Hot Buttons
The things we don't talk about see the light of day
It's been a year in which some of the things we don't usually speak about publicly (or at least, not in polite company) began to be talked about at last. Movements toward political correctness, which swamped the media and public discourse for much of the past decade, met with a backlash, and seem to be giving way to a sort of new openness. Political seasons tend to bring these things to fore.
The biggest milestone of the last presidential election was probably John Kerry's kiteboarding lesson. But this one's been different. This campaign cycle has seen history-making speeches on religion and race, and redefined the political conversation. During the primaries, Mitt Romney fought his critics, the rumor mill and dirty campaign tactics with a memorable speech on his Mormon faith, a speech that many compared to John F. Kennedy's historic address on his own Catholicism during the 1960 campaign. And Barack Obama spoke about race more directly than any other
politician running for high office has ever dared try. This year also brought a serious female presidential candidate and a female vice-presidential candidate, bringing issues of gender equality and sexism front and center.
Ad campaigns are plunged into this environment, and both reflect and are shaped by it. There's no corner of the media left untouched by the tumult; taboos are coming out for some air and taking a walk around a neighborhood where previously people kept their curtains tightly drawn and spoke only in whispers.
Recent Media Magazine Articles
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Weighing the Numbers Game April 16, 4:11 p.m.
For media agencies, preparing for the upfronts used to be fairly straightforward: Watch the new shows, ...
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Negotiating a New Frontier April 16, 4:10 p.m.
We hear about them more and more these days — those cord-cutters who have set sail ...
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Fast Forward: Worn And Threadbare April 16, 4:09 p.m.
I collect T-shirts the way other people collect art or wine, but unlike them, I don’t ...
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Staying Power April 16, 4:08 p.m.
Long-term, TV’s big broadcast networks need much to maintain their continued viewer and advertising dominance: More hits, ...
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Let's Go Numb April 16, 4:06 p.m.
On the road to hell (or, at least, its kitchen) will be an enormous street party ...
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The View From the Stage April 16, 4:01 p.m.
Mitch Oscar, a long-time agency executive, remembers Robin Williams taking the upfront stage to interest advertisers ...
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Show Starter April 16, 3:59 p.m.
When it comes to announcing their annual fall schedules,do the big broadcast networks really need to ...
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Bande A Part April 16, 3:54 p.m.
The last upfront presentation I attended was a Nickelodeon breakfast-palooza three or four years ago. I ...
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The Turnaround April 16, 3:53 p.m.
In the spring of 1984, Edsel Ford II, the Ford Motor Co. scion who was then ...
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Confessions of an Upfront Reporter April 16, 3:44 p.m.
Twenty-five years ago, I began writing a story just like this one. The article, for the now-defunct ...
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