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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2011)
Opinion PDX: Love It, Don’t Leave It “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future now” B ernie F oSTer Founder/Publisher B oBBie D ore F oSTer Executive Editor T eD B ankS Advertising Manager J erry F oSTer Account Executive l iSa l oving News Editor B rian S TiMSon Reporter D aviD k iDD Graphic Designer M oniCa J. F oSTer Seattle Office Coordinator J ulie k eeFe S uSan F rieD Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, estab shed n October 975, s a week y pub ca- t on, pub shed each Wednesday by IMM Pub cat ons Inc , 4 5 N K ngsworth St , P O Box 5455, Port and, OR 97228 Te ephone (503) 285-5555 E-ma : info@theskanner.com Wor d W de Web s te: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner s a member of the Nat ona Newspaper Pub shers Assoc at on and West Coast B ack Pub - shers Assoc at on A photos subm tted become the prope ty of The Skanner We are not re - spon s b e for ost or damaged photos e ther so c ted or unso c ted © 2011 The Skanner A R GH S R S RV D R PRODUC ON N WHO OR N PAR W HOU P RM SS ON PROH B D knowing what’s important Can Change your life! Subscribe to The Skanner – don’t miss an issue! Please sign me up for: q 1 year $74 q 2 year $140 q New Subscription q Renewal ________________________ name _________________ address _________________ City _________________ State ______ ZiP ________ Phone Mail with check or money order to: The Skanner P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 S ay what you want to say, feel how you want to feel, but Portland is THE City! And you are free and welcome to dis- agree. But if you live here, and especially if you were born and raised here, you know what I mean when I say that Portland is quite an interesting city with much to explore and plenty to be proud of. And yes there is plenty to com- plain about; and I confess I’m guilty as charged of being a critic of old Stumptown. Here is my challenge and stake to any who would still adamantly disagree: Give me one at-bat (three swings) at showing you what the town has to offer before you throw in the towel on Bridgetown. We’re bordered or split by two flows of water; not prime drinking water, but it is wet and deep and good for trolling and sunbathing. Our rose garden is world class in the spring, our food carts to die for and our basketball team… OURS! We also have a great music scene and awesome live arts including dance, theater, and gallery shows. And with all this, folks still com- plain there’s nothing to do. There is something more to that, some- thing deep and hidden, but not for now. Don’t have the time or space to delve into the cultural-racial- economic undertones through the city. Check next week for more on that. Like I was saying, we’ve got a plethora of options for the tourist and the resident alike. But I hear more than a few cats mention that they want to get out as soon as they can. And I have to admit there does seem to be an abundance of ex-Portlanders in the Atlanta area, but I digress. Oh, and let us not forget the rain has been the culprit for many a reloca- T he S kanner n ewS Rob Ingram tion. If I told you those drizzles were only temporary, you would punch me after two years. So I say you just have to deal with it. I actually appreciate it. Somehow and yet love her just the same. Some of the others really truly love Portlandia (the show and/ or the area) and reside here on pur- pose. I even know a guy who moved here, couldn’t get into his line of work so he went back to where he was from and when he could he came back to look for work again. Only to finally land a gig that worked to be able to call him or herself a web-footed Portlander. And then I’ve got those that flop in between “I hate it and I am going to leave” (but only Like I said, three swings and I can show you some things this city has to offer… though, it feels like we need some- thing. For the record: anyone who simply has found another place more desirable and/ or fitting to live, or for business purposes -- I respect and commend that. But for those that live the 503, not just live in it -- we need a shot to the heart! With all of the jewels of the City of Roses- -- like Saturday Market, and MAX, and MAX trains on Saturday Nights, and iMax and probably a few thousand males named Max -- how can you not love this weird place? And we have to act on that love! Absent of all Max references, we’ve got to start calling out the good things about our city! For ALL PEO- PLE! Portland is a hodgepodge of people, although true diversity is still a challenge, it’s one we’re fac- ing. From the folks I know, most of them complain about Portland go visit relatives in the Central time zone for 3 months or less) or “I hate it and just hate it”. I’m say- ing there are people who complain about life here because that is the popular thing to do, and then for others it’s just not a good fit. Either way DO YOU! Don’t get caught up in the next man’s story of glory and riches in another time zone. There is a reason why he is telling you those stories in THIS time zone! Those of use that love Portland, and those of us that like Portland, and those of us that “tolerate well in public” Portland need to start pumping positive blood back into OUR CITY! Not tiger blood like Charlie Sheen, unless it’s proven and tested by the FDA to work for cities of our size, demographic and socioeconomic status, whatever it is it had got to be good! Just like media-geeks, we’ve got to target our message, shape our brand and create our image. We’re far from a small town, although we still enjoy many small town amenities, like manageable traffic, and clean air and water (Oh, I love the water here!!!). In a concerted effort, we need to start commanding what people think, and invariably say about Portland. If we don’t who will? Better yet, where will they get their information? When you think about it, bad information plays a critical part. If you’ve not lived here for a considerable amount of time, or you haven’t gone out and found those little hid- den treasures my city has to offer, or if you stumbled upon a land- mark and just didn’t get the expe- rience you were expecting, anyone of those scenarios and I can see why someone might not love P.O. Like I said, three swings and I can show you some things this city has to offer… When I first got here, I don’t remember anyone being all too excited about being here. Yet this seemed like a pretty alright desti- nation for a little brother out of Cali by way of Seattle. And no, I didn’t like it at all when we first moved here. But I had no infor- mation. Now that I can honestly say that I know Portland, I love Portland! And I want more people to know that, and know why. One way or another, I’m going to make sure people know that my city is a great city, full of great people, places and things. And any day now we’re all going to wake up and realize that, and scream it from the mountain top. Read the rest online at www.theskanner.com It’s What You Watch, Not How Much, That Counts “W hat you do in the dark will always come out in the light.” Remember when your grandma used to tell you that? And you hoped like the dickens that she didn’t know what she was talking about. But well, yeah, she kinda did. Sorry. And you know how the more sophisticated and intellectual we become the more we say we don’t do “so and so?” “We don’t eat greasy foods because we know it’s bad for us;” “we don’t mix all our trash together because we recycle now;” and “we don’t watch all that much TV anymore because we simply don’t have time?” Umm hmm. Well, it’s light outside. And while I can’t vouch for the authenticity of your first two statements, I can tell you African Americans ARE spending almost 40 percent more time watching TV than any other American demographic group. I didn’t get this from grandma – because she’s probably sitting right there watching TV along with you– I got it from The Nielsen Company’s recently released comprehensive report, The New Digital American Family. The thing is, unlike eating greasy foods or not recycling, Page 4 The Portland Skanner May 25, 2011 n ielSen C oMPany Cheryl Pearson-McNeil watching TV doesn’t have to be a negative. If we use our consumer power for good, as I’m always stressing in this column that we should make it a point to do, we can use our viewing habits to our advantage. If we, as Blacks, are over indexing on television view- ing – which means watching way more than anyone else – that means we should be demanding that we see people who look like us in the programs and commer- cials we’re viewing. If we’re watching more television than any other group we should be watch- ing the type of programs that depict us in positive ways. And since we’re watching more televi- sion we should have a stronger voice of dissatisfaction which we exercise fully if we don’t find these things happening. So the question shouldn’t be, “how much television are you watching?” The question should be rephrased: “as a connoisseur of television view- ing, are you making your viewing preferences known by what you’re watching? And are you using your television viewing power for good?” Only you know the answer to that, but remember grandma’s words: what you do in the dark will always come out in the light.” The Nielsen report also noted that TV ownership is down. While African Americans now own four or more sets per household, the number of American homes with a television set dropped to 96.7 per- cent from 98.9 percent. Why the decline? During a shaky economy, economics is always in the mix, especially with “luxury” items like televisions. Part of the decrease in TV ownership can be attributed to economic belt-tightening, particu- larly in rural or low-income house- holds. You may also remember that back in the summer of 2009, the Federal Communications Commission mandated the switch from analog to digital broadcast- ing. After that transition, con- sumers were only able to watch TV via a newer TV with a built-in digital tuner, a satellite dish – or with a special digital-to-analog converter box to connect to their old analog set. Many people sim- ply could not afford that upgrade, even though the government tried to subsidize the converters. But while Americans overall are watching less television for the first time in 20 years, now at 114.7 million, down from 115.9 million, Nielsen data shows that con- sumers are actually viewing more video content than ever before. Through the wizardry of technolo- gy, video can be viewed on multi- ple platforms, like laptops, tablets, iPods or smartphones. Another recent Nielsen study shows that the number of Americans watch- ing video on their mobile devices rose more than 40 percent in the last two quarters of 2010. That’s nearly 25 million people. And, what does any of this mean? It means Nielsen still has a responsibility to measure all of this content and report the total picture of video consumption regardless of delivery method. And that we as consumers have more opportunity than ever before to express our preferences to “the industry” – TV networks, mobile companies, marketers and adver- tisers — who rely on us for our business and who must re-think the way they reach us for your hard-earned dollar. See? It all mat- ters. Cheryl Pearson-McNeil is the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Government Relations for The Nielsen Company. For more insights go to www.nielsen- wire.com
