A Radio Host Tries His Voice on Television

A New York Times article by David Carr mentions the translation of a famous radio show into a television show, another news announcement that media convergence is still turning its wheels. In the article, accessible at Glass, Ira Glass, host of the public radio show “This American Life” is taking his real life stories to the television medium to engage more listens in hearing and seeing these stories of “normal people who are abnormally interesting”. Known for his appeal to the common folk, Glass got started at NPR at 19 and in 1995 started the radio show in Chicago, winning him many radio awards. The themes: wartime romance, kids at summer camp, and religion unfold in acts. Many wonder and are concerned about the success of the show when taken to a new medium, being broadcast on Showtime, and if it will gain an even larger fan base. Glass is already receiving media coverage. Doubts surround the magic of radio that is lost with visibility and production notes of television executives. The upside is the contract allows the show to quickly be taken off television air if it does not do well in the first few episodes and ratings drop. Images will also add expressiveness, and Glass says it will get the moment of realization across with photography and narrative that will be included in the series.


Having those in the radio industry bend to the needs of television can be difficult, but it’s worth a shot if it could gain you a wider audience. It sounds like a terrific idea to see what could be real art portrayed through characters, photography, and narration. I personally am a visual person, and though I listen to radio shows, I would be more interested if it had images to go along with it, hence the creation factor brought to the storytelling. The guy himself and his vision sound very interesting. He’s been in the business and won awards, so he knows what he’s doing, and if he thinks it’s worth a shot then he should go for it. Either way, he will still have the radio version of “This American Life”. Television is a different world based off of a different concept, but change can be good, and we see it with more advanced technology in the generation of media convergence.

How to Bottle a Generation

Eric Wilson wrote an article in The New York Times, which can be read at Calvin, about how Calvin Klein takes the lead in its sexuality of its fragrances. In 1994's CK One, sexuality and grunge were ecompassed by the youth. Black and white ads with moping models depicted this, and these fragrances were even sold in record stores in the grunge music area. This broke industry records and rules. The goal was to give Generation X a unisex brand that would capture the essence of youth, beauty, and sexual boldness in a bottle. A sequel is now coming out for hip 20-somethings, hoping to repeat the same success since today's youth and young adults tend to spend more money on electronics than fashion and fragrances. This fragrance will be without era defining instincts. In the ads and commercials, a boy and girl are in a compromising sexual position leaning into each other and she is pulling at his belt while he has a strand of her hair. Watery grafitti images are of the words "sex" and "today' with 2 rocket silo shaped bottles in a white plastic i-pod casing. The physically bold name of the fragrance, in2u, is written in shorthand in an instant message. It is supposed to be a casual invitation to sex, being that there was no time to spell out the words into you.

Calvin Klein has always been very seductive in its approach to style and what scent or message our body gives off. He has reached men and women willing to test boundaries, and as always, sex sells. The ads, images and words, won't cause any more controversy than the Abercrombie and Fitch nearly naked sex photos of good looking models that appear on ads in stores and on the shopping bags. Abercrombie t-shirt messages have sexual connotation, but parents still buy them for their kids. Calvin Clein has hip, form fitting clothes, and its scents seeks to appeal to attract the opposite sex like its clothes that cling to our bodies.

If You Need Your News on the Run, Read the Summary

In a New York Times article by Katharine Q. Seelye, found at Digest, news is taking off. First, there’s coffee and breakfast on the run, and now there’s news on the run. The Philadelphia Inquirer and its sister paper, The Daily News, are trying something new for those on the go with a schedule that doesn’t allow anytime for the newspaper, no matter what’s going on in the world. A digest is being printed in the newspapers themselves that summarizes all the important news happenings, keeping readers informed. A few articles, sports scores, lottery numbers, weather, and daily updates in conjunction with the website and nightly television news are compiled. Commerce Bank sponsors the digests and displays its logo on the page. A subheadline reads “The most convenient way to get your news. Presented by America’s most convenient bank”. The back is prime advertising space and is bought by the finest of quality companies with that much to invest for advertising. Who better than a bank? The Inquirer Express is on the back of The Inquirer sports section. The Daily News at a Glance is a few pages after the tabloid’s front pages.

This opportunity will not hurt print journalism. Newspaper readers will still read the entire newspaper front to back to keep fully informed while waking up and drinking coffee. For many, it is a daily routine they take the time for and it’s relaxing. For others, they need to move a lot faster, but still want to know what’s going on around them, and can’t, unless they overhear a conversation. Readers can now read the newspaper while walking, getting ready, all in a matter of a few minutes. This will bring more readers and add involvement, rather than lose readers.
If you’re like me, being on the run means there isn’t time for keeping up with news as bad as I would like to. I just have more important things to do in my busy schedule that I can’t sit in front of the television, read the newspaper, or look up the news on the internet. There is so much information in the paper that I hate to see wasted and the money wasted, but with this new idea, Philadelphia is trying something to increase the print journalism field’s exposure. Subscriptions will more than likely rise, and the new organization of print journalism will catch on. News in any form is better than none, so why not make it user friendly.