Wednesday, December 27, 2006

LOBP#27: Remembering President Gerald Ford, 12/27/2006

THIS POST UPDATED 4/22/2009 to include a link to photos of President and Mrs. Ford taken in 1976.

Noting with sadness the passing of President Gerald Ford, we wanted to add a light moment to everyone's memories of the 38th president.

In this very short podcast we present an aircheck excerpt from Tom Snyder's "Tomorrow" show, a late night talk show broadcast on the NBC television network in the 1970s. On April 17, 1976, Snyder opened the broadcast with a blooper of President Ford being introduced at the Daughters of the American Revolution convention in Washington. Snyder's introduction is almost as much of a classic as the actual blooper.


Tom Snyder

Download the podcast here (4.6 mb stereo MP3 file, 00:03:16 duration).




During the 1976 presidential election campaign, I was a student broadcaster at WMCX-FM, the radio station of Monmouth College (now Monmouth University), and we obtained press credentials for Gerry and Betty Ford's campaign visits to New Jersey.

Here are images of the press credentials from the visits:




Gerald Ford Shut Down Tom Jarriel Questions During NJ Campaign Visit in 1976

I remember vividly that when Air Force One arrived at what is now Atlantic City International Airport (then it was the FAA's NAFEC test facility near Pomona, NJ), Ford strode off the plane to face a bullpen full of reporters, including the White House press corps, which had landed in its own plane just a few minutes before Air Force One. Tom Jarriel, then White House correspondent for ABC News, immediately tried to start the questioning, but Ford waved him off.

Tom Jarriel



"I'd like to take questions from the local media first, Tom," Ford said with a smile. Even as a young college radio reporter, I knew that he had won over the local news media by shutting down Jarriel.

The next day, Betty Ford made a separate visit to New Jersey. Her plane landed at the old passenger terminal at Newark Airport. It was kind of ridiculous but we had to drive all the way to Newark Airport to get our press credentials, then ride the press bus all the way back to Monmouth County, where she made an appearance at the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, and then back on the bus to the airport to retrieve our car and drive BACK to Monmouth County again.

At the airport, Betty was met by a CB Radio club (CB Radio was the Internet of the 1970s) that presented her with a windbreaker personalized with her CB "handle," or nickname, which was "Big Mamma."

I've got some good Kodachromes from the Ford visits.

UPDATED 4/22/2009 – The Kodachromes of the Ford visits are now on my Flickr site.

Monday, December 18, 2006

BofA Song gets topped...

Lucy Kellaway in  today's Financial Times gives her awards for the worst business jargon of 2006, and in it she includes the following corporate song:

"And now for something a little bit special. This is an award for Company Song So Awful I Was Positive It Was a Spoof. The outstanding winner in this category is Shell. Its song is called “Growing and Winning” and is set to “We Are the World”. “We have moved on, growing day by day/Sharing strengths, we practise what is best/We are all a part of Shell’s global family/Doing work aligned with everyone.” It is a haunting mixture of pyschobabble, sentimentality and business jargon. Have a listen yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Not Every Blogger is Having a Nice Day...

MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, is organizing a campaign to advocate for the freedom of Abdelkarim Soliman, an Egyptian blogger who ran afoul of the government there for some of his blog entries. You can read more about the campaign at the MEMRI blog:

Release Abdelkareem Soliman - Egyptian Blogger Arrested




Bloggers all over the world have a lot at risk if governments can silence speech they don't like.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

LOBP#26: Remembering Max Soliven, Filipino Journalist and Newspaper Publisher, 12/9/2006

In this podcast we present excerpts of remarks by Max Soliven, publisher of the Philippine Star newspaper, from his presentation to the Public Relations Society of the Philippines at the 13th National Public Relations Congress in Manila on September 28, 2006.

I met Max when we both spoke to the PRSP conference, and was impressed to learn of his journalistic career, which began when Vietnam was still called Indochina. As a "newsman in the trenches," Max covered the French military disaster in Indochina, the US military conflict in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and went on to cover insurgencies and uprisings all over Southeast Asia. He was jailed for a time during the Ferdinand Marcos regime in the Philippines, and was charged with criminal libel by President Corazon Aquino for a story his paper published claiming that she hid under a bed during the military coup that overthrew her regime.

As publisher of one of the largest newspapers in the Philippines, Max wrote a 2,000 word column six days a week. Max Soliven died of a heart attack in Japan on November 24, 2006.

His last column, "Is a jingoistic Japan on the rise under Abe? Or is this aging powerhouse no longer dangerous?" filed from Japan, expressed concern about the rise of a new nationalism in the Japanese government.

His newspaper, The Philippine Star, captured his essence in a tribute the next day.


Download the podcast here (38.8 mb stereo MP3 file, 00:27:37 duration).

This podcast is being cross-posted to the CompuSchmooze Podcast Feed.






Max Soliven speaks at the Public Relations Society of the Philippines 13th National Public Relations Congress, September 28, 2006.



Max Soliven speaks at the Public Relations Society of the Philippines 13th National Public Relations Congress, September 28, 2006.



Max Soliven answers questions at the Public Relations Society of the Philippines 13th National Public Relations Congress, September 28, 2006.



Max Soliven, second from left, chats with Matt Lussenhop of the US Embassy and Steve Lubetkin (far right) at the Public Relations Society of the Philippines 13th National Public Relations Congress, September 28, 2006. At left, face obscured, is Maloli K. Espinosa, vice president of corporate communications, ABS-CBN Television, chair of the PRSP National Public Relations Congress.



Max Soliven chats with Matt Lussenhop of the US Embassy and Steve Lubetkin (far right) at the Public Relations Society of the Philippines 13th National Public Relations Congress, September 28, 2006.