 | Ypulse Daily Update 07.09.09
Directory and more at Ypulse.com | |  | Quick Links Ypulse Essentials: 'Nick News' Wins Murrow Award, 'The Economist' Takes A Risk For Gen Y, Disney's 'Camp Rock' Sequel Posted by meredith  'Nick News' wins Murrow Award (for a special on parents returning home from war. Plus, Nickelodeon UK partners with Change4Life, the government's anti-obesity campaign, to promote healthy habits) (Marketing Week) (Monsters and Critics)
- The Economist gets death-defying (to attract a new generation of readers in the UK. Check out the magazine's new "Red Wires" ad featuring a tightrope walker) (YouTube)
- Shaping Youth's Sarah Grimes on data mining (teens' user-generated content and social networks. A must read. Plus more on race and social networks with a focus on college students) (Crooked Timber)
- Facebook introduces the Fan Box (for celebs looking for another way to connect with fans. Indie band Kings of Leon are already on board) (TechCrunch)
- JoBros jam again (in the sequel to "Camp Rock" set to debut on the Disney Channel in 2010. Plus for the first time Disney's official fan community D23 will go to Comic-Con International toting Tron props) (Reuters) (Wired)
- 'Drink Responsibly' ads (may not be sending an effective message. According to a study from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University young people are exposed more to advertisements encouraging them to drink alcohol, than to drink responsibly) (TransWorld News)
- 'Biz in a Boxx' (an offline series of programs seeks to equip tweens and teens with entrepreneurial skills. Plus Business Coach Anne Loehr leads a seminar on how to speak to Gen Y co-workers. Appropriately The Onion's AV Club talks back) (Phoenix Business Journal) (Washington Post, reg. required)
- J. Crew catches flack (for capitalizing on the Obama girls sporting the brand. But with no explicit mention of the girls on the site or in any press releases [the inaugural outfits are referred to as "the famous coats"] I'm not buying it. Also on MediaPost, reg. required, Angelo Kotzamanis asks teen marketers to live up to the high standards of an "intelligent and inquisitive demographic") (MSNBC)
- Is it the best of times or worst of times (for young adults? A debate opens up on U.S. News &; World Report blog Alpha Consumer after financial pundit Suze Orman puts a positive spin on the downturn for Gen Y-ers. Plus Australian newspaper The Age asks if Gen Y relies too much on government aid. And a slightly more optimistic look at the teen job market) (Houston Business Journal)
Posted in: Ypulse Essentials What Makes Both Parents And Teens Tune In? Posted by meredith Today's Youth Advisory Board Post is from Liz Funk on what makes certain TV shows and films "co-viewing" material for teens and their parents, and others.. not so much. Remember, you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board by emailing them at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com… or just leave a comment!
What Makes Both Parents And Teens Tune In?
 I love watching "The Mentalist" with my mom, but I get so irritated watching "The Closer" that I can't be in the same room when it's on. Even though they're both crime shows featuring charming, quirky, yet blunt detectives. Meanwhile, my mom and I love watching "30 Rock" together--a sit-com featuring a few prominent stars and their wacky antics at work--but my mom can't find the humor in "The Office"—a sit-com featuring a few prominent stars and their wacky antics at work.
So, what gives media intergenerational appeal? I have two theories and a handful of predictions...
Two Theories
A relatable protagonist. Call me sexist, but I have a theory: I think shows that feature middle-aged women protagonists ("The Closer," "Saving Grace," "Damages") are less likely to appeal to teens. Perhaps teenage boys may be more likely to watch shows like "The Closer" for the Lara Croft factor (attractive women with guns kicking butt), and teenage girls may be more likely to watch "The Mentalist" to see charmer Simon Baker and his beautiful blond 'do... but I don't see adult women crime fighters drawing massive teen audiences.
Another reason why shows starring middle-aged female protagonists may be less appealing to teens could be because they don't rely on the slightly sexist comedy that makes shows with middle-aged dads and dudes as leads funny (like "Still Standing," "King of Queens," and "Everybody Loves Raymond"). However, I still can't completely explain why no young people I know watch "The Closer," but many watch "Psych" and "Monk."
A mild use of profanity/ obscenity. South Park, Judd Apatow films, and anything with the names of drugs (or White Castle) in the title probably won't be comfortable to watch with Mom and Dad. However, shows like "30 Rock," "Psych," and even "America's Funniest Home Videos" have enough innuendo (or, in AFV's case, enough videos of people getting hit in the crotch) to keep teens from feeling like their "Sesame Street" days are back.
Predictions for Teen/Parent Viewing in 2009...
I Love You, Beth Cooper: Based on the hysterically funny book of the same name, the movie stars Hayden Panettiere and newcomer Paul Rust who plays Dennis, a boy being chased around his hometown on high school graduation night by his crush's maniacal boyfriend. Lucky for Dennis, his impulsive dream girl is with him, commandeering the evening. Even as a one-crazy-night teen film, it walks just the right line between edgy and harmless.
Despite its high school theme, the movie will likely appeal to both teens and parents given that the story comes from New Yorker humor writer Larry Doyle whose quality comedy writing is more sophisticated, and hilarious in a way that doesn't just apply to one age group. I know more than a few adults who read the book and felt that it possessed a "Hey Arnold" or "Rocko's Modern Life" kind of quality: media for kids/ teens that is simultaneously meant to entertain their parents.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: Opens July 15th. Parents and teens will go see it. Occasionally together. Naturally.
Glee: This is a charming and funny new TV show about dorky kids and their nervous soon-to-be-dad high school teacher who takes over the struggling glee club at their high school. It's slyly funny and there's enough grown-up plot to keep parents interested, while "Spring Awakening" star Lea Michele and the high school setting are more than enough to reel teens in. The pilot is currently available on hulu.com and iTunes, and new episodes start September 16th on FOX at 9pm.
30 Rock: As you'd expect, Tina Fey's show about being the lead writer at an NBC sketch comedy show is hysterical and usually family-appropriate. It won't start up again this fall until October 15th, but it's well worth the wait.
These are just some theories of mine. What do you think? What gives a show or movie good intergenerational appeal? Do you have predictions for summer or fall shows or movies that will be popular with both parents and teens?
About Liz Funk
 Liz Funk is a freelance writer and college student. She has written for USA Today, Newsday, the Christian Science Monitor, the Huffington Post, Girls' Life, and CosmoGIRL!, among other publications. Liz' first book, Supergirls Speak Out, about the pressure on girls to be perfect, will be published by Simon and Schuster in March of 2009. She writes a blog for the Albany, N.Y. newspaper the Times Union and she edits the teen culture and politics blog GirlHeadQuarters.org. Liz is a senior at Pace University and lives in Manhattan. Her web-site is www.lizfunk.com. Posted in: Ypulse Essentials | Movies | TV Author Spotlight: 'New Liberal Arts' By Snarkmarket Posted by meredith Today's Author Spotlight is on Robin Sloan, representing the folks at Snarkmarket and all the creative forces behind New Liberal Arts, a collaborative "book of ideas" aimed at reinventing an old school curriculum for the next generation. A project many past and present Humanities majors (yours truly included) will see as a long time coming, we're happy the capable hands of Snarkmarket have taken it on.
The limited print copies officially sold out in 8 hours(!), but you can download the PDF now. We'll also have a review here on Ypulse next week. In the meantime, we sent Robin a few questions to pique your (and our) appetite...
 Ypulse: Why do we need a new liberal arts?
Robin Sloan: The old liberal arts are ancient -- and the fact that they've stood the test of time is part of their appeal. But, life in 2009 presents new challenges -- and, more importantly, it presents new opportunities, new capabilities. We kept circling around this theme on our blog, Snarkmarket, and finally just decided to organize a more coherent examination, and print a book while we were at it.
I want to underscore it's very much a brainstorm -- we're not saying, "a-ha, these are THE new liberal arts!" but rather, "if there were going to be some new liberal arts... what might they be?"
YP: What was the process of collecting ideas and narrowing them down to those that made the final cut?
RS: It was very collaborative, very "bloggy." We put a call out to all the people who read our blog, Snarkmarket and asked for short pitches: just a few sentences describing a prospective new liberal art.
We picked our favorites out of those and signed people up as contributors -- basically they were agreeing to work with us to expand and polish their pitch into something we could include in the book.
YP: What is your personal favorite "new liberal art" and why?
RS: Personally, I like "video literacy," because I think it video is such a crucially important medium, but it's still approached with such fear and tentativeness by people who are otherwise incredibly fluent and well-educated. I think that today, with the tools at our disposal, not being able to make a short video ought to seem as strange as not being able to write a few paragraphs.
I also like "journalism" as a new liberal art. The entry in the book ends up defining it as "the art of the now" -- it's a really fresh, lucid take on what journalism means, and who needs to know about it.
YP: Who should [download] this book?
RS: Anybody involved in education -- either as a teacher or a learner. Anybody interested in the future. Anybody who feels an affinity to the old liberal arts. Anybody who hated the old liberal arts!
Really, the book casts a wide net, and I think there's something here for almost everybody, both in terms of content -- the new liberal arts themselves -- and style -- some of the writing is really elegant and fun to read.
YP: Will there be a sequel to replace today's high school curriculum (please!)?
RS: There are definitely some interesting candidates for curriculum-building in this book. In particular, I think of the entry on "home economics," which reframes it in terms of ecology, sustainability, the politics of food, and so on -- without losing some of the appealing practical angles, like being able to make your own food, mend your own clothes, etc. I'd love to see high school home ec reimagined along those lines.
There's an entry for "marketing" as well, and I think that's really important for students. School is such a strange environment: Someone is paid to pay attention to you and give you feedback, and you learn that work generally gets evaluated on its merits.
This isn't much like the real world, especially where the web is concerned. Before work can ever get evaluated on its merits, it has to get evaluated at all, and that means people have to see it. You can't take that step for granted. I'd make a rigorous, hands-on intro to the basics of marketing -- marketing a product, marketing a brand, marketing yourself -- part of every high school curriculum.
But overall, I'm really curious to hear from educators! Is this a set of ideas that's interesting and useful to them? Does it map to the kinds of things that are being talked about in high schools today, even if it's mostly hypothetical at this point? I'd love to get in on that conversation.
For more coverage of YA books and publishing, check out the Ypulse Books Channel sponsored by Pick a Poppy – the home of today's hottest fiction. Posted in: Ypulse Essentials | Movies | TV | Author Spotlight | Books
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1 comments:
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