REICH COMMUNICATIONS

What We Do: Drive Safe Campaign

For The National Road Safety Foundation, we do contests for teens to get them engaged in informing their peers about various safe driving issues.  We do this in partnership with three major auto shows around the nation.

Our Drive Safe L.A. Challenge, with the Los Angeles Auto Show, just ended.  We had invited teens from throughout California to give us their ideas for a 30-second public service message about drugged driving, which is a growing safety issue.

Our winner, Jasmine Coxley of Redding, CA., spent Tuesday working with our TV production crew to film the TV spot. We arranged for coverage by the local TV station.

Click here to see the story that aired on KRCR-TV. 

The finished piece will air on more than 160 TV stations nationwide on Teen Kids News.

Cookie!

 

My daughter Jen told me today is the birthday of a special friend -- Cookie Monster.

Cookie was one of my favorites when I used to watch "Sesame Street" with Jen when she was little, and then a few years later, with our son Michael.  I used to make them laugh when I'd imitate the furry blue guy by saying, in a gruff vice, "Me want cookie." 

But I knew Cookie long before my kids watched him.

Although no one seems to know how old Cookie is, he's been on TV for 50 years, since "Sesame Street" first went on the air in 1969. 

My friendship with Cookie began shortly after that, in the spring of 1970.  I was working on my Master's thesis.  I had books and note cards spread out on the living room floor, as I as trying to piece the thing together.  One afternoon, at around 4, I decided to take a break.  I turned the TV on and .  It was set on Channel 13 (PBS) and a kids' show was on.  I was about to change the channel, but I got caught up by the puppets and the cleverness of the fast-paced show.  I got hooked.

For the rest of the spring, I'd push my thesis notes aside every day at 4 o'clock to watch "Sesame Street."  Cookie and Big Bird were (and are) my favorite characters.  I like Big Bird for his innocence and sweetness and consideration for the feelings of others.  I identified with Cookie Monster because I, too, like to eat -- cookies and almost everything else.

So happy birthday, Cookie Monster.  Have a cookie...or two.

 

 

Boo!!

Put on the Blinders

Over the past three years, we've become accustomed to dumb statements and actions coming from the president and the White House.  Some we try to ignore and others are truly offensive and/or damaging to us and our society.

This one could fit in either category... an order by the White House to all federal agencies to stop subscribing to The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Clearly, the president wants to put blinders on us so we see only what's right in front of us, or in this case, only the news (or lies) he would prefer we see, rather than the truth of what's happening.

The facts of the Ukrainian quid-pro-quo episode, along with the attempts to cover it up, are right there in front of our eyes, so even with blinders, it can't be missed. 

But what's most troubling is the president's attempts to stifle the news media.  It's the type of move one of his autocrat heroes would pull.  It is not what an American president should be doing...even this one. 

Compared to so much of the chaos he is doing every day, this move is a small one.  But it should be noted and decried.  It is NOT the American way.  We will not allow blinders to be placed on us.

 

 

 

 

What We Do: National Teen Driver Safety Week

We met this morning with the Student Leadership Council of SADD, the national student advocacy group that's some 400,000 members strong.

As National Teen Driver Safety Week begins, we discussed planning for SADD's national competition sponsored by The National Road Safety Foundation -- Driving Skills #101.  The theme this year is "manage the merge," talking about safe ways to merge into traffic on roads and highways.  It's a challenging task for new and inexperienced drivers.

Unfortunately, traffic crashes continue to be leading cause of death for young people.  We and our friends at SADD are working to change that.

 

What We Do: Teen Driving Safety in California

 

Last week, we traveled to California to promote the Drive Safe L.A. teen PSA contest that's sponsored by The National Road Safety Foundation.

We did TV and radio interviews in San Diego, L.A. and Santa Barbara, talking about teen driving safety and the contest, which we do in conjunction with the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Here's a clip from FOX5 San Diego's morning news, last Tuesday.

 

KSWB 10-8-19 David Reich - Teen Driver Safety 7am.mp4

 

What We Do: Media Tour in SoCal

We'll be on the road this week, doing a round of media interviews in San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.  It's to promote the upcoming Drive Safe L.A. teen PSA contest from client The National Road Safety Foundation.

If you're in San Diego, watch for me on FOX5 early Tuesday morning -- around 7:30.

Then up to L.A. for  some radio and, hopefully, a TV spot.  Friday, in Santa Barbara for two TV spots -- one live at 7:15 and the other taped.

The Drive Safe L.A. contest, which we do in conjunction with the Los Angeles Auto Show, invites teens in California to submit their ideas for a public service message about drugged driving.  The winner gets $2,000 and we send an Emmy-winning director to work with him or her at their school to make the idea into a finished 30-second spot that debuts at the auto show and then airs on more than 160 TV stations nationwide.

We do similar contests with auto shows in Chicago, Atlanta and D.C.

 

A New Year

 

Sunday at sundown marks the start of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. 

It's not a time to party and celebrate, but rather to reflect on our actions during the past year and ask for guidance and strength to help us be better people in the coming year. 

Traditionally, at this time we pray for a few things -- the wisdom to do better, health, happiness and above all, peace.  One of our key prayers ends with the word "Shalom"  -- Hebrew for 'Peace.'  It is peace of mind, and peace on the larger scale -- peace among people and nations. 

 

Shalom, and Shana Tova... "a good year."

Emmy Awards recognize the "new" TV

Regardless of whether you liked the awards telecast or not, the The Emmy Awards again put the spotlight on how much TV has changed over the 20+ years.

First, take a look at which networks won the most awards...   Most winners by network: HBO, 34; Netflix, 27; Amazon, 15; National Geographic, 8; NBC, 7; CNN, 5; FX, 5; CBS, 4; Fox, 4; Hulu, 4; VH1, 4; YouTube, 4.

One of the major broadcast networks -- ABC -- got only one Emmy Sunday night.  And the four broadcast networks combined took home only 16 awards -- less than half of what HBO won.

But the big news is how many awards the streaming networks got -- Netflix, Amazon, Hulu.  (Who even heard of Hulu five years ago?)  The streamers dominated the awards.

Don't cry for the networks, though.  Even if they don't dominate the awards anymore, they're still pulling big audiences and even bigger ad dollars.  Broadcast TV isn't going to disappear, although the focus on the subscription (HBO and Showtime) and streaming services like Netflix and Amazon is forcing the broadcast nets to up their game in terms of program quality.  They're not just lowest common denominator programming anymore.

I can remember when top film actors and directors wouldn't go near TV.  But not anymore - not for a long time.  TV programs now feature big screen stars like Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda. 

TV (if you include all the ways programs get onto your TV screen) has come so far from the time in 1961 when FCC Commissioner Newton Minnow called it a "vast wasteland."  TV now seems to be in a new golden age, which is good for all of us.

 

 

Back in New York - Back at Work

After a great vacation, it's always good to be back in New York.