Category: Media Watch

We all have them.Those books and movies that are societal staples, that are culturally iconic, that–we haven’t read or seen.

Two of mine are Don Quixote and Saturday Night Fever. The former I never finished after discovering “Cliff’s Notes,” the latter seemed redundant after seeing all those vintage 1977 disco outtakes. Plus, I never got platform shoes.

However, thanks to a recent Sunday screening at Tampa Theatre, I can no longer say I’m the only person I know of my generation who hasn’t seen Saturday Night Fever.

A couple of takeaways.

Too bad the entire movie didn’t take place in that Brooklyn disco. Travolta is just fun to watch, even with subpar partners. The Bee Gees’ soundtrack still resonates.

Other than that, it was an R-rated (a gang rape alone would warrant it) version of Welcome Back Kotter, with Vinny Barbarino morphing into Tony Manero.

And while those time-capsule, establishing shots of New York work, they also include a number of Twin Tower sightings. They still haunt. Stayin’ Alive in the background is beyond ironic.

Ever notice how much timeis spent on lists–compiling them and referencing them? Unless you know the list-maker’s agenda–self-marketing is a given–and criteria and methodology, it’s largely a waste of time. But you can’t help noticing.

Florida, for example, is the “most stressed out state,” according to real estate blog Movoto. The nonprofit Trust for Public Land rates Tampa’s park system the 28th best among major American cities. And smartgrowthamerica.org has Tampa 28th among major metro areas for “walkability.” Now you know.

And then there’s shiftgig.com, the online, professional networking and employment community for the hospitality and retail industry. It lists the “top five nightlife cities in the country” not the usual household names. They are: San Antonio, Cincinnati, Tampa, Kansas City and Nashville. In that order.

Notes shiftgig: Tampa “is certainly booming right now.” It mentions the nightlife in Ybor City, the “more urbane” experience of the Fly Bar & Restaurant downtown and SoHo “to grab a beer.”

Don’t know that Visit Tampa Bay will want to update its brochures quite yet.

On his recent appearance on Bay News 9’s Political Connections, former Gov. Charlie Crist was asked about his decision to opt for a Senate race instead of running for re-election in 2010. He gets this question a lot, of course, including rhetorically from the Rick Scott campaign. However likeably glib, Crist still comes up short on a credible answer.

For openers, he says he has no regrets.

What? Democrats and more than a few establishment GOPsters are still cursing the political gods over Crist’s ill-timed, senatorial ambition. It set off a ripple effect that resulted in Scott as governor. Thanks again, Charlie.

“The reality is we needed somebody in Washington who was civil and who would do the right thing for Florida and America,” said Crist by way of an explanation.

In other words, a complaisant, freshman senator would be so much more helpful than a pragmatic, incumbent governor in position to max out on more stimulus help from the Obama Administration. Think Gov. Crist, ideological chameleon-status notwithstanding, would have turned down high-speed rail funding or not lifted a finger to advance the acceptance of Medicaid expansion? He may have tried to avoid a sequel presidential hug, but he would have welcomed the federal help in a time of unprecedented need.

At least be honest, Charlie. Admit that it was a seemingly self-serving, ironically dumb move on your part when Florida was being economically blindsided. And that you regret it. Of course, you do. What you did was regrettably bad for your Sunshine State. But the people you need to turn out and vote for you deserve a candid answer, not insulting, boilerplate pabulum.

No, they won’t forget, but they will forgive–in the name of doing whatever it takes to get rid of Scott and undermine his Tea Partying acolytes.

To be sure, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has an uphill slog if he wants to regain status as a viable Republican presidential candidate in 2016. That whole “bridgegate” debacle was a political disaster–and likely a career depressant.

His position as chairman of the Republican Governors Conference can help, of course, unless he decides to share too many Republican rally stages with Rick Scott. And cherry picking media opportunities to show a self-deprecating, non-bully side can also be of assistance. The right interviewer, the right audience demographic is a proven combo ever since candidate John F. Kennedy went on the Tonight Show with Jack Paar in June of 1960.

But doing that tandem dance with Jimmy Fallon recently was arguably not a wise move. Looking like a fat guy prepping for a hula hoop contest was more harmful than helpful if demeaning is defining. Not if the intent is to ultimately present yourself as a serious enough aspirant for the most powerful office in the world. Replacing the image of a classic bully with that of a pandering clown is not an upgrade.

The Tampa Bay Times showed good initiative by sending sports columnist Tom Jones to New York to check out games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The reason: Marty St. Louis, after burning bridges behind in Tampa Bay, now played for the Rangers. St. Louis knows he’s seen as a traitor here for having orchestrated and pressured Lightning management into trading him in March. He had a forum–and two and a half months of reflection–to further explain.

The Times gave the Jones “exclusive” a big tease and prominent layout. It need not have bothered.

According to Jones, the 10-minute interview was rife with quotes that were off the record. What was recorded boiled down to this: Tampa is a place that St. Louis “really, really loves.” He’s upset that fans are upset with him. He wasn’t the disloyal one. Etc. We’ve heard it before.

And, yes, St. Louis still puts the onus on Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman, because he was initially left off the Canadian Olympic team. In fact, he was devastated. He was crushed. His own boss, who doubled as Team Canada executive director, had disrespected him. “That’s pretty much what it was all about,” summarized Jones.

So now we still know what we knew 10 weeks ago. Including this: It wasn’t just Yzerman who passed over St. Louis for an Olympic spot. Canadian head coach Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings, whose job it was to find the best combination of complementary skills, also passed on St. Louis. And he did so back in 2010 as well. Yzerman, arguably, had an obligation to back his coach–not accommodate the dreams of one of his players, no matter how talented.

It was the responsibility of the player, no matter how personally disappointed, to see the context–and the impossible spot that Yzerman was in. He only saw disloyalty and disrespect.

This changes nothing. Personally piqued, the captain bolted on his teammates, franchise and fan base with only 20 games left and the Lightning struggling to stay in the playoff hunt. It was–and remains–a classless exit. After 14 seasons, six All Star games, a Stanley Cup, MVP awards, scoring titles and countless choruses of “Louie, Louie,” we all deserved a better–not bitter–end to a career in Tampa Bay.

You kidding me? Chubby Checker is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What an outrage, and not just because I’m a fellow Philly guy who even remembers when he was Ernie Evans and recorded stuff BEFORE “The Twist” and countless sequels.

Chubby Checker’s not in–but the Beastie Boys, the Sex Pistols and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five are?

* “The United States will do our part. But understand that ultimately it’s up to the Iraqis, as a sovereign nation, to solve their problems.”–President Barack Obama.

* “It was relatively easy to be a hero on foreign policy when the main project was deterrence of another superpower.”–Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times.

* “An ISIS-controlled state will not expand indefinitely, and it may prove even more fragile than what it has already toppled. … It can loot and terrorize, but the patient work of providing services or otherwise running a country are beyond it. … What follows after a jihadist state collapses? That may be a chaos we can’t imagine.”–Daniel Byman, Brookings Institution.

* “I’m tired of struggling and worrying about my safety and that of my family.”–Bassem Youssef, Egyptian satirist, announcing the end of his popular television show because of unspecified political pressures.

* “I will continue to push to close Gitmo, because American values and legal traditions do not permit the indefinite detention of people beyond our borders.”–President Barack Obama.

* “Those who cross our border today illegally, even children, are not eligible for an earned path to citizenship. Those apprehended at our borders are priorities for removal … regardless of age.”–Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.

* “Conservatives generally believe that capitalism is a machine that cures itself. Therefore, people on the right have been slow to recognize the deep structural problems that are making life harder in the new economy–that are leading to stagnant social mobility, widening inequality and pervasive insecurity.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “There are really two Americas when it comes to entrepreneurship. There is the America that can afford to invest blood, toil, tears and sweat into launching a possibly brilliant, but also possibly doomed startup. And there is the other America, whose financial security is so precarious that it cannot ever afford to fail, and increasingly is unable to try.”–Catherine Rampell, Washington Post.

* “Republicans have essentially backed themselves into a corner. They have whitewashed their districts to such an extent that there is little incentive to reach out on immigration.”--David Wasserman, Cook Political Report.

* “(Eric) Cantor’s defeat may now be the subject of schadenfreude and chops licking, but it may also be a terrible omen.”–Charles Blow, New York Times.

* “‘Equality of outcomes’ fails to resonate with many mainstream women because it gives no consideration to personal strengths and choices and the underlying differences between the sexes that drive them.”–Cynthia M. Allen, Fort Forth Star-Telegram.

* “I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way.”–Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

* We have to stop the madness. Too many people have died, and too many lobbyists have lied.”–U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., on the need for tougher gun control laws.

* “USDA is committed to the fight against citrus greening, including making major research investments to counter this destructive disease. The citrus industry and the thousands of jobs it supports are depending on ground-breaking research to neutralize this threat.”–Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on the federal government’s allocation of $25 million in research on the citrus greening bacteria that threatens Florida’s $9 billion citrus industry.

* “The single biggest deterrent for students going into primary care is their level of debt.”–Dr. Charles Lockwood, dean of USF’s Morsani College of Medicine.

* “While it’s unfortunate that it took his bid for re-election to finally come around, on behalf of working families and children seeking a better future, we welcome his decision to join us.”–Florida Senate Democratic leader Chris Smith, on Gov. Rick Scott’s support of the ‘dreamers’ tuition bill.

* “I’m definitely getting out to share the Florida turnaround story.”–Florida First Lady Ann Scott.

* “I haven’t read it, but he sounds like a sad, bitter soul.”–Former Gov. Charlie Crist, on Jim Greer’s book, The Chairman.

* “It (expanded Panama Canal) will have an indirect effect on Tampa. Some of those Panamax ships will not get here because of their size. But some may stop in Jamaica, and smaller ships may then proceed here.”–Port Tampa Bay chairman Steve Swindal.

* “This is not a zero-sum game. If we work with Orlando to get the word out about Central Florida’s strengths for tech talent and tech companies, we will all enjoy a fantastic economic boom for the long term.”–Linda Olson, co-founder of the Tampa Bay WaVE business incubator.

* “There is a natural magnetic pull that occurs when tech comes to Tampa Bay. It draws other companies.”–Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Mark Sharpe.

* “This is a hotel for the culturally minded.”–Le Meridien hotel Front Office Manager Dan Martin.

* “We’re looking at our options. It requires a lot of funding.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on possible measures to create a (CSX train horn-free) “quiet zone” down town.

* Somebody had to say it. Somebody, that is, with clout.

So it was that John Morgan, the uber Orlando Democratic lawyer, recently called out Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz for opposing the proposed medical marijuana constitutional amendment. Rep. Wasserman Schultz, who represents the Miami area’s 23rd Congressional district, says the amendment is “written too broadly and stops short of ensuring strong regulatory oversight.” She is also one of the few Democrats to vote against an amendment that would bar the federal government from interfering with state decisions on this issue.

The voluble Morgan, who is bankrolling the medical marijuana amendment, went into rhetorical overdrive in a Miami Herald interview.  He did more than point out that Wasserman Schultz disagreed with the Florida Supreme Court. He called Wasserman Schultz, who also chairs the Democratic National Committee, a national “irritant” and the “new Allen West of South Florida. … She should just become a bridesmaid for Pam Bondi’s next wedding.”

Ouch. No “for the people” pabulum here.

Some context: Wasserman Schultz is an aggressive, transplanted Jewish liberal from New York who selectively and self-servingly goes off the Democratic reservation when it matters in her Miami-area district. Hence her medical marijuana take as well as her stand on Cuba, where she might as well be Debbie Ros Lehtinen. She tends to get a free pass from party and press on her sellouts. But not from Morgan.

Then there’s the subplot. Republicans, sensing a rare opportunity to actually appear women-friendly, subsequently branded Morgan’s comments as sexist–especially the bridesmaid part, which is still funny.

* The Tampa Bay Times’ headline read: “FCAT Scores Remain Steady.” For a moment, I thought: sounds like good news.

Then I remembered we’re talking about the FCAT and this state’s accountability mantra, which venerates standardized testing.

As it turns out, “steady” means, in effect, some incremental gains by some sectors. The percentages of students passing in math, reading and science rose by about one point in most grades. “Students throughout the state are continuing to make progress,” assessed Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart.

Here’s some context. In most grades and most subjects, between a third and half of students fail. That’s the steady reality, even if the headline didn’t say: “FCAT Scores Still Stink.”

* The ubiquity and accessibility of the Internet and its influence on adolescents, as we know, can be frightening at times. Recall the 12-year-old Polk County girl who committed suicide last year after being bullied on line by classmates. Law enforcement has been adjusting. Felony cyberstalking is now a prosecutorial option.

Then last week a pre-teen girl in Wisconsin was stabbed repeatedly by classmates who were obsessed with some macabre Internet meme, “Slender Man.” The power of the Internet has apparently turned horror tropes, which have been around in various folklore forms forever, into something literally menacing for the unsuspecting.

While society at large tries to cope with morphing media, at least one approach is decidedly low tech. That’s because some things haven’t changed about raising kids–even in a cyber society, where online alternative realities can lure the impressionable into the unconscionable. Put it this way: Something has gone terribly wrong–and untaught–at home.

As child-rearing becomes ever more challenging–with potential consequences ever more life-altering–the onus is on adults in charge to be better parents. Where there’s an Internet, there’s an Internot.

* “It is my hope that this meeting will mark the beginning of a new journey where we seek the things that unite, so as to overcome the things that divide.”–Pope Francis at the “prayer summit” with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

* “My hope is that we don’t have to exercise them because Mr. Putin’s made some better decisions.”–President Barack Obama’s reference to the possible need for additional economic  sanctions on Russia.

* “America’s with you. That is not hyperbole.”–Vice President Joe Biden to newly inaugurated Ukrainian President Petro O. Poroshenko.

* “We have long engaged–and all other countries in the West have long engaged–in hostage swaps where the West always comes out on the short end. And the reason is that we put a value on an individual human life the way that the barbarians at the other end of the table don’t.”–Conservative pundit Charles Krauthammer on Fox News.

* “We can argue about how. But let’s not argue about what’s going on. The science is compelling. … The baseline fact of climate change is not something we can afford to deny.”–President Barack Obama.

* “The world looks to be a safer place today. If you lend money out, the ECB (European Central Bank) has money for you.”–Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York.

* “There is skepticism that maybe Jeb Bush wants too much government in people’s lives. I don’t know that he will ever win over the limited-government conservatives.”–Republican strategist Greg Mueller.

* “I thought I had acted in good faith and made the best decision I could with the information I had. And I wasn’t alone in getting it wrong. But I still got it wrong.”–Hillary Clinton on her 2002 vote authorizing military action in Iraq.

* “I really have no idea what proposals Clinton will run on, what arguments she’ll make. … It’s not her policies that make her formidable; it’s the multitudes that ‘Hillary’ the brand and icon now contains.”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.

* “George H. W. Bush does indeed deserve enormous credit for being the champion of the cap and trade program for sulfur dioxide, a major cause of acid rain. … So if pressed, I would call it a bipartisan idea that was championed by a Republican president.”–Eric Pooley, author and spokesman for the Environmental Defense Fund.

* “Hitting what you aim at.”–What gun control in Texas means, according to Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

* “The whole industry was set up for people who smoked frequently. It needs to learn how to educate new users in the market. We have to create a culture of responsibility around edibles, so people know what to expect to feel.”–Andrew Freedman, Colorado’s director of marijuana coordination.

* “Florida is a place where we like to work. Rick Scott’s been the gift that keeps on giving.”–Brad Woodhouse, president of American Bridge, a Democrat-supporting super PAC.

* “What happened was Harry Potter–there’s no doubt about it.”–Anthony Crocco, Central Florida regional director of Metrostudy, a new-industry consulting firm, on the Florida tourism surge that has helped reignite the state’s economy.

* “I think you can make a very strong argument that among the major Florida markets, the one with the most potential is Tampa.”–Anirban Basu, CEO of the Baltimore-based, Sage Policy Group, in a recent speech to the CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) Economic Summit in Tampa.

* “The IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) effect continues. They are still continuing to market and promote this destination.”–Visit Tampa Bay president and CEO Santiago Corrada.

* “I would say it’s not irreparable, but he’s on thin ice.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan on the relationship between the county commission and Rick Homans, president and CEO of the Tampa Hillsborough County Economic Development Corp.

* “When you’re in the arts, you get used to being the stepchild, the also-ran. When something like this happens, you go, ‘Oh, you do know we exist! It’s just fantastic. We’re very happy.”–Judy Lisi, president of the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, on the big boost in Florida’s arts budget–from $12.7 million to $53.6 million. The Straz came away with $500,000 for renovations plus $150,000 for general operations–three times more than it was allocated last year.

* “We assume they are counting the people stuck in traffic on I-4.”–Kevin King, chief-of-staff- to St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, in response to census information showing Orlando (255,000) has now surpassed St. Petersburg (250,000) in population.

* “We’re having a record year–on top of our record year last year.”–David Downing, deputy director of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater.

* “This is going to be like the buggy whip. It’s going to be obsolete.”–Joanne Hurley, Pasco County School Board member, on the issue of eliminating the concept of graduation valedictorians and salutatorians.

* That was quite the impressive “get” last week for NBC News when anchor Brian Williams sat down in a Moscow hotel with Edward Snowden, who’s either a national-security traitor or a whistle-blowing patriot. Other networks referenced it; it was all over the internet and NBC maxed out with tease hype.

Impressions of Snowden: Not your basic 30-year-old, high-school dropout with a GED. He was prepared, well-composed, articulate and quick. And not unlike the NSA itself, disingenuous at times.

* Back in the day, Florida attorney Pam Bondi used to get national news play by offering legal analysis on Fox News. These days, of course, the Florida attorney general, gets coverage by making news. The Temple Terrace native was, for example, the lead attorney general in the unsuccessful lawsuit that sought to overturn President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

More recently AG Bondi’s response to a lawsuit that alleges Florida discriminates against gay couples by not recognizing out-of-state, same-sex marriages has become the focus of a major media buzz storm. Basically, she need only have noted that her job was to defend Florida law, notably the one where Florida’s voters approved a 2008 constitutional amendment banning gay marriages. It was in that spirit–whether states can make their own determinations–that she was responding to the lawsuit.

But, ironically, she channeled her inner Fox News for a sound bite. She went on to note that “disrupting Florida’s existing marriage laws would impose significant public harm.” Major media red flag. That’s the part that went viral. It resulted in stop-the-presses, context-be-damned “Gay Marriage Causes Harm” headlines to the disparagement of Florida’s attorney general–and the confirmation of another vintage Flori-DUH moment in the news.

* Come November, this TV-media market, the 14th largest in the country, will be without one of its foremost professionals. John Wilson, 73, the lead anchor of WTVT-Channel 13 for more than 20 years, will retire.  Before that he had anchored the news at WTSP-Channel 10 for 12 years.

In a business that can still live down to a cynical “If it bleeds, it leads” mantra, Wilson has been a rock of class and gentlemanly mien for more than a generation.

I remember catching his act live one time.

It was over at Eckerd College in the late ’80s. Representing the Tampa Bay Business Journal, I was co-interviewing David Brinkley with Walt Belcher of the Tampa Tribune. Brinkley was a big name and great-as-expected copy. No surprise that his guest-lecture appearance at Eckerd attracted a lot of local media interest. Including, naturally enough, local network affiliates.

When Belcher and I were finished, I noticed Channel 10’s John Wilson setting up for his on-air interview with Brinkley. I hung around and transcribed my notes. Then along with the Eckerd PR people, I watched Wilson’s interview with Brinkley.

An icon and a pro’s pro, with Wilson conducting. He was prepared to inquire, to probe, to engage. His manner was affable, professional and humor-inducing. The chemistry was palpable. They both enjoyed the process, and viewers were the beneficiaries. It doesn’t always work that way.

Wilson reminded me how important–and often overlooked–is the skill of listening. You could see him seamlessly pivot to something not in his notes to follow up a Brinkley quip or anecdote. It was masterful.

This market–and this business–will miss him.

* High  Life, the British Airways in-flight magazine, includes a nice “Sunshine State of Mind” spread this month. And British freelancer Emily Payne touted a lot more than Miami, the Keys, the Everglades and Walt Disney World. “For the flutter of city life and the feeling of sand beneath your feet, Tampa and St. Petersburg/Clearwater make a perfect two-step holiday,” she writes.

Mention is made of International Plaza, Hyde Park Village, Ybor City and SoHo, as well as The Florida Aquarium, Lowry Park Zoo and Busch Gardens. The layout includes a night-time Tampa skyline shot and a panoramic one of pristine Clearwater Beach.

It’s always of interest to see how the area is represented to outsiders. Even better is to be reminded that, hey, we live here!

And where we live is a place with a ratcheting visitor profile. Last year, according to Visit Tampa Bay, nearly 14 million Tampa-Hillsborough visitors spent a record $4.4 billion. Pinellas also set a spending record of $4.2 billion from its 14.3 million visitors.

* Why is there a market for Adam Sandler movies? Just askin’.