NEWS

Five turning points of the decade
By Julian Zelizer, Special to CNN
December 22, 2009 9:56 a.m. EST

Editor’s note: Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School. His new book is “Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security — From World War II to the War on Terrorism” published by Basic Books. Zelizer writes widely about current events.

(CNN) — The first decade of the 21st century in the United States was defined by terrorism, crisis and uncertainty. The exuberance of the 1990s, with its strong economic growth and the sense of American military omnipotence, came to an end.

Most Americans have been left reeling from nine very difficult years, even though the decade neared its close with a presidential election that spoke to the promise and potential of the nation.

We must remember that any “most important” list should be seen as the beginning of a conversation, not a definitive judgment.

Historians learn that it is extraordinarily difficult to discern exactly which events will be transitory and which will have the most long-lasting effects.

Some moments that seem to be turning points shortly after they happen, such as Operation Desert Storm in 1990-1991, seem less important over time. Others that we don’t pay as much attention to, such as the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, look much more consequential with the passage of time.

September 11, 2001

The tragic moment when terror struck in New York and at the Pentagon will be at the top of everyone’s “most important” list. When terrorism caused such devastating damage, the perpetrators defined the central national security challenge confronting the United States and much of the world: Stateless terrorism.

Even though the nation had faced terrorism for several decades, including the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, nothing compares to 9/11 in scale and scope.

The event shattered the sense of confidence that many Americans had about being able to avoid the kinds of attacks on civilians that had become commonplace in the Middle East. American national security policy was reconfigured as a result.

The federal government vastly expanded and reorganized its homeland defense system. It instituted an aggressive program of interrogation and surveillance to combat terrorist threats and refocused foreign policy to concentrate on destroying these networks and the states that support them, including the invasion of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban regime. Eight years later, we are still fighting.

Iraq War

The war with Iraq quickly became one of the most controversial aspects of the war on terrorism. The difficulties that the United States encountered in the reconstruction period, and the falsity of the Bush administration’s claims in the build up to war that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, opened up the administration to intensified attacks from the left and the right.

The war eroded Bush’s political capital and constrained his ability to achieve other objectives, including domestic proposals such as Social Security privatization. Equally important, the difficulties the nation encountered in achieving its goal of creating a stable democracy and combating insurgents has raised serious doubts — domestically and internationally — about the capacity of American military power in conflicts, including the war in Afghanistan.

Hurricane Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, it revealed the horrible conditions under which many inner-city Americas were living after decades of neglect. The failure of so many levels of government to properly respond to the hurricane and its aftermath also exposed the limited interest of the government — and the public — in protecting these African-American communities even after a tragedy this severe.

The unwillingness of the federal government to commit substantial resources to the reconstruction effort confirmed that urban America was not central to the national agenda.

Financial crisis of 2008

The financial crisis constituted a huge shock to the economic system. As September 11 ended a false sense of physical security within our borders, the financial crisis shattered the economic confidence which had emerged in the 1990s and established the parameters for President Obama’s administration.

The plummeting market fundamentally challenged decades of policies that centered on deregulation and market-based solutions. The fact that President Bush’s administration put forth a hugely expansive financial bailout package revealed how Americans have come to expect federal intervention in times of economic crisis and showed that there were limits to the Reagan Revolution.

Election of 2008

The 2008 election is the one defining event that spoke to America’s potential. Even though the United States clearly has not entered any kind of post-racial period, as Hurricane Katrina revealed, the election of an African-American to the presidency in a country whose economy once revolved around slavery was historic.

Combined with other developments — such as the growing acceptance of gay rights, despite the setbacks to same-sex marriage — the election signaled a movement away from discriminatory attitudes that have been so deeply rooted in the American psyche.

Any most important list is inherently incomplete, and only captures a small part of what the nation experienced. Should Congress pass health care reform, which seems likely, that could become a crucial moment in the history of our government. Nonetheless, these five events will certainly be ones that historians will look back to for years to come.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer.

© 2009 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

RCN Corporation announced that it has launched Turner Broadcasting System networks programming On Demand. RCN
Turner Broadcasting Networks on RCN On Demand

Turner Classic Movies (TCM), which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, has launched a social network that links fans online. The site, called the TCM Classic Film Union, can be found at tcm.com/fan. 

The TCM Classic Film Union aims to provide an easy way for fans to set up personalized profiles and link to friends. It also features ways to express movie and film preferences.

“TCM fans are devoted to the world of classic film, and they want to connect with others who share their passion,” said Molly Battin, senior vice president of brand development and digital platforms for TCM, TBS, and TNT. “TCM has long been a forum for these fans, but this new fan community takes it to the next level.”

The TCM Classic Film Union allows users to connect to their favorite movies and stars in the classic film resource set up by TCM. Using the networks’ database, TCM says it has added more than a million people (including actors, directors, producers), plus hundreds of thousands of films. 

It allows anyone to add these links to their personal network and begin sharing ideas and media with others. For a serious movie fan, there is no bigger repository of materials about films and filmmaking, it says.

TCM says unlike other social networking sites, the TCM Classic Film Union is targeted at movie lovers.

TCM is part of Turner Broadcasting System, a Time Warner company.

Bryan Jones, director of interactive services for CJRW of Little Rock, attended the BlogWell conference last week in New York City.

In Part I of our three-part series on business and social media, Jones tells us why BlogWell is an important conference for him and what businesses what to know about social media.

By Bryan Jones

(Photo: Bryan Jones)

Why I Went
There are interactive/social media conferences on a monthly basis. They all have their own value proposition and unique personality. I need to spend my time working and not conferencing, so I have to be picky about which conferences to attend.

For my needs, Austin, Texas’ South-by-Southwest (SXSW) and BlogWell make the most sense. The difference between the two is:
- SXSW is all about pushing the limits of interactive technology/communication/design.
- BlogWell is all about the social media best practices of large corporations.

As an Interactive designer/strategist, I need to be intimately involved in both sets of issues because my clients need that from me. On a national level, I’m working on social media projects for JC Penney, Toyota and Tyson Foods. Locally, I’m working with the Komen Arkansas Race for the Cure, Gaston’s Resort, elected officials and others.

Each of the projects have their own unique objectives and needs. These conferences keep me informed and connected.

Questions From Attendees
Judging from the questions asked during BlogWell sessions, here is what attendees wanted to gain from the conference:

- Where does social media fall: marketing, public relations or interactive?
- What corporate policies for employees do you have in place for social media?
- For publicly traded companies, where is the line crossed between social media and insider training?
- How involved is your legal department in your social media communications?
- How do you measure your investment in social media?

(Part I of III. Tomorrow, Ed Nicholson of Tyson Foods shares what companies should expect when using social media.)

More
After the jump, Twitter accounts for outstanding presenters at BlogWell.

Outstanding Presenters
@sernovitz
@GE_Reports
@TysonFoods

Also outstanding, Rhonda Lowry of Turner Broadcasting System

I’ve run into a lot of rude guys and I’ve let a lot of red flags go unheeded. But I just learned about a man who’s name is actually Thomas Badman. Now, that would, at the very least, put me on a higher asshole alert than would a guy named Jack Goodman. But some poor chick didn’t see that huge red flag waving right in her face and she ended up being strangled into unconsciousness and left with 12 stitches and multiple bodily injuries. Allegedly, Tom Badman did it to her.

You can find Badman where all Bad Men belong, in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center in Marietta, Georgia. He’ll be coming up for arraignment on January 30th of next year on 2 charges of battery and one felony count of aggravated assault. He must be one helluva bad man because after multiple court appearances, he is still being held without bond for a beating that he allegedly delivered to a WOMAN last February.

It seems as though he had assaulted the same woman earlier but when she didn’t show up for the court date, he felt empowered to go and allegedly beat the shit out of her for calling the cops in the first place. I can’t figure out who the bigger idiot is in this story.

Thomas Badman is one nasty Scaramouch. In case you were never as curious as I was to look that word up after Queen sang it in Bohemian Rhapsody, it means “cowardly buffoon”. In my humble opinion, Thomas Atwood Badman is a Scaramouch of epic proportions.

Ladies, I can understand how easily some red flags can be missed. Especially by those of us with lesser self esteems. But listen to me and pay close attention…if a guy’s fricking NAME is BADMAN…do yourself a favor and go find a harmless bum to date.

BROADCAST/CABLE

HBO’s sixth season of Entourage will add Gary Cole as a regular cast member, per THR. Cole will portray a Hollywood agent named Andrew Klein who is an old friend of Ari’s played by Jeremy Piven. Fans of the comedy will meet Cole’s character this season in three episodes airing next month. Entourage is currently at the mid-point of its fifth season and will begin production for the new season early in 2009. (Cynopsis 10/27)

Game 3 of Fox’s World Series took a dip in the ratings, most likely as a result of the lengthy rain delay which pushed the full out start of the game to after 10p, and ending close to 2am.    9.8 million tuned in to watch the game, according to preliminary numbers – down from the average of 13+ million viewers for games #1 and #2. (Cynopsis 10/27)

NBC Universal has begun touting the power of its two female-focused cable networks, Bravo and Oxygen. Ratings among 18- to 49-year-old women have increased for both nets since NBCU acquired Oxygen about a year ago, and recent data from Nielsen N Power show that the networks’ core audience is more likely than not to have earned a college degree and have a household income of $100,000 or more. Mediaweek (10/27)

Starz has approved 13 one-hour episodes of “Spartacus,” an original take on the well-known story of the slave-turned-gladiator-turned-revolt leader. The series, expected to debut next summer, will be Starz’s second original series, following “Crash,” and the production debut for Starz Media, the network’s in-house development team. The Hollywood Reporter (10/27)

This week is tipoff time for a new NBA season and, with it, the start of a new business relationship for the league with Turner Broadcasting. Under a partnership agreement inked earlier this year, Turner will oversee the day-to-day programming and marketing activities of the league-owned network. Variety (10/24) , TVWeek.com (10/26)

Multitasking women who must hold down jobs and take care of their families increasingly are turning to video on demand as a way to fit entertainment into their busy lives, according to Lori Conkling, executive vice president of distribution for Lifetime. “[Our research shows that] the top reason why women say they watch VOD is because they need to watch TV when it is convenient and fits into their schedule.” Multichannel News (10/25)

BROADCAST/CABLE

Fox News Channel attracted 9.19 million viewers with its coverage of last week’s presidential nomination acceptance speech by John McCain, making it the third most-viewed program in the network’s 12-year history. During the week that ended Sept. 7, FNC averaged 4.19 million viewers with its coverage of the Republican National Convention, making it the top network in prime time, according to Nielsen. Mediaweek (9/9)

U.S. media companies may be in for a rough 2009, analysts predict. Without the advertising bonanza from this year’s Beijing Olympics and the November election season, slowdowns could “whack the hell” out of television, newspapers and magazines. “It’s going to be ugly.” (Iwantmedia 9/10, http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN0818958820080908 9/8)

U.S. cable giants Comcast and Time Warner Cable see an opportunity to sign up millions of customers as the nation switches to digital-only broadcasting. Comcast president Steve Burke says the potential digital TV market for his company is about 2 to 3 million people. (Iwantmedia 9/10, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080909/ap_on_hi_te/cable_digital_tv 9/9)

Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting System unit may lose $500 million after reneging on an oral agreement to sell Atlanta’s professional basketball and hockey teams to former Dallas Mavericks part-owner David McDavid, according to a complaint that goes to trial next month. (Iwantmedia 9/10, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aDtZ.cuTE4uc 9/10)

Nach 33 Tagen in den nordamerikanischen Kinos sprechen sagenhafte 475 Millionen Dollar Einspielergebnis eine eindeutige Sprache für das neueste Batman-Abenteuer. Von einem Blockbusterergebis wurde ausgegangen, doch schon das erste Wochenende überraschte die Beobacher Spieler der Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX).

Momentan befindet sich “The Dark Night” auf dem 2. Platz der erfolgreichsten Filme aller Zeiten in den USA und Kanada. Die Liste führt nur noch James Camerons “Titanic” (1997) mit rund 601 Millionen Dollar Einspielergebnis an.

Doch die Aussagekraft solcher Zahlen sind sehr beschränkt:

1. Vergleicht man nicht die Höhe des Einspielerbegnisses, sondern die der Kinozuschauer, haben heutige Filme keine Chance mehr unter die Top Ten zu gelangen. Einerseits war das Kino bis zur weiten Verbreitung des Fernsehens das Unterhaltungsmedium schlecht hin. Andererseits sind Kinokarten heute deutlich teurer als zu Zeiten von “Vom Winde verweht” (1939), dem Film mit dem inflationsbereinigten höchsten Umsatz an den Kinokassen.
2. Außerdem veränderte sich die Verwertung eines Films. Bis in die 1970er Jahre wanderten die teuren Hollywood-Produktionen in einer Roadshow von Kinopalast zu Kinopalast, bevor dann der Film dann in den gleichen Regionenen noch einmal gezeigt wurde. Waren es zuerst die besten Kinohäuser am Platz mit höheren Eintrittspreisen, wurden dann die Filme jetzt zu günstigeren Kartenpreisen in technisch schlechter ausgestattenen und meist am Stadtrand befindlichen Kinotheatern gezeigt. Da es außer dem Fernsehen keine weitere Auswertungsmöglichkeit gab, waren die einzelnen Filmkopien sehr lange im Einsatz. Erst mit dem Bau von Multiplexen mit mehreren Sälen und dem Druck durch eine hohe Kopienzahl schon in den ersten Kinowochen viel Geld einzuspielen, verkürzte sich auch die Kinoauswertungszeit. “Der weiße Hai” von Regisseur Steven Spielberg gilt als Beginn des Blockbusterkinos. Das Marketing eines Films veränderte deren Wahrnehmung hin zu einem Must-See-Erlebnis.
3. Eigentlich ist folgender Punkt nur eine Kleinigkeit. Auch in den elf Jahren seit dem “Titanic”-Erfolg veränderte sich die Filmauswertung. Waren sich die Hollywood-Majors schn bewußt, wie wirtschaftlich notwendig eine Auswertung im VHS-Format ist, schuf die damals neue DVD eine über den Filmliebhaber hinaus eine Sammlerleidenschaft, die sich in einem gegenüber dem Kinoumsatz höheren Home-Entertainment-Umsatz darstellte. Immer kürzere Kinoauswertungsfenster waren die Folge. Und um trotzdem den Kinobesuchern die Möglichkeit zugeben, einen Film im Kino zu sehen und nicht von ausverkauften Kinos steigerten sich parallel zur Anzahl der Kinosäle auch die Filmkopien eines einzelnen Films. Denn nachweislich gehen die meisten Kinobesucher in den ersten Wochen nach Filmstart ins Lichtspielhaus.

So relativiert sich der wirtschaftliche Erfolg von Christopher Nolans-Film schon deutlich. (Über die künstlerischen Qualitäten wird hier auch nicht gesprochen werden. Um den vielen positiven Rezensionen entgegen zuwirken, darf hier David Bordwell Blogeintrag über dessen Enttäuschung beim Kinobesuch erwähnt werden.)

War der Erfolg des Comic-Helden an den US-Kinokassen symptomatisch für die strategisch sinnvolle Fusion des Zeitschriftenverlags Time Inc. und der Warner Communications, so können die weiteren drei Batman-Filme in den 1990er Jahre nicht verhöhlen, dass sich die Filmabteilung desweltgrößte Medienkonzern in eine Krise hineinbewegte. Jedenfalls wenn es sich um ihren Comichelden aus Gotham City handelt.

Mit den Übernahme durch Aktientausch mit Ted Turners Turner Broadcastig Systems (TBS) und der Fusion mit AOL wuchs der Konzern zwar weiterhin. Das Wachstum war aber extern. Verwunderlich war das der ebenfalls im Konzernbesitz befindliche DC Comicverlag mit seinen unzähligen Vorlagen für die audiovisuelle Umsetzng so schlecht eingebunden war.

Erst Erfolge á la “Spider-Man” (2002) und der ersten beiden “X-Men”-Filme (2000 und 2003), ließen die Warner-Oberen ihre beiden Comic-Helden neuerschaffen. Einerseits durfte der mit kostspieligen Filmen bisher unerfahrene Christopher Nolan Batman filmisch neu erschaffen, anderseits wurde der 20th Century Fox und dessen X-Men-Universum Bryan Singer entrissen und dieser durfte die Rückkehr des Super-Man gestalten.

(Nicht zu vergessen bleiben dürfen die unfruchtbaren Versuche von Tim Burton und Nicolas Cage im Revival von Superman. Auch Wolfgang Petersens Überlegungen, die schon in Comics aufeinandertreffenden Helden aus Metropolis und Gotham City ebenfalls auf der Kinoleinwand miteinander spielen zu lassen, schafften es nicht, die Development Hell zu verlassen. Vom Comic-Fan Kevin Smith ganz zu schweigen …)

In Deutschland hatte der Held aus dem Hause Time Warner schon seit dem ersten Film schlechte Karten. Hier die Zahlen:

• 1989: “Batman” verkauft rund 1,8 Millionen Kinokarten. Das Autisten-Drame “Rain Man” mit Tom Cruise und Dustin Hoffman war in diesem Jahr die Nummer Eins in Deutschland. 5,7 Millionen Karten machen einen deutlichen Unterschied aus.
• 1992: Tim Burton lies mehr Bösewichter auf Batman los, die Kinozuschauer im vereinten Deutschland dankten im aber nicht. Nur 967 757 Zuschauer wollen “Batmans Rückkehr” sehen. Den berühmten Beinüberschlag von Sharon Stone ließen sich dagegen 4,4 Millionen Kinozuschauer nicht entgehen.
• 1995: Nachdem sich Burton aus Gotham City verabschiedete und auch Hauptdarsteller Michael Keaton nur mit Burton als Regisseur auch das Bat-Kostüm anziehen wollte, mußte sich Warner Bros. nach Ersatz umsehen. Mit Joel Schumacher und Val Kilmer war dieser gefunden. Doch mit 1,3 Millionen Kinozuschauer konnte “Batman Forever” nicht gegen den Zeichentrickfilm “König der Löwen” (über 11 Millionen Zuschauer seit dem Kinostart Ende 1994) bestehen und landete nur auf dem 31. Platz der Jahresliste.
• 1997: Joel Schumacher nahm zum zweiten Mal Platz auf dem Regiestuhl, doch wurde der damalige Fernsehstar George Clooney (“Emergency Room”) als Titelheld gecastet. Mit Arnold Schwarzenegger in der Rolle des Bösewichts Mr. Freeze, daneben noch die bezaubernde, aber böse Uma Thurman und Chris O´Donell und Alicia Silverstone als überflüssige Bat-Unterstützer, war “Batman & Robin” so überflüssig, wie ein Kühlschrank in der Arktis. Trotzdem verkauften sich rund 1,3 Millionen Kinokarten. Doch gegenüber dem Jahresbesten “Men in Black” (7,3 Millionen Zuschauer) darf diese Zahl ebenfalls als Enttäuschung gewertet werden.
• 2005: Die Kritiker freuten sich über die Neugeburt “Batman Begins”. Doch nur 888 376 Zuschauer wollten Christopher Nolans Inszenierung mit dem Charakterdarsteller Christian Bale sehen. “Harry Potter und der Feuerkelch” zog als Vier-Quadranten-Film hingegen rund 7,3 Millionen Zuschauer an. Time Warner war aber sicher nicht traurig über Batmans Abschneiden, denn die filmische Abenteuer i Hogwarts werden ebenfalls durch den Medienkonzern verwertet.
• 2008 (Prognose): Deutschland wird auch dieses Mal wieder nicht zum Heimspiel des Superhelden. “The Dark Knight” wird es wie schon sein Vorgänger schwer haben, die Millionen-Zuschauergrenze zuüberwinden.

Interessant ist allerdings, dass Filme wie die drei “Spider-Man”-Filme aus dem Hause Sony (5,2 Mio., 3,3 Mio., 3,1 Mio.) und auch die “X-Men”-Reihe der News Corporation-Tochter 20th Century Fox (2,3 Mio., 1,9 Mio., 1,6 Mio.) deutlich mehr Kinozuschauer anziehen, als es Batman bisher gelang. Dem Time-Warner-Konzern wird dies aber nicht schmerzen. Denn der “The Dark Knight”-Erfolg trägt nur zu geringem Maße zum Gesamterfolg bei und spiegelt sich auch nicht im Aktienkurs wieder. Ein aufschlußreicher Artikel in der New York Times gibt dafür Erklärungsversuche ab. Und ab 2010 darf mit dem nächsten Abenteuer des dunklen Ritters gerechnet werden. Immerhin wurde der nächste Bösewicht schon eingeführt: Harvey Dent als Two-Face. Vielleicht wird dann auch der Joker wieder aus dem Off über den kommerziellen Erfolg lachen.

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Heroes fanboys (and girls) who are missing the show can get wet their whistle beginning Monday on NBC.com with a new trilogy of webisodes introducing a brand new character: ordinary mailman with super powers Echo De Mille. New webisodes premiere each Monday this month. (Cynopsis 7/11)

Under a new multiyear deal, Turner Broadcasting System has become the exclusive online ad-sales representative for Yahoo! Sports‘ NBA, NASCAR and golf Web pages. The pact also gives Turner access to Yahoo!’s advanced targeting technologies to help pinpoint consumer preferences. (TVWeek.com 7/10)

Viacom issued a statement this week claiming it never asked for nor does it have any intention of obtaining personally identifiable information of YouTube users. It says all the personal info will be scrubbed from the data before being transferred to Viacom. (Cynopsis 7/11)

BROADCAST/CABLE

The annual “upfront” week is reserved for the broadcast networks to sell their ad time. But this year Time Warner’s Turner cable channels are positioning their upfront ad sales in the middle of the action. Ratings for TNT’s “The Closer” often beat out the broadcast networks. (hIwantmedia 5/15, ttp://www.cnbc.com/id/24624935/site/14081545 5/14)

Turner Broadcasting is introducing an advertising system, “TVinContext,” designed to match commercial messages with program content. For example, a movie running on Turner featuring a wedding scene could air an ad for wedding rings during the next commercial break. (Iwantmedia 5/15, http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/05/turner_to_put_ads_in_context.php 5/14)

A decline in upfront adverting sales is probable, “given ratings declines, the disruption in the development cycle due to the writers’ strike and economic woes,” says Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen. Broadcast networks could see spending drop 14% from 2007 to $7.73 billion. (Iwantmedia 5/15, http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2008-05-14-upfront-ad-sales-tv_N.htm 5/14)

MTV Tr3s, the Viacom channel aimed at young Latinos in this country, has announced that it will add a new reality series about the hunt for the best unsigned Latino singer and a programming block called Fresh Music Mondays. The channel, which launched two years ago, is available to more than 6.3 million Hispanic TV households, according to Nielsen, and is watched by 67.5% of Latinos aged 12 to 34. (C21 Media 5/14)

Cox Communications has announced that it scored double-digit growth in all major service areas during the first quarter of this year. The private company said that telephony subscribers were up 15.9%, broadband customers rose 10.3%, digital-cable users increased 10% and those who opted for the company’s triple-play bundle jumped almost 20%. (OneTRAK 5/14, CED Magazine 5/14)

Lifetime Networks reached a wide-ranging agreement with Cox Communications, which agreed to launch all of the network’s new services beginning in June. Cox will carry Lifetime Television HD, Lifetime Movie Network HD, Lifetime On Demand and Lifetime Movie Network Espanol On Demand. Cox will begin rolling out Lifetime HD to its customers in June, it time for the second season of its signature original series Army Wives. (Cynopsis 5/15)

Dish Network dropped 10 of the 15 Voom HD networks this week to make room for those new HD network additions just announced. The satellite provider also plans to drop the remaining 5 “as soon as possible” in response to an ongoing dispute over the companies’ carriage agreement. Rainbow Media’s Voom suite is now only available on its parent company’s Cablevision systems. (Cynopsis 5/15)