Posts by giovanni tiso

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  • Hard News: Rough times in the trade, in reply to nzlemming,

    Since Giovanni doesn't seem to get my point, the evolution would be if those writers had to market themselves, instead of being oversold by publishers whose motive is to move product rather than add to meaningful discourse, we might hear less from them and more from other diverse and,dare one say, more deserving voices, though that is completely subjective.

    This is a statement in search not so much of an argument as of basic logic.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: Rough times in the trade, in reply to nzlemming,

    Put something concrete on the table for how to adapt to it or deal with it.

    I'd hate to use the word bullshit again, but... it's not up to me. Were it up to me, I would aggressively tax the corporations that are benefitting from the traffic of bits and the new economic models for selling content - the Verizons, the Apples, the Googles of this world - and use the money to fund a system of micropayments and reward media organisations that operate in the public interest. I would also urge governments to make the delivery of information outside of the commercial arena a top priority, whichever form that might take (ie not just state-owned radio and television). But it takes the political will of governments and international organisations to even make this conversation possible.

    Needless to say, it's not looking good, which naturally is fulfilling the prophecies both of the evolutionists and the old media Cassandras.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: Rough times in the trade, in reply to Sacha,

    That would be nice. Are any doing it?

    Not really. There are some lone voices here and there, but the general attitude is that laissez faire capitalism is going to take care of this one. Of course there is intense private interest in the discussion being polarised between the untenable defence of the old model and the intellectually bankrupt approach of the evolutionists - it's what ensures that "public interest" never become part of the conversation.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: Rough times in the trade, in reply to nzlemming,

    Exactly.

    Er... what?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: Rough times in the trade, in reply to nzlemming,

    But is it worse? Danielle Steel, Tom Clancy, Dan Brown FFS!

    Is that your argument? Really? Because you know... Nadine Gordimer, Italo Calvino, Toni Morrison.

    (Also, Tom Clancy has had his moments, but we'll let that go.)

    I'm not replacing anything, Gio. It's happening and I'm just reporting on it. I think it's called evolution...

    No, it's called bullshit. It may work on Kevin Kelly and his libertarian friends, but any society that at this juncture in history refuses to engage in a wide-ranging debate on what is to be valued in its cultural artefacts, and how to reward its intellectuals, its journalists and its artists has no business calling itself civilised. There are no excuses.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: Rough times in the trade, in reply to nzlemming,

    You got that bit right ;-)

    Yes, nobody is saying that the system was perfect. No reason in itself to replace it with something exponentially worse.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: Rough times in the trade, in reply to nzlemming,

    **CwF+RtB=TBM – Connect with Fans + Reason to Buy = The Business Model**. It meshes with something Kevin Kelly wrote in 2008 called 1000 True Fans and gives you a way to collect those fans, by connecting with them rather than waiting for them to find your genius ;-)

    Whatever the limitations of copyright and the old publishing models, at least there was a pretence that what was rewarded was craft, skill and innovation, not naked self-promotion. The idea that the most successful writers, musicians, journalists and photographers are going to be the ones with the best online reputation is chilling, to put it mildly. (As is indeed most of what Kevin Kelly writes.)

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: Rough times in the trade, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Must be for America - on that basis we would have only 18 PR people and 5 journos in the whole country.

    You're right, I'm sure we have more than 18 PR people.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: Christchurch: Square Two, in reply to Dave Patrick,

    Why are people still living in Christchurch" needs to turn it round and think about what they'd do in the same situation. You have friends, family, a job, kids in school - you can't just uproot all of that and just go somewhere else.....

    I'd be heartbroken if I had to leave Berhampore, let alone Wellington.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Up Front: Respectably-Dressed Sensible…, in reply to Russell Brown,

    But the one place where there was never any peril – unlike, say, the real world – was within the family itself.

    Or church, one assumes.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

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