Tipping the Media Scales

by on 30 January, 2007 - 14:55

By: David Armano

A funny thing happened on the way to the World Economic Forum.  OK, actually it didn’t happen until the end.

(click to enlarge)

The Assistant Managing Editor of BusinessWeek’s innovation coverage became friends with a couple of bloggers.  From Nussbaum On Design:

“The soiree was swell I have now gone over to the dark side--to bloggers in the battle with MainStream Media. Of course, not all MSM folks refuse to get the idea of community, collaboration and conversation. My own boss at BW totally gets it. But there were so many at Davos who didn't.

I chatted up Jeff J. and Ariana H. and Jimmy W. (wikipedia) this trip out and found myself in alignment with them, more so than old pals at newspapers and magazines.”

Why is this significant?  It’s significant because it may capture a key theme we could be seeing more of in the near future.  Bloggers have become respectable.  Well, not all bloggers to be fair.  And while some think that Social Media and Mainstream Media have blurred all together—I think the relationship illustrated in Bruce’s post shows both division and alignment, if not a relationship—a relationship that appears to be turning into—gasp...

mutual respect.

OK, I’m taking some liberties with this post.  I’m editorializing you could say.  Of course I am.  That’s because I’m not a reporter.  I don’t have to be objective.  You don't come here for objectivity right?  You want to hear opinions—another distinction between the MSM and Social Media content generators (though let’s be honest—we all have opinions which can seep into what we do).  Here’s another interesting tidbit from Nussbaum’s recent post:

“Something important is happening and we have to be part of it and evolve with it. So Jeff and Ariana, let's get more user generated content on our blogs and deepen our conversation with our own communities.”

One could argue that the last bit seems almost cliché.  “Conversation”—and “community” are fast becoming near-buzzwords in this space.  But consider the source—a veteran journalist reaching out to those who sit on the other side of the “Media Scale”.  In short, we may not be moving along as quickly as the hype suggests (see Second Life), but personal publishing (AKA, blogging) and the broader Social Media movement just might be gaining credibility.  I’ll end on a thought I brought up during my “Blog’s Eye View” presentations:

Original Post: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/01/tipping_the_med.html