My dad has two sculptures in the foyer of the building he works in which look like piles of poo.

They are brown and conical, with lumps and bumps.

In fact, upon closer inspection, they are towers of human bottoms, piled upon each other. A “bunch of arseholes trying to get to the top”, if you will.

I just seriously contemplated making a replica of said sculptures out of roasted chickpeas.

Yeeeeeeeah…I think it’s best I don’t explain that thought progression.

Thus, a distraction in the form of some much needed blogging!

This week, I’m loving Girl With A Satchel‘s take on Murdoch’s pursuit to charge the masses for online content.

She writes that -

Murdoch’s push to get people to pay for the content offered by his various News Corp services has divided the media-consuming community. Some say no-one will pay because free content has been the norm and consumer habits are hard to change; others suggest that if he wants to attract paying consumers, his company will need to lift its game. In this scenario, Murdoch is rather like the Marie Antoinette of the media world, screaming “Let them eat cake!” from his ivory tower, when most people are content to nibble on the free canapes (and I admit, Media Musings does nibble at the News Corp cake, and I also borrow images from other sites and the glossies for commentary purposes).

We have all been to very excellent parties (like the one over at mamamia), taking away from them experiences we cherish – and they’re not always the big, fancy ones. The most memorable parties I’ve been to have been the more intimate soirees where I’ve engaged in great conversations or had an unexpectedly fun time – like the 21st I went to not long ago where 50-odd people (young and old) wound up dancing around the backyard for HOURS… and not a single drop of alcohol had been consumed. Same goes for online content – I love to visit the sites on my blogroll, because they offer me something special or unique to talk about; to engage with. They give me some sort of enjoyment or, like the best magazines, insight into a world I am not a part of (thank you, Vogue, ELLE, et al), or connect me with people or ideas that suit my sensibility (thank you, Frankie).

- GWAS Notes: Let them eat cake!

She makes an excellent point, acknowledging the inevitability of the situation but still pointing out that we, as media consumers, do have a choice and often these choices go against what media conglomerates, such as Murdoch, see in the facts and figures.

Whilst still on the Murdoch note,

I really don’t understand all the surprise surround Sarah Palin’s new role with Fox News. Hello!? Is this not a match made in heaven?

Given my apparent writers block plaguing me this week, this piece forwarded to me by another new media loving friend, was a very interesting read.

The inevitable transition many journalists have had to make from print to online is shamelessly debated and discussed over and over, but the reality that success is not a given is rarely touched upon -

Despite what years of local monopoly may have taught many veteran journalists, readers don’t automatically show up for whatever you publish. I’ve seen too many journalists react in shock when they put up their first blog post, only to end up with fewer readers than they have clean socks in their dresser drawer.

“But thousands of people read me in the paper,” they stammer.

Well, the paper might have sold thousands of copies each day, but as any newspaper-dot-com staffers who’s looked at the traffic data can tell you, few subscribers actually read any given writer’s work. And those who did usually did so out of habit – they’d grown up reading the paper and fell into the custom of reading specific sections, pages or features. – Doing Journalism Online in 2010 is an act of Community Organising

As someone who initially struggled at finding her voice in the blogosphere, the points about the differences in attracting readers in the online world really resonate with me. The fact remains that being a good blogger relies on more than just nifty journalism skills, though I’d argue they do have a place online, but on being what he dubs, a “community organiser”. It’s an interesting dynamic, one that isn’t often explored. Of course, we all understand that writing online is different than print in terms of physicality and newsroom practices, but we often forget that we can’t simply move online and be successful.

Here is to a lovely weekend and, hopefully, more inspiring posts (sans all chickpeas references) next week.

Elizabeth
xx

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