PRINTING GOES 3D: A new media form - and then some

A car seat prototype "printed" in three dimensions using industrial technology that is poised to enter the mass market.  Courtesy Der Spiegel. 

HAMBURG, Germany:  Fans of Star Trek will remember Captain Kirk's "replicator" - an all-purpose device with which crew members of the Starship Enterprise could create prototypes, spare parts, even food, from next to nothing.   But like Kirk's "pocket communicator" - today known as an iPhone - much of what was science fiction in the 1960's has come to pass.

Now, the replicator has a real world cousin.  3-D printing, used industrially for the last few decades, is ready to enter the mass market.  And from manufacturing to the potential sculpting of human organs, the technology promises to be more than a new type of printing press.  It could usher in the next industrial revolution. Courtesy Der Spiegel. 

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A MOBILE THREAT: How smartphones could kill today's news media

NEW YORK:  Twas ever thus.  Newspapers lost readers to radio.  Radio lost listeners to TV.  All three lost audience to the Web.  Newspapers in particular have been fighting back, designing Web sites as information portals, and in a few cases junking their physical printing presses and going virtual.   But are publishers fighting the proverbial last war by retooling for the desktop computer?  

In this detailed analysis, an industry watcher makes the case for an alternate scenario - one in which smartphones, not desktops, become the real top dog in news.  If that happens, he warns, "we could all lose our jobs to an as-yet-unidentified mobile competitor that is better at publishing in the new medium."   Courtesy Business Insider. 

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LOST VOICES: Why we save pictures but not audio recordings of our family and friends

NEW YORK:  "I just got my voice back," writes the author, who had just emerged from a two weeks of cloister-like silence following vocal cord surgery.  But her self-imposed retreat did more than allow her a chance to heal. 

She had a chance to reflect on the human inclination to preserve images, but not sounds.  "I have only one brief recording - a minute or two - of the way I sounded 20 years ago," she says, although she has plenty of photos from that same period.   The smartphone age, with its ability to capture audio as well as video, hasn't changed that - yet.  Why?   Courtesy The New York Times.  

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ANATOMY OF A MEDIA DISASTER: How 24 minutes of interviews "destroyed" the BBC's Director General

LONDON:  Just because you're IN television and radio doesn't mean you know how to behave ON television and radio.  That point was driven home recently by none other than the leader of the world's most venerable broadcasting institution. 

In a botched documentary, the British Broadcasting Corporation mistakenly linked a member of the House of Lords to a sex abuse scandal at a child care center in Wales.  The BBC's Director General attempted to explain the mixup in two media grillings (one of which, on Radio 4, can be heard below) - but he came across so poorly that he had to resign in a matter of hours.     

How can this happen to leaders of an organization for whom lights, cameras, and microphones are tools of the trade?   The fact is, without the right kind of preparation, it can happen to anyone.  Courtesy The Daily Mail. 

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WHAT HE LEARNED FROM PLAYING THE GIPPER

NEW YORK:  This season’s presidential debates have reminded us all how important mock sessions are to helping the candidates prepare for battle.   The key to those sessions are surrogates – usually members of the candidate’s own party, who play the role of the opponent in practice debate sparring. 

Those surrogates rarely tell their own stories – which makes this first-hand account of this former Ivy League university president all the more intriguing.  While still serving as head of the college, he was asked to play Ronald Reagan to help former Vice President Walter Mondale in the 1984 White House sweepstakes.  He immediately accepted.   Courtesy The New York Times. 

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“NEWS CAMP” TURNS 20

NEW YORK:  In 1992, traditional New York news outlets looked down their noses at NY1, the 24-hour local news channel started by Time Warner Cable.  The “one man band” staff was inexperienced, the journalistic quality was uneven, and technical glitches abounded with the automated “carousel” dispensing prerecorded news stories in a faux-live format.

But NY1 took its lumps and kept forging ahead – and today, what some TV news pros once derided as “news camp” is part of the New York media establishment.  Indeed, some of the controversial production techniques that it pioneered are now mainstream.   Courtesy TV Technology.  

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AFTER-THE-FACT QUOTE APPROVAL LOSES TRACTION

NEW YORK:   The questionable strategy of asking journalists to submit interview quotations for approval before publication burst into the open last month, with word that a writer for Vanity Fair agreed to those terms in exchange for exclusive, behind the scenes access to President Obama.   A New York Times columnist ruefully noted the practice was becoming more widespread, and the paper quickly announced a policy banning its use. 

Is seeking quotation approval ever defensible?  Perhaps, say some PR pros – but especially now, they say, even asking for it runs the risk of damaging long term relationships with important journalists.  Courtesy PRWeek.   Subscription or pay-per-view required.

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COMING SOON TO A NEWSROOM NEAR YOU

LINCOLN, Neb. and CHAMPAIGN, Ill.:    The need for speed in journalism led to the birth of news helicopters – first to cover traffic for radio stations, then to cover breaking events for television.  But choppers aren’t cheap: an investment in covering a single story can run well into the thousands of dollars.

Enter the UAV, or unmanned aerial vehicle – more commonly known as the drone.  Military versions have become familiar in anti-terrorist warfare, and toy editions equipped with cameras are starting to be seen in playgrounds. In just three years, under new federal rules, commercial versions of these pilotless devices are poised for takeoff.  They will usher in a new era in newsgathering.  Courtesy TV Technology.  

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STORYTELLING CATCHES ON IN FINANCE

NEW YORK:  Our friend and colleague, financial communications specialist Nan Adams, sent us an article that may herald a trend: the emerging value of storytelling in the financial sector.  “The numbers say it all” is one of those catch phrases that business likes to live by.   But with today’s Web-induced information overload, numbers – especially complex numbers - increasingly leave us numb.  

“Although financial advisers are good with the so-called left-brain skills of facts and figures,” the article states, “it is the softer right-brain skills that establish an emotional connection with clients.”   Courtesy Investment News.   FREE LOGIN REQUIRED.

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MUCKRAKING AND DOUBLE STANDARDS

LONDON:  “There is a tremendous amount of snobbery involved in journalism,” the former editor of a Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid told a committee of inquiry investigating Britain’s phone-hacking scandal, saying that papers like his erstwhile employer are the victim of double standards in the media.

Kelvin MacKenzie, who edited The Sun in the 1980’s and 90’s, offered a spirited defense of tabloid muckraking before the panel.  He argued that a tabloid would be punished for using underhanded investigative techniques in pursuit of a major story. "If you publish it in The Sun, you get six months in jail," MacKenzie said. "If you publish it in The Guardian, you get a Pulitzer."  Courtesy The Associated Press. 

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CHINESE MEDIA TO EXPAND IN NEW YORK

NEW YORK:   China has expanded its global footprint in the last three decades – but its media world is still largely dominated by Western companies.  Those companies will soon encounter a well-funded competitor. 

Four Chinese media companies, financed largely by a government in Beijing not known for respecting press freedoms, are expanding their presence in New York City.  Specialists who follow the field say China will deploy enormous resources in the world’s media capital in a battle for minds and viewpoints.  “In a sense,” says a Chinese columnist, “the Chinese feel their voices are not heard and are underrepresented in news media.”   Courtesy The Wall Street Journal.  SUBSCRIPTION OR PAY-PER-VIEW MAY BE REQUIRED.

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STORYTELLING RETURNS TO SUPER BOWL FRIDGE BREAKS

Goodbye Mr. Chimps?  This year’s Super Bowl commercials are said to herald a “return to storytelling.”  Simians in office attire for a 2011 careerbuilder.com ad, featured on the Super Bowl.    Courtesy The Los Angeles Times. 

NEW YORK:   “Humans prefer storytelling to just telling,” says the chairman of Madison Avenue ad firm BBDO – and there’s a growing body of evidence to back up that claim.  Rankings from Creativity Online show more top ads are avoiding sight gags and hackneyed jokes – providing an emotionally engaging storyline instead. 

Now comes word that this year’s Super Bowl ads will feature an unusually high number of 60-second commercials – instead of the 30-second slots that have been standard on network TV for a generation.  It’s prompting media observers to acclaim a “return to storytelling” on Madison Avenue.   Courtesy superbowlads.com. 

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