Suw Charman unleashed

Catching up on some friend's blogs today, which lead me to watching the brilliant video of the always sharp and delightful Suw Charman launching an attack on the WeMedia conference, organised by The Media Center, the BBC and Reuters. Her complaints against the conference are indicative of where mainstream media often falls down in their appreciation of blogging and podcasting. As Suw says, her rant is a "call to arms".

I love her action points for mainstream media:

#1. Pull your heads out of your arses.
#2. Listen to people.
#3. Listen some more.

It cracks me up everytime I hear someone from MSM talk with this tone of gentrified superiority about what they do versus what bloggers and podcasters do. Keep telling yourselves that folks. Keep telling yourselves that. It reminds me of nobles of Europe sneering at the will of the people in the late 18th century just before they were all toppled and guillotined.

Watch the video.
Read Suw's explanation of WeMedia and what went wrong.

Comments

[Rob Irwin]

But of course you're going to think that, Cam. I mean, what else *can* you think? It would be very odd if you were to take a naturally subserviant attitude towards MSM.

But... does it make you automatically right? There's the question that needs the closest examination.

[Cameron Reilly]

Am I automatically right? No. Am I right? Yes.

[Rob Irwin]

I think a fairer way to look at it is to acknowledge that, yeah, there are some great bloggers and there are some great podcasters out there. No argument from me.

But there are also some pretty damn woeful ones, too.

See, the beauty, and the curse, of citizen media is giving everyone a voice which, unfortunately, seems to give some people the misguided idea that they're actually good at what they do when they're really pretty crap.

It also points to why they aren't working within the real media in the first place.

So to recap, in some cases, I will back you to the hilt that there are folk that have emerged through the citizen media who are really quite talented. But there are plenty more who aren't.

This is why blogs and podcasts from amateurs will never surpass MSM, particular as MSM continues to move towards blogs and podcasts itself and starts to deliver the best of both worlds -- professional journalism and resources married to the new technologies. Amateurs can never compete with that, fullstop.

[Cameron Reilly]

I swear to god Rob, sometimes I can't tell if you're baiting me... or just plain don't get it. For now, I'm going to continue to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the former.

"Woeful" is subjective, as is "talented". They both only matter if the objective is to appeal to a large audience. And it isn't. The objective is to provide variety and substance, something old media lacks in spades. Amatuers don't need to compete with professional journalism. We're going to SWAMP professional journalism until it can't breathe.

[Rob Irwin]

Cam, it's neither baiting, nor "not getting it". It's actually a third thing -- my honest-to-god opinion.

I don't understand your point at all. Are you saying that if you only have an audience of 10 people, it doesn't matter if you're woeful or, looked another way, it's impossible to be woeful with a small audience? I don't read you.

I think "woeful" and "talented" ARE subjective words, but they aren't linked to the size of your audience.

That's why I can listen to a podcaster with 10 listeners and think, "Hey, this guy sounds pretty professional! Kudos!" and then listen to someone with 20 listeners and think, "Jesus Christ, this guy can barely get a sentence out without several um's and ah's, and doesn't seem to know what he's on about."

The point I really want to make is that the MSM has a certain level of professionalism, which it will never, ever dip below. Further, a professional journalist is also going to be across things like defamation law and other essentials for publishing. Your average amateur doesn't have to be at that level of quality, professionalism *or* media knowledge.

And you know what? It's going to bite the arse of more bloggers and podcasters than you can count, particularly as the two mediums are becoming more and more mainstream everyday, and are going to be increasingly compared stylistically, ethically and just about every other way you can think of, to the MSM.

And, like I said, a professionally trained journo, who knows all this stuff like the back if his/her hand is going to shit all over an amateur.

You should poll your podcasters. How many of them are up on defo laws, for starters? And I don't mean having a vague idea what defo is about -- I mean, REALLY understanding it? And does that include the recent round of ammendments to the law, etc?

There is so much that the MSM does in the background that you probably don't even think of when you compare the two...