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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2019)
Wednesday, February 6, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon The Bunkhouse Chronicle Craig Rullman Columnist The negative space news There is a concept in the art world known as <nega- tive space.= The basic idea is that instead of trying to draw the branches in a tree, one draws the space between the branches, and therefore, ultimately, the whole tree emerges. With that in mind, last Thursday night I put on my old high school football hel- met, tightened the chin-strap, and sat down to watch an hour of Sean Hannity. But here9s the catch: I had no interest in watching whatever it was that Hannity was rav- ing about. I wanted to sketch the commercials, the nega- tive space, to see what kind of tree might finally emerge. My working hypothesis was that television shows pander to particular persua- sions. Almost no one alive would argue with that. This pandering, by the way, is accomplished by way of big data collection, and algo- rithms whose sole purpose is to capture our attention. There is, in fact, on the other side of our integrated screens 4 television, computer, and phone 4 a supercomputer aimed directly at each and every one of us. You can learn more about that at Humanetech.com, and I encourage you to do so. Nevertheless, I thought that by paying more attention to what they are trying to sell us in the hour that they have our attention, we might learn something interesting about ourselves. In other words, if the shows pander to who we think we are, maybe the com- mercials would tell us who we actually are, and what we actually want 4 because that9s how they make their money. Here is what I learned: Sean Hannity9s nightly show is marketed to people with droopy eyelids; people who need stinky pipes unclogged with lemon-scented freshen- ers; people with bad breath; people with diabetes; peo- ple selling their cars on the Internet; people selling their life-insurance policies to sur- vive retirement; newlyweds; people who can9t sleep; people who need more fiber in their diets; beer drink- ers; people with computer viruses; people with memory problems; people who need blood thinners; people look- ing for all-inclusive beach resorts; people who need eyeball vitamins; guests of Hilton hotels; people need- ing help with payroll and tax preparation; NASCAR fans; people looking for semi- tropical retirement commu- nities featuring pickleball, windsurfing, and golf; and most importantly (based on the number of repeat sug- gestions) people looking for additional media platforms where Fox News can be found. That9s the demographic roundup of the Hannity Show. From this sample it9s difficult to recognize any clear scientific patterns, but one might be able to say that, in general, the show is being marketed to older people in declining health who are worried about their finances, and who really want to get away to the tropics. On Friday night, armed with a great pizza and hot wings from Takodas, and cozied-up for the occa- sion in hipster flip-flops and a Patagonia fleece, I sat down with my legal pad to watch the rival show over at MSNBC. MSNBC9s foil for this hour of programming is somebody called Rachel Maddow. I don9t know much about her, but I am aware that she serves in the same role for the lefty news that Sean Hannity serves for the righty news. Their job is, to be clear, less about news than it is about keeping their respec- tive political bases aflame 4outraged, terrified, and indignant 4 and I wanted to see if I could figure out who the supercomputers think is watching her show, and how the target audience may dif- fer from Hannity9s. This is what I learned: Rachel Maddow9s show is marketed to people buy- ing home security cameras, small cars, and insurance; people looking for cheap plane tickets; people learn- ing Spanish; people who eat designer soup; people who need communication help; people looking for all-inclu- sive tropical resorts; guests of Hilton hotels; and people with the following medical conditions: colds, bad breath, hair loss, troublesome den- tures, breast cancer, memory problems, ulcerative colitis, flat feet, diabetes and erectile dysfunction. Maddow9s show is also targeting online shoppers; fans of anime movies; and people who need snappy business cards. And finally, it is marketed to people look- ing for additional media plat- forms where MSNBC can be found. That9s the Maddow demographic. Again, no indisputable scientific pat- terns emerged, but it seems safe to say that her show is being marketed to a slightly younger crowd of security conscious online shoppers, and people saddled with a disturbing cross-section of medical conditions 4 who really want to get away to the tropics. So, what emerged from this little experiment in the negative spaces of the nightly news? Surprisingly, it wasn9t what I thought it would be. There were plenty of obvious targeting differences, some people were buying, and some were selling, but what really emerged was that the target audiences, whatever their political persuasions, just don9t feel very good. To put it bluntly, they are quite sick. But I was delighted to see that even in the politi- cally polarized audiences there was at least some mar- keting crossover. Because that9s probably where we9ll find a better starting point for meaningful discussions. And because in the end, looking at the sketches, what I had drawn from the nega- tive space of these programs wasn9t a tree full of gnarly political branches. It was a very clear drawing of very sick people yearning des- perately for some rest, and relaxation, somewhere in the all-inclusive tropics. 21 School district seeks budget committee member The Board of Directors of Sisters School District will appoint one community member to fill one interim vacant budget committee member position. The per- son appointed will serve on the committee for one budget term. The term will expire on June 30. To be eligible, a candi- date must live in the school district, not be an officer or employee of the district, and be a qualified voter in the district. Candidate should participate in school activi- ties, be a positive problem- solver and commit time to review materials and attend budget committee meetings. Contact Mel Petterson, school board secretary, via email mel.petterson@sisters.k12. or.us or pick up an applica- tion at the district office. The application deadline is 4:00 p.m. on Friday, February 22. Applicants will be notified of interview times. Budget meet- ing dates are April 17 and May 8. Budget hearing will be June 4. NuggetNews.com is your online source for Breaking News Classifieds | Weather DAVIS TIRE Quality Truck-mounted Our family can take care of your family of autos & trailers Quality Cleaning 16 years in Reasonable Prices Sisters! Travel with ease. Come see our mix-and-match, easy-care travel line. ENVIROTECH 541-771-5048 8 pieces = a week of great outfi ts! 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