Good evening, 919 Gang. Tonight I will put the homework
assignments at the top, hoping people will respond to the first two posts.
ANNE
KRUEGER wrote:
Happy New Year! I can't promise that
I'll keep any resolution to write more for 919, but I'll throw out the topic of
PR vs. reporting as a discussion starter.
When I was a reporter, I thought PR
people spent their days writing press releases and waiting by their phone for
reporters to call. Now, after more than six years as the communications
director at a college district, I've found that's only a small portion of my
job. Yes, we do write press releases and we're delighted when they're used by
the media. And when a reporter calls, I'll set aside whatever I'm doing to get
an answer to their question as quickly as possible.
But I was surprised to find when I
made the switch to PR that media relations is just a small part of my job. I
spend most of my time on projects like putting together our annual report,
writing and editing documents like our strategic plan, writing speeches and
messages for our chancellor, overseeing our websites, and countless other
requests for my time. I also attend about 10 meetings a week -- some more
productive than others.
As a newspaper reporter for more than
30 years, I had no marketing experience when I started my new job. That didn't
matter when I was hired in 2010, because our district's state funding had been
cut so much that we had to turn away students instead of trying to recruit
more. In the past few years, our state funding has improved and now we're doing
some marketing to try to attract more students. (Classes are only $46 a credit
unit! Go to www.gcccd.edu/now
for more info!) I've had to dive into the world of online marketing, and it's
been a fascinating lesson learning about SEO, likes, impressions, clickthrough
rates, retargeting, etc.
The skills I developed as a reporter
have served me well in PR. I still need to write quickly, clearly and
accurately. I still have to research topics and conduct interviews for what I
write. I've also been called upon numerous times to act as photographer, and
the techniques I learned from years of watching the talented U-T photographers
have helped me take better photos.
The big difference is that I am now
more conscious of the impact my words can have. When I was a reporter, if
something was true, I wrote it. Now I think more about how what I write will be
perceived and whether it will have any political consequences. A simple example
is that in a two-college district, whenever I write a chancellor's message
praising something at one college, I'll be sure to include a similar example
from the other college. I don't make up facts, but the facts I choose to
include and to omit are more carefully chosen.
I'm lucky because I loved my years
working as a reporter and I love my current job promoting our college district.
In both jobs, I believe I'm doing important work that is making a difference in
the world.
I
know many of my former U-T colleagues have switched over to PR, and I'd be
interested to hear your thoughts on the similarities and differences between
the two professions, and what surprised you most about the job when you became
a PR person.
MICHAEL CAVNA
writes:
A photographer friend poses an
interesting question Saturday night: Was 2016 a particularly notable year for
the number of high-profile celebrity deaths -- or is this simply the "new
normal," given the explosion in paths to entertainment fame? The party
conversation it sparked is still burning strong.
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DAVID GADDIS SMITH writes:
Well, almost like clockwork, Alabama won its NCAA playoff
football game Saturday and will play for the national championship Jan. 9. And,
also like seeming clockwork, the Southwestern Community College newspaper has
been racking up the awards again. The U-T had a nice write-up Saturday about how the
college paper, the Sun, and its sister magazine, the Sol, both
picked up national honors. Southwestern journalism teacher Max Branscomb, like
Alabama coach Nick Saban, continues to show his value year after year, albeit
at a slightly lower salary. Max also is a humorous playwright (although La
Pastorela was not performed in 2016 due to extenuating
circumstances), not to mention how well he did in terms of a life partner.
 |
Nick Saban photo from 2009; Branscomb photo from 2011.
|
REBER: Max is the husband of 919er
Leslie Wolf Branscomb.
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BONNIE ROGERS
writes:
THROWBACK THURSDAY:
I
ran in to Debbie Reynolds about three weeks ago. We were both at the eye
doctor's. I was the only person in the waiting room and had already had the
dilating drops put in my eyes. She was in a wheelchair, wearing a blue turban
and no makeup, with two attendants. They were on their way out. One was saying
to her, "How can you do this?" obviously referring to our mutual
retina specialist's use of injections in the eyeball to fight wet macular
degeneration.
"It's
better than going blind," was Debbie's tart retort.
I jumped right in with "I couldn't agree with you more. I've been coming
for three years now and would be totally blind without it."
"See," she said as her helper pushed her out into the hallway, where
my mobility scooter was parked.
"Do
you know who that was," the receptionist asked me. "Not sure,"
says I, peering through my dilated pupils. "That was Carrie Fisher's
mother," she said. I could see Debbie when she said that.
Debbie
and I had shared a lot. We were teenagers together. (She was two years older.)
We both played the ukulele. The first popular (compared to campfire) song I
learned to play on the uke was Debbie's big hit from 1950's "Two Weeks
With Love" starring Jane Powell and Ricardo Montalban. It was Debbie's
second film and the posters didn't even give her billing. But it was Debbie's
song "Aba Dabba Honeymoon", not Jane's, which topped the charts.
Debbie was 17 when she recorded it.
And
we both had bipolar daughters who died. Yes, I shared a lot with Debbie
Reynolds. I will miss her.
--------------------------------------------
CHUCK BOYD forwards:
Thanks, Dave Farmer for your info and photo of Rodin's
"The Thinker" in Copenhagen
I was aware there were about 25 "copies"
scattered around the world - some small (27") like the original and others
enlarged (72").
Here is a link to lots of
stuff about the statue and its origins.
Earlier this year I was in Paris and saw the outdoor
placement of The Thinker at the Musee Rodin.
Oddly enough, there was
an ebony replica at the Metro station closest to the Musee.
I guess it was just to make it easier for tourists to see
they were at the correct station stop.
I included the Gates Of Hell to show where the figure first
appeared.
DENNIS
CORBRAN writes:
It
only took me a minute with Mr. Google to find the photo of Rodin’s "The
Thinker” David Farmer wrote about. My suspicion that it might be taken at the
Rodin Museum in Paris proved correct. The nice folks at CNBC appear to have
adjusted the photo to look more like a silhouette. Here’s the unaltered,
uncropped photo available from Getty Images:
“The
Thinker” appears all over the world. Originally named “The Poet” and conceived
as part of the “Gates of Hell” door sculpture, it got its current name from
foundry workers who thought it similar to a Michelangelo's sculpture of Lorenzo
de Medici called “Il Penseroso.” The version for the door was much smaller, a
little less than 29 inches tall, but Rodin decided at some point to recreate it
in the larger six-foot-tall version as a stand-alone piece. I’ve seen this
large version at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco and will visit the one in
the photo this spring in Paris. There are 28 monumental size castings around
the world. A full listing of copies of the work at various sizes in both bronze
and plaster can be found on Wikipedia if you want to find one near you. If you
want your very own copy for inspiration while writing, painting, sculpting,
gardening, or whatever else you do, they are readily available in sizes from
cake topper to garden display with a quick Internet search as well.
Here
you see the iconic sculpture in its originally intended context:
REBER: When I was younger, my grade school chums and I would be marched to what was then called the Nelson Art Gallery in Kansas City. The culture immersion didn't really work on me, but I loved the giant statue of "The Thinker" that was outside the gallery, and I was proud that my hometown was the owner of this famous piece of art.
Now, David Farmer, Chuck Boyd and Dennis Corbran have established that I was admiring a copy. Thanks for smashing one of my childhood illusions, guys.
By the way, it was called the Nelson Gallery because it was built on the site once the home of William Rockhill Nelson, owner of the Kansas City Star. He devoted his entire estate to buying art to be shared with the public.
-----------------------------------------------------
DAVID FARMER writes:
I
know it's silly, but I'm pleased when I hear a bit of English used in a foreign
movie or TV show. For example, I was watching an Icelandic police drama called
"Case." In the show's first two episodes, the officers, suspects and
various other people said:
"Okay,
bye, Facebook, hi, come on, lesbians, happy-happy and my ass."
I'm relieved that
foreigners still admire us despite certain U.S. politicians. Maybe our movies
and TV shows are better ambassadors for America than the politicos.
I
didn't know that Iceland was a consumer of Yankee entertainment, but obviously
it is. They must have satellite dishes, despite all that ice.
I
do know that the UK likes our favorite shows and movies as much as we do. My
wife and I watch the British drama "Eastenders." I've seen allusions
on it to "Friends," "Thelma and Louise" and others. And
this despite the fact that Friends ended in 2004 and Thelma & Louise came
out in 1991.
In
a lot of countries, our productions are dubbed in the local languages. I guess
that rules out most Americanisms, but maybe some don't translate well and
they're forced to use the U.S. words.
Here's
a little oddity about dubbing. Certain foreign voice actors specialize in
voicing specific American actors and actresses. So an Italian actor is the
regular voice of, say, Clint Eastwood in Italy. He grits his teeth and invites
the bad guy to "Coraggio, fatti ammazzare". A Spaniard would say,
"Adelante, alégrame el dÃa."
In his early years, Clint had a very
large gun. Now that he's in his 80s, he's only allowed to make
a gun with his fingers
and yell, "Bang!"
There
have been periods when Italian words became the vogue in the U.S.:
"ciao," “arrivederci." At other times we've appropriated French
words: "chaise longue," frequently misspelled as "lounge."
(I just cited that one to air one of my chief beefs.)
Meanwhile,
I'm little drowsy. I think I'll take a nap on my chair long.
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REBER:
Let’s start the year right by wishing Happy Birthday, Jan. 1, to Edna Whiteley.
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TIM WILSON
forwards:
Happy
New Year to everyone I am glad is in my life. Yep, that is you!
Here
is some great advice on from a very intelligent and wise little girl:
DAVID FARMER forwards:
I
think it's important for every news person, past or present, national or local,
print or broadcast, too heed these words by NYT columnist Nicholas Kristoff. It
may be too late to save our souls.
http://tinyurl.com/jrytxcf
DENNIS CORBRAN forwards:
David Fahrenthold tells the behind-the-scenes story of his
year covering Trump. This is the guy who broke the Billy Bush video story, and
did all the research into the Trump Foundation. Interesting to see how it all
came together using everything from old-fashioned footwork and phone calls to
Twitter to get the information.
P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.
