By Mike Gange

I started this blog – Mr Media’s Blog – because I wanted to share some of the good things and the no-so-good things about the mass media. I intended to include things I might have observed or worked with, in my various positions in the mass media, or things I have read – which explains those book reviews that I have posted in the blog. My work in the media includes various positions in radio, television and print in small, medium and large markets in Canada.  I chose the name not out of arrogance but rather because I was sure it would be a way to easily identified in what I do.  I intend my work to be enlightening, entertaining and useful for those who want to understand the mass media.

I thought I would be fairly unique. After all, how many Mr Media people can there be? 

It turns out, there are a whole lot more than I would have imagined. There’s a Mr. Media guy in Florida that puts interviews on podcast. There’s Michelle Roche Media Company in Georgia, and her initials give you the m-r in M R Media. There’s a mrmedia in the Netherlands.  There is a MisterMedia20, which provides public relations and media advice. A media conference in Helsinki, mediapaivat, has adopted a playful looking mascot called Mr Media.  There’s a Mr J Media, and its site says, “ Mr J. Media also owns and operates stevethepenguin.com, the place to go for snarky commentary on pop culture and politics” and some of the comments are pretty snarky. Another one is called Ask Mr Media, and is written by Marty Kaplan.  And there is a grupo mr media in Brazil.

So much for having a unique name, right?

In the book, The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture, author John Battelle writes that the most often searched items are our own names.  Taking a cue from Battelle, I searched my name: Mike Gange.  There again, I am hardly unique. I found me, of course. I also found the guy who works with Howard Stern’s show; he sometimes gets some bad press for some of his actions. Another one is the sales manager for an I.T. company in the eastern-U.S.  There’s a Mike Gange who played rugby in a club in England; there’s another in Texas’ Health Services.  

 

There is really nothing surprising about common names. When our children were born, we thought we were giving them unusual names. My wife and I picked out names we thought had character and were not  used in our family history. Only later did we learn that the names are peppered throughout the extended family; we found generations of the same traditional names going back to 1750, which was as far as we could get in our genealogy.

 

Sometimes the same names even appear in the media.  The Fredericton Daily Gleaner does not compete with the Gleaner out of Kingston, Jamaica.  How many newspapers are there called the Times? Or the Sun? Or the Herald?  The uniqueness of each of the Gleaners comes from their audience, content and location.

 

I am a fan of Marshall McLuhan. I love his idea that we are a global village, and it seems even more so with the Internet.  However, I am also impressed by what Robert McChesney has written: his message in Rich Media, Poor Democracy is unambiguous.  (McChesney also points out the inherent symbiosis that exists within the world of sports and the media. However, that is a whole PhD thesis, isn’t it?)

 

Where I live in eastern Canada, it is snowing right now. In fact, we are supposed to get about 25 centimetres of snow today.  If you don’t use the metric system, that is about 10 inches of snow. Frequently on the weather channels, the announcers tell us that each snow flake is unique. Still, when these are added up, we end up with a huge blanket that covers everything. And isn’t that a fitting metaphor for the Internet?

 

I wanted to be unique, and in my way, I know I am. I work hard, for example, not to wear name-brand clothing, or at least name brands that are emblazoned on the front pocket or the back. Still, I add to the immenseness of good things – insightful, entertaining and enlightening about the mass media.

 

My searches have already been enlightening. Am I going to change my name or my blog’s name, to be even more unique?

 

Nah.

 

Mike Gange teaches about the media at Fredericton High. He frequently presents at conferences on media literacy.