Don’t Cry for Me, Garrison Keillor
Published May 25th, 2010 | 
Humorist/Media Personality, Garrison Keillor, has a piece in The Baltimore Sun, that demands a response. See, ole Garrison has joined a long list of big name writers, who’s finally realized that new media isn’t some joke or some fad that’s going to disappear — he’s realized that the old media publishing world that brought him to fame is on the verge of extinction and he doesn’t like it.
He’s as entitled as the next guy to his opinion, I suppose. I just wish he could add something new to the discussion. The old media good/new media bad argument doesn’t really hold that much weight, really. Yes, there’s a lot of self-published material out there that is of very low quality. Sure. But how does that negate the reality that there’s some good stuff that comes self-published. And what about blogging? The blogosphere is made up almost entirely of the self-published? You guys reading this blog, you think all blogs are bad just because the blog writer hasn’t been anointed by the New York Times or HarperCollins? Also, am I missing something, Garrison Keillor? Since when did texting and tweeting, or making wall posts on Facebook count as writing? Since when is my niece, who sends hundreds of texts every day a writer because she uses this technology? New Media doesn’t really change the writer’s job description. There’s still plenty of room for tortured geniuses — or at least crackpots who think they’re geniuses. And there’s plenty of room for the housewife who blogs about babies and wedding accessories too.
Writing wasn’t invented by your generation of writers, Mr… Keillor, nor was publishing invented by your "old media". Writers will write, will struggle to write, and write some more now and for as long as people exist and have at least a few functioning brain cells. So, you go on and cry for you own damn self and what you think the new media is costing you. Don’t cry for me. I’m okay. I’m going to be just fine. And so will the rest of the writers out there.
Posted in Authors, Current Events, New Media, Old Media, Publishing, Rants, The Last Word, The Writing Life, blogging, newspapers, random thoughtsThe Empire Strikes Back
Published December 9th, 2009 | No, I’m not referring to what is arguably the best film in the long-running Star Wars franchise — I’m referring to yesterday’s announcement that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and several other media heavyweights including Time-Warner, Hearst and Conde Nast would be co-conspirators in launching a digital publishing platform and storefront to sell their digital content.
This announcement comes with both good and bad tidings for consumers of digital content.
The good news here is that it’s a clear sign that big media is finally waking up to the fact that digital publishing isn’t some kind of fad — that it is the future. It’s also good news that these companies clearly recognize that with so many devices coming into the marketplace on which to display this content, its not good business to publish their content to only one device.
The bad news is that this move is obviously the latest attempt by big media to force consumers to pay for digital content. News Corp., for example, has been on the frontlines of the movement to create a pay-for-content Internet.
I’m not against publishers making money, but I am against monopolies. More digital media properties in the hands of a few leads not only to higher prices for consumers, but allows those few companies to control the flow of information and makes it harder for smaller publishers to compete. Up until now, digital media was the last bastion of renegade publishers. Outfits like News Corp. weren’t as heavily invested in digital media in the past. That has changed with big media gobbling up smaller providers and even the large Telecoms jumping the fence to become not only access-providers, but owners and distributors of digital content, the digital universe is getting smaller — less democratic and less friendly. I’m still betting that many consumers still won’t want to pay for most digital content, but if I’m wrong, this could mean the end of the digital revolution as we know it and the beginning of a digital publishing hegemony that rivals the level of control big media has had over print publishing for decades.
*This post is brought to you byMinka Aire
Posted in Books, Current Events, Magazines, New Media, Old Media, Publishing, ebooks, ezines, newspapersHere We Go Again
Published September 13th, 2009 | According to a recent article on BetaNews, Google wants to follow Journalism Online in offering a micropayment solution to news providers. While I’ll stand on my previous comments on this subject, I’m thinking Google will have more success with this than JO (although, seeing as how JO isn’t expected to be fully operational until next year, the jury’s still out on how successful they’ll actually be) — just a feeling. Google has been working acquiring what is essentially a monopoly on the flow of information on the Web for nearly a decade now. Given that for most of us, Google is THE gateway to the Internet and already a key distributor of news content, they’ve already got a leg-up on JO and others who want a piece of this pie.
