Mediaboss Marketing

We didn't dwell on these barbs. This was an email response, after all, not written for publication. And he had good reason to be prickly after years of shall we say pointed critiques. Quinn is a human being, lest we forget, and it's hard not to take that stuff personally.

But to the extent these animated comments reflected his beliefs, they were bothersome for deeper reasons, which reasons have been lately dramatized in Technicolor by the coverage of, and commentary around, the Plain Dealer's death. Quinn cited in that email, for example, (as professional gatekeepers are wont to do), a "long list of standards" that had supposedly evolved in the journalism industry, and said Scene adhered to none of them. "By no journalistic standard is the content produced there anything but the lowest quality," he wrote.

Who knows what standards he was talking about. Probably stodgy maxims about "fair and balanced coverage" and a prohibition on cuss words.

"In the elite presson cable news, in newspaper opinion sectionsyou can say the most monstrous things imaginable, as long your language is polite," wrote Alex Pareenerecently in The New Republic, on the subject of professional standards. "What you cant do is rudely express a desire for a more just world."

Well, that's more or less what we're trying to do here on the Scene news desk. Quinn should know that beyond what is a basic business proposition to attract and sustain an audience (for the benefit of advertisers), typically by informing and entertaining them, the more ennobling journalistic purpose has to do with the pursuit of truth. This is sometimes confused with a pursuit of facts, but that's only the first step. Facts can of course be selectively presented and interpreted in more ways than one.

Quite apart from professional standardsScene has no dress code, for examplewhat we aspire to do is tell the truth based on the facts as we understand them and expose lies when we see them, particularly from those in power.We need look no further than Quinn's latest column to demonstrate what we mean.

Chris Quinn is the most powerful media figure in Northeast Ohio. That now goes without saying. He has become the lone editor of the metro daily operation, a so-called "unified newsroom" which consists of cleveland.com and the four Plain Dealer News Guild members who opted not to take voluntary buyouts last month, when fleeting editor Tim Warsinskey threatened them with reporting assignments in outlying counties to force their hand. Reporter Julie Washington was hired back as well in what we presume was a damage control maneuver when the company realized it had laid off all its Black women.

Quinn's column, Thursday, introduced these five veteran reporters to the cleveland.com audiencelike Quinn, we are overjoyed that they'll still be workingand proclaimed that the confusing dual newsroom situation in Cleveland had hereby come to an end! [Cue the balloons.]

One must take a moment to recall that history is written by the victors. And here, in the immediate wake of the Plain Dealer News Guild's final dismantling, Quinn writes it slanted, twisting the recent news in a stunning spectacle of revisionism.

"To lose any of these five writers would have been a blow to the region," he wrote. "When I heard that Local 1 of the News Guild, the union that represented the reporters at The Plain Dealer, expressed its disinterest in representing the bargaining unit and its desire to terminate the collective bargaining agreement, I feared John, Susan, Steve and Terry might decide to stop writing or go somewhere else."

As described, it appears the Guild is the one who kicked its reporters to the curb. It's the Guild who was sick and tired of representing the PD journalists and wanted to kill the agreement they'd bargained hard for. Quinn prances in to save the day, in this version. He feared these poor veteran reporters, in the distress of their abandonment, might give up the field all together.

This shit is totally divorced from reality. (The encouraging news is, many readers recognized it as such.) It's doubly sickening, though, because the PD staffers who were just laid off can't chime in to correct the record without potentially breaching a non-disparagement agreement upon which the continuation of their health care benefits is based.

That situation should be recognizable as a power imbalance. It's been in effect since 2013, but especially since the fatal contractions of 2020, and it has created a situation where Quinn gets to control the story. Who can forget his entry from one month ago, in which he said the best reporters in town were members of his own newsroom. (N.B. these local broadsides can get a little esoteric, but his implication was that his crew was way better than the has-been knights-errant on the print side five of whom, incidentally, will now have the honor of working under him).

Cleveland.com reporters and editors "dont build cult followings on social media with nonstop messages about their crusading roles," Quinn's most quoted paragraph read. "They believe that journalism is about what others do and don't use social media to call attention to themselves."

It's perhaps needless to mention that former members of the Guild have been seething with rage and sorrow through this whole mess, and that their enforced silence has made matters worse. The Guild as an entity, though, in the face of Quinn's lies, attempted to explain what actually went down in an official statement Thursday evening. We quote it at length here in the interest of clarity.

The agreement ultimately ratified that led to disclaimer of interest was a heavily negotiated document.

The Plain Dealer sought to have the Guild agree to the following: the Union expressed its desire to no longer represent the bargaining unit.

The Guild refused to include that language - four times - because it was not true. The Guilds message to the company said: If your sides view is that the Guild must simply state that it has expressed its desire to no longer represent the bargaining unit, without any further context, then we have no deal, because that has never been the Guilds position.

While Chris Quinn, vice president of content for Cleveland. com was not directly involved in negotiations, he was aware of the process because his job offers were made at the behest of the Guild, which insisted on our members having those offers before any agreement was made.

Now Chris Quinn has inaccurately resurrected that language. Dont trust him.

The company's repeated attempts to secure an agreement on language that the Guild "expressed its desire to no longer represent the bargaining unit" seems designed for one purpose: to give Quinn and cleveland dot com power to discredit the Guild after the fact. See! They'd be able to say. It was the Guild who desired this outcome all along. It was the Guild that committed suicide.

An important point for journalists and readers to understand is that even if that language had been agreed upon, that wouldn't make it true. The fact that Quinn is using this language in spite of its rejection, to say nothing of its falsity, is lowdown indeed, even by his own enlightened standards.

Both Quinn and Tim Warsinskey, though, have been working overtime to obscure this truth from local audiences. Quinn made a big show, Thursday, of apologizing for the confusion of the two newsrooms in Cleveland "People with news tips did not know which newsroom to call. They did not know which newsroom operated which platforms," he wrote but presents the unification as a response to that confusion instead of the only possible outcome to the PD's dissolution.

"No more," he writes, absent context. "Starting today, its all in one place. A single newsroom, overseeing all of our platforms, print and digital."

The editor of this new, unified newsroom is stating a set of facts here. But Chris Quinn is not telling the truth.

***Sign up for Scene's weekly newsletters to get the latest on Cleveland news, things to do and places to eat delivered right to your inbox.

Read the rest here:
Chris Quinn is the Most Powerful Media Figure in Northeast Ohio. And He Won't Tell the Truth. - Cleveland Scene

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has had many targets in his war against the media, but perhaps none is more surprising than the Voice of America, the venerable U.S.-funded institution created during World War II to broadcast independent news and promote American values to the world.

Trump and his supporters have accused the outlet of disgraceful reporting and are now pushing hard to install their choice to run the government agency that oversees VOA and its affiliates. That battle is about to hit Congress, where partisan lines have been drawn amid a debate that could have a significant impact on the future of the global broadcaster.

Over the objections of Democrats, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans Thursday to vote on Trumps nominee to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which runs VOA and its sister outlets like Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Cuba-focused Radio Marti. The Republican-controlled committee is expected to vote on party lines to advance the nomination.

Democrats fear that candidate, conservative filmmaker and former educator Michael Pack, could turn the organization into a Trump propaganda machine funded with more than $200 million a year in taxpayer money. Trump has mused about his desire to control a media outlet. At his confirmation hearing last September, Pack dismissed concerns he would allow that to happen, but the recent furor has reignited those concerns.

The spat has dismayed many who watch U.S. international broadcasting closely, including some who believe the USAGM and VOA are in need of reform, particularly as changes to the agencys governing rules mean the its next chief will be able to bypass its board in making personnel and policy decisions.

All of this is a distraction from what I think is a legitimate debate about what its role should be, said Tom Kent, a former Associated Press editor who went on to head Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. It needs to be clear whether VOAs role is to advocate for democracy and American values in general or whether it is supposed to be a PR agent for the president and the State Department on current issues.

The White House did not respond to inquiries about Packs nomination or the VOA controversy.

The Democrats stated objections to Pack, a one-time associate of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon who used to work for the conservative Claremont Institute in California, center in part on his refusal to answer questions about his previous business dealings.

Yet, the uproar among conservatives over Voice of America and its recent coverage of Chinas handling of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to feature prominently in GOP support for Packs confirmation. It has become a touchstone in the Trump administrations efforts to criticize Chinese authorities for the outbreak and deflect criticism of the U.S. response as the 2020 presidential campaign heats up.

Trump and his allies have long viewed VOA and some of its affiliates with suspicion, regarding them as elements of a deep state that is trying to thwart their policies. But the hostility burst into the open April 9 when Trump communications adviser Dan Scavino posted a VOA story about China to his official Twitter account with the comment American taxpayerspaying for Chinas very own propaganda, via the U.S. Government funded Voice of America! DISGRACE!!

The story that VOA posted was actually an Associated Press report, but the following day, an official White House publication accused VOA of using taxpayer money to speak for authoritarian regimes because it had covered the lifting of the lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus first emerged. Trump weighed in days later, calling VOAs coverage disgusting and demanding that the Senate confirm Pack.

VOAs director Amanda Bennett fired back. One of the big differences between publicly funded independent media, like the Voice of America, and state-controlled media is that we are free to show all sides of an issue and are actually mandated to do so by law as stated in the VOA Charter, she said in a statement on April 10.

But VOAs overseers stayed silent.

A representative of the State Department, which holds a seat on the USAGM board, advised the agency to avoid doing anything that would appear to endorse Bennetts response, which it did, according to three people familiar with the matter. And, an April 14 virtual meeting of the USAGM board came to no conclusion about how, or if, to respond, according to those people who were not authorized to discuss the meeting publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

All USAGM networks, including VOA, know they have the full support of the agency, the agencys current CEO Grant Turner said in an email statement provided to AP. We have, and will continue to serve the American public by staying true to our mission informing, engaging and connecting our audiences in support of freedom and democracy.

Bennett, meanwhile, sent a note of encouragement to VOA staffers on Monday, urging them to remain professional amidst what she termed uncomfortable scrutiny.

This kind of scrutiny, however uncomfortable it may be, is also a great opportunity for us, she wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by The AP. Difficult times call for us to be our best selves to redouble our commitment to be the ethical, professional journalists that we know we all are.

Watching from the wings, former officials who follow the matter are concerned.

Matt Armstrong, a former Republican appointee to the board of the USAGMs predecessor, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, said the Trump administration had shown a gross misunderstanding the agencys mission in attacking VOA. He also questioned why the administration was using the controversy to push for Packs nomination when it could have made personnel changes already.

I think theyre snowflakes, pretending to be upset about something that they shouldnt be, he said. The Trump administrations tantrum over VOA is huffing and puffing over something they could have done years ago. This episode further reveals their inability to manage the government they are in charge.

See original here:
Trumps surprising target in war on media: Voice of America - The Spokesman-Review

All coaches are control freaks to some degree.

So what happens when they lose a portion of that control?

Its an issue coaches across the country in multiple sports are grappling with during the coronavirus pandemic. Virtual coaching, via Zoom or other video-chat apps, has replaced in-person teaching and hands-on training.

In college football, the spring schedule has been thrown out of whack. Teams that began spring practice werent able to finish it. Many never even got started.

Coaches as old as Arizona States Herm Edwards (66) and as young as Oregon States Jonathan Smith (41) have had to adjust to a new, unforeseen reality. Along with UCLAs Chip Kelly, they discussed some of those challenges Wednesday afternoon during the third of four Pac-12 webinars with league coaches.

It was jarring to hear the sage Edwards and the cocksure Kelly defer to higher authorities regarding college footballs return and other pressing matters, but they have no choice. As Kelly regularly emphasizes to his staff and players, you control the controllables. The coaches have no control over state-government stay-at-home orders or when training camp might start. Theyre just striving to be ready when the light turns green.

We dont know what we dont know, Kelly said.

He then did his best impression of Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The virus will tell us when were going to be able to come back, when its under control and when they have the proper testing and whatnot in place, Kelly said. Until that time, were just going to keep planning like we have a season coming up. No one has told us that were not playing. No one has told us that we are definitely playing. We dont want to be surprised.

Coaches dont like surprises. For example: Kelly this week had to deal with the news that the Cal State University system is moving to mostly online instruction for the fall semester. Kelly had to explain to members of his own staff that UCLA is actually part of the University of California system, which has yet to make such a declaration (although its considered likely).

Kelly did note that UCLA is scheduled to face San Diego State, which is a Cal State school.

Would that affect that? I really dont know, Kelly said. But it goes back to what we said earlier: I dont think anybody knows.

You just have to be very agile in terms of how youre handling this whole situation and adjust to whatever happens. On a daily basis, things change. Nothing that was said in the last 24-48 hours directly impacts us playing games in September.

Well just continue to monitor it and let the experts and the medical people determine whether its safe for our players to come back and play.

As Kelly also noted, unless you happened to endure the flu pandemic of 1918, youve never gone through this before. So there is no game plan.

Coaches dont like that either. But they at least have experience altering their plans, albeit under less serious circumstances.

We live in a world as coaches that the unexpected is always about to happen, Edwards said. Its how you deal with that, right?

Its like being a football coach. You make all the decisions. But once they walk on the field, you have no control. You have no control (over) how the players are gonna play. You assume how theyre gonna play.

A plan that cant be changed is a bad plan.

Every state seems to have a different one as the country tries to figure out how and when to reopen. Gov. Doug Ducey announced Tuesday that pro sports could resume in Arizona, without fans, starting this weekend. Edwards, a former NFL player and coach, was quick to point out that pro sports are a whole different animal.

In our situation, Edwards said, its always about the safety of the players. These are student-athletes.

Given that, Edwards added, the decision whether to come back and play isnt wholly up to them. And it certainly isnt up to the coaches.

Parents are involved in these decisions too, Edwards said. We cant lose sight of that.

They want to make sure their son is safe. We as coaches want to make sure their sons safe, the environment that we create is safe.

In Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown announced last week that large gatherings such as sporting events would need to be canceled or modified through September. Oregon State is scheduled to play three home games from Sept. 12-26.

This game means a lot to me, to Oregonians, Oregon State fans, Smith said. Theres no question itd be disappointing for this season to be affected. Theres a chance its gonna look different. We dont know.

Smith then followed the lead of his fellow coaches: He deferred.

Weve got some great people in this conference and leadership at Oregon State, Smith said. Theyll be the decision-makers as we continue to move forward, in unison with health officials and our government leaders. Im just confident that were going to do what is best.

Although he has no definitive answers to offer, Smith remains in regular contact with his players and their families. Theyre all learning as they go.

Theres gonna be a light at the end of the tunnel, Smith tells them. We dont know exactly how long this tunnel is that were in.

If that sounds unsettling, it undoubtedly is. Kelly attempted to lighten the mood.

Before the webinar began, Kelly poked fun at Smith for having a fully stocked bookshelf behind him. Kelly appeared on the video chat in front of an unadorned gray brick wall. So Kelly left briefly to retrieve a book Edwards You Play to Win the Game.

The title comes from the ASU coachs most famous saying. One couldnt help but wonder, though: How do you play to win games when no one knows when or if theyll take place?

Its not my role to figure that one out, Edwards said. When they decide for us to play, well play.

Visit link:
Pac-12 football coaches grapple with loss of control during time when 'there is no game plan' - Star Local Media

Lexington, S.C. - Lexington County has released a guide for its businesses and business allies as the economy begins to reopen after the shutdown due to the coronavirus. It offers resources asthe perils of COVID-19 still have the potential to disrupt theirorganizations health and operations. The South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP) has developed ahandbookto aid as businessesreturn to work. Protocols and procedures for monitoring employees, disinfecting the workplace and social distancing within the operation are all covered in the SCMEPReturn to Workguide.

AccelerateSC, the state of South Carolinas coordinated COVID-19 economic revitalization advisory team, also has outlined guidance for protection as employees start back to work and businesses reopen. Found on the main website page underneath the Protection segment, AccelerateSCprovidesrecommendations for restaurants, health care, manufacturing, child care, golf courses, first responders and other close contact businesses. Also found within this section is content on business reopening guidelines from the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), as well as OSHA worker safety information.

As new information for business reopening guidelines and virus mitigation protocols is madeavailable Lexington Countywill be sure to distribute those. They will do so in various ways and in partnership with the area's media outlets.

If your business hasany questions or specific needs, please do not hesitate to reach out tothe County of Lexington Department of Economic Development. You can reach them by phone or Email at 803-785-6818 oredinfo@lex-co.com.

Read more:
Lexington County releases guide for its businesses and business allies as they work to reopen after COVID-19 - swlexledger.com

The Future of Voice Technology

Voice is quickly becoming the next user interface, replacing touch screens and tactile displays, changing the way people interact with their smart devices.

Hands-free Smartphones and TV Remotes Rank Highest Priority,As Consumers Opt for Voice Interfaces in Hopes of Reducing Exposure

Backed by Amazon, Bosch, Intel and Microsoft,Syntiant Sees Enormous Growth Potential in the Always-On Voice Market

IRVINE, Calif., May 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As consumers find new ways to connect with family, friends and colleagues during COVID-19, a majority of Americans are opting to use their voices to control a variety of smart devices, rather than using touch screens and other tactile interfaces, according to results from a national CARAVAN survey conducted on behalf of Syntiant, a deep learning tech company providing always-on voice solutions for edge devices.

At-a-Glance:

Voice Control in Smart and IoT Devices

Consumers rank smartphones (61 percent) and smart TVs/remotes (45 percent) among the most important devices to include voice control. Additionally, 27 percent of survey respondents select smart home appliances (thermostats, doorbells, microwaves, etc.) to round off their top three choices, primarily driven by Generation X and Baby Boomers. Generation Z and Millennials, in turn, prefer their gaming devices and smartwatches to have voice control (28 percent and 18 percent, respectively).

Voice is quickly becoming the next user interface, said Kurt Busch, CEO of Syntiant. Our survey found that more than two thirds of Americans are using voice to control their devices, which is indicative of our own customer growth, and the growing market opportunity for our hands-free, always-on voice solution. Whether its using customized multi-lingual wake words, or speech commands, such as volume up or volume down, our Neural Decision Processors deliver voice technology that is creating rewarding experiences at the edge, empowering consumers to use speech to seamlessly command their smart products.

SYNTIANT VOICE SURVEY/2

Voice Control in the Future

As the world embraces the fallout of COVID-19, lasting effects from the pandemic indicate consumers will opt for voice user experiences and hands-free interfaces, with Gen Z being most likely to increase speech control usage (60 percent) in smart devices, followed by Millennials (56 percent), Gen X (54 percent) and finally, Baby Boomers (43 percent).

Not surprising with any new technology, concerns remain, as more consumers switch from tactile interfaces, such as touch screens, to hands-free functionality. While 15 percent of Americans say they do not have any concerns with voice control, 27 percent say privacy tops the list, followed by security (23 percent), functionality (19 percent) and ease of use (15 percent).

Its clear that the current pandemic is driving demand for voice control, as people refrain from touching their devices in hopes of reducing health risks, added Busch. Further adoption of voice user experiences will continue to grow among various demographics as AI technology becomes more pervasive at the local level. Advances in voice technology result in enhanced privacy in smart devices by not requiring a cloud connection and power consumption levels that are orders of magnitude lower than ever before. Syntiants solution puts deep learning into almost any edge device, with highly accurate wake word and command control, enabling consumers to use their devices with speech that is secure and private.

About the Survey The online omnibus survey was conducted April 22-24, 2020 by Engine Insights among a statistically viable population of adults 18 years of age and older, weighted by age, gender, geographic region, race and education. Generations defined as: Generation Z (ages 18-23), Millennials (ages 24-39), Generation X (ages 40-55) and Baby Boomers (ages 56-74).

About SyntiantFounded in 2017 and headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Syntiant Corp. is moving artificial intelligence and machine learning from the cloud to edge devices. Syntiants advanced chip solutions merge deep learning with semiconductor design to produce ultra-low-power, high performance, deep neural network processors for always-on applications in battery-powered devices, such as hearing aids, earbuds, smart speakers, mobile phones and laptops. The company is backed by some of the worlds strongest strategic investors, including Intel Capital, Microsoft M12, Bosch Ventures and the Amazon Alexa Fund. More information on the company can be found by visiting http://www.syntiant.com or by following Syntiant on Twitter @Syntiantcorp.

Media Contact:

George Medici PondelWilkinson Inc.gmedici@pondel.com310.279.5968

A pdf accompanying this announcement is available at:http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/221b6c33-a60e-4258-8487-ab575fc38556

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at:https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9e194935-ab30-43ae-b07d-2f60e0d72a6a

See original here:
More than Half of Americans, Including Majority of Young Adults, Feel Voice Control Is Essential in Smart Devices Post COVID-19, Survey Reveals -...