Media Archives - Chris Carosa

What Are The Best Opening Lines For Letters To Editor?

By Chris Carosa on July 11, 2023

Do you have a rant? Is there someone or something you want to rave about? Or maybe you have a new idea that you just want to share with the world.

What’s the best way to let your voice be heard? A way that gets the most substantive “views” over time. A way that endures. A way that never faces the risk of getting cancelled.

Sure, the quickest way is to just blab it all through your favorite social media account. But how do you know how many people will really see it? Even putting it on your own blog doesn’t guarantee eyeballs. Unless you’re an expert on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), chances are your thoughts will make the same sound as that proverbial tree that falls in the forest when no one is around.

There’s a better way. It’s a way used for centuries. It’s a way that’s proven more effective Continue Reading “What Are The Best Opening Lines For Letters To Editor?”

Posted in Great Writing Tips, Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged cartharsis, complaint, compliment, entertaining, first sentence, informative, letter to the editor, persuasive, SEO

Tucker Carlson Signals Old-Style Broadcast TV Business Model Faces No Tomorrow

By Chris Carosa on May 2, 2023

Here’s what nobody’s talking about in the entire Tucker Carlson SNAFU. It’s not about Tucker Carlson. It’s not about Fox. It’s about the changing of the guard.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the dominance of network TV has dwindled over the last two generations. With the advent of easy-to-access cable TV over the last forty years, viewers have weened themselves from the network nipple.

This change in behavior hasn’t necessarily occurred deliberately. The very act of presenting so many options paralyzes viewers into non-decision. This is a common reaction to what behavioral psychologists call “choice overload.” But don’t give them credit. Alvin Toffler first introduced the concept in his 1970 book Future Shock. He called it “overchoice.”

Of course, if you want to be a stickler, choice overload is merely a derivative of Continue Reading “Tucker Carlson Signals Old-Style Broadcast TV Business Model Faces No Tomorrow”

Posted in Business Tips, Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged ABC, Aesop's Fables, Alvin Toffler, Amazon Prime, analysis paralysis, book publishing, broadcast, cable TV, CBS, Certified Book Marketing Professional, Certified Book Publishing Professional, choice overload, Fox, Fox News, Future Shock, Hollywood, Hulu, Joe Rogan, Mr. Beast, NBC, Netflix, network TV, overchoice, podcast, The Fox and the Cat, Tucker Carlson, Tucker Carlson Tonight, Twitter

CNN+ Joins Such Iconic Failures As The Edsel, New Coke, And Alf Landon

By Chris Carosa on May 17, 2022

At least Google+ lasted nine years. CNN+ barely made it past nine days. The colossal flop doesn’t even merit a “crash and burn” label because that would imply it made it past the launch. The embarrassing fact is CNN+ never got off the ground. Maybe “stillborn” would be a better epitaph.

Every generation needs its version of the Edsel, Ford’s classic foray into product infamy and marketing case studies. The Edsel belongs to the Boomers. Gen X-ers get New Coke. The Millennials now have CNN+. Heck, if you want to go back far enough, you can hang Alf Landon on the Silent Generation (parents of the Boomers).

Each of these failures feature a common trait: hubris. Those in charge simply believed they Continue Reading “CNN+ Joins Such Iconic Failures As The Edsel, New Coke, And Alf Landon”

Posted in Business Tips, Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1936 Berlin Olympics, 1936 Presidential Election, Alf Landon, Baby Boomer, CNBC, CNN, Coca Cola, Coke, Edsel, FDR, Ford, Gallup Poll, Gen X, George Gallup, Jesse Owens, market research, Millennial, New Coke, Pepsi, Silent Generation, The Literary Digest, Wall Street Journal

Why Is New York State Trying To Kill Print Newspapers?

By Chris Carosa on March 23, 2021

Do you enjoy reading this newspaper? Do you enjoy reading anything in print as opposed to reading a screen on an electronic device?

If the answer to either of these questions is “yes” the State of New York is brewing a budget that will certainly disappoint you. And the clock is working against you to prevent this.

As you can read from the Letter to the Editor below from Michelle Rea, Executive Director of the New York Press Association, the Extended Producer Responsibility Act may soon make it financially impossible for newspapers – and especially small newspapers like the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel – to maintain a sustainable business.

That’s too bad. We recently asked our readers “In your own words (not to exceed 25), Continue Reading “Why Is New York State Trying To Kill Print Newspapers?”

Posted in Business Tips, Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, democrats, Extended Producer Responsiblity Act, Michelle Rea, New York City, New York Press Association, New York State Senate, newspapers, republicans, Samra G. Brouk, Senate Bill S1185B

What’s Your Favorite Christmas Special?

By Chris Carosa on December 15, 2020

Burgermeister Meisterburger. Why can’t I get that name out of my head? Like every kid who ever watched Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. I despised this character who hated toys.

But, to this day, I can’t shake that name. Burgermeister Meisterburger. You just can’t stop saying it.

Here’s the thing about Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, it was produced by Rankin/Bass. They’re the same folks who made the famous Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

I liked Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I hated Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. I don’t know why. Maybe it was the silly premise of the story. Maybe it was the goofy looking 1970s style young Kris Kringle. Maybe it was the fact it premiered on Sunday, December 13, 1970 on ABC.

Could this be because I had to make a choice between watching this Christmas special or Continue Reading “What’s Your Favorite Christmas Special?”

Posted in Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged A Charlie Brown Christmas, Abbott Parkway, Bonanza, Boris Karloff, Bugs Bunny, Burgermeister Meisterburger, Charles Schultz, Christ, Christmas, Chuck Jones, Dortmund Circle, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, Garo Yepremian, Kris Kringle, Lassie, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Rankin/Bass, Road Runner, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Scrooge, The Munsters, The Simpsons, Wild Kingdom

Beyond the 4th Dimension

By Chris Carosa on September 22, 2020

In the beginning, we had the Stone Age. This was characterized by the use of simple handmade tools for cutting and pounding. While eventually perfecting them through polishing, tribes and chiefdoms used these roughhewn implements primarily for hunting and gathering.

Next, we experienced the Bronze Age. Technology evolved from what existed in nature to what could by fashioned with natural elements. City-states melted and molded soft metals like copper and bronze into much more durable and more efficient utensils, as they settled into urban areas where crafts thrived that were supported by surrounding farms.

The use of man-made metals ushered in the Iron Age. Kingdoms and Empires collected raw materials, mixed them into a molten recipe to cast iron into not only tools, but structural supports. The required a larger and more fixed organization that led to a network of roads connecting larger cities within individual states.

After these relatively long eras, we quickly advanced through Industrial Age into the short Information Age until we find ourselves where we live today: in the Age of Content.

That media – the form of communication we use most – has rapidly evolved alongside Continue Reading “Beyond the 4th Dimension”

Posted in Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries

What Comes First? “Entrepreneurial” or “Journalism”?

By Chris Carosa on November 12, 2019

I just read a book called Entrepreneurial Journalism (by Mark Briggs, SAGE Publications, 2012).

The phrase “Entrepreneurial Journalism” raises the question as to which part of the phrase should be prioritized. The term obviously comes from the journalism field. That industry is desperately trying to find a use for their buggy whips by thinking of ways to use them as engine cranks.

So that means they’re thinking “journalism” first and how to apply entrepreneurial tactics to the trade. This, of course, presupposes the “trade” remains intact, that the only obstacle between today’s ominous decline and long-term financial sustainability is the holy grail of the business model. And probably technology. But mostly the business model.

What if, instead of thinking like a journalist and overlaying entrepreneurialism on it, why not think like an entrepreneur and overlay journalism on that?

Here’s what I mean.Continue Reading “What Comes First? “Entrepreneurial” or “Journalism”?”

Posted in Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Advertising, copywriting, entrepreneur, gossip columnist, journalism, Kodak, Mad Men, marketing, newspaper, pamphleteer, yellow journalism

What Does President Trump Know and When Did He Know It?

By Chris Carosa on October 1, 2019

Spoiler Alert: This is not what you are expecting. This is not a column about politics (good or bad); it’s an article about journalism (good and bad).

OK, it’s also a commentary on today’s political scene, but only because it provides an instructive backdrop to the most salient points I wish to make about the art of reporting.

Let’s start with a scene from two years ago. It’s not from a political convention, it’s from a Continue Reading “What Does President Trump Know and When Did He Know It?”

Posted in Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Crowdstrike, Donald Trump, ethics, Fake News, Gerard Baker, impeachment, Jane Sasseen, Joe Biden, McGraw Symposium, media bias, Pew Research Center Survey, Robert Mueller, SABEW, trust, Ukraine

Facebook and Free Speech

By Chris Carosa on September 25, 2018

There’s been a lot of talk among some in the media about the suppression of the First Amendment – every American’s right to free speech. Folks like to point to President Trump’s never-ending battle with his major media opponents. You hear a lot about Trump supporters shouting down national media celebrities. You can argue the anti-media crowd is merely exercising its First Amendment right to free speech, but that’s another topic. For all the ink spilled, one thing is certain: merely complaining about the press is a far cry from actually shutting down that press.

There is, however, another national actor that actually is shutting down the free press. And that could be a much bigger problem than the sum of all of President Trump’s tweets.Continue Reading “Facebook and Free Speech”

Posted in Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Commentaries, facebook, First Amendment, National Society of Newspaper Columnists, USA Today, William Blackstone

Today’s Columnists Find Their Roots in Revolutionary War Era Pamphleteers

By Chris Carosa on July 3, 2018

On the afternoon of June 9, while chasing the fugitive sloop Hannah, the unthinkable happened. The HMS Gaspee ran aground in low waters off the Rhode Island shore on what was then called Namquit Point. Unnamed Sons of Liberty, once alerted, sprang into action. In the early morning hours of June 10, before high tide could rescue the British man-of-war, the rebels boarded it, shot its commander, and burned the ill-fated vessel to its waterline.

The year was 1772 and the newspaper industry was dying. Of the thirty-seven weekly broadsheets published in the thirteen colonies, only eleven reported on what came to be known as “The Gaspee Affair.” By 1783, primarily due to lack of revenue and the logistical problems caused by the Revolutionary War, the Colonies would be down to only about twenty newspapers.

Still, the story of the Gaspee Affair stirred the American patriots. Why? Because an itinerant Continue Reading “Today’s Columnists Find Their Roots in Revolutionary War Era Pamphleteers”

Posted in Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged American Revolution, Bernard Bailyn, Daniel Fowle, Founding Fathers, HMS Gaspee, James A. Oliver, James Otis, John Allen, Jonathan Swift, journalism, Moses Coit Tyler, newspaper, Oration on the Beauties of Liberty, pamphlet, Patriot Tory, Revolutionary War, Sons of Liberty, Star Chamber, Thomas Paine