Blogger: New media order on the way?
The Hollywood writers strike could provide a lesson for those suffering from the mass layoffs in the newspaper industry , writes blogger Ken Doctor. The time may be right for start-ups to break through as online revenue begins to grow.
So today's story in the L.A. Times, by Joseph Menn, put a quite interesting spin on the strike and one that should resonate among news journalists. The story, headlined "Striking writers in talks to launch Web start-ups," put the issue clearly: "Dozens are turning to venture capitalists, seeking to bypass Hollywood and reach viewers directly online". Of course, this is the delayed promise of the web. Creators -- think screenwriters, songwriters or journalists -- create. Their intended audience is not all the middlemen betwixt and between, the agents, the studios, the publishers. Their intended audience is, well, the audience. TV watchers, music listeners, news junkies.
The Internet is the medium that connects the two -- creators and audience -- much more directly than was previously possible in pre-digital days. The screenwriters are turning to venture backers, and creating an alternative to being beholden to the studios.
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