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.

In one of my first Ph.D. courses at Michigan State, I wrote a paper about the effects on multiple channels of programming on society. At that time (15-20 years ago) cable television was the future and Ted Turner’s 500 channel guess was the current goal.

At the time, I anticipated a time where people can live in an environment that bolsters their own world view and eliminates cognitive dissidence. I envisioned enough channels that a person could avoid ideas that were upsetting to them. Young Republicans could gravitate to media separate and distinct from older democrats. Because people would not be forced to view media contrary to their preconceived notions, the once called “homogenization effect” of the media would be lost.

For a lot of good economic reasons, cable television did not achieve the true diversity of channels needed to fulfill my early vision. Yes, Fox News certainly spoke to a particular viewpoint. However, the penetration of narrow viewpoint media never achieved critical mass.

What one medium could not do, multiple media may provide. This morning as the Republican convention has just presented McCain’s speech, I am just getting around to watching Obama’s acceptance speech on the DVR. Talk radio plays predominately conservative viewpoints. My Facebook friends are now predominately Democratic while the AOL polls lean Republican.

A person can now easily library content to view at their leisure — through recording off air, internet redistribution, and direct delivery. Now I know that due to technology, economy, or age, not everyone is ready or able to consume the true diversity of media. However, media is ultimately a populist product. Widening the audience is the only choice new media — just the same as old media. Through the diversity of media, will we finally see a de-homogenization effect I foresaw?

Tuesday, 06 January 2009 at 10:25