“The View From the Phlipside” is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY, Monday through Friday around 7:30 AM. The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program. Mostly because the host may suddenly add or subtract words at a moment’s notice. WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed. You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com. Copyright 2013-18 by Jay Phillippi. All Rights Reserved. You like what you see and hear? Drop me a line and we can talk.
Programs from the week of February 24, 2019
This Week’s Podcast
My name is Jay Phillippi and I’ve spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
YouTube Whiplash
I
keep a file of stories that I’m considering for use on this
program. The old school term for such a thing is a “tickler file”.
It’s designed to tickle the memory that there may be something
worth looking at in the future. I’ve been having a little whiplash
because of two stories in that file.
keep a file of stories that I’m considering for use on this
program. The old school term for such a thing is a “tickler file”.
It’s designed to tickle the memory that there may be something
worth looking at in the future. I’ve been having a little whiplash
because of two stories in that file.
So
here’s what I see: a story with the headline “AT&T to
Advertise on YouTube Again After a Nearly 2-Year Holdout”. The
story was written by Sapna Maheshwari for the New York Times and is
dated January 18, 2019. Right below it in my digital file is a story
with this headline: “AT&T Joins Latest Brand Pullback From
YouTube”. That story was written by Wall Street Journal writer Nat
Ives and it is date February 21, 2019. A month and three days is the
difference between the two stories.
here’s what I see: a story with the headline “AT&T to
Advertise on YouTube Again After a Nearly 2-Year Holdout”. The
story was written by Sapna Maheshwari for the New York Times and is
dated January 18, 2019. Right below it in my digital file is a story
with this headline: “AT&T Joins Latest Brand Pullback From
YouTube”. That story was written by Wall Street Journal writer Nat
Ives and it is date February 21, 2019. A month and three days is the
difference between the two stories.
YouTube
has a problem.
has a problem.
It’s
not a new problem. The issue is placement of advertising next to
objectionable videos. Two years ago a bunch of big time advertisers
discovered that their advertising was showing up next to a range of
hateful, distasteful content. Which wasn’t supposed to happen.
They pulled their business until YouTube got its house in order.
Flash forward almost two years. YouTube assures everyone that the
issue has been fixed. Major sponsors return. Almost immediately it
is noted that ads are showing next to videos done by young girls
where the comments contain a wide range of vicious, vulgar or
potentially criminal content about the young ladies. YouTube, to its
credit, responded immediately by shutting down comments on some videos, terminated the accounts of people it described as “bad
actors” and referred some material to the authorities.
While the advertisers applaud the moves, most of them (including
names like McDonald’s, Nestles, and the makers of the Fortnight game)
are still suspending business till things look clearer.
not a new problem. The issue is placement of advertising next to
objectionable videos. Two years ago a bunch of big time advertisers
discovered that their advertising was showing up next to a range of
hateful, distasteful content. Which wasn’t supposed to happen.
They pulled their business until YouTube got its house in order.
Flash forward almost two years. YouTube assures everyone that the
issue has been fixed. Major sponsors return. Almost immediately it
is noted that ads are showing next to videos done by young girls
where the comments contain a wide range of vicious, vulgar or
potentially criminal content about the young ladies. YouTube, to its
credit, responded immediately by shutting down comments on some videos, terminated the accounts of people it described as “bad
actors” and referred some material to the authorities.
While the advertisers applaud the moves, most of them (including
names like McDonald’s, Nestles, and the makers of the Fortnight game)
are still suspending business till things look clearer.
Here’s
the real problem-YouTube is always in reaction mode. They are never
out in front of the problem, and may never be able to do so. They
are always talking about trying to get better at catching abuse. The
size of the YouTube universe is so large that it may take a sweeping
change in how they do business to have any hope of controlling the
issue. The kind of sweeping change which includes tighter reins on
content, more human monitoring and potentially less advertising.
None of which they have ever shown any stomach for.
the real problem-YouTube is always in reaction mode. They are never
out in front of the problem, and may never be able to do so. They
are always talking about trying to get better at catching abuse. The
size of the YouTube universe is so large that it may take a sweeping
change in how they do business to have any hope of controlling the
issue. The kind of sweeping change which includes tighter reins on
content, more human monitoring and potentially less advertising.
None of which they have ever shown any stomach for.
What
the two articles proves is that advertisers are watching the
situation closely, and YouTube won’t be able to slide by this
problem any more.
the two articles proves is that advertisers are watching the
situation closely, and YouTube won’t be able to slide by this
problem any more.
Retail Disruption Again
Tim
Armstrong has made a career working with companies that have
disrupted old school business models. His resume includes Google,
AOL and Verizon. But he has announced that his latest venture will
take him in a new direction. If he succeeds, it may spell a new era
in how we buy things.
Armstrong has made a career working with companies that have
disrupted old school business models. His resume includes Google,
AOL and Verizon. But he has announced that his latest venture will
take him in a new direction. If he succeeds, it may spell a new era
in how we buy things.
The
company is dtx, spelled with all lowercase letters. The dtx company
is designed to bring products directly to the customer, eliminating
stores, both brick and mortar and online, completely. Think about it
for a second. The system he is talking about eliminates several
layers of organization in the shopping process. There is a
distribution network step, the one that moves the product from the
producer to a store or sometimes the consumer. Then you eliminate
the store process too. The consumer and the producer interact
directly. dtx plans to get the ball rolling by investing in
companies that want to explore the concept. Most of the first batch
of investments will be in companies marketing to women. So there’s
a footwear company, a workwear company, a bra maker, manicure
company, a healthy drink company and a company that offers a way to
compare neighborhoods and schools.
company is dtx, spelled with all lowercase letters. The dtx company
is designed to bring products directly to the customer, eliminating
stores, both brick and mortar and online, completely. Think about it
for a second. The system he is talking about eliminates several
layers of organization in the shopping process. There is a
distribution network step, the one that moves the product from the
producer to a store or sometimes the consumer. Then you eliminate
the store process too. The consumer and the producer interact
directly. dtx plans to get the ball rolling by investing in
companies that want to explore the concept. Most of the first batch
of investments will be in companies marketing to women. So there’s
a footwear company, a workwear company, a bra maker, manicure
company, a healthy drink company and a company that offers a way to
compare neighborhoods and schools.
That’s
all pretty cool, but there’s another idea that dtx will be trying
that really grabs my attention. The term the company uses is
“experiences”. These are pop-up shopping opportunities. If you
haven’t run into the pop-up concept before, it’s a store or often
a restaurant that occupies a storefront for a short period,
weeks maybe months, then goes away. These shopping experiences are
described as the Consumer Electronics Show meets Coachella. The CES
is one of the biggest trades show in America, Coachella is a huge
annual arts and music festival in California. Think a sports stadium
filled with products, food and more where you can come in, try
things, taste things and experience stuff that you could only find
online previously. A festival of shopping that moves around the
country. That way it can bring the “cool stuff” that you might
only be able to find in New York or L.A. anywhere in the country.
Part Woodstock, part traveling carnival, part shopping mall, I guess.
all pretty cool, but there’s another idea that dtx will be trying
that really grabs my attention. The term the company uses is
“experiences”. These are pop-up shopping opportunities. If you
haven’t run into the pop-up concept before, it’s a store or often
a restaurant that occupies a storefront for a short period,
weeks maybe months, then goes away. These shopping experiences are
described as the Consumer Electronics Show meets Coachella. The CES
is one of the biggest trades show in America, Coachella is a huge
annual arts and music festival in California. Think a sports stadium
filled with products, food and more where you can come in, try
things, taste things and experience stuff that you could only find
online previously. A festival of shopping that moves around the
country. That way it can bring the “cool stuff” that you might
only be able to find in New York or L.A. anywhere in the country.
Part Woodstock, part traveling carnival, part shopping mall, I guess.
It
is a fascinating idea. The direct to consumer sales concept is
obvious after even the simplest extrapolation of where retailing is
going. The “experiences” concept is both a return to the
traveling salesman and a bold step into the future. There will be a
ton of bugs to work out, but I can hardly wait to see what comes of
it.
is a fascinating idea. The direct to consumer sales concept is
obvious after even the simplest extrapolation of where retailing is
going. The “experiences” concept is both a return to the
traveling salesman and a bold step into the future. There will be a
ton of bugs to work out, but I can hardly wait to see what comes of
it.
The Future Returns
Three
years ago, I did a story on an impressive young lady who may be what
the future of journalism looks like. Her name is Hilde Lysiak and
she is from Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. In 2014 she founded the
“Orange Street News” (known as OSN) as a family project with her
journalist father. Over the next two years the project grew into
something much larger. Lysiak began expanding the scope of her
reporting. The paper’s tagline is “The ONLY newspaper devoted to
Selinsgrove.” She made the news when she stumbled on the
beginnings of a police investigation into a local murder. OSN broke
the story several hours ahead of the “professionals”. She was
nine years old.
years ago, I did a story on an impressive young lady who may be what
the future of journalism looks like. Her name is Hilde Lysiak and
she is from Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. In 2014 she founded the
“Orange Street News” (known as OSN) as a family project with her
journalist father. Over the next two years the project grew into
something much larger. Lysiak began expanding the scope of her
reporting. The paper’s tagline is “The ONLY newspaper devoted to
Selinsgrove.” She made the news when she stumbled on the
beginnings of a police investigation into a local murder. OSN broke
the story several hours ahead of the “professionals”. She was
nine years old.
Today,
Hilde is 12. Her reporting recently took her to the U.S.-Mexican
border in Arizona, where she reported on the issues of border
security and the border wall. This time the reporter became the news
when a local law enforcement officer tried to warn her off of doing
her work. At one point the officer, now identified as Joseph
Patterson, the town marshal of Patagonia, Arizona, told her that if
she didn’t stop following him he’d “throw her in juvy”.
Later in the day, the reporter asked what law she had violated. The
answer was rather confusing. There was mention of a mountain lion, a
question of refusing to comply with an order given by law
enforcement, an accusation that she had lied to the officer. He then
informed her that it was illegal for her to video the officer and put
his face on the internet. There are problems with all the
statements made, but the last one is simply wrong. She was recording
him in a public place while he was in the performance of his duties.
Perfectly legal in Arizona, and in recognition of that the local
police department has disciplined the officer.
Hilde is 12. Her reporting recently took her to the U.S.-Mexican
border in Arizona, where she reported on the issues of border
security and the border wall. This time the reporter became the news
when a local law enforcement officer tried to warn her off of doing
her work. At one point the officer, now identified as Joseph
Patterson, the town marshal of Patagonia, Arizona, told her that if
she didn’t stop following him he’d “throw her in juvy”.
Later in the day, the reporter asked what law she had violated. The
answer was rather confusing. There was mention of a mountain lion, a
question of refusing to comply with an order given by law
enforcement, an accusation that she had lied to the officer. He then
informed her that it was illegal for her to video the officer and put
his face on the internet. There are problems with all the
statements made, but the last one is simply wrong. She was recording
him in a public place while he was in the performance of his duties.
Perfectly legal in Arizona, and in recognition of that the local
police department has disciplined the officer.
Hilde
Lysiak continues to work hard at reporting the news that’s
important to her hometown. She has been interviewed on network TV,
has a book deal with Scholastic and last year Apple announced they
will be creating a mystery series based on her life.
Lysiak continues to work hard at reporting the news that’s
important to her hometown. She has been interviewed on network TV,
has a book deal with Scholastic and last year Apple announced they
will be creating a mystery series based on her life.
All
of which is great, but not the important part. Hilde Lysiak could be
doing whatever it is that 12-year-old girls commonly do. Instead,
she is working hard to report the news. She’s standing up for her
Constitutional rights as a member of the press, and she is the
youngest member of the Society of Profession Journalists. Plus,
undoubtedly making her parents proud.
of which is great, but not the important part. Hilde Lysiak could be
doing whatever it is that 12-year-old girls commonly do. Instead,
she is working hard to report the news. She’s standing up for her
Constitutional rights as a member of the press, and she is the
youngest member of the Society of Profession Journalists. Plus,
undoubtedly making her parents proud.
It’s
the kind of story that is fun to report.
the kind of story that is fun to report.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Copyright Jay Phillippi, 2018
Theme music for “The View From the Phlipside” and “TVFTP – Podcast” is “Hustle”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Stories Are My Life 
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