There once was a time, not so long ago, when movie critics were routinely awarded princely treatment by the motion-picture studios--special early screenings, private meetings with company chieftans, perks of various sorts. Not so these days. The advent of the Internet has changed the paradigm. While print and broadcast critics still have large audiences, much of the buzz-making power has shifted to small-time reporters and bloggers who have captured the attention of the film-going public. "For the folks who make their living reviewing films, this... adds insult to injury. Not only do they have to forgo the ego boost of …

Netherlands-based Philips Electronics, the worldwide consumer-products giant, has filed an application with the U.S. Patent Office that would permit broadcasters to essentially freeze selected programming, making it impossible for viewers to skip commercials. Philips itself says it has no plans to incorporate the technology in any of its own productsn but wants to make it available to others. In its patent application, published March 30th, Philips acknowledged that its technology may not be popular with consumers, some of whom purchase DVRs specifically for the purpose of ad-skipping, and noted that, "We developed a system where the viewer can choose, at …

Rebecca Dana of the New York Observer this week focuses on what is so readily apparent to anyone who follows trends in television news: banter is big.  Expert banter skills helped Katie Couric land the anchor job at CBS News, and her successor, Meredith Vieira, was chosen in no small part because of her ability to carry on lightweight, unscripted conversation on live TV.  With more and more news and newsy (think morning TV) shows requiring of their hosts a certain ability to chat offhandedly with their on-air colleagues, great value has been placed on the skill which, let's …

Veteran journalist Phil Hall sits down at his computer and tries to explain why there are so few talented journalists coming down the pike. In a piece titled "Where Have All the Good Young Writers Gone," Hall takes aim at pitifully low salaries and the ineptitude of college-level journalism schools, but saves his best shot for the blogosphere.  Hall: "The Internet is crippling journalism. Today's young writers often migrate to the real world of journalism via the blogosphere. Blogging, with its hit-and-run approach to relating a story, makes the oft-maligned USA Today approach to reporting look like the Times …

Steve Volk wonders if politically liberal billionaire Ron Burkle, who is known to be interested in purchasing a number of U.S. newspapers, including some McClatchy cast-offs, has turned sour on the industry as a result of the Jared Paul Stern gossip scandal, in which he played a role.  Burkle is interested in Philadelphia because, among the papers he may buy this year, are the city's two dailies.  Volk writes that the local Newspaper Guild president "doesn't think the current controversy will dampen Burkle's interest in owning newspapers. His personal troubles with Page Six may even heighten his resolve to …

Motor Trend magazine, Primedia's popular entry in the car-enthusiast category, is seeing its brand move to a new platform. Not the Internet, where it already has a presence, but to secondary digital channels, which are beginning to carry more diverse programming (such as NBC's “Weather Plus”). Primedia has signed a deal with Multicast Networks Group, a content and distribution company, that would put Motor Trend TV on the air sometime next year.  The programming would be free to network and station owners that pick up the shows. Broadcasting & Cable reports that "Primedia and MNG plan to offer advertisers the …

Stand by for a river of ink to be spilled on the occasion of Shock magazine's debut issue, May 30. The Hachette Filipacchi monthly, described as a category buster by the company's U.S. CEO, will be filled with photos that push the envelope of decency and, on occasion, punch right through it. Its editor, Mike Hammer, says Shock will feature, among other things, an "out-there section of weird cultural practices that people will look at as strange and bizarre and even unsettling at times." For example, he points to a wrestling photo which shows a close-up of a thumb being …

A professor at the University of California at Berkeley says competitors to cable TV would result in lower bills for consumers. Says C|Net News: "Yale Braunstein, professor in the School of Information at Berkeley, analyzed data from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Federal Communications Commission and calculated that cable television subscription prices would drop 15 percent to 22 percent in California if cable companies competed directly with another wireline paid-TV provider, such as a telephone company." Braunstein's study was commissioned and funded by AT&T, which of course has a huge stake in the industry and is eager to …

Jonathan Thompson of the New Zealand Herald has a fascinating piece concerning the clear downside of high-definition television. Unless you've been blessed with the skin of Nicole Kidman, every wrinkle and blemish is caught and magnified by high-def, and that can be unpleasant for viewers. Ouch. "In the United States," writes Thompson, "previously unseen spots, blemishes and crow's feet are prompting outbreaks of fury and talk of legal action against commentators who have ridiculed celebrities over their looks. In Britain stars are scurrying for new makeup products and even surgical treatments to beat the intrusive lenses of high-definition cameras. 'For …

Even though the New York Times recently dropped its own, tepid version of a regular gossip column, the current hoo-ha over former Page Six contributor Jared Paul Stern has forced the august Times to focus on the history and meaning of the New York Post's powerful column. In sum, says the Times, Page Six helps set the tone and agenda for the buzz that courses through New York City's arteries. Even though it's often wrong, perhaps "willfully" so, says the Times, Page Six is read by everybody who is everybody in fashion, media, the restaurant and real estate businesses, even …