the same week. It leads to quick overexposure and death of the program.
Ps. Someone get GoErie to StopAds. Every page is now interrupted with an ad and you must educate yourself where the “Close” button is now hidden.
Charge MORE money for an ad; run fewer ads.
After a third “Target” ad for Christmas, I leave and read elsewhere. Most days, a simple hello to GoErie to see who died.
Maybe TV should have Obituaries with a stream on individual lives in video (supplied by family, friends).
Back off the weather obsession too.
There you have it. fewer ads, higher quality everything, news, weather, sports, death. Maybe NOT in that order.
That will be two cents please.
The radio air staff slaughter continues. At least 8 maybe 9 (lost count) have been axed in less than 3 months. That is literally half the radio personalities in Erie!
Looks like the corporate stockings will be filled with all the $ they’re now saving. Merry Christmas! and the death of local radio in the New Year!