These stories all reflect my belief that organizations that provide any sort of artistic or journalistic services should be run by actual artists and journalists- not greedy assholes who view them only as a source of short term profits.
Re: the WaPo... This is the first of the casualties in the "narrative" journalism game. There are too many cause/effects to enumerate here, but suffice to say that no one (except a college grad with an agenda) sees a future in working for one of the dinosaurs. Want to bet your life on CNN being around in five years?
The fatal error in linking a business to progressivism is that, at its heart, progressives are nihilists; their childish narcissism is built around destroying the status quo and rebuilding society in their mirror-image. Unfortunately, that future never seems to arrive; people are getting bored waiting.
Re: Apple...great software/hardware integration has now become a pile of cute gimmicks designed for the TikToc generation. Ever tried actually FINDING great music on Apple Music? Why are basic software kludges never fixed? Why so many security fixes? Will they ever fix Keychain?
I actually cancelled my wapo subscription to subscribe to Ted Gioia and other Substacks i miss nearly nothing and my media diet is way better, more informed and less reactive getting off of the ad based media roller coaster.
Nobody trusts "journalists" anymore. They have repeatedly proven that they will put money and personal bias above objectivity. They have dug their own collective grave and the nation is poorer as a result. I get much more believable reporting from my Substack sources.
I was once a subscriber to The Post after dumping The Times due to their lousy editorial policies and both-sides treatment of issues. Then I dumped The Post for the very same reason. The Guardian seems a bit more reasonable these days.
Hi Ted. Thanks for the insights. What’s your take on the shedding of staff at Bandcamp, what this means for Bandcamp and indie artists as well? I’m curious if a new forum will open that will be more friendly to independent musicians as Bandcamp used to be. P.S.S. Thanks for the recommendation of the Turchin book. I read War, Peace and War.
On social media against writers: free speech does not protect algorithmic manipulation. How is it that no legal framework has been devised to prohibit theft of intellectual property, promotion of violence, and monopolistic abuse of power in the algorithmic space? Laws could mitigate these social ills by setting standards and defining actionable fraud, willful deceit, and anti-competitive practices. Civil and criminal penalties seem possible. It is at least worth debating, I think.
I used to read WaPo articles but gave up for 3 reasons:
1. Their paywall
2. Their heavy handed moderation in their comment sections
3. Their hard left political orientation
I think paywalls are short-sighted for news sources. You want your articles to be open and shared by as many as possible because the vast majority of people are just not going to pay for content. Bringing eyeballs to your work gives you the chance to at least make a extra few pennies on people viewing ads in addition to whatever subscription $$ you can gather. Blocking eyeballs closes off this additional revenue source..
Additionally, for most news sources, what they write is not unique. Most just reformat AP/Reuters/UPI articles, like my small, physically free (but always begging for subscriptions) local newspaper yet they still put up a paywall to block accessing more than 2 paragraphs of online content. Huh? This makes no logical or financial sense. I share pointers to articles regularly with other people but can't/won't do it if the website invokes a paywall. It's also relatively easy to find unpaywalled access to articles from the major news brokers.
Content producers should price their subscriptions using the usual 80/20 rule. Charge enough so that the 20% willing/able to pay for content support the free access of the other 80% with the idea that the other 80% will still help promote your content and perhaps allow you to scalp some additional paying customers over time.
The thing is, no business owned by Jeff Bezos is going to recognize or believe that those who do work to have skills create value. No management team at the Post can pursue a model that is not scalable. Subscriptions are reliant on quality writers, researchers, editors, and analysts. Bezos will never empower creators, or. . . humans.
"And they are actually getting more tyrannical. Twitter now won’t even show headlines for news articles."
In Canada, it is no longer possible to include news links in posts or comments - the cooperative radio station where I do my weekly jazz show (since 1986) has been deemed a news source so I can't link to my show anymore. The war is escalating ...
" But with each passing month, books, vinyl, and disks look like safer, more robust options."
I haven't had any interest in music streaming services, but I'm pretty happy with e-books and lossless music files. I don't see the need to hang on to my CD collection any longer and so I'll be donating them to my local library. I like being able to carry my book/music libraries with me in my 2 TB laptop.
These stories all reflect my belief that organizations that provide any sort of artistic or journalistic services should be run by actual artists and journalists- not greedy assholes who view them only as a source of short term profits.
Re: the WaPo... This is the first of the casualties in the "narrative" journalism game. There are too many cause/effects to enumerate here, but suffice to say that no one (except a college grad with an agenda) sees a future in working for one of the dinosaurs. Want to bet your life on CNN being around in five years?
The fatal error in linking a business to progressivism is that, at its heart, progressives are nihilists; their childish narcissism is built around destroying the status quo and rebuilding society in their mirror-image. Unfortunately, that future never seems to arrive; people are getting bored waiting.
Re: Apple...great software/hardware integration has now become a pile of cute gimmicks designed for the TikToc generation. Ever tried actually FINDING great music on Apple Music? Why are basic software kludges never fixed? Why so many security fixes? Will they ever fix Keychain?
I actually cancelled my wapo subscription to subscribe to Ted Gioia and other Substacks i miss nearly nothing and my media diet is way better, more informed and less reactive getting off of the ad based media roller coaster.
Nobody trusts "journalists" anymore. They have repeatedly proven that they will put money and personal bias above objectivity. They have dug their own collective grave and the nation is poorer as a result. I get much more believable reporting from my Substack sources.
I was once a subscriber to The Post after dumping The Times due to their lousy editorial policies and both-sides treatment of issues. Then I dumped The Post for the very same reason. The Guardian seems a bit more reasonable these days.
Hi Ted. Thanks for the insights. What’s your take on the shedding of staff at Bandcamp, what this means for Bandcamp and indie artists as well? I’m curious if a new forum will open that will be more friendly to independent musicians as Bandcamp used to be. P.S.S. Thanks for the recommendation of the Turchin book. I read War, Peace and War.
On social media against writers: free speech does not protect algorithmic manipulation. How is it that no legal framework has been devised to prohibit theft of intellectual property, promotion of violence, and monopolistic abuse of power in the algorithmic space? Laws could mitigate these social ills by setting standards and defining actionable fraud, willful deceit, and anti-competitive practices. Civil and criminal penalties seem possible. It is at least worth debating, I think.
I used to read WaPo articles but gave up for 3 reasons:
1. Their paywall
2. Their heavy handed moderation in their comment sections
3. Their hard left political orientation
I think paywalls are short-sighted for news sources. You want your articles to be open and shared by as many as possible because the vast majority of people are just not going to pay for content. Bringing eyeballs to your work gives you the chance to at least make a extra few pennies on people viewing ads in addition to whatever subscription $$ you can gather. Blocking eyeballs closes off this additional revenue source..
Additionally, for most news sources, what they write is not unique. Most just reformat AP/Reuters/UPI articles, like my small, physically free (but always begging for subscriptions) local newspaper yet they still put up a paywall to block accessing more than 2 paragraphs of online content. Huh? This makes no logical or financial sense. I share pointers to articles regularly with other people but can't/won't do it if the website invokes a paywall. It's also relatively easy to find unpaywalled access to articles from the major news brokers.
Content producers should price their subscriptions using the usual 80/20 rule. Charge enough so that the 20% willing/able to pay for content support the free access of the other 80% with the idea that the other 80% will still help promote your content and perhaps allow you to scalp some additional paying customers over time.
Ted! With yr great prediction skills, help me bet on the horses!
The thing is, no business owned by Jeff Bezos is going to recognize or believe that those who do work to have skills create value. No management team at the Post can pursue a model that is not scalable. Subscriptions are reliant on quality writers, researchers, editors, and analysts. Bezos will never empower creators, or. . . humans.
Wow. So you’re in a pretty weird space to be you.
Basically, we are beaching ourselves.
Everyone’s hot takes are headline news and journalism. Sprinkle in some bots? Enjoy!
Have to say that the idea of Sweden having a criminal underworld brought me up short.
I had no idea that Facebook had significantly diminished its links to news sites. But then again, I wouldn’t look there for news.
Really curious to know: what, if any, of your predictions have been wrong? (And sometimes predictions that seem wrong turn out right in the long run.)
"And they are actually getting more tyrannical. Twitter now won’t even show headlines for news articles."
In Canada, it is no longer possible to include news links in posts or comments - the cooperative radio station where I do my weekly jazz show (since 1986) has been deemed a news source so I can't link to my show anymore. The war is escalating ...
" But with each passing month, books, vinyl, and disks look like safer, more robust options."
I haven't had any interest in music streaming services, but I'm pretty happy with e-books and lossless music files. I don't see the need to hang on to my CD collection any longer and so I'll be donating them to my local library. I like being able to carry my book/music libraries with me in my 2 TB laptop.