"A magician is an actor impersonating a magician." Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin

"The scientific approach to the phenomenon of human nature enables us to be ignorant without being frightened, and without, therefore, having to invent all sorts of weird theories to explain away our gaps in knowledge." D.W. Winnicott

"What is true, what is false, what is, finally, important? It is not a sign of ignorance not to know the answers. But there is great merit in facing the questions." David Mamet

Today's image: Dennis and Edward by Thomas Hawk. Very cool shot. Thanks for sharing.

Bravos to Les Moonves and David Field. Both have demonstrated courage in doing the right thing with their radio businesses.

In pursuit of his strategy to lighten the concentration of ad-supported assets in the CBS portfolio, Les is selling his radio concern. Giving more resources to radio became counter-intuitive. My sense is an acquisition like Lions Gate seems a better resources fit chasing Les' strategy.

David's portfolio is radio. His strategy of opportunistically growing Entercom and the reach of his local platforms makes the purchase of CBS Radio a savvy move.

All legacy media is now fraught with peril. Accordingly, remaining in the radio game demands an uncommon focus, tenacity and agility. David and team are the radio geeks needed to succeed in that game. They'll also be advantaged by some valuable proprietary intangibles as the CBS Radio properties join the fold. Stay tuned.

New must-read: Sara Fischer's Media Trends newsletter via Axios. Also, follow Sara on the Twitter 

Reading: One Mission. How leaders build a team of teams. By Fussell & Goodyear. Amazon info

Watching: The Defiant Ones via HBO. The docu-series about Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. More

Congrats & Cheers: David Field to Receive NAB's National Radio Award. More

"While the right to talk may be the beginning of freedom, the necessity of listening is what makes the right important." Walter Lippmann

"Silence is an answer to a wise man." Euripides

"The attempt and not the deed confounds us." Shakespeare

Today's image: Peaceful Reflections by ballycroy. Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

Fine line drawn by Dave Winer..."FriendFeed is to Twitter as WordPress is to Blogger" [via Twitter]

Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com CEO: "The dead-end suggestion box and the auto-reply are symbols of corporate indifference and are no longer tolerated." Jeff Jarvis shares that remark and goes on to write "But the real question for companies and institutions is how willing they are to let their constituents into the process of doing their jobs. Can customers help design products? Can citizens write legislation? Can readers suggest stories newspapers should cover? Your constituents are already talking about you and joining a conversation with them is a fine first step. But are you willing to let them sit at the next desk to work with you? Will you be that open?" Read Jeff's entire article via The Guardian here. Kudos, Jeff. Jeff is also blogging on the FCC here.

Getting Schooled: Bravos to Entercom. They're creating truly unique experiences for aspiring musicians and music fans - encounters with their favorite artists. They've signed retailer Guitar Center as sponsor. They've created web assets to support the initiative [Get Schooled with Guitar Center], listeners qualify to participate via radio station websites. A very cool concept and well done. Creating memorable experiences, real dream come true moments, is powerful magic. My suggestion is this may represent an excellent opportunity for MasterCard sponsorship, what Entercom is creating are moments that one can not purchase, they are indeed "priceless." My thanks to Emily DiTomo for the tip.

Culture of the tribe: Jay Rosen has written an important piece on the brave new world of semi-pro journalism [Open Systems, Closed Systems and Trauma in the Press].

Can you hear me now? Might want to check your website as a listener or viewer would in attempting to contact you. Broadcast site after broadcast site feature Contact Us pages filled with email addresses, however, very few provide the primary telephone number. Getting in touch with station based colleagues and not having their direct dials often means visiting their website. More often than not one finds numbers for the studio, the newsroom, the sales department but no mention of the main number. Thinking my best bet is the sales dept I often call that number, usually get voicemail and typically become captive to the automated attendant. Provide the main number, answer your phone. My sense is there's competitive advantage here as no one is doing this.

Congrats & cheers: Patrick Goldstein adding a blog, The Big Picture, to his weekly LA Times column on media, entertainment and pop culture. Bonneville, Chicago on their trend, two stations in the top ten, 25-54 (WTMX & WDRV). CBS' Norm Winer on again posting a top ten money demo showing for WXRT.