Modern Media Barn: Thoughts

While waiting for the storm to pass, I have been staying at the home of a friend in Texas. During the siege, I have been cut off of my normal means to gather information while at the same time wanting more than ever.

Our kind hostess, Chris Alexander, is a professor at Texas Commerce and a collaborating author to my wife. She has been very patient with all of us. However, we are reduced to sharing one television, no radio is apparent, and no newspapers (other than some McDonald’s castoffs). We do have broadband and that is where I spent my time.

Now, I am not new to Internet Media by any means. I regularly watch Hulu and Network programs online. My most used television is my kids’ Vista-equipped computer. However, my needs are more specific these last few days. It was not enough to know that a storm approached, then passed over Louisiana. I needed evidence of damage in Youngsville (my home town). Specifically, is the power on to my refrigerator? Did the street flood? And did relatively new homes in the area (like mine) sustain roof damage. Thankfully, I am optimistic. At the same time, as Hanna Montana reruns filled our television, what is going on in the world and what did “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” say about it?

I did get what I wanted. Without new network reruns, I watched old shows on Hulu. Intellicast provided an excellent storm track prediction and update. The Weather Channel’s Interactive radar image (while buggy) gave a great view of the area. I expected these.

More surprising, “Lafayette News!” application here on Facebook brought together local news outlets for review. The Lafayette newspaper “The Advertiser” provided some excellent on-point VIDEOS. Finally, my son’s army of high school friends armed with cell phones provided on the ground coverage as good as any network news operation. YouTube was practically useless. Videos were mainly poor quality shots of rain and wind.

My real question is, are these outlets getting paid enough. I am not sure if the economic model is enough to keep these people in business. There is only so much money that can be gained from the few advertisers I saw. Is the system so cheap that the money supports it. As a media management researcher and a selfish person, I would like to know more.