Complete and Utter Control

The Walt Disney Corporation has two very successful outlets: ABC and ESPN. These are their main media outlets for broadcasting. Disney also has an eponymous network that has found some success (Hannah Montana). Just this week, ESPN announced that beginning in 2011 it will have exclusive television, radio, and digital broadcasting rights to the college football BCS games. This gives Disney huge control over sports in general. ESPN is already a massive company on its own having recently moved Monday Night Football from ABC to ESPN and rather than having a separate ABC sports division, sports broadcast on ABC is now referred to as ESPN on ABC. ESPN now broadcasts college football every night of the week aside from Monday, in which they have Monday Night Football, so it's rather moot. This control puts all other media outlets at a huge disadvantage.

Sports are big business in this country at all levels. Whether it's the professionals or collegiate, we live and breathe in this country on sports. Saturdays and Sundays during the fall are dominated by Americans watching football. I can safely say this because I have done my research for most of life on both of these days. Disney's move puts all other networks at a disadvantage. While Fox for example still broadcasts major sporting events such as the World Series, NFC football games, the occasional Super Bowl, and right now the BCS, Disney's coup further tightens their grip on sports and the advertising that goes along with it. CBS broadcasts college football (the SEC), college basketball including the NCAA tournament, and AFC football games, yet the wide variety of sports now in the hands of Disney/ABC/ESPN is staggering. Let's run through the list: NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, college football (bowl games as well), college basketball, other college sports, and let's not forget the top sports news program ever conceived, Sportscenter. The real question is, what does this have to do with politics? A lot more than one would think. 

With increased control over the sporting world, the control spills over to advertising. Disney can control the price and what types of ads it will allow on the air. Due to their large audience for sports spanning multiple networks, advertisers are willing to pay top dollar for the sports fans attention. What else is interesting is ESPN's broadcasting of the BCS. While ESPN is a cable network that is seen in 98 million homes across the country, people are used to seeing major sporting events on local television. Access is easier for the viewer and for the broadcaster they reach a larger audience. The Rose Bowl will still be broadcast on ABC reaching far more than the 98 million ESPN reaches, yet the other BCS games, including the title game will be seen on cable only. Now for most of us, we can simply say, sucks for those who don't have cable. However, think about the control that Disney now has simply through sports broadcasting, it's staggering. Football fans made a big enough stink after Disney moved Monday Night Football from local television (ABC) to cable (ESPN). 

What makes this conversation interesting is how controlled our media truly is becoming. While not due to government regulation, (although the FCC went nuts after the 2004 Super Bowl) some might call into question why so few companies control most of the media we see. The aforementioned Disney Corporation is among an elite few companies that own a bulk of the major television channels, both local and cable. GE/Universal owns, Universal Studios, NBC and all related networks. Viacom owns CBS, MTV, VH1 and Paramount Pictures to name a few. News Corp owns Fox (TV & film) and all of its affiliates. Other major media outlets include Sony and Time Warner. These few companies make the decisions that affect how millions of people receive information and entertainment and with the right amount written on a check can decide exactly what you watch, when you watch it, and how you watch it. And you were worried about the government controlling your life. With the huge success of the Internet and its continued growth we are seeing these major corporations trying to get their hands on the Internet. News Corp for example now owns MySpace. Their reach is far and wide and will continue to groip. People in this country live, unfortunately around the television schedules set-up by these corporations. Devices like DVRs and Tivo have allowed for people to decide when they watch their programming and has put pressure on these corporations, yet little has changed. 

With the BCS soon to be a product of cable programming, the United States may very well see an increase in cable subscriptions so fans have access to the games they would have otherwise missed. Disney may very well simply be doing the bidding of cable companies nationwide, who are already screwing us royally with high costs and many headaches for us to simply consume entertainment. With only four major corporations controlling a bulk of the television and film production in the world, few are going to stand in their way. Over the years media control has become tighter as these companies have continued to eat up all different types of media. The BCS purchase is starting a scary trend that in essence could cause Americans to see something like cable television or HDTV as a mandatory utility, just a step below water and heating & air conditioning. 

These companies put out fairly rotten products in consumable media products and quite possibly have more control over Americans and their lives than any of us think. As the Internet and other digital media continue to grow, it'll be interesting to see how these corporations play a part in the development, ownership, and control of these outlets. We just always have to be mindful of what is out there and how to make sure our lives aren't dominated by some old grumpy guy in a 6300 dollar suit On that note I'm heading back to watching the Texas Tech/Oklahoma football game on ABC presented by ESPN owned by the Disney Corporation currently controlling 2/3 of the world..... until next time. 

Hillary & Republican Giddiness

“Oh joyous day!” Cried the Republican masses.

“Hillary might be out of the Senate!”

Yes folks, President-elect Obama seems to have his heart set on one Senator from New York, his former rival, Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. It does appear that Obama has taken a page from Abraham Lincoln’s playbook, forming a “team of rivals”. If Clinton is chosen as Secretary of State, it would please those final few Clinton supporters still upset about the way the Primaries were played out and the Republicans will smile. Hillary has been a target of Republicans, possibly due to her sassy attitude, since she was simply Governor Bill Clinton’s wife. This is too much. Get her out of the Senate after only eight years AND she won’t be President? After an upsetting election season for Republicans and a party needing some reforming, this might be the best Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza gift that they could’ve received. 

This might be why, despite the ‘team of rivals’ look to the cabinet, Obama may in fact skip out on Hillary and choose, let’s say, Bill Richardson instead. Part of this may in fact be the media is just trying to drum up post-election viewers or just as they called Joe Biden as Obama’s running mate, they could be right. We know that Clinton met with Obama this week in Chicago and that a cabinet position was allegedly discussed. The Republicans are desperately hoping so. Clinton represents a power presence and voice in the Senate and while she may already be in her 60s and just a second term Senator, that hasn’t stopped those like Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd from serving well into their 90s. With Clinton chosen as Secretary of State, she would be out of the Senate come January, serve, one would think, until 2012. If Obama is re-elected and U.S. foreign policy seemingly on track, Clinton would surely be asked to serve another term. By 2016, Clinton would be turning 70 years old. Considering the scrutiny John McCain received due to his age, one can only imagine that Clinton would face similar criticism if she in fact decided to run for President. This might be the one way to stop her from running. Now if only the Republicans could figure out what to do with Sarah Palin.  

The official announcement seems likely sometime near Thanksgiving, perhaps just after and we’ll see just how excited Republicans might be. Arnold Schwarzenegger already championed the choice on ABC and just last night on Real Time with Bill Maher, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) had a grin ear-to-ear upon Maher asking her feelings on the choice. 

Clinton herself was probably even happier. She is given a role in which there is only one rather than one-hundred and has significant pull within the cabinet and foreign affairs. Just when we thought Hillary would go back to being the junior Senator from New York, this happens. Christmas may come a bit early for both, we’ll just have to sit back and enjoy the show. No one may enjoy this quite like Bill Clinton. Hillary would be sent all of the world on diplomatic missions, meetings with other heads-of-state, and leave Bill all to his lonesome… or will he? 

Until then, here is a Bushism so that we never forget just how funny our current President really is and in honor of all “Those Shameless Hacks” out there:

“Information is moving — you know, nightly news is one way, of course, but it’s also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets.” –Washington, D.C., May 2, 2007

Veteran's Day

A special thank you to all those that have served or are currently serving in the military. Without everything all of you have sacrificed we wouldn't be here today. 

It is also strange to think it has been 90 years to the day since World War I ended. 

Until next time...

What to do Without an Election to Cover....and 007 at His Finest

Tonight's "breaking news" on Larry King Live is that President-elect Obama met with President Bush at the White House today. It's humorous to see the media struggle to find headlines during that limbo before the inauguration. Barring any crisis, all breaking news refers to such mundane activities as the type of limo Obama will ride around to the code names the soon-to-be First Family will have. The real insanity begins when Obama's cabinet begins to take shape. These stories prove how desperate the news networks become after the election. Their ratings take a hit as they no longer have exciting campaign coverage to focus on. The stories bring a new definition to boring. Contrived and silly news stories begin filling the time from positive (the Obama's getting a dog) to the plain silly (McCain losing was all Palin's fault, just as it would have been all her if he had won). We, the viewers begin rolling our eyes at the ridiculousness of this. We can see CNN and Fox struggling to fill an hour of news programming. 

What became even bigger news was rumors that Obama may issue executive orders on day one. Shocking. He'll be the President. They tend to issue executive orders, it's part of the job. It's not breaking news to find out a Democrat would issue orders changing those that a Republican predecessor had issued. Hardly a page turner. Yet the same pundits that kept many of us on the edges of our seats for the past months and even years now must make these events seem as crucial and as breaking as the major events of the primary and general election seasons. Some find it necessary to discuss 2012, despite the American people feeling slightly fatigued from 2008. It is one thing for candidates to begin secretly forming committees and raising funds for a 2012 run, that's their business, just leave the news out. This was perfectly evident at those harassing everyone's favorite Alaskan, Sarah Palin, on her potential plans for 2012. Considering she had just arrived back to the Governor's office in Anchorage, I hardly think she's given it any serious thought. Although, based on her actions the final days of the campaign, she may have considered it prior to the media....anyways. Time to stay on topic. 

Personally, I use this time to unwind. I read the news daily, yes, but I stay away from the pundit driven shows. They become redundant snooze-fests, littered with overly critical analyses on why exactly Barney the dog bit a Reuters reporter. Sorry, I'd much rather read a book, continue plowing through my James Bond marathon before the new Bond film hits this week (I'm currently on the rather crappy A View to a Kill). I'm not trying to discount the importance of good political journalism for that would discount the meaning of not only this course, but a great deal of the modern study of politics. We just at times need to find other escape routes. Those commentators that support Obama will do so in such an overly pleasant manner I may vomit and the Obama haters will continue to spew off the same displeasure that Bush-haters have expressed these past years. 

It's a strange cycle we find ourselves in and for much of the new media, this is brand new. The last time we had a "new" President-elect was 2000, before "Internet 2.0" (blogs, vlogs, millions of news sites, etc.) had found its way onto our computer screens, Fox News was just gaining ground, and CNN didn't have it's magic board or hologram technology and the media are eating this up. Larry King, who began this post has turned from top celebrity interviewer to political journalist, questioning with earnest and sincerity and it's just silly. Well maybe it's not as silly as seeing a 59 year old Roger Moore duke it out with Christopher Walken in a blimp over San Francisco..... sorry, losing my train of thought to a less-than-stellar 007 adventure. However, maybe the Bond comparison is a great one for the election and post-election news coverage. The election coverage at many times is as exciting as Sean Connery's outings as 007 or even as high-octane as Daniel Craig's take on Britain's favorite spy, and now it seems as corny as Roger Moore's films. Old, outdated, silly, campy, cringe-inducing.... the list of adjectives could go on forever, but Christopher Walken just took a plunge into the Frisco Bay and it's about time to begin 007's next chapter, featuring the always stoic Timothy Dalton..... The Living Daylights. Until we meet again. Stay warm and stay happy.  

While the aforementioned Bond films have been ragged on they do feature AWESOME 80s theme songs sung by Duran Duran and A-Ha respectively. These are perhaps the best parts of each of those films. Turn off CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, click off the Drudge Report and go see Quantum of Solace this week. If anything, it'll take your mind off this election, whether you were pleased with the outcome or not. Nothing is better than a Bond movie and you know it. 

You know this is more enticing.....

It Happened

Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States. I've been supporting Senator Obama since 2004 and to see this is a dream come true. I really cannot even think of what else to say other than, "Yes we did." 

Now, let's change the country. 

On another note, I have begun to question the sanity of many people in Cobb County. A creationist has been elected to the school board who wants creationism taught in public schools. I do not believe I will be sending my future children to Cobb County schools. 

What To Do?

With election day bearing down on us (the polls open in 38 1/2 hrs), what are we going to do when this is all over? Will we continue our harsh criticisms of each other's candidates in class? It sure will be strange. Everyone seems to be suffering from campaign fatigue except for Bill Maher who on Friday declared this the best election season of his lifetime. That very well may be the case, but it's time for this to be over. Time Magazine published a wonderful article today about how much has changed over the course of this election season. Just by judging the before and after pictures of Barack Obama, you can see that this campaign season is running on fumes. Both candidates are physically and mentally exhausted. Endless events on a daily basis running from sunrise until way past sunset, with a few hours of sleep thrown in between.

 This is getting old. What else can Obama and McCain say to sway voters? They have thrown everything but the kitchen sink into this campaign, and the sink may get thrown in sometime before polls close Tuesday evening.  Now I love politics as much as the next political junkie, but there gets a point when you have to give your drug a rest. Peace and tranquility is what this junkie needs now. An endless supply of partisan bull is exactly the kind of medicine a madman would want at this point. For those of us that have been riding this train since the beginning, it's time to pull it into the station. Let's not throw anymore coal into the engine. This seems unlikely. There will be long lines, accusations of voter fraud, purging of voters, illegal activities on all sides. No one wants this to go past the wee hours on November 5th. If you do, please feel free to invest in Georgia's new private mental health facilities, you could use them. 

Personally, I'm looking forward to a relaxing month of December. Close out this semester of school, plow through my ever-growing reading list and sit back and enjoy. No more late night conference calls, fewer emails, and hopefully just wonderful stories about American democracy holding up another bizarre election process. Face it, you're tired too and just won't admit it. How many fruitless debates can you get into with a friend/colleague over this election? Unless you thrive on anger, I suggest you join me in calling for a peaceful return to class on Wednesday (and in this class's case, Thursday) and begin to discuss something other than the ridiculous crap thrown around in the past two years. I for one, enjoy my hair not either falling out or turning grey by the time I'm 25. Until then folks, enjoy tomorrow and Tuesday and may we all come back together as Americans when this concludes. Perhaps then we can all look at the monumental challenges ahead of us, put our hands together and get to work. That's what we do, it's democratic, it's American, and that's something that makes us all so proud. 

Until then...

One Week Remains. . .

What has seemed like an eternity will soon come to an end (or at least we hope). One week remains, as of tomorrow, in this election season. Just as in the case of previous elections, everyone is feeling fatigued, even with the candidates fighting it out this final week. Many have simply written the campaign off, taking the assumption that Barack Obama will indeed be elected next week. However, there is still a week left, and that's a long time in politics. We have seen interested events occur just today with the conviction of Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens (R). That right there has changed the dynamics of this election, and could in fact help the Democrats secure the magic number of 60 and create a filibuster proof Senate. 

So this brief post is a reminder. We are all tired (myself especially), yet we have more campaigning, and punditing, and analyzing, and BS to go. More talk about socialism, clothes, Bill Ayers, taxes, blah, blah, blah. It will be painful, yet we will survive. We will get angry, but we will somehow survive. Even if your candidate isn't elected next week. . . we will survive. So please don't do anything rash before or after the election, it's not worth it. Grab a beer, a cigarette, hell, even a joint if it means getting through this final week and waking up November 5th ready to move on to the next thing that consumes our lives.