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When comedian George Carlin died last Sunday, most remembrances focused on his infamous “Seven Dirty Words” routine, which ran afoul of the FCC and engendered a landmark Supreme Court case. Miami Herald television critic Glenn Garvin says America is divided over indecency and past guests weigh in on the debate over broadcast obscenities.
The internet in China is both censored by the government and used for surveillance, but American companies make the calculation that it is better to be there, albeit in a diminished capacity, than not at all. Nevermind, Chinese internet users are getting organized on the web and the result is real social change.
The idea of influencers - i.e. trendsetting social connectors - was one of the stickiest ideas in a book full of them, Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller The Tipping Point. But writer Clive Thompson says the idea is based on shaky science, and that when it comes to trendsetting, all power to the people.
In his 84 years Tony Schwartz produced over 30,000 recordings, thousands of groundbreaking political ads, media theory books and Broadway sound design, invented the portable recorder, delivered hundreds of lectures and had full careers as an ad executive and a pioneering folklorist. And he did it all without leaving his zip code. Schwartz died in June and we offer a piece from the Kitchen Sisters, looking back at his life spent listening.
Highlights from Past Shows
With the Olympics just weeks away, China is making the final preparations for the PR push of the century, pitching brand China to the world. Meanwhile, young urban Chinese are sorting out new identities and advertisers everywhere are revving their engines, preparing to sell to the fastest growing consumer market in the world.
===== OTM Blogs China: Read it! =====
John McCain and Barack Obama say they favor a series of town hall debates, but both campaigns turned down ABC News's invitation this week, saying that no single network should be in control. Ezra Klein of The American Prospect says this might not be such a bad thing.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
