a state of the media address

In case you are not aware print media is feeling the crunch big time right now and it is directly affecting us in the photography world. Budgets are shrinking and generally less work is available.

Full on rant about the media after the jump.


I just read an article on cnn's website about e-ink and e-readers. I've been telling people about this for at least a year now. The entire magazine industry is folding it seems. Print media and the people who run major publications have had a hell of a time trying to figure out how to take advantage of the net. Now, I would much prefer to look and read a magazine any day. But lets say I have an e-reader and I can pay a small monthly fee (the fee must be small because there is so much available for free on the net) and download every Conde Nast publication or say any magazine or newspaper I want. Now that is pretty f'ing cool. I'd sacrifice the luxury of paper and printed material to be able to scan through anything I want. Would you? I agree wholeheartedly that having coffee and reading the newspaper (do people still read newspapers) is a wonderful combo. But things change and they can no longer support the insane overhead of printing and delivery. Several prominent papers have already, or will fold within the year. Magazines are dropping off like flies. Fact is, print media is on it's last leg. So if the e-reader is the solution then bring it on. We as a society need newspapers no matter how much bullsh*t they feed us.

My friend Rich (writer for a weekly paper in New Orleans) and I were talking about the state of the media the other day. The public needs news and information from reputable sources. Sources that have a code of ethics under which they operate. Now, of course, that statement is not lost on me. I do understand that the 'media' is a profit based mechanism. So, sure, they might not concentrate on the important issues or offer the most in depth stories because... well they have ad space to worry about. The idea of a code of ethics may be an oxymoron but, I digress. Back to Rich, he told me that in print his articles are 800 words but on the net the same article expands to 2000. Wow.

With myself more involved in the production of visual content I am excited about what is in store. It's just such a shame that the media hasn't stepped up to the challenge. Take for example Rich's 2000 word story on the web. Why not also publish along with it 3-4 BIG photographs? Or a multimedia piece with it? Big media doesn't understand our visual society and they sure as hell don't understand people who have, and are growing up with the internet. That's why. So instead Rich's 2000 word article has the same photograph as the 800 printed article. Oh, and it's tiny... like 300 pixel tiny... hm.

I told Rich, "If only someone would give you and I $60,000 dollars to produce news content over the web about New Orleans for a year. We could really make a difference." It wouldn't be your run of the mill site. Small pictures, fluff articles. We wouldn't have to hold our punches back because of some silly corporate structure. Big pictures, multimedia works involving photos video and audio. Stories that matter, stories that delve into the real reasons as to why our Mayor is such a manipulative... expletive. It would be powerful. Why? Because we understand the net and how to utilize it. We aren't some crusty old farts perched high above the rest of society. I would imagine that after that year, Rich and I would be able to sell advertising on our site and generate a profit.

That's the question though. How much profit can be generated from the internet advertising? I hear the same thing all the time. "Um, well, internet advertising rates are really low and it doesn't generate that much money." Yet!! (Of, course this is all barring this financial crisis we are in). It will generate huge profits in the future!!! Trust me. Internet advertising is a very direct form of advertising because of all the little spyware and other evil things we have in our computers. It isn't the shotgun blast that print advertising is. As soon as the advertising world and the print media understand this they will be able to utilize it much more effectively. And, of course, as soon as the print media dies advertisers will need a place to coax people into being consumer whores. When print media dies internet advertising revenue will grow infinitely!

Finally, I will give one last example. Well over a year ago I went into a local publication that focuses on the Music scene here. I offered a plan to editor. It was a complete restructuring of their website. The idea was to make it more user friendly, more in depth, more interactive, and utilize the web to reach a broader audience. It was an advertising based structure that would use it's own advertising to generate content for the site. A self sufficient model. The first thing the editor said was, "If I sell advertising over the net then what will happen to my print advertising?" Really that was a rhetorical question and was uttered with such contempt from the editor that I nearly walked out. I was then told that I had no idea on how the whole thing worked and besides, they already spent 3g's updating their site two years earlier. Well, I really was just trying to help this editor out. I was trying to show the editor how the publication could use the web to their advantage but it was lost. Apparently, now they are looking to re-tool their website. Probably because in this economic climate they are having a hard time convincing people to pay $1500 for an ad. I wish them luck, but I doubt they'll get it right.

I've decided to go it alone. So far I've convinced a major radio station down here and a sundance accepted filmmaker of the possibilities of such a website. It's an entirely different take on an old business model. And everyone is incredibly excited about being a part of it.

This whole shift in print media is a matter of adaption and ingenuity. Something that most of the CEO's of this world have a hard time with. This, proven by the pathetic and terrible mistakes within the music and movie industry and their battles with the net.

Change is inevitable.