20170813

SHELLEY HACK

To establish democracy through media such as televised political debates in war-torn countries such as the former Yugoslavia, the Shelley Hack Media Consultancy (SHMC) firm was set up in 1997. Speaking to Mark Voger of the New Jersey website (NJ.com) in 2010, Shelley explained, "I traveled all over the world. It was not a cause; it was a business, but a very satisfactory business. It's pretty hard, if you've never been a democracy before. It's learned and earned. When I did the first televised debate in Bosnia, the candidates looked at me, like, 'Why should we debate?' It's a huge, huge thing to do in a post-war country. But if you move forward and enable people, people get it." 

In 1992 war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina when the Bosnia's Serbs, comprised 70% of the country, boycotted a referendum which saw the Bosnia's Muslims and Croats voted for independence and which the European Union recognized. Radovan Karadzic campaigned for a Serb Republic laid siege to the capital Sarajevo in what became known in history as the Siege of Sarajevo. 

On November 21, 1995 (the day after the Diana's interview on 'Panorama'), 'Reuters' reported Bosnian Muslim President Alija Izetbegovic, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic agreed to a U.S.-brokered peace deal in Dayton, Ohio which became known in history as the 1995 Dayton accords. The Dayton accords aimed to unite a still bitterly divided society. 

In the 'Panorama' interview, Diana told the BBC, "I understand that change is frightening for people, especially if there's nothing to go to. It's best to stay where you are. I understand that. But I do think that there are a few things that could change." Diana also recognized, "I've been in a privileged position for 15 years. I've got tremendous knowledge about people and how to communicate. I'd like to be an ambassador for this country. I'd like to represent this country abroad.

"I think the biggest disease this world suffers from in this day and age is the disease of people feeling unloved, and I know that I can give love … I think the British people need someone in public life to give affection, to make them feel important, to support them, to give them light in their dark tunnels. I see it as a possibly unique role, and yes, I've had difficulties, as everybody has witnessed over the years, but let's now use the knowledge I've gathered to help other people in distress." 

By 2000, 'The New York Times' informed, "In a nation (Bosnia) that now (in 2000) has 3 parliaments, 3 postal systems, 2 armies and more than 80 local television stations, the diplomats intend to use the station to create a unified national evening news program that will inform Muslims, Serbs and Croats." Austrian diplomat Wolfgang Petritsch told Alessandra Stanley, "It was television and radio propaganda that led Yugoslavia into the war, and quite cynically, I want to use media propaganda to build a democratic, multiethnic Bosnia. I am the final authority for the interpretation of Dayton, so what I say is the law, so to speak." 

'The New York Times' continued, "After an initial infusion of about 14.5 million euros - about $12.75 million at current exchange rates - in Western funds over 2 years, it (the Public Broadcasting System, Bosnia's first nationwide public television network) is expected to sustain itself on viewer fees without foreign or state subsidies. He has a new media team, with scores of Western advisers hired to reorganize Bosnia's television system, among them Shelley Hack, a former television actress ('Charlie's Angels') who has worked as a media consultant for American and European diplomats and is now helping Mr. Petritsch mold his Public Broadcasting System." 

In Sarajevo, lawyer Radovan Vignjevic stated at the time, "We need a unified institution we can trust. We cannot go on having 3 different interpretations of the same news event." Rade Budalic worked at the Bosnian Croat station cautioned, "Sports is easy. It's a celebration of individual achievement. Politics is essentially about loss." 'The New York Times' also advised, "The plan is the West's boldest effort yet to depoliticize television news and blur the differences among 3 ethnic communities."

In 1973, Shelley Hack caused a sensation when she appeared in a series of commercials for the Charlie perfume. "Within, like, 2 weeks," Shelley told NJ.com, Charlie became the best-selling fragrance in the United States. "I guess I had the right look for the time. It was a signature product for the time. They (Revlon) found out (Charlie's popularity) that, for one thing, it was the time.

"This was the beginning of women starting to become more independent. In the commercial, I pull up in a car and very confidently walk into a restaurant by myself. In those days, women didn't walk into restaurants by themselves. So the response was, 'This woman looks so confident. If she can do it, I can do it.' It hit the time exactly right. The other thing was that I was attractive, but not so attractive that girls would hate me. And also not so attractive that guys wouldn't think I was approachable. That had a lot to do with it. So it was playing on the subconscious, playing on women's independence and liberation, if you want to use that word."

In the 1979-1980 TV season, Shelley Hack joined the cast of 'Charlie's Angels', the series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg for ABC TV. The 110 episodes were originally shown between 1976 and 1981. The 'Chicago Tribune' reported in 1979, "The ratings, perhaps more than any other single indicator, clearly demonstrate that television is much more than show business. It is also big business, designed to sell viewers to advertisers, with ratings as the principal gauge of success or failure.

"In 1977, advertisers spent $7.6 billion on TV advertising, paying a higher rate to expose their products on the better-rated programs. While a top-rated show like ABC's 'Charlie's Angels' can command $145,000 for a one-minute commercial, the lower-rated shows competing in the same time slot on CBS and NBC can ask for only about $85,000. Since all regularly scheduled programs cost the networks approximately the same to produce, a higher-rated show simply earns more money for the network.

"So to keep the profit-minded stockholders happy, programming executives aggressively cancel shows that have lured only limited audiences and juggle the schedules of the new and remaining ones to try to find the perfect combination to attract and hold viewers." In the first 4 seasons, ABC scheduled 'Charlie's Angels' on Wednesday nights. The show's season average  households ratings were: 1977 - 25.8%; 1978 (Cheryl Ladd debut) - 24.4%; 1979 (Kate Jackson's last season) - 24.4% and 1980 - 20.9%. In 1980-1981, ABC moved 'Charlie's Angels' to the weekends. The show finished the season ranked the 59th most watched program on television.

David Poltrack of CBS made the point in 1995, "Movies need promotion. When your ratings go down, your promotional opportunities go down. It's an exponential kind of thing. Without the football, we really had no promotional capability with men." It was understood the networks sold commercial time based on demographics - among adults 18 to 49, women 18 to 49, men 18 to 49, adults 18 to 34 and adults 25 to 54. 

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