The Changing Face of Media
The original Kelly Picks a Fight has proven itself to be a worthy piece. Not only did it spin off a weekly series, but the subject of said piece is at it again. Paul Colichman has made further strides toward becoming the Rupert Murdoch of gay media. His trifecta himpire now consists of Here Media, Regent Entertainment and now, with his purchase last week, Planet Out.
The problem with his strategy, as outlined in Valley Wag, is this: “The media itself is gayer than ever: From the pink mafia at the New York Times to the ambisexual likes of Neal Boulton, it's hard to think of the LGBT community as underrepresented in the mainstream. At the same time, as gays move out to the suburbs and raise kids, it gets harder for them to relate to the urban obsessions of the gay press.” (And he didn't even mention Rachel Maddow's global take-over.)
Not only that, but the media delivery system is also changing at an incredibly swift pace. The Tribune Company (owner of L.A. Times and Chicago Tribune) has filed for bankruptcy; the long-standing (100 years) news stalwart Christian Science Monitor is the first to shift from daily print editions to web-only content; magazines/websites such as Mother Jones are forced to beg for donations (luckily they are non-profit); and the original Wonkette, Ana Marie Cox, had to do a fund-raising drive to pay for her travels in the final days of the campaign after Radar magazine went kerplunk.
People still want and need information, now more than ever. The world is getting smaller and smaller, and minority communities are organically shape-shifting their way into the mainstream. Print editions are costly both in financial and environmental terms and web editions have yet to figure out a good way to monetize themselves in a world where everything on the Internet is assumed to be free. So, what's a media king/queen pin to do in these crazy times we find ourselves in?
Well, it's a fine question and one that Velvetpark ponders, as well. But we have some interesting ideas, so stay tuned and we'll fill you in soon.
Comments [13]
Thank you Tex, for a lovely
Thank you Tex, for a lovely start to my day.
Emerson - Essays: First and
Emerson - Essays: First and Second Series
"Love"
....Thus are we put in training for a love which knows not sex, nor person, nor partiality, but which seeks virtue and wisdom everywhere, to the end of increasing virtue and wisdom. We are by nature observers, and thereby learners. That is our permanent state. But we are often made to feel that our affections are but tents of a night. Though slowly and with pain, the objects of the affections change, as the objects of thought do. There are moments when the affections rule and absorb the man, and make his happiness dependent on a person or persons. But in health the mind is presently seen again, - its overarching vault, bright with galaxies of immutable lights, and the warm loves and fears that swept over us as clouds, must lose their finite character and blend with God, to attain their own perfection. But we need not fear that we can lose any thing by the progress of the soul. The soul may be trusted to the end. That which is so beautiful and attractive as these relations must be succeeded and supplanted only by what is more beautiful, and so on for ever.
Reading to all,
Tex
@kdhales
*** This should have been
*** This should have been posted at the top of this thread***
Reading,reading,reading. The smell of a book, the feel of a newspaper, the joy of receiving a new magazine in the mail. Nothing can compare to words printed on paper, a rainy afternoon, and a roaring fire in the fireplace.....
Time alone with a good book, that is a luxury I will never give up.....
Turnin' off the computer now,
LBDL
xxoo
Very interesting. From what
Very interesting. From what you are describing, I would say you have a significant challenge in visual tracking. Impossible to tell if this a basic eye muscle problem or other processing deficit without out an eye exam and testing for visual processing. The increase in ability after exposure to the ticker makes sense since it is a great eye trainer.
Question: When you are on this site, it is easier for you to read
a) black words on a white background
b) blue words on a white background
c) black words on a blue background
d) It doesn't seem to make a difference
Rupert Murdoch ? ough people
Rupert Murdoch ? ough
people always wanted and needed info and always will.
however what we do with the info and how we interperate it is a hole other issue.
i think the real issue as always is money.
because no matter what info we are talking about
and no matter what form it has, its about question and demand.
there for those who do not have (enough) money, rely on that what they can get for free.
those who can a fort it?
will get that what is available times change there for do the things that are available to.
personaly i don't worry about the once with money.
i do about the once with out, and i can only hope that those wont be set back or cut off etc. from info.
right now lots of people (and more and more ) use mobile stuff phones / pda's / comps etc. to get info fast and where ever they are.
i don't i am one of those who depend on what others offer for free(or so called free that is ? lol)
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If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Mark Twain or Thomas Jefferson
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think that goes for more then just news papers?
lol
ok enough rambling
Hi Tex ...."nothing can take
Hi Tex
...."nothing can take the place of a good book".... you are talking my language!
Book worm here,
Steph
Interesting. I read roughly
Interesting. I read roughly the speed that I talk, since I actually say the words in my head. And I write the speed I talk..well slower I think. And writing notes...wow. Tis double the time of my talk time.
My eyes go up one line, then down two lines...then backwards...then I have to stop and focus again - and that's with books. With the internet it's actually easier, with the exception of being on it too long and or way too tired. But for the most part, I read much better on a computer - as oppose to books.
And magazine reading is better, depends on their format though - it might have to do with the paper and how it's formated on a page.
My reading speed increased dramatically by reading the tickers constantly right after 9/11. Other then that, my reading level was 4th grade.
I think I know why I break up my paragraphs to be shorter, and it's because if a person doesn't break it up and there's too many lines...long lines....my eyes will go every which way except for the next word to be read.
well Just a quick thought
well
Just a quick thought before I hit the sack. I'm hospitalled out and got to go back first thing in the morning.
If there was a way to some how make a function like podcasting, where you download a podcast ...some for free and others for a simple fee-per-podcast. Literal it would be cost effective to set up a way that people can buy sections of the paper over the internet/phone.
The sections and editorials won't be free, but one can download it for a small price - say $2.00 a week....or 50 cents a section...and you get all the same content in that section that is in print, and maybe some extra.
Could fix it up to download everyday, say in the morning - and it's theirs to keep on file or print up...kind of like iTunes and subscribing.
I know it might be hard, but...if it cuts down on paper and printing and evens out to keep the media running cost wise - i mean the down loads could look exactly like the paper...with the ads in it and all.
I can see people paying for that kind of media.
It is actually a combination
It is actually a combination of physical factors. First, you have the mobility factor. When we read from print we automatically adjust the distance and angle of the copy to maximize or own visual response. We do not do this with a computer which is designed to sit on a flat surface rather than be held in our hands.
This combines with the glare. If you look at research on people who have difficulty with visual figure ground or any other print related field, there is an established link between glare and slowed reading speed accompanied by increased error rate. It also increases visual distraction. People actually look away from a computer screen or projected screen more than they do from a hard copy page, when it is displaying print. It is reversed for drawings and pictures, concrete images rather than abstracts.
Just a bit of dyslexic reading teacher trivia.
With a mobile society comes
With a mobile society comes mobile media.
For the majority of my time, the internet is my link to news, friends, family, blogs, etc. I seldom watch television, and do not subscribe to a newspaper (got to be too much of a hassle to start and stop delivery). I am in constant motion; therefore, my media has to be constantly moving as well - have computer will travel.
I find that the most 'complete' internet news articles and blogs are filled with links for the possibility of more in-depth information and coverage. If a topic interests me, I will research books and magazine articles that are linked and beyond. It's that simple.
I don't really agree with the lowering of intellectual standards for the internet - I don't think written material on the internet is lowered any more than any other written material for the general public. The average reading level among adults in America is 8th - 9th grade. If you want to appeal to the masses, you write on their level. If you want to appeal to a more intellectual mass, then raise your standards - increase the vocabulary. In any type media, as with any successful business, you find out who your patrons are and cater to them.
The television and video generation wants instant gratification in spurts of five to ten minutes. You're not going to hold their attention any longer. Whether we agree with that or not, that's the way it is. They need to be current event savvy - informed - internet media is excellent for their purpose.
All that being said, nothing can take the place of a good book - escaping the heat of summer, curled up by a fire, sitting on a bench in the park, or being read to by a lover.....
Words are sensuous,
Tex
@kdhales
It is an interesting point.
It is an interesting point. I have to proof read documents quite often and I ALWAYS print it out - I find it practically impossible to proof on screen...
Maybe it's an evolutionary thing and we will get more and more used to using screen info.
I still read a paper and subscribe to a couple of magazines - I find I focus more and it's more relaxing.
That's an interesting aspect
That's an interesting aspect of it. Do you think it's because when you have something in hand, that's your sole focus? Whereas if you're at your computer you have other stimuli beckoning for attention?
Won't you be my neighbor? @theKELword
Kelly, as an information
Kelly, as an information consumer my problem with the conversion to web is that I read web publications differently.
When I buy print newspapers and magazines I read them cover to cover. But, when I read the same publications online I know I'm not as thorough.
My knowledge is broader than it was before I relied on the Internet, but it's also a lot shallower. There's more information available to me, but I'm less informed.
Also, the research is pretty clear that it's tougher to read computer copy than it is to read print. As a tech writer, I've been told I need to drop 3 grades on readability when writing for the Web. If I'm reading something I consider important I print it out instead of reading it from the monitor.
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna