• by John Gaffney , February 3, 2003

Serious Business: I can say this about the news media's coverage of the Columbia tragedy: I was surprised at the amount of true emotion I saw from several on-air personalities. It was almost like the tension created over Iraq had been broken by a real story that involved real lives and real families, and the people presenting it in print and on got hit hard by it. Iraq didn't matter. The Super Bowl became fast history. Advertising was simplified to a means of conveying a product for sale. Myself, I can only hope that the American public and the news media understands reality for what it is, not how it is staged.

Sirius Business: Nothing solves a problem like money. And advertising. Crispin, Porter & Bogusky has created a brilliant campaign for Sirius radio (the satellite service that doesn't take ads) that plays to the rebel in radio listeners. "Corporate agenda off. Experimentation on," says the tagline. Appealing to the rebel for this service and for this audience seems right on the money to me. Let's see if it makes money for Sirius.

Parting Shot: My family and I moved to a new domicile over the weekend. A great excuse to get satellite TV. I now have four different Disney channels, two Nickelodeons, four family films channels and two kids. My own little media lab. Keep you posted.