The Media is Thriving
posted by Rick Webb 
on January 27, 2009 at 08:12 PM
filed under: Social Networking and Community and The Networks and the Internet
Rick Webb
Co-founder, COO : New York
topics: The Networks and the Internet, Metrics and Analytics, Rock and Roll, Strategy, and Agile and Scrum
filed under: Social Networking and Community and The Networks and the Internet
So, I’ve been following The Media is Dying twitter feed for a while. It’s interesting, and good information. It bums me out a bit, but I also love the strange feel that it gives you that you’re actually watching the media die in real time. It’s a really good think piece.
Most of my thinking, however, has been trending towards the fact that this is all being blown out of proportion, and the media is not, in fact, dying. In fact, the more I look at things, the more I realize that the story’s not being told correctly. I just don’t buy it.
I don’t buy that the media companies are doing any worse than other industries in this economic downturn.
I don’t equate “the newspaper industry” with “the media.”
I don’t buy that it’s ALL doom and gloom out there.
I remember in economics classes in college learning about the depression, and how it wasn’t what I had in my mind. Even at the peak unemployment rate, 3 out of 4 people had jobs. I always imagined EVERYONE being unemployed.
I also think that a LOT of internet people have no concept of just how much money goes through the media companies. Time warner collected THIRTY FIVE BILLION DOLLARS last year. Even if you take out their insanely large, profitable, growing cable division, their revenues are still 4 times Google’s. It’s madness.
What we have going on is a re-alignment. In re-alignments, there are losers, yes. But there are also winners. To give some balance, we should be focusing on them too.
So, as an exercise, Noah Brier
and I are launching The Media is Thriving on Twitter. Let’s focus on the positive once in a while.
Noah Brier
Head of Strategic Planning : New York
topics: The Networks and the Internet, Internet Culture, Advertising, Strategy, and User Experience
I’m already ridiculously overworked, though, and of course I can’t be everywhere at once, so I NEED YOUR HELP. If you work in advertising, or the media (new or old), please share with me good news. Has your company not had any layoffs? Let us know? Is someone hiring? Let us know! Is your company growing? Let us know! Find any other positive evidence about the media world? Drop us a line!
7 comments
I really like the point you are making. Here are some of my thoughts on it: If people are staying in more rather than going out on the town for entertainment, won't TV ratings improve and thus ad placement costs stay the same or increase?
I recently read in "Elsewhere, USA" by Dalton Conley that the number of jobs being lost hasn't significantly changed from before the recession, it has just been extensively covered in the media. He claims that the real issue is that the number of hiring freezes has risen.
No doubt some great businesses will find it hard over the next two years and probably go under but I think there will be little micro-businesses - especially in the ad industry - that do really well.
When you see big trusted institutions like Lehman Bros failing or the big three US carmarkers virtually bankrupt I think everyone is forced to think a little different - who *can* you trust? Where two years ago the 'safe' thing for a client to do was to go with a Madison Avenue agency or a Big Network I think that's no longer the case.
'Helping laid off media employees find new work 140 characters at a time. Email us at mediaishiring@gmail.com'
(JOKE)
Keep it up - PLEASE! ;)