Beyond Petroleum

BP has become a lightning rod for public outrage over what has become the largest ecological disaster in U.S. history.  Much of that is richly deserved, given the amount of times this immensely profitable foreign oil giant has been cited by regulators for all kinds of major violations, the way they and other oil companies have maintained a cozy relationship with these same regulators, the heartwrenching stories from the survivors of the platform explosion that killed eleven workers and BP's initial downplaying of the oil spill.   Government is culpable as well, with lax enforcement that led up to this disaster and officials coming across as detached while BP seemed to run the show.  President Obama denied this, but there's a time for staying cool and a time to forcefully let BP, its contractors and most of all the public know who's in charge from the beginning.  The Obama administration was slow to recognize that.  They would be wise to heed the passionate statement of Democratic strategist and Louisiana native James Carville.  True, the blame game may not "plug the hole", but Carville's call for prison sentences is not out of line.   Our economy and quality of life cannot survive repeated hits like this.  We need to learn some lessons that go beyond energy independence and certainly beyond the idea that what's good for the oil companies is always good for the country.  Wasn't the Exxon Valdez spill bad enough?   

Pac Man Fever

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the arrival of the biggest phenomenon to hit video gaming: Pac-Man.  Up to that point, Asteroids and Space Invaders were the standard.  My first experience with video games was in the mid seventies, when the pinball machine was replaced by the very rudimentary game of Tank in the Keene State College pub.   I must have had a lot more free time back then, because I remember spending hours playing Pac-Man, especially after getting my own home Atari game.  My apartment roommate Pat took the intensity to a new level, racking up a million points one time.  I can't say my level of focus would ever have allowed that.  As much as Pac-Man (and Ms Pac-Man) were eighties icons, I preferred Centipede and Frogger.  I guess that gives me what is hopefully the only thing in common with George Costanza on Seinfeld.  I must have stopped being hooked on Pac-Man and all the others when I decided it was time to grow up.  That reasoning may not have made much sense, since I still don't know what I want to do for a living when I grow up!

Short Attention Span Political Theater

If I sense a pattern of any politician misleading constituents about their own or their opponent's military service, I believe they deserve to be shunned by the voters.  In this case, the offender is: Linda McMahon.  She and her staff leaked - to the New York Times - one ten-second soundbite from one 2008 speech by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal when he refers to his military service "in" Vietnam instead of "during."  A torrent of McMahon ads flooded Connecticut, and a 13 point Blumenthal lead in the polls has narrowed to 3 points.   Before Blumenthal could even respond, WTIC-AM's conservative Republican Jim Vicevich and GOP state chairman Chris Healy sounded downright giddy over the potential damage to the presumed frontrunner and successor to Senator Chris Dodd.   Blumenthal later came off as very defensive and indignant, which only served to stoke the talking heads on TV who insisted he should own up to the apparent distortion of his military service.  But something failed to happen.  Not only was there no pattern of his making claims to having served in Vietnam, but he actually clarifies himself within that same 2008 speech.  There were also many instances through the years when he stated that his military service during Vietnam was purely stateside.  Even as the AP said the following day that he had "correctly stated" his service, local TV websites are claiming "unanswered questions linger" as they focus on "political fallout."   As I was constantly reminded in broadcasting, audiences have shorter attention spans than ever.  An initial soundbite blast without any context can unfairly derail a political campaign.   If some pattern of deception is eventually uncovered, I'll be the first to say Blumenthal should bow out.  Right now the only intentional deception is from McMahon.  This is a sad week for state politics.

Radio Flashback: Radio 80 WLAD

It wasn't the biggest station I ever worked at, but it was the most memorable.  When I see what has since happened to local AM radio, the full service format and the role of a program director, I feel even more fortunate to have had the chance to be the PD of "Greater Danbury's Radio Station" at WLAD.   It was in an old hotel, and there was nothing luxurious about it.   There were no windows anywhere on the fourth floor of 198 Main Street in downtown Danbury - just old fluorescent lights - but there was no time to gaze out a window and daydream as time went by so quickly for me between November 1983 and June 1987.  There was never a dull moment for this 30-year-old guy who felt he had something to prove at WLAD.   For the most part, there was room to do a lot.  General manager Bob Putnam let me do my thing, make my mistakes (just a few!) and hopefully move things forward.  Unlike today when technology often trumps people, WLAD had a full staff: a three-person full-time news team, a sports director, a midday talk show host with a producer and live air talent evenings and weekends.   We didn't have a production or promotions director, so creative spots and contests were a challenge we had to spread around.  It worked, although I admit to having a few sleepless nights thinking about how to get things to the next level.  My worrying was pointless - the people there made it happen.  We even had a direct competitor across town at WINE, and I loved the fact that they were very good and wanted to knock us off so badly - nice try guys.        

A Golden Girl

What's not to like about Betty White?   NBC's Saturday Night Live had its highest ratings in two years thanks to a Facebook petition started by someone who wasn't even born when she was playing the hilarious "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens on the Mary Tyler Moore Show in the seventies.   I read one criticism that the SNL writers didn't seem to know what to do with her beyond the obvious humor over her age, but it didn't matter to me.  She is still a riot.   Her appearance in a Snickers commercial during the Super Bowl reminded everyone that she's still at the top of her game.  At 88 (and a half), Betty White has still got it.   While on the subject of aging gracefully, we note the passing Sunday of singer Lena Horne at 92.   With her talent and beauty, she too fought aging every step of the way.

Worth the Investment?

After a wild couple of days on Wall Street, we see a glimmer of hope on the jobs front.  This recovery is not coming fast enough for anyone I know, but when I look at what some other types of advertising media are charging you would think we were in a depression.  I looked at one of those free classified flyers you only see in some stores.  They were advertising ads the size of our half page for $50.  I suppose if you're shopping purely by price, this would be the way to go, but where does it go?  How is it distributed?   If they can make money and get at least minimal results, then more power to them.  The Extra & The Advertiser have always been reasonably priced, but I'll tell you right here that $50 ads would never even cover the cost of printing our papers (with color), mailing (over 26,000 households) and commissions (we need to eat too).  While once mighty daily newspapers, weekly papers hung outside the mailbox or flyers asking $50 for their biggest ads may have had to go to extremes to weather a changing marketplace, we have maintained our advertisers because we have built solid relationships.  Even so, we could be the nicest guys in the world but the real reason we've been around for over 20 years is simple: direct mail advertising works!  Try us for three times / three months and see what we mean.   That's our story - and we're sticking to it.

Energy Independence?

During the last decade, the cry went out for more offshore oil drilling and refineries as part of the need for a self-sufficient U.S. energy policy. These voices - including those of the oil industry - seemed to drown out the ones who called on us to remember the environmental disaster caused by the Exxon Valdez in Alaska. Now history repeats itself and it could be even worse, with the impact of the oil platform explosion off Louisiana not fully revealed for days. Apparently some relatively simple precautions by BP and its contractors could have prevented this catastrophe. The wild weather down South hasn't cooperated, either. When California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger saw the images of wildlife covered in oil and thousands of people's livelihoods threatened, he changed his mind about offshore drilling near his state. As we just begin to know the ramifications of this spill, perhaps we should all use this awful lesson to refocus our search for energy. There are no quick fixes, especially through our heavy reliance on oil - foreign or domestic.