The Greater Voice

Americans: A Nation of Slackers?

 

So, what are Americans like you and me up to these days? The Bureau of Labor Statistics just released their annual American Time Use Survey and they have some answers. According to Cheryl Russell of New Strategist Publications, who published the survey, “People think Americans spend most of their time working. Actually, we devote five hours a day to leisure activities – that’s more than anything besides personal care, such as sleep.” 

Surprisingly, we spend half that coveted time, 2.5 hours a day, watching TV - more if you consider the time we spend watching while doing other things, according to Neilson Media Research. Prime time for most Americans is 9:00 pm, although with a choice of 116 channels, we’re certainly watching different shows.

 Here’s another surprise: while more married mothers are working, they’re devoting more focused time on the kids – about 13 hours a week. One reason: fathers are contributing more to housework (although women still get saddled with six times the laundry). These fathers are better Dads than in the past, too, devoting seven hours a week to their children.

 
If you think we’re a nation of slackers: don’t worry. Work ranks as number three on the list. Just try calling an employee around 11:00 am. That’s when most of us are at our desks.

 

 

Buzz Marketing: Consumer's Alert!

Here's one from my column Buzz on Buzz:

Buzz on Buzz: Now, Buy This!

The next time you go to a movie, don’t be surprised if you see a ticker tape – known as a crawl - creeping across the bottom of the screen.  Don’t be surprised, that is, if Writers Guild of America has its way. They recently contacted the FCC proposing a crawl that alerts viewers when a product placement ad is in progress. They think the ads, discreetly embedded in the movie’s plot, take advantage of unsuspecting viewers and rob script writers of their creative freedom.

 One example: the Burger King cheeseburger that Robert Downey famously downed in Ironman. That baby won enormous criticism from parent groups as well, including the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. They accused the ad of promoting obesity in kids and recommended it, and others of its kind, be banished forever.

Other groups have called for advisories posted at the beginning and end of the film while watchdog group Consumer Alert petitioned the FCC to require advertisers to disclose all product placement ads on TV. In one YouTube interview, legendary filmmaker David Lynch was asked for his opinion on product placement. His response was a series of expletives I won’t repeat here.

 

Naturally, advertisers disagree. An editorial this spring in Advertising Age claimed that people don’t notice or don’t mind the labels, logos, packages and mention of brands scattered throughout the screen.  Besides, they argue, how else can advertisers effectively reach a captive consumer? While Americans spend more time watching television than anything besides sleep and work, increasingly few stick around during commercials.

 Whether and how the winds shift in the advertising universe is anyone’s guess. But one thing’s for sure, product placement isn’t going away. The blockbuster movie Sex in the City had almost 100 product placement ads and the movie industry has experienced profits well into the billions of dollars. To see what happens next, head for your local movie theater. In between the ads, of course.

 

 

She's baaaackkkkk! The Confession

I'm back! Just in case you were wondering!

No blog for over seven months . No blog and no radio show for about six. So, where has the Greater Voice gone? Was it that I gave up on blogging? Gave up on radio? Gave up on MEDIA?? Hardly.But, I must confess I was unhappy with my show. The guests were great: interesting, edgy , powerful. But the production quality wasn't strong and although I COMPLAINED, sending e-mails, calling, insisting on a new producer, the mishaps kept happening.  One day, my new producers broke the news: We just can't give you the high NPR quality you want.

Hummm....Big problem, especially since a.) some of my guests were from NPR b.) All of my guests deserve a high quality interview and c.) my audience deserves a high quality experience and...if they don't get it, they won't listen. NOT rocket science. So, I left. And since then, I've been putting together some really cool shows with relly great guests for my new online show which will be broadcasting on SBTV! That's SBTV.com - www.sbtv.com which gives me a broader audience and better quality productions.

A REALLY COOL NEWSLETTER...MINE.

WANT to hear about my latest interviews? With people like David Hilliard, co-founder of the Black Panthers or (conversely) the John Taylor, Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs under W.  speaking about terrorists and our money, sign up for my e-mail at www.thegreatervoice.com.

MORE NEWS -

For many years, I've been writing articles and opinion pieces distributed through Knight Ridder then the McClatchy Group. One day I get an e-mail from my editor saying he was reassigned and he department was closing down...leaving writers like me stranded.

What ensued was about a dozen calls to editors at the publications which once published my work. And the story was bleak - getting bleaker. No one wants to advertise in the newspaper. No one reads the newspaper. No one has budget for anything. No one is hiring. This was tantamount to clinical depression, with self-pity (lots of it) thrown in. What to do...what to do.

I was busy looking online and found a really great place to send my pieces - one who posts and distributes them, much as McClatchy did. It's www.opednews.com. Take a look - lots up there. In the meantime, I still haven't given up on print publications - just bidding my time until they make a recovery after, we can hope, some economic rehab.