There is a song by a somewhat obscure musician that I’ve listened to countless times since I first heard it more than 10 years ago. I often put it on mix cd’s I make for friends.
Listening to this song recently I thought, “This guy has no idea that some chick in Pennsylvania has listened to this song over and over.” I thought he might find it comforting or amusing that someone, me, really appreciates that song.
I realized then, that there is some similarity between folks that communicate in all forms. Musicians know how many records they sell. But they don’t really know how deeply their music is loved or how often it is listened to or shared over the years. Authors don’t know how often their books are passed from friend to friend. Bloggers don’t really know how many people read their content.
Sometimes blogging feels like tossing words out into nothingness. Thinking about indie musicians and how often I appreciate them, made me feel a little less alone in the process of creating something and putting it out there to who knows how many, really.
In fact the changes in the music industry since the eighties; because of the growth of independent record labels, mp3 files, and the internet, mirror what’s happening with journalism and publishing now.
Book and magazine publishers are struggling. Newspapers are thinning staffs and reducing the size of their papers. Television stations are experiencing the same thing. There is talk of eliminating many local TV stations. More people are looking on line for their information.
As with indie music, changes in technology have created an indie media – referred to as new media. New technologies have allowed people to set up websites and blogs and offer information and entertainment. Just as the music industry floundered and constricted, now, traditional media and publishing are floundering.
Journalists get news that the Rocky Mountain News is closing. Courtesy the Rocky Mountain News.
Blogs are trying to step up and fill the gap. While it’s difficult to watch an industry that I’ve devoted my entire working life to change so dramatically, new media, like indie music, offers a lot mainstream media did not. New media offers deep choice and creativity.
Don’t get me wrong. I am devoted to the tried and true ethics of good journalism. I believe newspapers are necessary, particularly on the local level to fill a watchdog role.
That said, blogs are nimble and are willing to take risks. They/We also aren’t trying to please everyone. We have our niches. Stories like the one I did on the farmer moving to Ghana might have been seen as too esoteric for coverage at the newspaper I worked for. In my niche, that has been one of the best read posts.
So I will keep shooting words into the air and hope, that someone out there, digs our blog as much as I dig indie music.
My daughter and me at a concert in the '90's. John Whitehead Photo
3 Comments
As with many things in life, we may never know the places we, our words, our music, our deeds, fill in others lives. I, too, wonder how journalism will evolve or shakeout when the dust settles. Maybe online can be a blend of the traditional and the new. I like the esoteric and the mainstream and appreciate that I can get both as desired. I like facts and I like thoughts.
Thank you for making me think deeper on this. I, for one, appreciate you throwing words out there for me to read. Keep it up. They are sticking here in Boulder, CO
Your post reminds me of the connectivity of it all. I have been watching the way newspapers have been dealing with these shifts in how people get and share information because there are lessons for museums to learn. Since museums have been operating on untenable models for decades, the final nail may be the failure to evolve facing new audiences interacting in different ways. The importance of object is replaced in these new media models, and a higher value is placed on understanding, or “getting it,” along with people you follow or friend. I suppose this isn’t anything we aren’t hearing from all corners these days.
My own blogging is inconsequential to this, but I write for different reasons, mostly just to keep communicating and to make myself laugh. I am my own favorite writer. But all that silliness aside, rumblings are that blogging is over already. People tell me they’re bored with Facebook. Myspace is already a Route 66 kind of place. Twitter can’t be far behind. Whatever is next, the world will continue to need people who are good with the words and the pictures and the things and putting them together. So at least I think we’ll always have something to do.
Reno! You are the kindest. Thanks so much. Yes, you never know what’s just around the bend. xo!
Rusty! You’re always the thoughtful one. I have heard blogging is dead as well. But I don’t foresee people giving up the internet as a source of information. It will be interesting to see what happens if the access to on line info ever bears a cost. And as familiar as we are with social media, there are many people who still find it new and unfamiliar. I had to explain what a blog is to a horticulturalist (our age) I met at the Garden Writers event in Raleigh.
I am also enjoying the sense of community I find on line. It’s like walking down a street and stopping to chat with neighbors. And I find everyone crazy supportive. Hoping the community simply morphs, as it must, rather than disappearing.
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