Fox News: In Defense of Indefensible Media

I've heard reports recently that Fox News - Rupert Murdoch's right-wing media channel - has been refused broadcast rights in Canada because of Canada's Radio Law, which states a broadcaster may not "broadcast....any false or misleading news."

Ironically, I'm not entirely sure whether this account isn't in itself false or misleading - it seems to stem from a single piece written by Pace University Professor Robert F. Kennedy Jnr. that isn't holding up to independent scrutiny.

Nevertheless, it raises a really interesting question about the media in America.

Now, I'm no fan of Fox News. I think all news outlets tend to be biased, but Fox News is deliberately so - and engages in journalistic practices ranging from the outright dishonest to the mind-numbingly stupid.

But I am a fan of the 1st Amendment - and dislike any attempts to finagle with the freedom of the press.

One such attempt was the so-called Fairness Doctrine, introduced by the FCC in 1949 to 'balance' different political positions on the radio (and subsequent broadcast mediums.) It should have been called the 'unFairness Doctine', though, because it basically amounted to a tiny group of regulators having the power to dictate the scope and form political discussion could take - an absolute violation of the 1st Amendment.

Ronald Reagan wisely scrapped the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 and that led to the explosion of conservative talk radio - which has since then unequivocally ruled the airwaves. So much so, that many liberals argue that the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated to balance the right-wing opinion out.

But they're wrong.

Because while it's true that talk radio is dominated by the right wing, let us not forget that Hollywood, the television industry, the majority of newspapers, magazines and the bulk of TV news outlets are undeniably (and sometimes proudly) left-leaning.

Complaining about the balance of talk radio is taking the same short-sighted view of the media as the critics of the SIRIUS and XM Satellite Radio merger - it ignores the fact that radio is not the only form of broadcast media people get exposed to these days (which wasn't the case when the Fairness Doctrine was written.)

Given that people get their political opinion from papers, podcasts, online videos and the TV - all in addition to radio - you'd have to admit that balance and fairness already exists. In fact, if there is a bias, amidst the conglomeration of all those other forms of broadcast media, it's almost certainly to the left.

Which is why I think there's an important place for news sources like Fox News - not just in America, but in Canada too. If people are demanding a different form of news media - one that is more aligned to their political opinion - is seems fundamentally undemocratic to deny them that; especially under some self-righteous claim of 'fairness.'

That being said, I would welcome a law like the one Kennedy referenced - which makes it illegal to broadcast 'false and misleading information.' Because if I have one criticism of Fox News (and I actually have plenty) it's that they've been caught lying their pants off time and time again.

Just recently, for example, I was watching the protests in Wisconsin unfold and saw an interesting news clip of a Wisconsin 'union thug' pushing an 'honest, working American' to the ground.

In the background of that clip, however, were palm trees - which resolutely fail to grow in Wisconsin; especially in February!

It was later revealed that the clip used in the Wisconsin news report was taken from a protest in California six months earlier. That's the kind of false and misleading 'reporting' Fox News should be rightly vilified for.

But if America was to adopt a law similar to Canada's - which forbid broadcasting 'false or misleading' information - would Fox News be the only broadcaster to fall foul of it?

What do you think?

Cable vs. Murdoch - a political vendetta?

Vince Cable, the Business Secretary of the new Lib/Con coalition, has "declared war on Rupert Murdoch."

Regarding the media mogul's plans to become a majority shareholder in BSkyB, Cable has announced that he personally intends to use whatever means necessary – including his pull in parliament – to block the takeover.

He intends to prevent Murdoch from becoming an "unrivalled power in the UK media market, with a dominant position in newspapers and full ownership of a pay TV company set for annual pre-tax profits of over £1bn next year."

And he is, quite frankly, talking out of his backside.

I mean, it's all very well for Cable to complain that "the proposed takeover of BSkyB increases the dominance of News Corporation and reduces the plurality of news sources" - yet that ignores the fact that there's already a media monopoly in the United Kingdom that does exactly that – it's called the BBC.

Every television owner in the United Kingdom is currently legally required to pay a license fee that funds the good old British Broadcasting Corporation – which delivers abundantly funded television, radio and DAB services that put any commercial competition at a serious disadvantage (I know this, because I worked in UK commercial radio for a number of years.)

When Cable argues that "allowing such a dominant force to be created increases the likelihood of the market being distorted" he blithely ignores the fact that the UK media market is already distorted.

One can't honestly buy his claim that Murdoch's media empire will damage the competition when the primary competition is a nationalized media empire that racked up 916 million pounds in sales last year (that's almost a billion quid – similar to the profits of BSkyB) – above and beyond the 3.5 billion pounds the BBC already 'earns' through license fees.

Don't get me wrong – I'm not knocking the BBC. I love programs like Top Gear and Doctor Who and one of the reasons I cancelled my cable subscription in America is because we didn't get BBC America.

However, when it comes to the business of a 'free market' in the British media, we need to admit that it's not figures like Rupert Murdoch who are creating problems. The reason so many UK media groups are disappearing off the map is because the BBC is driving them out of business.

Just look at local radio – how can a commercial station compete with a local BBC station, which doesn't need to worry about raising money through selling advertising? The fact is – it can't. That's why more and more stations are being swallowed up by regional networks – run on a shoestring with networked content in an effort to remain profitable.

As long as the BBC exists, we'll never have a truly 'free market' media system in the UK – so arguments that Rupert Murdoch's plans will 'distort it' are transparently hypocritical. In fact, News Corporation may even bring some balance – a different voice and a different point of view that finally has the clout to stand up against the increasingly politicized BBC.

But what really gets me about Cable's crusade is just how cynical it is. He's made no secret of the fact that he's pursuing a personal vendetta against Murdoch, which somewhat rankles with his assertions that terminating the takeover would be for the 'public good.'

Oh, I'll admit that if Ofcom and Cable do scupper Murdoch's plans, it might be good news for the media minnows who swim in the BBC's wake: but let's not pretend for a moment that those commercial enterprises – staffed by some of the most dedicated, talented and committed people I've ever worked with – are toiling in a 'free market.'

They exist as nothing more than a political indulgence – and Cable's undemocratic actions make their position even more precarious than it was already.

I'm not complaining because I support Rupert Murdoch. I'm complaining because I think Cable's words and actions are a massive abuse of power by a politician with an axe to grind.

If you disagree with me - fine - but just remember this:

It's all very well to cheer when a 'bad guy' like Murdoch gets his wings clipped by a monomaniacal Member of Parliament – but what happens when the next media company that he 'puts in its place' is the one that speaks for you?

Why Local Radio's Losing Out

If you’re moving your mate’s enormous sofa, you need an estate car. A perky runabout just won’t do the job.

Likewise, if you’re popping off to the inner city and need to find a handy parking spot, you don’t always want to be behind the wheel of something long and hearse-like.

Different jobs require different tools. You can often ‘make do’ with the wrong equipment, but if you want to get the job done properly, you need the right tools to do it with.

The radio industry is no different; but so-called experts keep pretending it is.

Local vs. Regional

In the radio game, there are two breeds of stations. Local and regional.

The regional boys cover a large area, encompassing at least one urban hub. Local stations, on the other hand, are much more… well, localised. They tend to be centred around a single town or city.

Traditionally, they’ve battled it out for whatever advertising budget their TSA can scrape together; and local radio always comes off worse.

That’s because the perception is: it’s not a level playing field.

And at the moment, it isn't. With radio being such an incestuous business, you often see the same personalities lugging their inflexible sales models from regional stations to local and back again. They keep selling the same way, blaming failure on the stations, not themselves.

But if local radio is going to succeed, the preconceptions these sales people have about 'local radio' need to be chucked out of the window.

Why Local Radio Doesn't Sell - A Salesman's Perspective

Preconception Number 1: Local Radio doesn’t offer effective coverage.

Don’t think of local radio’s coverage as ‘limited.’ Think of it as ‘targeted.’ There are plenty of local businesses that only have clients from the very nearby area. Local radio will always be a better choice for them to advertise with because it eliminates costly wastage. All a sales person needs to do is tell them.

Preconception Number 2: Local radio isn’t cost effective.

It’s a familiar opinion in the radio biz: “Radio is Expensive.” Well, it shouldn’t be. For local businesses, radio is just one of many forms of advertising. To compete against them, it must be priced effectively.

A weekly campaign on radio should be price matched to a weekly campaign in the local press. If it’s more expensive, it’ll always be a less attractive prospect for a business with limited funds.

Preconception Number 3: Local is Limiting.

Forget teaming up with nearby FM stations to create a pseudo ‘hub.’ Local radio stations need to bask in their ‘localness.’ From locally focused news and traffic reports, to coverage of local sporting events and appearances by local personalities on-air, a local radio station needs be the very aural identity of the town.

Forget group wide imaging and networked shows. Provide local coverage and you’ll get local listeners.

What's gone wrong?

The problem with so many radio ‘groups’ is that focus has been taken away from a station’s individuality. A station shouldn’t exist as part of a ‘chain.’ It needs it's own identity and presence.

That takes advertising. Street activity. Support of local music and charity. It takes a small, but dedicated programming and sales team that have burrowed deep into the roots of their community.

A radio station that embraces it’s town or city breaks free from local radio’s so-called ‘limitations.’

But achieving that takes three things.

Time, Money, Courage

.
In a local community, it takes time to build identity. A radio station needs consistency and presence; not a re-brand every six months.

It takes money to cover the costs until the revenue slowly builds. Money to pay for marketing and events to raise the station’s identity. Money just to keep things going until things can pay for themselves.

And most importantly of all, it takes courage.

Local radio has been shown to succeed - by hard work, great customer service and establishing an important place in the local community.

But that can never happen while the larger radio groups keep getting cold feet and swapping money-losing stations like they were premiership footballers.

Unless there's the courage to stick with it, there will never be enough consistency for local radio to actually live up to it's potential.

Roland Hulme admits he is one of the world's least qualified people to talk about local radio marketing and how to give it a boot up the arse. But he was a salesman with two radio groups once and got to drive a shiny blue VW Beetle with bright yellow dots on it.

What happened on the 8th February

Every month, the radio industry eagerly awaits X-Trax.

The radio industry magazine, it contains competitions and pictures, from local radio stations across the country. My mug's been slapped in there a few times. Even Piglet's made the cut and been featured as "The WinFM Mascot."

It also features 'on this day...' features, which mark who was born, who died and what happened on each day of the month.

For a giggle, I looked up my birthday and discovered that the 8th February was quite a depressing date!

It was the date in which Mary, Queen of Scots was executed in 1587. In 1924, the gas chamber was used to execute somebody for the first time in Nevada State Prison. In 1994, Tory MP Stephan Millington died after a kinky sex act he was trying went wrong. Boy, what a way to go!

Most depressing of all, in 1983, those bastards in the IRA kidnapped race horse Shergar. He was never seen again. I was only 5 at the time (and don't remember the event) but what a horrible thing to happen on my birthday.

But it's not all bad news. I share my birthday with some interesting people, like Jules Verne, one of my most favourite writers (author of some of my favourite books, Around the World in 80 Day, 5 Weeks in a Balloon and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.)

John Grisham, the brilliant legal novelist, was also born on my birthday in 1955.

Ironically, one of the few famous ginger people, Seth Green, was born on my birthday in 1974. He went on to play Willow's boyfriend Oz in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dr Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers trilogy.

Lana Turner, who Frank Sinatra almost left his wife for, was born on the 8th February in 1920.

Happy Birthday!

Today began the inexorable countdown to the big 3-0.

365 days to do all those things I'd promised I'd do before I was thirty.

Really, there were only three of those.

1: Move to America (almost there.)
2: Get my first book published (well, at least I've written it)
3: Earn a living writing (you call this a living?)

I'm completely astonished at how fast time has gone. Especially the last couple of years.

Where have they gone? What have I become? How come I look in the mirror and see somebody I hardly recognize? Can anybody tell me where the witless, but well dressed adventurer went and who this chubby, scrubby writer is?

During our week in France, I found a big box stuffed with photos. Pictures of my from years ago, when I was a kid living in Hampshire. Then more, from school in Devon, lots from university and then piles of smiling photos of me, looking sleek and well dressed for perhaps the only time in my life, with my arm paternally around the shoulders of myriad American girls with beautiful tans and big teeth.

Hard to think I spent my last summer in Paris over two years ago - and that was the end of an era. Since then I've become a veteran of the radio business. I say veteran - this is the kind of show in which people have short, glittering careers and then go a bit nuts and drive their cars through the door of their radio station. However the REAL vets, like my old boss Gordon Drummond, have been in it for donkey's years.

Anyway. Now I work in Media. I wear jeans to work. I don't shave every day. I have got a bit tubbier. I get grumpy if I don't eat lunch.

It's so weird to have 'grown up,' because I don't feel I have at all. My insecurities and ambitions burn just the same. I keep thinking I've got all the time in the world - but days like this make you realise it's trickling inexorably away.

Meetings - A Great Excuse to Avoid Work

I haven't written much about work since I started at Ocean and Power FM. There's no particular reason for that. I absolutely LOVE my job. There is nothing more satisfying than writing a bunch of commercials and having the client's eyes light up when he hears them. On a much smaller scale, it must be like the feeling novelists get when they find readers who love their novels.

But we all love a good bitch, even about the best job in the world.

Today was my last day before heading off on holiday (more on that later.) I had SHEDLOADS to do. About seven scripts and various other associated gubbins to take care of. I'd have got more of them done yesterday, but I spent the day in Bournemouth on a 'Work Thing.'

And today confirmed what I thought yesterday. There is only ONE thing that I do not like about my job. And it's not the job (I love writing) it's not the workload (I thrive on deadlines) and it's not the people (I think they're all awesome. Even my bosses!)

It's the meetings.

All the bloody time. Meetings for this. Meetings for that. go to Bournemouth and have a meeting. Now, I'm all for meetings and I think they're very productive but HELLO?!?! Has anybody actually noticed HOW MUCH WORK WE HAVE TO DO?

The ironic thing is we ALL feel this way in the meetings, I'm sure.

End of Bitch. Rolski signing off.

Adventure Eddy goes Live!

Purely by accident, the first non-Hulme (this side of the channel, at least) has asked to read Adventure Eddy!


The gorgeous Claire Anderson, who presents on Power FM between 1pm-4pm, asked to see it after I bored her with my "I'm writing a novel" speech and has taken a copy to read at home, or in the bath, or wherever it is that famous people read books.

Wow! A famous person reading my book!

Hopefully my ego will not be crushed and my dreams of being published cast asunder by cruel words from a honey-voiced radio star.

Simon James & Overated

Here in the radio business, we've all been paying careful attention to the new Solent licence - Original 106.

They are in direct competition with Ocean FM, Power FM and Capital Gold Hampshire (deeze are my peeps.) They're also stomping firmly on Wave 105's footprint (nice and heavily, I hope.) Some smaller stations, like The Quay 107, The Saint and my friends at 107.2 WinFM might be impacted as well.

Marketing wise, anyway. In terms of listeners, they have a strict mandate to appeal to the 'older' end of the scale. I think it's actually 55+. That puts them up against Capital Gold, but with an FM licence they're got (in theory) a distinct advantage.

Which is why I was incredibly surprised to hear that they've got Simon James and Hill leading their presenter line-up.

In case you're not familar with them, Simon James and Simon Hill (hence Simon James & Hill) are two lads in their thirties who fit neatly into the Chris Moyles/Johnny Vegas mould. They ran the TLRC network shows for about a year (from 7pm to 11pm on all 27 Local Radio Company stations) and before that had a very succesful drive time show on the Emap stations.

They appeal to a youth audience. They're rude, crude and incredibly pleased with themselves. They've won three Sony awards, so I shouldn't bitch, but whoever put them on the lineup for a 'senior' station needs their head examined.

Or do they?

In all honesty, I think this move follows their activity in the South's market place. They won the licence based on a platform that would appeal to the senior listeners - the only reason why a new licence would have been granted in such a 'busy' area - but right from day one, they're going to be ignoring their mandate and trying to appeal to the 'everyman.'

Just like every other commercial station.

I'll be interested to see how things pan out for them. I think they'll find it really tough establishing themselves against Wave 105 and the TLRC network - who basically share a poorly thought out 'common' playlist. It'll just be another station playing the same old crap.

As Phil proved at WinFM, and as Power FM and Ocean FM are doing so successfully at the moment, the real way to make an impact on commercial radio in England is to deviate from the safe and derivative path of most commercial stations and make your own mark in the marketplace.

Original had an incredible opportunity to do that - but I've got a feeling they've blown in from day one.

Original 106 starts transmitting from October 1st.

Writer's Block

I've had a lot of time to think about this dreaded condition over the last few days. I've suffered "performance related anxiety" in both my personal and professional writing.

Work wise, I have been writing a series of scripts for the Hampshire Primary Care Trust and their Smoking Cessation Program. Basically, a quit smoking program for people in Fareham and Gosport.

Their boss had heard a series of commercials in Canada that he wanted us to use as inspiration. His brief was, to be honest, complicated.

They had to be tips to quit smoking. The ads started off with "Quit tip 10" or whatever. In reality, there would only be about six or seven commercials, but the numbers would suggest a rotation of many more.

Then, they had to present a tip to help people who had quit smoking. These tips had to be from the official 23 on the givingupsmoking.co.uk web address.

This is where it gets complicated.

Because the tip had to be practical and logical and presented in such a way that it would offer an aspirational goal that could be achieved by giving up smoking. The aspirational goal had to be amusingly absurd. Like playing for England or going to Fiji.

Then, in conclusion, the entire thirty second commercial had to be funny.

Let's recap on that. We present quit tip number whatever. If you do this, it can help you give up smoking. Which can help you achieve this crazy, whacky, incredible thing. And then something funny happens.

I have literally been beating my head against a brick wall over this. I have written about 30 scripts in all and never quite got them right. Writing each one was like squeezing blood from a stone. I was staring right up against a main course of writer's block with a side order of deadline covered in cheese.

Then there was my own writing.

I'm working on a story called The Bootleg Boys. And I was facing the same thing I mentioned earlier. I had a very specific series of events that had to happen in order for the story to work. If they didn't, the story wouldn't make any sense whatsoever. But the characters, locations, timelines and things meant that there was no believable way the characters would realistically do any of the things they needed to.

So, again, I was facing writer's block.

And that's when it hit me. Writer's block doesn't exist.

Seriously, there is no such thing. Writer's block isn't the inability of a writer to express themselves on paper. It's the brain's way of telling you that the thing you want to write won't work. It doesn't make sense. It's crap. You need to sit back and look at what it is you are trying to write before you sit there and complain that you can't write it.

Because I managed to get over my block with the HPCT scripts and with The Bootleg Boys, but only with input from other people.

My boss, Paul, and the sales exec in charge of the account, Erika, spent some time with me working through ideas. Together they helped me come up with nine scripts which Erika and I presented to the assembled throng of the Hampshire Primary Care Trust. And they liked them. The feeling of a roomful of people telling you that: Yes! Your script ideas please us, Strange Ginger Man in the Leather Jacket, was brilliant.

It made me feel like a writer again.

It was only after that warm glowing feeling that the Bootleg Boys fell into place too.

I was zooming home on the motorway in my Volvo sports car (had to mention that) when the answer to my plot problems arrived.

Just like when I'd put together the story for Adventure Eddy (still updated at Adventure Eddy) I needed to take a character from another story (in this case, the original draft of The Silver Relic) and use her to replace the brand new, shiny Esperanza.

She was a character who had an existing relationship with Adventure Eddy, had an existing relationship with some of the other characters and would, while keeping in character, do the things that were required of her to keep the story going.

What's more, she was a hilariously demanding old boot who would be so much fun to write about. I was envisaging the bitchy conversations all the way home.

Just like the brain tells you to stop eating or stop drinking when you're full (or, with the drinking thing, staggering and singing) the brain won't let you write if there's something wrong with what you're trying to express. It's a subconscious thing. Or something like that. In any event, if you get writer's block, it's probably because there's something intrinsically wrong with the concept that you're trying to write about.

So from now on, I will listen to my writer's block. It's probably telling me something important.

Anyway. Don't smoke, kids. It makes you impotent. And smelly. And poor. And I have it from very reliable sources that chicks don't dig any of those things.

Although with all this banning smoking and stuff, I think smoking is quite cool and rebellious, and I have it from very reliable sources that chicks do dig those things.

Erm. So keep on smoking. That's the moral of the story.

New Day, New Book

I've decided to lay off the Eddy for a bit. I've really got to concentrate on getting Adventure Eddy published, rather than working on the sequel, The Bootleg Boys. That's the story in which Eddy comes back to England and then ties into what I've written before - Rules of Engagement (a poisoner tries to disrupt Eddy's sister's wedding) Black Dog (Eddy battles a legendary Dartmoor werewolf) Silver Relic (Eddy goes to Germany to track down some blueprints) and Science Lesson (somebody's trying to murder Eddy.)

I have decided to work on a new book. The VERY exciting 'Radio Advertising for the Small Business.'

Basically, it's a guide to how small, local businesses can find a cost effective way to advertise on radio. It explains away all the jargon and shows how radio advertising works. I'm hopefully getting some really great radio experts to contribute (like my old bosses Gordon Drummond and Carolyn Hayward.)

I will keep you updated. If you know any small businesses that want to increase their business, tell them about my (unwritten) book!

Robin Hood and his Merry Men who wear tights but are NOT GAY!

I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while. I've just spent the last few days in Nottingham, at Trent FM, finding out a bit more about how my wonderful script ideas get turned into brilliant commercials.



Nottingham is Robin Hood country and I peeked into the Robin Hood museum while I was there. They were unable to explain how Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, managed to walk from the White Cliffs of Dover to Sherwood Forest in the space of a single day.

If there's any justice...

Number One singer Lemar popped into the office today!

I didn't tell him that, every time I hear "If there's any justice..." it makes me want to pinch myself until I bleed.

He was being interviewed on Power and popped up to see Erika, who is an enormous fan (and wrangled a smooch out of the big fella.)

I'll never forgot his words to me:

"Hi, Man."

Lovely bloke, though.

This concludes Roland's gratuitous celebrity name dropping