Grassroots and grumbles

Today on MobuzzTV Karina tells of ways in which MSM (main stream media) are beginning to respond to the ways in which the media are changing. When a character in a series refers to weepingwillow17 can the acceptance of vlogs be far off?

For some, however, there will be pain. About a year ago I used to read the blog of a television news cameraman, Lenslinger. His understandable lament was that the craft he had learned over the years is now commanding less and less respect. LostRemote points to his blog post about Yahoo’s launch of “You Witness News,” the portal’s new citizen news video initiative. He writes:

Aesthetics don’t seem to matter much to the millions of viewers watching their neighbors re-enact the forbidden dance on YouTube. Nor will proper camera management mean a lot to the private citizens who will capture the next global calamity from every possible angle. Lastly, proper cinematography won’t be on the minds of news executives who will, if they’re smart, be way too busy shoving these myriad of images on-line, on-air and in your face.

No, the only ones who will balk at the new ‘phonajournalism’ will be self-important schlubs like me, who’ve spent the last fifteen years perfecting their grasp of the heavy lens, only to have their once captive audience discover the freedom of phoning it in themselves.


But there are signs that the grass will grow and thrive. Via NewTeeVee (link in the blogroll) comes the prediction that in 2007, approximately 85% of [internet ad] revenue will be from advertisements attached to user-generated content and television and news streams. By 2010, services for renting and downloading TV shows and movies will account for nearly 40% of total revenues. For those who like graphics, see below.