Growing up, my father always used to say to me "times don't change, people do". I didn't buy it then, and I don't now.
A couple of weeks ago I started a new job teaching broadcasting at a local college. Remember, I started college in 1983 and here we are in 2008. I knew things were different but my first day drove home just how different they'd become.
As I'm sitting at my desk waiting for the students I had some Dan tunage going. After a couple had filed in I asked "Does anyone have a problem with Steely Dan?" None had heard of them.
Class starts, and I asked who listened to commercial radio on a regular basis. About half. Uh-oh. Who listens to AM radio? One. Gulp. This is a broadcasting class! None of them knew what a 45 or shortwave was, or who Paul Harvey and Casey Casem are.
Next question was why they don't listen to the radio much. Every student-all 23 of them(!) had the same answers...too many commercials and too much song repetition.
One claimed not to know using Limewire was illegal! The others knew, but didn't care. Few read newspapers.
I'm not complaining...but I am a bit puzzled why our mass media is ignoring a whole generation of listeners. Seems I have my work cut out for me.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
An oldie but goodie to start
For my first post I thought I'd resurrect one that I was always kinda proud of. I wrote it for a Libertarian blog FreeKeene.com after the last mid-term elections. Anyway, more to come. Shel
So the Democrats sweep into office, most of them not smart enought to know that a good chunk of those votes weren’t FOR them, but AGAINST Bush, the Patriot Act, the war, runaway spending, tax cuts for the super-rich and other foot-on-a-banana peel moves by the Republicans. Then comes this list of “100 hour promises” by Speaker Pelosi, who must have learned about the political process from the Governor Moonbeam School of Populism. Raise the minimum wage? Please. Who makes $5.15 an hour? Even the much-vilified Wal-Mart’s starting wage is $7.50 an hour in Manchester. Ethics reform? Right. Eliminate travel on corporate jets? Fine, but no rule against first-class commercial travel is there? I’ve seen Swiss cheese with fewer holes than this “reform”. The Democrats have chosen to pick the lowest-hanging fruit to mollify an angry electorate into thinking they’ve done something. They promise a 5 day work week-and the VERY FIRST DAY they take off for (wait for it) a COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME! Evidently the terms “first 100 hours” and “5 day week” have different meanings inside the Beltway than the rest of the country. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
So the Democrats sweep into office, most of them not smart enought to know that a good chunk of those votes weren’t FOR them, but AGAINST Bush, the Patriot Act, the war, runaway spending, tax cuts for the super-rich and other foot-on-a-banana peel moves by the Republicans. Then comes this list of “100 hour promises” by Speaker Pelosi, who must have learned about the political process from the Governor Moonbeam School of Populism. Raise the minimum wage? Please. Who makes $5.15 an hour? Even the much-vilified Wal-Mart’s starting wage is $7.50 an hour in Manchester. Ethics reform? Right. Eliminate travel on corporate jets? Fine, but no rule against first-class commercial travel is there? I’ve seen Swiss cheese with fewer holes than this “reform”. The Democrats have chosen to pick the lowest-hanging fruit to mollify an angry electorate into thinking they’ve done something. They promise a 5 day work week-and the VERY FIRST DAY they take off for (wait for it) a COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME! Evidently the terms “first 100 hours” and “5 day week” have different meanings inside the Beltway than the rest of the country. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
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