Archive for the “us eh” Category

It’s the most important day of the year.

America likes to think that with Obama and Hillary running for the White House they’ve overcome and realized Dr King’s dream. With stories like this, I dunno.

Dr King’s dream will be realized when you no longer have to ask those questions. When you accept that a black man can be as successful as a white woman.

When they are EQUAL, and not debatable, then freedom will ring. We may be close, but we’re not there yet.

The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?

It’s tough being in mainstream media broadcasting. And by broadcasting, I mean speaking to a broad audience.

When you’re in a niche format, like so many online broadcasters, you can assume your audience has a certain understanding of issues and its easier to communicate on a deeper level.

Seth Godin has a piece about the dumbing down of the world in his blog today.

Think about the stuff you hear on the radio or read about in mass market publications. When they attempt to cover something you really know about, they seem pretty stupid, don’t they? Oversimplifying to the point of getting it completely wrong. They’re busy pandering to the masses, dumbing things down for the lowest common denominator.

The thing is, when you dumb stuff down, you know what you get?

Dumb customers.[link]

Strombo does a good job of not “dumbing down” the news, although that’s what he’s been accused of often times. He gives a background, a scene set for his audience, and then gets into deeper issues of the stories with his guests, now that the crowd is on the same page.

But on the radio, I have difficulty trying to break deeper topics with my audience. We’re a Top 40 radio station that’s really just background noise, I have 15-30 seconds to get in and get out. People don’t actively listen and hang on every one of my words, so I try and keep things as basic as possible.

Which is a shame. I did a bit yesterday on the HD DVD v Blu Ray battle and I tried to set the scene, but I think it went over a lot of people’s heads, or they changed the dial.

That’s the thing about mainstream radio, if people don’t understand, don’t “get it” or don’t like what you’re talking about - they’ll punch out. They’re gone. That dial is just 24 inches away from their ears, it’s an easy thing to do. So you have to be broad and encompassing in your topics.

That’s why you get a steady diet of Britney and relationships on the radio. It’s easy to understand. I mean, just listen to Battle of the Sexes with Nat and Drew and hear the type of questions that are regularly punted and butchered. (dude today called it Hollenday sauce. I’m serious)

I’m not saying I dumb things down, but I am broadcasting, so the lowest common denominator gets the focus. Imagine being in a classroom and the lecture is constantly targeted to the kids who are failing. That’s what I feel like sometime.

I don’t want to do that, but I struggle with how to do it differently.

American news is the classic example of how out of hand this mentality can get. Watch the 5p news on KOMO and then the 6p news on Global. Night. And. Day. KOMO is fluff and car chases and live hits from restaurants where someone walked out on their bill, Global tackles issues, not with the vigor I’d like, but they still present something that’s deeper, for 15 minutes before going to sattelite stories about floods in the US.

If you watch the shows from back east in prime time on the American networks, you’re hammered with “Action News! On Your Side!” type of promos for their news shows that sell nothing but sizzle.

Steak is hard to digest, sizzle is easy to get excited about. I’ll try and give you some steak today.

The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?

Okay, GW is a very simple man who loves his drink and cattle. A damn scary piece of flesh and bones to be walking around with the keys to the bomb.

He couldnt find “The Iraq” without “The Internets” and some help from Uncle Dick and Daddy.

Obama and Hilary and The Ken Doll could give a little bit of hope that things will get better. But wait, we thought the same in 04, and the Damn Yankees went all Republican on us again, despite Michael Moore’s better efforts at stating the obvious.

So, with the chance the Americans might stick with the GOP for years 9-12, let’s have a look at the man who could be President, Michael Huckabee.

pwned.

The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?

It’s not the Numa Numa guy, otters holding hands, or a skateboarding dog.

It’s a speech. It’s less than 12 hours old, and it will be the most viewed YouTube video of the week, what happens over the next 5 weeks could make it the most watched of the year.

It’s brilliant, yes, personally I think he tried a little hard to channel MLK, but he’s smooth so it works.

Just because you can give a good speech doesnt mean you’ll be a good president. That said, skin colour and skirts don’t make you a good or bad president either. There are issues in this election, everyone still debates the surface stuff. Can we please be color and gender blind and get a reasonable debate on economic and foreign policy issues?

It’s embarassing to see analysts on CNN say that “blacks can now vote for this man because he has momentum.” I didnt know all blacks were cloned and have the same life philosophy, hopes and goals.

Get to the issues, America. Please.

The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?.