Comments for Tao of NewsTao of News

Comment on The road to serfdom: Use Apple software by Darrell

Darrell — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:22:39 +0000

As R Thomas Berner wrote, that was also my immediate thought. Want to see the future of writing? Look at the present in photography.

Comment on The road to serfdom: Use Apple software by hpengelley

hpengelley — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:06:06 +0000

I am outraged by Apple’s rights grab. One more way to shaft professional writers by trying to treat them like employees without offering any benefits. They’re saying, “Here, let me exploit you with my software!” When are people going to realize that it’s “little” things like this that degrade the worth of creative work. When are people going to stand up and say “No, I have rights! I have worth! What you’re doing is morally wrong!” Anyone who uses this software in future should be relegated to “amateur” status and not be considered to a “writer” but a hobbyist. In 1984, Apple came on the market with a promise to rail against the machine and fight against Big Brother. Well, guess who’s Big Brother now.

Comment on The road to serfdom: Use Apple software by R Thomas Berner

R Thomas Berner — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:31:04 +0000

This reminds me of photo contest that you pay to enter (or not) and the photo becomes the property of the sponsor, even if it doesn’t win.

Comment on It’s not just Kai Nagata that’s quitting, it’s the whole damned demographic by Howard Bernstein

Howard Bernstein — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:59:00 +0000

Excellent blog Robin. You, like Kai, are right about most of what you say. The difficulty is what happens to main stream media if it is abandoned by the best and brightest people?
You may say that mainstream media as we know it is passe and will disappear in the future anyways. But the fact is at best it will be replaced by a new form of mainstream media which will be taken over by the same corporate giants that own television and newspapers.
The real issue, and it was Kai’s issue, is the ethics and ethos of journalism. It is totally controlled by businessmen who are only interested in making money. They do not care about journalism, in fact they want to control the content to their benefit.
This has never changed. In the 30′s the same arguments were made by young people about the newspapers and people like William Randolph Hearst.
Radio and TV took over and the media barons didn’t take long to gobble up the then “new” media.
It is my contention that if people like you and Kai are not willing to put up a fight for what you believe in, you too will be doomed to face the same situation. The medium may change, but the ethics and ethos will be the same.
Oh, one final point, young people in their 20′s and early 30′s have never been news consumers. The young people of the 60′s generation had the same disinterest in and distaste for the media. Today they are the biggest consumers. When people become older their interest in news and journalism blossoms. If I knew why I would be able to harness it and make my own millions. The simple fact is that historically there is nothing new about young adults showing little interest. That has never meant they would not be interested when they get older.

Comment on ALERT: Journalism students are an indicator species. by singerb

singerb — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:20:23 +0000

Ah Consultants. Reminds me of some “training” I had at work not long ago. It was quite disturbing seeing what we “need” to put on the news to lure those viewers away from the other networks. Basically weather. Weather and crime. Oh, and if it’s not local: don’t bother.