Category: media

“In 1997, only 5 percent of the reports on NPR came from reporters who were based at the member stations. Over the next few years, that rose to 25 percent due to a deliberate collaborative effort of NPR and member station reporters. But In the period from Aug. 30, 2004 to Aug. 30, 2005, NPR aired a total of 18,486 reports on the newsmagazine programs. Only 960 — or 5.19 percent – of all reports came from member-station reporters over the past year.”

“Three flight attendant groups are calling for a boycott of the movie ‘Flightplan,’ which debuted at No. 1 last weekend, claiming that the depictions of a flight attendant and air marshal are outrageous and disrespectful.”

The documentary “March of the Penguins” was a surprise hit this summer in America. “This low-budget film now ranks as the second-highest-grossing feature-length documentary, after ‘Fahrenheit 9/11,’ with almost $71 million in box-office receipts in the United States and a DVD version due out on Nov. 29. And that success is raising hopes that penguins can blaze an ice trail for other documentaries created with the tense pace of Hollywood feature films. ‘March of the Penguins’ leads a wave of documentary films that surfaced this year to critical acclaim…”

Every major movie release is now accompanied by a video game, and this summer’s movie woes bled in to the game world. “A major summer trend was the emergence of cell phone games as companions to any film launch. Even movies that did not have console games attached to their bows, such as “War of the Worlds” and “XXX: State of the Union,” had mobile titles released within the movie’s launch window.”

Cheryl F. Halpern, a New Jersey lawyer and real estate developer, has been elected chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “The board also elected another conservative, Gay Hart Gaines, as its vice chairman. Gaines, an interior decorator by training, was a charter member and a chairman of GOPAC, a Republican fundraising group. With the changes, conservatives with close ties to the Bush administration have assumed control of every important position at the agency, which distributes about $400 million in federal funds to noncommercial radio and TV stations and is supposed to act as a buffer against outside political influence.”

Cheryl Halpern, newly elected as chairwoman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, is a major Republican fundrasier. “Ms. Halpern, on the corporation board since 2002 and previously chairwoman for the Republican Jewish Coalition, has criticized National Public Radio’s Mideast coverage, calling it biased against Israel. Her family has business interests there. At her confirmation hearing two years ago, Ms. Halpern suggested that journalists in public broadcasting be punished for editorializing.”

Your movie really isn’t up to theatrical release? “For movies that have developed fan bases through several theatrical sequels, direct-to-DVD versions can be a cost-effective way to wring more dollars out of an established movie franchise.”

Three Australian-made movies are currently on the Australian Top 20 box office list. So does this signal a resurgence in the Aussie film industry?

“It used to be when short-lived TV series were canceled, they went away forever — no syndication reruns, no cable, nothing except an episode or two in the archives of the Museum of Television & Radio. Not anymore. With the proliferation of cable channels hungry to fill time and the new revenue stream provided by TV shows on DVD, lost TV series are a thing of the past.”

Podcasting is catching on in a big way with radio producers. “It is a phenomenon that could have been a big threat to conventional radio’s business because suddenly they were not the only ones making and distributing programmes. Instead, it is being seen as a big opportunity, for both “professionals” and “amateurs”, according to both the BBC and Virgin Radio.”