Comments on: Public Media in a Zero-Distance World http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/01/27/public-media-in-a-zero-distance-world/ Same old blog, brand new place Fri, 24 May 2013 04:12:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Doc Searls http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/01/27/public-media-in-a-zero-distance-world/comment-page-1/#comment-23841 Doc Searls Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:48:48 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/01/27/public-media-in-a-zero-distance-world/#comment-23841 Doug, you're right that the pledge drive is poorly suited to the online environment, where making the programming scarce for ten days is unlikely to have the same coercive effect on listeners. In the case of podcasts it makes no sense at all. We've been thinking and talking about this at <a href="http://projectvrm.org" rel="nofollow">ProjectVRM</a> for the last year. A couple pieces to look at are <a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000231" rel="nofollow">An open source approach to fixing public media funding</a>, <a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000231" rel="nofollow">Toward a new ecology of journalism</a>, <a href="http://doc.weblogs.com/2006/10/03#inOtherWordsBeMorePublic" rel="nofollow">In other words, be more public</a> and <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/Gillmor/?p=172" rel="nofollow">Do Public Broadcasters Get It?</a> That last one makes clear that some of them do, but that the culture clashes going on inside the business are a Major Problem that won't be easy to work out. Anyway, stay tuned. Doug, you’re right that the pledge drive is poorly suited to the online environment, where making the programming scarce for ten days is unlikely to have the same coercive effect on listeners. In the case of podcasts it makes no sense at all.

We’ve been thinking and talking about this at ProjectVRM for the last year. A couple pieces to look at are An open source approach to fixing public media funding, Toward a new ecology of journalism, In other words, be more public and Do Public Broadcasters Get It? That last one makes clear that some of them do, but that the culture clashes going on inside the business are a Major Problem that won’t be easy to work out.

Anyway, stay tuned.

]]> By: Jonathan Marks http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/01/27/public-media-in-a-zero-distance-world/comment-page-1/#comment-23815 Jonathan Marks Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:41:49 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/01/27/public-media-in-a-zero-distance-world/#comment-23815 Michelle is spot on. Infact in Europe, I would argue that public broadcasters are the guardian's of the country's electronic cultural heritage. As a former public broadcaster we wanted to use material by a famous Dutch band for a flashback documentary. We contacted the band, who then demanded 50,000 dollars for the rights to use the clip. I wrote back saying that unless they paid us 51,000 dollars for keeping the recordings, preserving it, adding the metadata, etc I was going to put the tape into the bulk erase machine personally. They may have thought it was a piece of cultural heritage, but for that price I didn't agree. If we couldn't use it, it had no value, so I was planning to throw it out. Of course we talked and the tape was not only digitised but used to great effect in the documentary. DRM is dead in the water. Artists have to fight for our attention and that has value too. I advise broadcasters who are commissioning works to spend 80% on production, 10% on advertising and putting the series into a context and 10% on preserving the content properly. 80% of the archives in the world are rotting because we're not taking tagging seriously. Michelle is spot on. Infact in Europe, I would argue that public broadcasters are the guardian’s of the country’s electronic cultural heritage. As a former public broadcaster we wanted to use material by a famous Dutch band for a flashback documentary. We contacted the band, who then demanded 50,000 dollars for the rights to use the clip. I wrote back saying that unless they paid us 51,000 dollars for keeping the recordings, preserving it, adding the metadata, etc I was going to put the tape into the bulk erase machine personally. They may have thought it was a piece of cultural heritage, but for that price I didn’t agree. If we couldn’t use it, it had no value, so I was planning to throw it out. Of course we talked and the tape was not only digitised but used to great effect in the documentary. DRM is dead in the water. Artists have to fight for our attention and that has value too.

I advise broadcasters who are commissioning works to spend 80% on production, 10% on advertising and putting the series into a context and 10% on preserving the content properly. 80% of the archives in the world are rotting because we’re not taking tagging seriously.

]]> By: Doug http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/01/27/public-media-in-a-zero-distance-world/comment-page-1/#comment-23811 Doug Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:30:00 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/01/27/public-media-in-a-zero-distance-world/#comment-23811 I enjoy public television and radio here in the U.S., but I wonder how public broadcasters here will apply their fundraising models to programming delivered online. When I listen to my local NPR station during a pledge drive, I often hear 2-3 minutes of pitching before regular programming resumes, and I suspect that approach doesn't work with "new" media. I enjoy public television and radio here in the U.S., but I wonder how public broadcasters here will apply their fundraising models to programming delivered online.

When I listen to my local NPR station during a pledge drive, I often hear 2-3 minutes of pitching before regular programming resumes, and I suspect that approach doesn’t work with “new” media.

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