Pondering the Role of the Printed Page. FAJARDO, Puerto Rico -- Is a magazine an ink-on-paper product, a platform-neutral editorial environment or a brand capable of selling subscribers life insurance door-to-door (as Grit actually does) and licensed lifestyle products? By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Who's Afraid of Big, Bad Google? Way Too Many of You Out There. I'm officially sick of the hand-wringing over Google's plans for world domination. Please cut it out and get back to work.Not since the Microsoft of the mid-`90s have we had so much angst over the ambitions of an evil empire bent on taking control of...

Season's Gratings: Insincere Wishes That Waste Time and Trees. Two days before Christmas Eve, I sat in my office and tore open an envelope to release a greeting card signed by a media-agency CEO. Moments later, I opened another card signed by the same person. In different handwriting. Three envelopes on came the same...

Why Fooling Your Audience Is Never OK. Commentary by Scott DonatonMemo to those in the media who worship at the altar of Oprah: It is not OK for James Frey to have passed off his fictionalized life story as nonfiction just because a talk-show host says it is. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Creating Third-Screen Content? TV Should Not be Your Template. Early radio programmers looked to vaudeville for their inspiration. The first TV shows were little more than radio programs with pictures. So there's little surprise that the early take on "third-screen" programming is that it will consist of repurposed T...

Bring Media Planners Back into the Fold--This Time as Equals. The notion of media planning being reunited with creative at ad agencies has, when voiced in recent years, been mostly the wishful (and wistful) musings of executives at big traditional agencies.Who can blame them? They've seen their strategic ties to...

The Dramatic Difference at This Year's M+V Conference. One thing that became dramatically clear at this year's conference was that Madison + Vine is no longer an intersection; it's a destination. The two camps are truly blending in a way that, when it works, benefits both brands and entertainment marketers as well as consumers. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Beware Revolution Rock - It's No Place for Your Brand, or for Ours. Stop hiding under a rock.If there's been a theme to this column in the last few years, that's essentially it. The marketing world is changing dramatically, relocating power to consumers and forcing the reinvention of business models. Leaders,... By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

What Do Giants of Ad Industry Think About the Future? Anyone?. William B. Ziff stood at a podium on the stage of the grand ballroom of New York's fabled Waldorf-Astoria hotel in 1992. The hundreds of people grouped around tables in front of him were there to celebrate as he accepted a lifetime-achievement award from...

As Adman and Innovator, Kaess Realized His Dream of Being a Star. I was in Hong Kong late last fall when word came that Ken Kaess had gone out on medical leave. By SDonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Welcome to Our New Web Site. If you've clicked through to this letter, I don't need to tell you that Advertising Age's Web site has a new look and feel; I can, however, tell you why we've made these exciting changes and how they will serve you better. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Just Ask Your 9-year-old: Media Outlets Need to Redefine Themselves. It's not easy, this business of redefining yourself, but it is fun. That's also something I've told myself because it's the most crucial part of my new role as associate publisher of the Ad Age Group. We don't see Ad Age or our sibling Creativity as magazines or newspapers; each is a brand that exists in print, online and in various digital formats, and at events. By SDonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

How to Thrive in New World of User-Created Content: Let Go.
Show of hands, please, from those who believe the recent online ads for Chevy Tahoe -- which mock the SUV as a planet-destroying gas-guzzler -- prove the dangers of allowing (even encouraging) user-created content.

How Perks Now Impact the Online Advertising Business.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The three-day Strategic Account Summit in Remond made clear that the online-advertising business of which Microsoft is a part has successfully made the transition to the major leagues of media sales, complete with the swagger that attends life in the bigs.

Circulation's Biggest Problem Is so Simple a Kid Could Figure It Out.
Here's the dirty secret: The circulation practices of the magazine industry are based on a ridiculously outdated model designed not to enhance the audience relationship but to inflate rate bases in order to maximize advertising revenue.

Second-Day Coverage of 'Post' Stories Is Just Yellow Journalism.
It's time to admit it, mainstream media: You've got Post-envy. As in the New York Post. Really, you do. And you have a responsibility to own up to it. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Imagining the Day When the WSJ Print Edition Folds.
Certain forms of media that are currently print-based, particularly daily newspapers, must ultimately explore the possibility that there are more reader-friendly and cost-efficient ways to produce and distribute their content. It's still surprisingly difficult to get traditional media executives to admit this. Their resistance seems based on an emotional attachment to ink on paper, a deeply held -- if largely indefensible -- sense that a newspaper's soul is inextricably linked to its format.

Maurice Levy's War Against Complacency.
For all the cliche-filled chatter about change (it's constant; we need to embrace it; if we don't, we'll die), the aim of many ad agency managers is to raise and maintain employee morale by providing a stable, secure workplace. Not so for Publicis Groupe Chairman-CEO Maurice Levy. His goal is to break down people's natural resistance to change by throwing them off balance. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Clearing the Clutter: Shutting Down Weak Magazines.
It would be great if more magazines went out of business in the coming months. And more websites were shut down, TV shows yanked off the air, newspapers folded and radio programs unplugged. The media landscape needs to be cleared of some of its clutter. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Broadcast Fall Prime-Time Lineup Gives Us Reason to Believe.
As strange as it is to admit, it's true: I'm looking forward to the fall broadcast prime-time TV season. And I don't think I'm alone. Perhaps the old box has some life in it yet. This year's crop of offerings from the Big Four networks feature higher quality programming, more original ideas and intriguing casting. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Hispanic Shops Redefine Latino Identity -- and Industry Partying.
Welcome to the annual fall conference of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, the most fun, energetic event you've ever been to -- even before you find yourself being escorted from cocktails into an evening awards show by an entourage that includes Miss Universe, a roving brass band and a conga line. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Planes, Trains and Steamrollers: New-Media Juggernaut Powers On.
SOMEWHERE OVER THE MIDWEST (AdAge.com) -- I'm on a plane but feel like I've been hit by a train. The carry-on at my feet contains two books, five magazines and printouts of prep material for a panel I will moderate next week at the American Magazine Conference. It all appears a testament to the endurance of an "old" medium. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

TBWA's Media Arts Lab Offers (Limited) Glimpse at the Future.
By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

How NBC Can Save 'Studio 60'.
I have an idea for how NBC can save "Studio 60" and experiment with a new business model that ultimately might help save the broadcast networks: Ask me to pay for it. Set a price of $1, or $2, or even $3 per episode, and count me in. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Why You Need to Crawl Beneath Your Customer's Table.
Sit under the kitchen table. That was by far the best advice handed out at the Idea Conference -- a highly successful (even by objective standards, not just my biased ones) joint venture Ad Age and Creativity held earlier this month in New York. Find out why. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

How the O.J. Debacle Restored a Bit of Faith in the Media.
Thank God we can still feel outrage. That was my first thought on hearing that Rupert Murdoch had scuttled plans for what would've been the most despicable stunt in the history of marketing: a book and two sweeps-period TV specials in which O.J. Simpson was to detail how he would have almost decapitated the mother of his children and viciously stabbed another man to death had he in fact been the one who almost decapitated the mother of his children and viciously stabbed another man to death. Which, of course, he didn't. Unless he did. Or something. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Behind the Epidemic of Lousy Viral Campaigns.
Most of the online viral ad campaigns you hear about and see these days have one thing in common: They suck. And there's a reason for that: They are not the end result of an actual idea or strategy but are born of a desperate desire to do something, anything, in the new-media space. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

With Future House, Time Warner Proves It's Learned From the Past.
Given the razzle-dazzle that surrounded the unveiling of Time Warner's "Home to the Future" installation -- Tony Bennett performed at an opening party for 1,000 people -- I couldn't help feeling underwhelmed as Ad Age Editor Jonah Bloom and I toured the creation. And I couldn't help thinking that was a good thing. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Moving Forward Requires Letting Go of Dollar-for-Dollar Mentality.
It's time to stop waiting for a dollar to be a dollar. There still seems to be this magical belief in some circles of the media business that all balance will be restored when that dollar lost in magazine advertising revenue or CD sales or TV spots is made up for with a dollar earned online or through another digital channel. Sorry, but it just won't be that simple. By sdonaton@crain.com(Scott Donaton).

Fifth Place Isn't Always the Worst Place to Be. There's never been a better time to be an also-ran. That's the thought that occurred as I read this story about the CW network's new "cwickies" ad format. It describes various innovations at the CW -- innovations of the kind broadcast's Big Four have resisted. What the piece also implies, but doesn't say directly, is that CW can do things its much-larger rivals can't because it has less to lose; it draws fewer viewers, and has fewer advertisers. But less to lose also means more to gain. By sdonaton@adage.com(Scott Donaton).