Opinion
PDX: Love It, Don’t Leave It
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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