TresSugar

MTV News: Top 5 Cultural Milestones for Class '09

TresSugar — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:30:00 -0700

MTV News came up with what it considers the top five cultural milestones for the last graduating class of the decade.
Here's what they came up with:
5. Gay marriage
4. Twitter
3. Twilight
2. Lady Gaga
1. President Obama

Here's how one irate recent graduate responded to the list:

Just omit the middle three and pretend like nothing happened. Just, go five to one. I'm PART of this generation and I am amazed at the choices. But maybe it's because I graduated a whole entire year ahead of them that I realized how stupid my generation is. I mean, I do not even think we would notice if the list went from five to one. We'd just clap our hands and move on to the next shiny, unimportant thing, all the while ignorant to anything beside auto-tuning and Robert Pattinson.

Whether you've just graduated or are old enough to be the parent of an '09 graduate, what do you think about MTV's list and/or this commenter's assessment of the so-called Millennials or Generation Y?

TV Interventions: Eye-Opening Truth or Blinding Exploitation?

TresSugar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:00:00 -0700

Celebrity DJ Adam Goldstein (aka DJ AM) has teamed up with MTV to launch a new show tentatively titled Gone Too Far. The reality show will capture tough-love interventions for young people addicted to drugs.

You might be wondering what DJing has to do with kicking addictions. He may spin songs for party animals, but DJ AM is not one himself. He admits to a tumultuous upbringing and a struggle with hard drugs. After getting serious about recovery, with the help of friends, he has been sober for over a decade now.

DJ AM's new show sounds like A&E's Intervention, one of my favorites. While it's often hard to watch, I'm fascinated by the damage caused by addiction, and more importantly the subject's ability to confront it. I appreciate that the show almost always tells a full story - we see an addict before, during, and after the intervention.

How do you feel about these types of shows?

Source

Briefing Book! Barack's Friends Let Him Down in The District

LibertySugar — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0800

The District: The District will actually air on MTV. Check out episode two. - Pop Vox
Republicans: A Republican PAC has put GOP lawmakers on notice. It will campaign against those who support the stimulus next primary season. - Huffington Post
White House: A happy hump day in DC. Obama plans regular Wednesday night happy hours. - Politico
New York: Find out how much it really costs to live in the Big Apple. - SavvySugar

Diplomacy 2.0? State Department Turns to Online Groups

LibertySugar — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:30:06 -0800

What do Google, MTV, Facebook, Howcast, and the US State Department all have in common? They're joining forces to fight terrorism, political oppression, and crime. Inspired by a Colombian Facebook movement against FARC rebels, the US government wants to take advantage of online youth groups that promote stability, human rights, and democracy.

In early December, organizations fighting oppression and violence in places like Burma, Egypt, Uganda, Darfur, India, South Africa, Britain, South Africa, and Turkey will meet in New York City to get the Alliance of Youth Movements up and running. The US State Department has donated $50,000 to sponsor delegate travel. Observers from Iraq and Afghanistan will attend, and participants from Cuba will participate remotely.

While they're taking a break from discussing how to build online youth movements, they'll listen to guest speakers, including Whoopi Goldberg. MTV and Howcast will stream the event live. Are you happy to see the US State Department support international movements, started in the private sector, that favor US policy?

Source

Barack Obama First Candidate to Buy MTV Ad Time

LibertySugar — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:45:00 -0700

For the first time MTV's networks have decided to accept political advertising, and Barack Obama has taken them up on the offer, buying ad time on Comedy Central, VH1, and Spike. While Obama has many fans among musicians and celebrities featured on MTV's networks, he also has won over consumers of that culture. According to a recent USA Today/MTV poll, Obama has a 2-1 lead among 18-29 year-olds.

Obama didn't get the first shot of the campaign season, as the first national political ad to ever air on MTV came in July from a conservative group, attacking Barack as a flip-flopper. Even so he had the advantage in the MTV demographic, and the ads could help solidify the crucial steps of voter registration and turnout among young voters.

MTV: Destroying the Rain Forest in Reality?

LibertySugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:00:26 -0700

MTV may be on a "Green Crusade" but for one piece of Panama's rain forest, actions speak louder than words. After filming the latest Road Rules/Real World Challenge, MTV took trashy TV to a new level, turning part of a rain forest into a garbage dump.

MTV's green offenses include: clearing a large section of rain forest for the set, trashing a pristine beach, disturbing an off-limits bird sanctuary island, and leaving behind large amounts of trash and debris.

While one part of MTV pushes the importance of environmentalism, the network sends a different message on and off screen. Shows like My Super Sweet Sixteen, which glamorize big cars and excesses in contradiction to a green lifestyle, add to the somewhat hypocritical approach also demonstrated by the rain forest damage.

If MTV can't clean up its own mess, how will it motivate others to take care of the Earth, too?

Source

Veterans to Steer MTV's Choose or Lose This Election

LibertySugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:00:40 -0700

Using a different lens for its Choose or Lose programming this year, MTV will cover the election through the eyes of Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In that spirit, last night Choose or Lose and Kanye West teamed up for the special Homecoming. Kanye surprised three Americans (out of the 1.6 million) who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Kanye and Sway Calloway from MTV News listen to the vets discuss concerns like post-traumatic stress disorder and offered them opportunities like internships or debt repayment. The piece is an interesting bookend to HBO's documentary The Recruiter, which also aired last night but introduced us to would-be-vets just signing up and undergoing basic training.

According to an MTV survey, 80 percent of respondents 18 to 29 are closely following the election, which is double the number in 2004. The network has identified the wars in the Middle East as a crucial issue to these young voters, and thus its viewers. Do you agree?

Source

MTV's The Paper: All the Drama That's Fit to Air

GiggleSugar — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:00:00 -0700

The Paper is one of the new shows in MTV's teenybopper reality show lineup. I initially thought the program would serve as an enticing way to get young peeps enthused about a nonathletic, extracurricular activity - one that promotes civic awareness, community involvement, and writing proficiency. I should have known better. The show mainly focuses on the quirkiness of the paper's editor in chief and how nearly everyone under her can't stand her, constantly undermine her, and want to overthrow her. The value of teamwork? Oh, that's been edited out, natch.

Jack Nicholson Loves to Be Behind a Woman

LibertySugar — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:00:30 -0800

Following the release of his video Clinton endorsement/character montage, Jack Nicholson did an interview with MTV News.

Here are some of the highlights:

His favorite Hillary Clinton Policy?

"One of the things I heard in Hillary's campaign is she intends to put it all on the Internet and make it a completely transparent government."

Jack's opinion on the talking heads?

" It's disturbing to me how gleeful they [the media] are at her imagined demise."

On the experience question?

"'I'm a person who understands what experience, which is often a euphemism for connections, can mean in the big old world. She's been there. I was raised by women. I know how tough they are when the tough gets going."

What does Jack make of Obama's inspirational qualities and superdelegates? - read more.

"I love the inspiration of Senator Obama, but we have a representative republic for this very reason. In the original democracy in [ancient Greece], everybody voted and that was it. They realized they didn't want the hot song of the week to take over the country. The same is true of these superdelegates. These superdelegates are there to make democracy more thoughtful. You can't just discount super-delegates for one reason or another. These are the rules of the Democratic Party."

Source

Sweet Sixteen Meltdown

GiggleSugar — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:00:00 -0800

MTV's Sweet Sixteen really knows how to pick 'em. The birthday girl in this episode (identified by the crown on her head, natch) is given a brand new Lexus for turning 15. There's just one problem: it's not the day, time, and exact second of her birthday and she's not in the mood to accept premature gifts right now. So she does what any respectable spoiled brat would do: stomps, screams, cries, cusses, and ultimately calls off the party. You understand.