In the column “2007/2008” published on January 1, 2008 I made a prediction concerning media that is worth revisiting.

At the beginning of the year the entertainment industry was in the middle of the writer’s strike.  I wrote:   “The writers’ strike in the entertainment business is now two months old. Its’ length, the animosity it has engendered and the immediate consequences of it are significant.  It has within it the seeds of structural and permanent change in the entertainment business……While the detailed outcome of the strike is not clear, what is clear is that it will have a permanent structural impact …

Regular readers of this column may have noticed that in the past two months I have gone to a once a week posting.  That has in part been due to weeks of non-stop travel, speaking engagements and book signings.  I now find myself  being able to sit at my writing table for a whole week. A wonderful feeling! As a result, I will be posting some shorter columns over the next two weeks, addressing a backlog of topics that I have wanted to write about.  Those of you that have let me know you appreciate the slightly longer thought pieces, …

Growing up as part of the baby boom generation, a distinct memory is the air raid siren tests.  Every Tuesday, if I recall correctly, at 10a there was the test of the air raid siren blaring across the entire city of Chicago.  This was to prepare us for the possibility of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union (so we could crawl under our desks as instructed by our teachers).  Since it happened each week at the same time we knew it was a test.  If it had happened on any other day, I might not be writing this column …