Posted: February 15, 2010
Updates On Old Ideas
Back in 2003, I gave a presentation at the Ag Media Summit consisting of a mix of experiences, anecdotes, ideas and even some predictions as to what I believed the future held for us.
At the end of the presentation, I gave everyone a handout. Included were seven points under the title of "Effective Ways To Build Your Future As A Writer." The first one read:
"Begin now to seek out and associate only with publishers who have vision and editors who impose discipline by insisting on increasingly higher standards of editorial excellence."
If that was an important point seven years ago, it's even more critical now. That's because the internet has given everyone not only the opportunity to write but also the forum with which reach almost every part of the world.
That's an exciting reality. But it also is a frightening one for journalists and photographers everywhere who have long enjoyed special privileges in the gathering and dispensing of information.
They, and that also means us, no longer have an exclusive on information sources, creativity and markets. Indeed, about the only difference is that we have been doing it much longer, a distinction nobody gives one whit about.
I need not look far for a classic example, a friend who was a professional carpet estimator. After retiring, he and his wife bought a boat and began cruising. Although he had never written anything before, he began posting his experiences online.
His descriptions of things seen and experienced were charged with such emotion you imagined you were there with him. So compellingly did he weave together facts, opinions and insights that readers regretted reaching the end of his musings.
It was magic. And because he is still cruising, it continues.
Yet, without the internet, no one would know. For that matter, it's probably safe to say if that forum hadn't been available, he might not have ever written anything.
Is he a threat to you? Not directly and certainly not in this particular situation. But multiply him by hundreds, thousands even millions and you quickly understand the power the masses now have at their fingertips.
This doesn't mean the immediate end to editors and publishers. It does, however, endanger those who lack the vision, the willingness to take risk and the ability to surround themselves with the best possible people to help them succeed.
Those are the ones with whom you should establish professional ties. They will be the most successful in finding and using innovative ways to combine the power of the internet with existing traditional forms of publication and communication.
Click here to see an archive of previous Updates on Old Ideas.