[via Wonkette yo]

"Given where we are in the election cycle, and how the youth vote has increasingly engaged and played a crucial role in past presidential elections, we re-evaluated the MTV policy and decided that campaign-approved ads would be a good fit for our audience, and would compliment our 'Choose or Lose' campaign efforts," [a spokesperson] said. "It's a good thing when candidates want to reach out to young people and the best way to do that is through MTV."

MTV's announcement of the switch follows a report in the New York Times on June 22 that Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's campaign wanted to do an MTV buy. It's also probably not a coincidence that Mr. Obama, who is opting out of public funding, will likely have plenty of money to spend on youth-directed ads.

One would think that no MTV-watching kids would vote for McCain, anyhow. So this is pretty much a wash.

[Ad Age]

[via Fimoculous]

Before television viewers could get a closer look at what was real and what was not, the camera moved to a wide angle and stayed that way until Mr. Rogen and Mr. Franco left the stage, The Associated Press reported. It was an awkward moment that made some in the audience laugh. Backstage, Mr. Franco told The Associated Press that MTV had put them up to the joke — supplying the script as well as the fake pot and joint — and then had a last-second change of heart.

So it seems that there are three possibilities:

1. Franco is telling the truth here; MTV put them up to it, then had a change of heart, but Rogen did it anyhow.

2. MTV told Rogen and Franco to say that the network had a change of heart, as a way to make the stunt seem more edgy, but not too edgy.

3. It was truly an off-the-cuff display of weed smoking, and Franco was kidding when he told the AP it was the network's idea.

Watch the video here again and again, and decide for yourself. At least we know that they weren't smoking salvia

[NYT].

Adrian Foster, 32, an employee at Petland Discounts, also dreamed of stardom. “It’ll be good, once I’m on it,” he said. But he questioned the choice of neighborhood.

“Compared to other places they were living, I think this would be a downgrade,” he said. “A few bars, a few stores, that’s about it. Clubs, they have to go to Manhattan. It’s kind of rough out here. They’ve just got to keep their eyes open and ears open.”

Danny Perez, 37, works at Gallery Religious Supplies, which sells, besides the anti-jinx soap, candles and bath salts that claim to attract money or love and dispel evil. He knows the neighborhood as well as anyone, acting as a confidant to his customers, who whisper to him of some ill or want that he addresses with a special candle.

“They’d be jeopardizing their safety,” he said of the cast members. “Too many side streets.” But he promised to do his best for any of them. “I’ll help them out,” he said. “I’ll help them out.”

Gosh, it sounds like throwing a bunch of young, privileged, mostly white youths into downtown Brooklyn might produce some unexpected complications. If you think about it, it's almost as though that's what MTV wants.

[Times]

The two buildings of (mostly illegal) lofts, full of idiot kids in stupid pants and two olds, are renowned for their loud parities, ridiculous band rehearsals, and chewy chewy bed bugs. Wouldn't it be super to watch Amilynn from Ole Miss trying to nail some plywood together to create a bedroom? Or to gawk at troubled, angry water polo player Nickariah (from Duke) try to sex some girl who only eats tempe, cigarette butts, and old cans, like a common goat? That would be the real fake Real World. Plus then us quiet (read: scared) folk in the slightly sleepier neighbs wouldn't have to deal with camera crews crowding our most horrible bars. Are you listening MTV? Sell that tricked-out thing on North 8th! Pack your bindles and head on over to McKibbin.

The Real World Brooklyn. For Real. [Observer]

Examples of MTV's work in this regard include several different "C.S.I. Guys" spots for Dunkin Donuts and Papa John's, and a three and a half minute long film about a young designer that is actually a Target ad.

Dario Spina, who handles the same job for MTV's entertainment channels like Comedy Central and Spike, said of countering the digital video recorder, "That's the idea here; we want to blur the lines between the commercial breaks and the entertainment content."

...

"Viewers keep watching right through the commercial," Mr. Spina said, adding that "good commercial content is good content."

Here's an idea: how about keeping ads clunky, boring, and easily skippable? Bad ads—or even just traditional ones—are very straightforward. They make a sales pitch. They offer information. It's quite simple to delineate them from the regular programming.

More entertaining and engaging ads are the work of the devil. The editorial- advertising divide is a good thing, even in its warped and watered-down television entertainment version. Enhanced product placement, which brings ads into shows, and more "podbusting," which brings shows into ads, add up to nothing but ads all the time. The takeover will soon be complete!

Please keep our television commercials in neat little blocks, so that we can get up and go to the bathroom while they are on, or, if we have the proper technology, skip them altogether. This whole "great ads that you want to watch just cause they're so great" is a huge backlash waiting to happen. It was also the business model of Firebrand.com, which went out of business despite a preponderance of nakedness.

We, as a society, have a social compact with television advertisers. We grumble about your sucky ads, and do everything we can to skip over them. But in the end we still buy your products. Everybody's happy. Start mixing up the shows and the ads too much, and people will get angry. That's when the revolution comes.

Well, probably not. But please don't make these fancy ads. Thank you.

[pic via Adbusters]

Most of these journalistic-hopefuls screwed their careers in the very first episode. After their last issue under the "old" editor in chief, the staff celebrated with a house party that included a game involving ping-pong balls, red plastic cups and a mysterious unseen liquid. Two of the show's characters, Trevor Ballard and Giana Pacinelli, sneaked upstairs for some "alone" time.

Not to say high school students are required to be "innocent," but Web sites like Facebook and MySpace already cause future employees trouble. The first episode of this show is basically like "Minors Gone Wild."

True, these high school staffers could have been drinking water or sparkling cider. Trever and his girlfriend Giana could have just gone upstairs to talk or snuggle. But I doubt future employers will view their actions as such.

These potential future pillars of the journalism industry have shamed the very job they wanted to immortalize. And worse, they have dragged their own good names through the mud, and a good name is one of the most prized processions a journalist can own.

To be fair, these high school students could be amazing people. They could be responsible, talented, journalistically attuned, career-ambitious individuals, but at the end of the season, none of those qualities matter. Because in the end, no newspaper wants to use a byline tattered with a mixture of mud and shame.

And finally,

Andy Harper is a senior journalism major.

[via Romenesko]

Hey there sexy boys and girls ;) Current mood: confident Hi Everyone, As you all know I've been traveling all month and am currently in London with Benji having an amazing time. I love London, it is definately one of my favorite cities in the world. We went shopping at Harrod's yesterday and had a blast, that store has everything! So much fun! In the meantime, I'm sooo looking forward to my new show which begins shooting next month. Loving the casting videos! Some of you have been so sweet and so creative. It's going to be hard for me to decide which potential BFFs I should chose for my show! Luckily I have a great casting team helping me while I'm traveling. Doron Ofir's Casting team have been traveling the country and so far they have auditioned over a thousand girls and guys – but just so you all know – its all been by appointment only so make sure you log onto www.ParisBFF.com to apply for the show. And just to clear up any misinformation you may have heard, there are NO open calls for the show! Everyone they invite has applied thru the site and they've picked out the best contenders to interview. With so many applications to go thru they are trying their utmost best to read and contact everyone from the official casting application. Every event is exclusive and hand picked by invitation only. I didn't want my potential BFFs to have to wait in a long open call lines. So whoever made up that there wasn't a big turn out has no idea what they are talking and just another lie on the internet as usual. But who cares, I don't pay attention to the haters! I only pay attention to you, my true friends and supporters, love you guys!! I am so excited! I just know that I'm going to have an unbelievable group of potential BFFs for the show and I want to thank everyone who is applying and can't wait to see all your tapes as well as all the casting departments selections when I return.
Love you all,
Paris :) xoxo

Today, because I was feeling a little stressed, I closed the door and cracked up Mary J. Blige's "It's Fine" to top volume in my office and danced around my office. That's probably pretty gay.

[Popnography]

But the real magic of The Hills is what it can do for the older gals, like those ones from Sex and the City. "A lot of older women, not even that old—I'm talking, like, late 30s—say one of the reasons they love watching is because they love reminiscing. And remembering what it's like to be young and free and in your early 20s." [Newsweek]

From: Toffler, Van
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 4:52 PM
To: M_MTVN__ALL
Cc: McGrath, Judy
Subject: Christina Norman

I am writing to let you know that after 17 incredibly successful years, several brilliant reinventions, multiple VMA's and scores of memorable on-air promos and creative marketing campaigns, Christina Norman has made the decision to leave MTV at the end of the month.

Christina's mark on our company is indelible and it's worth noting that she reinvented herself and our businesses along the way. She grew from a freelance production manager (yes, freelance) to lead all of the marketing efforts for MTV, including the successful launch of MTV2. In 2002, she was tapped to architect VH1's rebirth, gave the world "Celebreality" along with "Hip Hop Honors", and shepherded the network to creative and ratings highs. She brought the same talent and vision when she returned to MTV as President, reinventing our big franchise events - The VMAs and The Movie Awards, ramping up new ways for us to partner with advertisers and worked with all of you to create and define the brand vision for MTV that inspired us and helped liberate our thinking. It pains me to see Christina go, but I respect her decision to want to take the time to explore something new after 17 years, which is pretty much impossible to even think about while running the M.

Christina has led with incredible integrity, creativity, business savvy, perspective, spirit and humor, and she has championed so many important initiatives at our company and in our culture. From the launch of "thinkMTV," to breathing new life into our music initiatives with novel ideas like "52 Bands," to the historic launch of MTV Tr3s, our network for young Hispanic-Americans, to the explosive growth of mtvU and the inspirational work she has done for our company's diversity and inclusion initiative, she has made it happen.

Christina is leaving MTV in its strongest, healthiest, most diverse and vibrant incarnation—MTV's celebrated 16 years as the #1 ad supported cable network for the 12-24 demo, and last year alone MTV.com served up almost one billion videos. And there is more to come in the pipeline from the great team that we have in place. In fact, Christina made it clear that MTV's current creative vibrancy and thriving business provided her with the perfect timing to explore something new. MTV has several TV hits cranking, the fastest selling video game with "Rock Band," and a rapidly growing collection of websites. We're positioned as an industry leader with an array of verticals and Emmy Award winning virtual worlds, and we're shaking up the 2008 elections with "Street Team '08." And may I remind you that Christina does not shy away from challenges - after all, she dared to take a bet to appear on national television with an eye patch, claiming a run-in with an unwieldy mascara wand as the reason for her questionable optical attire.

It has been my great honor to work with Christina and she will always be part of the legend and success of our company. We will miss her and I personally can't wait to see what incredible feat she will conquer next with the same class and tenacity she has exemplified during her many years here. I know you join me in wishing her the very best...

NEW YORK MTVN HOLIDAY PARTY 2007
STAFF / FREELANCE / TEMP / ANIMATION
INVITATION GUIDELINE

WHO IS INVITED?
All MTVN Staff employees hired up, and to, date-of-party, Thursday, December 6th.

MTVN Freelance, Temp and Animation employees hired on or before October 12th that
are paid through in-house payroll and have received a direct deposit receipt or paycheck
on all four of the following consecutive dates: October 18, October 25, November 1 and
November 8.

INVITATION PICK UP LOCATIONS
Staff invitations will be distributed, via interoffice mail, starting Thursday, November 15th
(following the release of Judy McGrath's annual company-wide Holiday Party
Save-The-Date announcement).

FREELANCE / TEMP / ANIMATION INVITE DISTRIBUTION
All Freelance / Temp / Animation invitations will be distributed from the same location,
The Lodge / South Dining Room, on the dates and times listed below:

The Lodge / South Dining Room
Thursday, November 29 from 11:45AM to 3:00PM
Thursday, December 6 from 11:45AM to 3:00PM

Group / List ticket pick-up will occur on the same dates / location, but at a different time:
3:00PM to 4:00PM only. Lists should be alphabetized by Last Name.

FLYER
A Freelance / Temp / Animation flyer, which contains invite eligibility information, missed
invite information (for those who do qualify for an invite) e-mail contact information (for
invite status) as well as invite pick-up location and times, will be distributed throughout
all NYC building locations starting Monday, November 19th and will also be available at
Freelance, Temp and Animation check pick-up starting Wednesday, November 21.

RUFUS
Party information for New York and Los Angeles employees, including dates/locations
and eligibility will be posted on the RUFUS home page starting Thursday, November
15th (following Judy McGrath's e-mail announcement).

POTENTIAL HOLIDAY PARTY QUESTIONS AND PLANNED RESPONSES

HOW CAN AN EMPLOYEE THAT MEETS THE CRITERIA BUT DIDN'T RECEIVE AN
INVITATION, RECEIVE ONE?
Employees should send an e-mail to holidaylistny@mtvstaff.com. E-mails must be
received by no later than Monday, December 3 to be considered.





Each individual request will be researched and if the individual is found to qualify, they
will receive an invitation. Either way, the employee will receive an e-mail response within
48 hours. All inquiries must be sent by EMAIL. Phone inquiries will not be
accommodated!

WILL FREELANCE / TEMP / ANIMATION EMPLOYEES HIRED BETWEEN
OCTOBER 12 AND THE DATE OF THE PARTY, DECEMBER 6, BE INVITED?
We will not be able to accommodate or add anyone that has been hired after the
October 12 cut-off date and the date of the party.

WHAT ABOUT FREELANCE / TEMP / ANIMATION EMPLOYEES THAT WORKED
ALL DATES PRIOR TO THESE SELECTED PAY DATES?
In order to manage overall invite numbers, pay dates were selected based upon their
proximity to the party date, and within a manageable accounting timeframe, to determine
the invite list; unfortunately, that means if you were not paid on all of these selected
dates, you did not meet the criteria to receive an invitation to the party.

HOW CAN AN EMPLOYEE THAT DOESN'T MEET THE CRITERIA BE ADDED TO
THE LIST?
We can not accommodate any exceptions.

WHO ELSE DID NOT RECEIVE AN INVITATION??
All outside consultants, third party vendors; outside agency temp employees;
independent contractors; interns; freelance employees paid through an outside payroll
company; employees (staff or non-staff) that are on a leave of absence that extends
beyond December 6, 2007; employees on L-T-D.