As we gear up for “CES 2010″ this week, there are many reasons this playground is perfect for the fiberoptic festivities. Both the Internet and Las Vegas are very special places near and dear to my heart. Everywhere I look, it amuses me with all this riff-raft about “media is dying.” I often wonder what the hell a journalist is anyway. How is a journalist any different than a non-fiction storyteller? The fact is, we all have stories to tell. Every person on the planet is quickly being able to digitally document their story as it happens.
In the past, “news” has been nothing more than what someone else, usually a wealthy high-powered organization with direct ties to Wall Street and our government, would deem as important. Someone else controlling the flow of information to its audience, only producing content catering to whatever a room full of people see as important. Imagine that… until recently, the mindset of an entire city could be determined by maybe 100 or so people who produced “the news.” How do you know your priorities are the same as the man titled “News Director?” You don’t. When I write it out, it doesn’t even sound like a normal concept. I can’t imagine how nutty that will seem to future generations. Kind of reminds we when we all thought the world was flat, because that is all we knew. lol.
After a decade of existence, Internet search has finally caught up with the big dogs. Old school media control has screeched to a halt. Before, humans have been forced to become products of a limited environment, living under geographic, informational, and cultural restraints. We have all been prisoners of prospective to whatever limited available media channels have allowed us to think. If perception wasn’t greater than reality, well, America probably would not be at war right now.
Media is not dead. It is booming! Search is the new media. Access to almost anything is literally a point and click away. The key to controlling a channel is realizing that most intellectual, innovative minds don’t have time to untangle the unlimited amount of Internet streams for enriching stories relevant to their lives. That should be a media company’s role: pick out associated content relevant to your audience, create some, sort it, and make it relevant.
The newspaper buyout initiative is such a huge waste of time, effort and government spending. Spend our taxes on increasing access of information to people, especially the poor, so they can learn about new opportunities and jobs. Don’t bail out large companies who are used to keeping control. Oh, and create some jobs while you are it too. (That is a whole different post! lol).
People want to talk about the public needing credible content they can trust. I’ll tell you what is credible, a machine that generates facts with a probability of getting it right 99.999999 percent of the time. Who are you going to trust more? A police department’s data system that produces distinct numbers about crimes in your neighborhood, or the nightly news that tells you about what they think is relevant? What a machine can’t do is tell an audience why they should care. Machines cannot tell stories. That should be a media company’s (or blogger’s, or brand’s) role.
It amuses me how traditional media companies point fingers at companies such as Google and blame them for this revolution our world is enduring. Compare this to the last period of mass global economic change, The Industrial Revolution. That was a time in our culture when many people thought the railroad industry would rule our country. Last time I checked, they weren’t.
A newspaper company blaming Google is like a woodcrafter blaming Henry Ford, or a village candlemaker blaming Albert Einstein. There are still plenty of wagon and candle makers, and they are probably doing just fine serving their set niche market. There will be more Googles of the world, more inventions and more game changers. Dominance does not last forever and eventually, all giants will take a fall. (i.e. the current state of the auto industry).
Furthermore, what these insanely profitable technology companies cannot do is give you a relationship. If Google were a person to you, it would be the workaholic uncle always traveling the world. It may give you great resources to enhance your life, but it won’t be at your backyard barbecue. New content channels should feed its audience breakfast in bed. Give them tasty tidbits that pertain to their life. Learn who they are, what they buy, where they live, and serve their every need with a silver spoon. More than anything, listen and give them an organized avenue to speak their mind.
I realize that new ideas = risk, and for many people that is why change is so difficult to implement. Risks are what allow you to grow. And I think the minute you are not growing, you are dead. I embrace change, discovery and innovation.
Las Vegas is a wonderful city that was built on fantasy, fulfilling dreams, equal opportunity, and instant gratification. To me, that is exactly what the Internet and the future of our global economy has become. Yes, just like the casinos, Google is the house and it will always win. It will always cash more than its players. So what. Learn to play the game. I am going to Double or Nothing in 2010. Let’s hope luck is on my side. 
