Posts tagged with 'ideas'
Progressive Ideas Vs. “My Ideas”
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Progressive publishers have brought to light many important issues, including the implosion of the housing market and predictions about the Iraq War before the invasion. Independent media’s greatest value is often helping underserved communities address unmet needs.
The new political environment has shifted the context in which progressive publishers operate. In the Bush era, being in opposition had underpinned the identity and tactics of “progressives.” Despite euphoria regarding Barack Obama’s presidency, the new administration will inevitably have its share of disappointments, keeping the role of watchdog important. However, the political shift also affects how progressive publishers generate value. For example, Jay Harris believed that interest in Mother Jones, a member of The Media Consortium (TMC), might have been strengthened due to readers’ concerns about the Bush administration. Many others in progressive media have expressed a similar belief. A clear enemy can help build funders’ and audiences’ perceived value for editorial content with a strong oppositional viewpoint. In the new political context, publishers may generate more value by promoting progressive values of inclusivity and fairness through politically diverse conversations. As a result, the definition of “progressive” may broaden, and the label itself may become an anachronism.
The new political and media environment has caused progressive media organizations to reevaluate their identity and tactics. At a TMC annual meeting in February 2009, members discussed whether the consortium’s work no longer falls within the traditional label of “progressive.” They debated what notions independent media might need to give up if this were true.
One group believed independent media needed to give up one-dimensional political stances and in favor of more broadly inclusive values such as human rights and global perspectives in storytelling. Another group believed that independent media must go even farther by giving up the need to articulate political stances altogether. They believed publishers should look more pragmatically at what works and what people want to know by focusing more on being a trusted source of quality journalism. Identifying where the greatest value lies will help independent media resolve this debate and move forward more powerfully.
“My Ideas”
Whether content is mainstream or alternative, its value is increasingly determined by how it relates to “my ideas,” a mélange of concepts and interests that an individual has accumulated. The personal expression of my ideas, mixing of other people’s content to fit my ideas, filtering content to reflect my ideas—all are an evolution of what Nicholas Negroponte of MIT’s Media Lab coined, “The Daily Me.”
The proliferation of blogs and user-generated content is already a clichéd example of the demand for personal expressions, but Motoko Rich of the New York Times predicted a more interesting sea change: “The point may soon come when there are more people who want to write books than there are people who want to read them.” To be sure, many forms of media could pass this threshold of a greater demand for expression than consumption, and this dynamic creates opportunities that publishers are beginning to tap as well. For example, Hewlett-Packard’s MagCloud makes it easy for anyone to make his or her own slick print magazines, produced on-demand.
This blog is an excerpt from The Big Thaw, a guide to the evolution of independent media, written by Tony Deifell of Q Media Labs and produced by The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets. Learn how your organization can use this report. For more information and recommendations from the study, click here.
New Sources of Value
What needs can be met, problems solved or desires fulfilled?
In the old paradigm, the content that created the greatest value for mainstream media centered on the most popular and noncontroversial ideas. For independent media, the value stemmed from alternative ideas. Today, popular and alternative ideas are intertwined. The greatest value comes from how these ideas relate to “my ideas,” a combination of consumers’ growing personal expression, remixing and filtering.
This chapter covers the emerging sources of value that media organizations can capture, including:
- Progressive Ideas and “My Ideas”
- Solving Filter Failure
- A Conversation Economy
- From Audiences to Communities
To read more, download Vol. 2, Chapter 3 of The Big Thaw.
This blog is an excerpt from The Big Thaw, a guide to the evolution of independent media, written by Tony Deifell of Q Media Labs and produced by The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets. Learn how your organization can use this report. For more information and recommendations from the study, click here.