The Snow Report

James Brown

I woke up this Christmas morning to hear CNN report the news of James Brown's death in Atlanta, Georgia at 73.  Like my Dad, Brown had checked into the hospital with pneumonia and did not check out.  Like Dad, Brown suffered from diabetes and the two conditions working together can lead to sudden congestive heart failure.  A quick Google search showed that his illness was expected to be short with his publicist informing the media that Brown would still honor his concert engagement at B.B. King's nightclub in NYC for New Years Eve.  It was not to be. 

Brown defined my musical tastes from the start.  He was a one-of-a-kind package of gospel & church, sex on stage, rage against the man, and good old time rock-and-roll.  The black Elvis was James Brown and in the South anything connected to Elvis evokes quasi-religious devotion.  For years I've answered the question, "Where were you born?" with a James Brown reference.  I say, "Augusta, Georgia," followed by the energized follow-up "I feel good" with my best white girl James Brown imitation.  Brown fans know right away that I'm referring to his hit single "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and to his own hometown.  Though he was born in Barnwell, South Carolina, Augusta was where Brown moved when he was six years old.  It was in Augusta that he developed his musical genius.  It was also in Augusta where James Brown became quite familiar with local police.  He was far from a perfect man.  His all too human shortcomings, including multiple charges of domestic abuse and violence, do not make me want to sanctify him.  I'd rather like to think of him as an onstage legend who left us with an incredible bag of tracks, with more than 50 Top 10 R&B hits.  More than that though, he made me feel pain and longing in music like few other black performers, Aretha Franklin accepted.  And his influence on other performers around the world makes him not only the godfather of soul but an honorific cultural ambassador for American culture.

Brown once said that music is the universal language of communication.  His passing makes me believe even more in the classic artists of blues, soul, rock-and-roll, and jazz, to present a picture of America to the world that can better communicate our oneness with others.  Enough of this trying to get everyone to agree with all our policies--let's let the man sing his song and oh yeah, let's watch him dance just one last time.  Rest in peace, brother James.      

Cute and Perky Katie Heads to CBS News

Forecast: Q Rating High, But What About Hard News Quality? 

The breaking news story today is that Karie Couric, 49, announced her end of May departure from The Today Show after fifteen years.  She chose to make the announcement on the 15th anniversary of her April 5, 1991 hire as co-anchor of "The Today Show."  The CBS Evening News is hiring the cute and perky Katie as its first sole woman anchor in broadcast news history.  Couric is the longest host of a daytime morning show and now she's making history again.  Morning show viewers love Katie because she fits well into the kaffee klatsch banter and doesn't overly tax minds with hard-hitting interviews.  Okay, so occasionally she's thrown a punch or two, especially in a June 2002 interview with scary conservative write Ann Coulter, but that's almost too easy a target.  And she was even deputy Pentagon correspondent at NBC, which I don't remember.  But to jump to the CBS Evening News slot that has been held by Rather, Cronkite and most recently Schieffer?  This is the network that gave us Murrow, the legendary Tiffany network that put quality over the bottom line. Somehow I cannot picture the woman who has dressed up as Marilyn Monroe and SpongeBob SquarePants as the person America will turn to for national network unity. 

Kudos to her educational background, a 1979 graduate in American Studies from the University of Virginia and a member of Tri Delt.  My brother, Stuart Snow, member of Kappa Alpha fraternity, graduated the same year from UVA in pre-law and later UVA law school. 

She has also had great sadness with the death of her husband Jay Monahan from colorectal cancer in 1998 at the age of 42 and the death of her sister, Virginia state senator Emily Couric, from pancreatic cancer in 2001.  I salute her allowing America to watch her undergo a colonoscopy on camera which likely did more to raise awareness on colon cancer than anything previously done. 

But I just don't see Katie making it at CBS, either on the Evening News or with 60 Minutes.  She will earn about $16 million, roughly the same she's getting from The Today Show.  You have to ask yourself, for what?  These network people have huge staffs to assist them in everything--research, make-up, coffee, you name it.

Am I the only one weirded out by the sense of excitement about this hire?  If anything, this is so predictable and obviously designed to target a younger demographic since she's a very youthful-looking woman in her late 40s and Schieffer is almost 70.  Will I watch because Katie is anchoring the news at CBS?  No.  And I don't think America will watch after the initial buzz wears off.  Take a look at the CBS News webpage that includes an interactive Couric Overview including a "Katie Talk" section of quotes from Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis.  This news personality idolatry is getting way out of hand.  Why aren't we talking about the state of the news media instead of the state of the news media personalities?   

New Mandate for BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), affectionately known as "the Beeb" to its listeners, may be changing direction toward more entertainment and less news.  Sarah Lyall's NYT article (03/17/06), "New Mandate for BBC: Putting Entertainment First," quoted Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell: "The BBC should continue to take fun seriously, ingraining entertainment into all its services."  Jowell warned that the BBC shouldn't offer "an overdose of worthiness" to its viewers/listeners.  Oh my.  An 84-year-old former radio institution that runs 8 TV stations as well as dozens of radio stations must keep up with the lowest-common-denominator we call infotainment.  I hope not.  Personally I love the BBC World Service, the flagship international broadcasting service that reaches nearly 150 million listeners in 43 languages.  The Voice of America stares on with radio envy.

Private broadcast competitors to the BBC hate the way it is financed, mostly through an annual license fee that the British government taxes on all TV set owners.  That fee is about $220 for a color TV and $73 for a black-and-white set.  Altogether, these fees alone generate over $5.23 billion per year for the British broadcaster.  The entire State-Department U.S. public diplomacy budget (that includes non-military international broadcasting) is around $1billion per year. 

One Conservative Party member called the BBC license fee "an example of the stealthiest of stealth taxes."  I disagree.  The Beeb is the most respected international broadcaster in the world and has probably done more to "brand" the image of Great Britain as a world affairs leader than most any other product or service.  If only the United States government were innovative and forward-thinking enough to impose such a "culture fee" on our own international broadcasting services.  The VOA, which is struggling to maintain its English-language programming, could use a boost of investment in order to contribute to international news broadcasting.  So far, this government has chosen to pare down VOA to programming tied to the war on terror--a very short-sighted, crisis communications prescription that does nothing to address America's image problem in the world.

The BBC's finance structure is a small per capita public interest investment that reeps rich dividends in advancing international affairs knowledge.  It's my hope that the Beeb will continue to do what it does best and not fall victim to the entertainment-as-news mantra of the day.         

Dueling Divas in the Desert

I covered the Pacific Life Open tournament Friday, March 17, 2006 as a special correspondent for my college newspaper, the Daily Titan.  I was there to watch the diva matchup between Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis.  It was nice to be in the desert for a change and this stadium didn't disappoint.  The desert mountain backdrop of the Coachella Valley is extraordinarily beautiful. While there, I had the pleasure to meet a couple of legends of tennis.  Vic Braden is known for his topflight tennis academies in Provo, Utah and Kissimmee, Florida.  His enthusiasm for the sport is infectious.  I told Vic that he's a great questioner in press conferences, so how long has he been doing this. "Oh, about sixty years," he replied.  That includes pro playing days with the likes of Jack Kramer, Pancho Gonzales, and Bobby Riggs.  Also memorable to meet was Bud Collins, author of Bud Collins Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia.  Bud is known for his Wimbledon interviews, as the ultimate cheerleader for tennis, and for his shockingly bright clothing.  He's hard to miss anywhere.  I had to ask Bud the ultimate Hollywood insider question, "Who are you wearing?" to which he responded something about Zimbabwean material. Without a designer name, Bud, this is not going to make the E channel. Bud wrote copious notes while cheering on Martina with a range of remarks that reflected her yawing play from "C'mon little kid" to "Oh dear" to "What a scrappy fighter."  

A couple of life lessons I learned from these elite women tennis players emerged in their post-game press conferences.  At this level of tennis, it's not about the money.  Sharapova alone makes boatloads more from commercial endorsements than from tennis purses. What these women want is to win, and to win against the best. Just a few months ago, Hingis said she most looked forward to playing Sharapova because Maria always competes and fights for every point.  She "always gets the best out of me." In response to a question about whether or not she's still looking forward to playing her in another match after losing against her here, Hingis said with a smile, "even more now." That competitive fight is great for tennis fans because we're not there to root for bank accounts but for fair and feisty competition. Hingis shared her motivation to return to tennis in two words: "No regrets." Another good life lesson that is. Nothing so disappoints as to have a lifelong dream pass you by. No matter what happens this second time around, Hingis is proving that she's still got game, even if she never wins another big one.

Finally, I just had to ask Sharapova about the crowd's obvious preference for Hingis during their match play.  This came after Sharapova revealed that the crowd motivated her play, including a male fan who yelled out, "Martina, she's getting tired."  With that, Sharapova hit two winners in a row.  "I looked back at them, and I'm like, tired, my butt.  So don't mess with a truck.  You're going to become a pancake."  Our exchange follows:

Q. Does it matter to you if the crowd is behind you?

Sharapova: No, it doesn’t matter.

Q: The one fan seemed to make a difference.

Sharapova: No, it doesn’t matter. It’s just when everything was quiet, all of a sudden he’s right behind me and yells that right in my ear.

Q: The crowd seemed to be very much behind Hingis, her whole comeback.

Sharapova: Yeah, I mean that’s great. I love being the underdog. I love being the favorite. Whatever. I even like not being the favorite because I even play better.

Spoken like a true diva of tennis, who, for now, rules the desert.

Doh! America's Idol May Not Be The First Amendment

Forecast: Snowballed

I should have seen it coming.  Just last week, one of the quiz questions in my global media class was, "What primetime show is the longest-running ever developed?" Answer: "The Simpsons." So naturally I read with great interest this week that over half of all Americans can identify by name at least two main characters in this animated comedy.  That may seem harmless, but according to the same survey by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, less than one percent of us can name all five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  That's right.  Less than 1 percent.  Only a quarter of all Americans can name more than one of those freedoms (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances).  The Chicago Tribune noted: Many respondents also had interesting ideas about items the framers did not include.  The right to own pets, for example, which 21 percent of respondents said was listed someplace between "Congress shall make no law" and "redress of grievances." Seventeen percent said that the amendment contained the right to drive a car. And 38 percent thought that "taking the 5th Amendment" was part of the 1st. 

Oh dear.  Now I'm beginning to understand why public diplomacy czar Karen Hughes made such a big deal about the right to drive her own car when she spoke to a group of Saudi women on that first "Listening Tour."

I gave my students the "Am I Free?" freedom quiz posted on the McCormick website and here is a sample:

(1) Freedom of religion means we can believe in one God, many gods, or no God at all.

(2) Freedom of speech means we can call for the overthrow of the U.S. government. 

(3) Freedom of the press means a journalist cannot be forced to reveal confidential sources. 

Perhaps we should have "The Simpsons" star in a five-part series, "The Five Freedoms," a 21st-Century version of Norman Rockwell's series, "The Four Freedoms."  Maybe even Santa's Little Helper or Snowball II can explain it all in pet language.  But then again, they may be too offended that we have no constitutional right to own a pet in this country. 

   

The Incredible Mr. Knotts

I'm a man of the world, Andy. Why, I've even been to Raleigh!" – Deputy Barney Fife, aka Don Knotts

Don Knotts died February 24 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 81. Andy Griffith, his lifelong friend and co-star, was by his side.  Kids today will know Don Knotts as the voice of Mayor Turkey Lurkey in the 2005 film, "Chicken Little." A native of Morgantown, West Virginia, Knott's passing affected me deeply because he was just one year older than my father, Victor Donald Snow, Sr., who died in March 2005.  My Dad had a wonderful sense of humor, loved Andy Griffith and Don Knotts, and I'm hoping that he and Don will have much to laugh about together on that great front porch in the sky. While most Americans remember Don Knotts as the fumbling, bumbling, inept, but lovable Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show," my fondest memory is Don Knotts as a talking fish in "The Incredible Mr. Limpet."  I saw this 1964 movie sometime in the 70s and was taken by the innovative filming of that time--the transformation of a milquetoast everyman to heroic animated fish. The film made me laugh and cry, which is life in general, isn't it?  Henry Limpet wants his life to have meaning. He falls into the water off a Coney Island pier and you are taken along for some cinematic magic.  Not only does Mr. Limpet's wish come true, but he also manages to find love along the way and help the U.S. Navy locate German U-boats.  You absolutely love Don Knotts as fish or man, and what could have been a laughable tall fish tale is an enduring piece of celluloid of a funnyman with a heart.  It was the "Finding Nemo" of its day, forty years ahead of time.  Any child or adult with the heart of a child should have this movie in the family collection.   

I wish, I wish, I was a fish. --Henry Limpet

Gitmo and the American Image

Last week the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) released a damning report about U.S. treatment of Guantanamo detainees. The U.N. inspection team found that holding the so-called enemy combatants in such prison conditions and for an indefinite time period is a violation of international law. A Valentine's Day editorial in the Los Angeles Times said the following:

It is time to close the military prision in Guantanamo Bay.  The detainees there, numbering about 500, should be tried in court or released.  It is inhumane to hold them indefinitely in a place where torture is not uncommon and due process is absent.  These aren't our conclusions.  They are those of a recent United Nations inspection team that spent 18 months investigating conditions at Gitmo.  It's not necessary to endorse all of its recommendations--and it's hard to see how shutting down Gitmo would make the Bush administration any more amenable to respecting human rights and international conventions against torture--to observe yet again that the prison is a global embarrassment that does the U.S. more harm than good in the fight against terrorism.

The BBC4 radio program, "The World Tonight" asked me to comment about the American image in light of that UN report, the ongoing Abu Ghraib controversy, Lincoln Group "pay to sway" efforts in Iraq, and State Dept. public diplomacy efforts vs. Pentagon psyops and information operations. I wasn't optimistic that either Pentagon payola strategies or Karen Hughes' listening tours were going to move the needle forward anytime soon. Just tweeking the image isn't the main point.  The U.S. has a credibility gap in the world, not soley due to the American president's reputation, but also due to an integrated network of government contractors, patriotic media, and absent public outrage that feed the negative image of a country indifferent to any criticism.  We've got a tin ear at home and abroad.  We're going to have to start listening more, talking less, and learning about ourselves through the eyes of others. 

Click on the following URL to listen to "The World Tonight" for Feb. 16, 2006

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/shows/rpms/radio4/worldtonight_thu.ram

A Fat Cat in China

I turned on my TV this morning to CNN Headline News to find out that a 33 lb. white cat in China eats six pounds of chicken a day. Switching to CNN, there was Daryn Kagan with the same story but more information for the viewer: it's actually six pounds of chicken and pork. I then settled on Good Morning America, which did not disappoint. Seconds into the switch, they shared the story of the fat cat in China and confirmed that it is indeed chicken and pork in its daily diet. Glad to see there is some fact-checking going on in the news biz. Although riveted by this story, I checked my inbox and there were the results of an annual World Affairs survey of Americans by Gallup. The survey asked Americans to name six world leaders (see below). Over half identified 3 or more while only 2 percent of Americans could name all six. Gallup says that less than one out of five (17 percent) Americans can be considered to have high knowledge of the world leaders (naming five or six) and that results have not changed appreciably since Gallup last ran a similar world leaders quiz in 2003. Only 29 percent surveyed could name the Mexican president. Gallup said identification of world leaders is affected by longevity in office and prominence in world affairs. How about lack of global affairs coverage on our mainstay source of news, television? So, putting aside what fat cats in China eat, here is the Gallup survey:

Name the following world leaders:

(1) The president of Russia

(2) The president of Mexico

(3) The prime minister of Great Britain

(4) The chancellor of Germany

(5) The leader of Cuba

(6) The U.S. secretary of state

How did you do?  Maybe we all ought to consider reading a newspaper more and watching less TV news.

The Bush PR Zamboni

Forecast: Heavy Accumulation, White-Out Conditions

Nearly every week I'm treated to an e-mail from a connector who supports my work. This week I received a note from a Governmental Accountability Office analyst who read Information War and wanted to alert me to a new GAO report, "Media Contracts: Activities and Financial Obligations for Seven Federal Departments, GAO-06-305, January 13, 2006." The title, "Media Contracts" is guv-speak for paid efforts (PR, advertising, payola to journalists) by the feds to promote           taxpayer-funded programs. That's right. We pay for all this stuff, but don't have any involvement in their management. These contracts are generally the busy work of political appointees and lobbyists tied very closely to the administration ruling Washington at the time. Anywhere else but here in the U.S. we might call these media contracts by their proper name, government propaganda, but that's too negative and might invite suspicion, even (gasp) political action. Here the preferred connotation is to suggest that these contracts are just about putting your best foot forward. In this case, that foot is on the backs of the American people whose paychecks are indirectly buying this influence. The Clinton White House went through its own spin cycle with those infamous White House coffees (very expensive coffee) and overnights in the Lincoln bedroom but it's safe to say that Bush, not Howard Stern, is the king of all paid media. Perhaps the White House should adorn its facade with a McDonaldesque "over 1.6 billion in junk media served." We're living in interesting times, to say the least, when $400 billion annual deficits and an $8 trillion dollar federal debt morph into Bush-speak for more economic growth and permanent tax cuts. Imagine, he still refers to himself as the "compassionate conservative." Even Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Sr. knew when to raise taxes to stop the bleeding deficits, but Bush seems to have the tin ear with his refusal to add any rope, other than to hang us, to that fast diminishing social safety net. Time magazine had its own faith-based analysis: "The Pork Barrel Runneth Over." Now some Republican conservatives are wondering where all that conservation of government bloating went and how the pigs at the trough scandals in D.C. (including Jack Abramoff) will play in Peoria, much less Dallas or Miami. We should remember all the propaganda we helped pay for come November and thank GAO for its efforts to support integrity and accountability, when both seem in such short supply. For more in-depth analysis, read Michelle Chin's Alternet article. 

Coincidentally, the word of the day for Saturday, February 18, 2006 at dictionary.com is canard, an unfounded, false, or fabricated report or story.      

A Dangerous Deficiency?

Forecast: A Million Little Theses

DOD SOD Rumseld told a CFR gathering at the Harold Pratt House in NYC Friday (DoD News: Council on Foreign Relations) that the global war on terror is more point-and-click than scratch-and- sniff. Violent extremists employ media and PR specialists; they proact, while guv types react. Most memorable Rummyism: "For the most part, the U.S. Government still functions as a 'five and dime' store in an E-Bay world." Complicating matters is that American enemies in the GWOT "propagate lies with impunity--with no penalty whatsoever," while the U.S. has no such "luxury of relying on other sources for information--anonymous or otherwise. Our government has to be the source. And we tell the truth."  Note to self: Disregard multimillion dollar DOD contractor Lincoln Group efforts to plant positive truthiness stories in Iraqi press. Strike it up as guv-memoir.  Rumsfeld's prescription for change: centralize communications into every aspect of the war on terror. Voice of America English-language units got this directive earlier this month. Engage both non-guv and guv experts (calling James Frey and Nan Talese), and "rapidly deploy the best military communications capabilities to new theaters of operation" (akin to Where in the World is Matt Lauer today?)

Today's quiz question: Which countries does he mean?

        Throughout the world, advances in technology are forcing a massive information flow that dictatorships and extremists ultimately will not be able to control.  Blogs are rapidly appearing even in countries where the press is still government-controlled.