L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 26 L'Italo-Americano A s a journalist, Ken Auletta is about as provocative as they come. For the past 26 years , he has written the Annals of Communi- cations column for The New Yorker and is the author of 12 books, including five bestsellers. The prestigious Columbia Jour- nalism Review called him Amer- ica's premier media critic, noting that "No other reporter has cov- ered the new communications revolution as thoroughly as has Auletta." Auletta was among the first to popularize the term "information highway" in his 1993 profile of Barry Diller, who helped create F ox Broadcas ting. H is 11 th book, Googled: The End of the World as We Know It, quickly became a bes ts eller after its release in 2009. Auletta's latest book, Frene- mies: The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (and Everything Else), takes a look at the $2 tril- lion advertising industry. In his trademark informative style, Auletta analyzes the ad business from multiple points of view, interviewing industry pillars and exploring issues ranging from invasion of privacy to computer- ized ad-buying that can wreak havoc with government elections at the highest level. A u letta has had a multi- faceted career. Born in 1942 to an Italian American father and a Jewish American mother, he grew up on Coney Is land in Brooklyn, NY, where he attend- ed public schools. He received a BS from the State University College at O s w ego, N Y and earned a master's in political sci- ence from Syracuse University. Early in his career, Auletta taught and trained Peace Corps volunteers, then served as spe- cial assistant to the US Under- s e c r e t a r y o f C o m m e r c e a n d worked on Senator Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 campaign for president. Starting in 1974, he turned his attention to journal- ism, first as the chief political correspondent for the New York Post, then as a weekly columnist for the Village Voice. He has hosted numerous public televi- s i o n p r o g r a m s a n d r e g u l a r l y appeared on Nightline, News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and the Charlie Rose Show. In Seattle recently on a national book tour, Auletta currently lives in Man- hattan. T e l l u s m o r e a b o u t y o u r new book. The book is about the media revolution and change. I took t h a t o l d W a t e r g a t e a d a g e o f "Follow the money" and applied it to advertising, asking: what supports today's media? The RITA CIPALLA W r i t e r Ke n A u l e t t a e x p l o r e s t o d ay 's volatile world of advertising another big issue. Take Ama- zon's Alexa, for example. What d o e s A l e x a h e a r a n d r e c o r d about you? Are people listening to you in your home? Again, do we feel this is a useful service or is it objectionable to us? In your book, you seem to imply that advertising is not a noble pursuit. There are lots of creative advertising types around. But I'm a journalist so I'm not in the business of celebrating people. Personally, what bothers me about advertising is that it can be so manipulative. Remember that famous Coke commercial with the people on the hilltop singing about teaching the world to sing? What did that ad tell you about the product? Nothing. I felt it treated me like a 12- year-old, and I hated it. The same with the Budweiser com- mercials and the Clydesdales. They are just so manipulative. You've had a diverse career path. How did you end up at The New Yorker? First, I thought I'd be a base- ball player, then a diplomat and then I thought I would work on a political campaign. At one point when I was unemployed, I start- ed freelancing. I wound up writ- ing a political column for the Village Voice and longer inves- tigative pieces for New York Magazine. In 1977, William Shawn, the editor of The New Yorker, phoned and asked if I might like to write for his maga- zine. I jumped at the opportuni- ty. answer is advertising, which not only affects most newspapers, television and magazines, but also Facebook and Google. Did you know that 97 percent of Facebook's revenue, and 90 per- cent of Google's, comes from advertising? I began to look closer at the ad business and what is replacing traditional advertising. Where did your research take you? Today, the advertising busi- ness is under assault. Who is the biggest "frenemy"? Us, the public. The public does not want to be interrupted on their phones by an ad flashing on the screen. My mobile phone to me is as personal as my wallet. I don't want an ad to intrude on my per- sonal space. That's why about 20 percent of Americans have some sort of ad-blocker soft- ware. In a similar way, when people record television shows, about 55 percent of them skip all the commercials. So people are turned off by advertising but at the same time, it's an important source of revenue. Where does that leave us? That's what the book explores. How did you go about your research? I started this project about three years ago. About six or seven months in, I started to worry I did not have a strong enough story. But it evolved over time, and I eventually did about 450 interviews. I sat in on marketing meetings and inter- viewed all sorts of people, from CEOs to marketing directors. I chose to tell the story through several key characters, such as Martin Sorrell, the head of WPP, the world's largest ad agency, and Michael Kassan, president of Media Link which consults with companies including Dis- ney, Google and the Wall Street Journal. I also talked with peo- ple like Carolyn Everson, Face- book's head of sales, who is helping to drive some of this change. What are the biggest issues in advertising today? The future of advertising will be its ability to target. If we can provide you with personalized information in a targeted ad that appears on your mobile device, would you consider that a ser- vice or an intrusion on your pri- v a c y ? T h e m o r e y o u t a r g e t advertising, the less privacy you have, and vice versa. It's a see- saw effect. A r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e i s Journalist Ken Auletta is a popular television host and guest, appearing on such shows as Nightline and the Charlie Rose Show.(CBS News) Auletta answered audience questions recently during his presentation in Seattle, part of a national book tour SEATTLE ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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