Riehl World View

Media May Have Changed Forever While You Were Asleep

On-line Zine Gawker is breaking two culturally significant bits of News this morning:

Still, Thomas never imagined that Heene would involve his six-year-old son in what he is certain was a "global media hoax" to further Richard Heene's own celebrity. Thomas' story of his time with Heene, based on an interview with Ryan Tate, follows below. It's a fascinating account and after he publicly offered to sell his story, we paid him for it.

Whatever does an old media that has already been trying to keep pace with the new Internet world do now? Which will see more network promotion? The Sunday morning news talk shows that might discuss the ethics behind Gawker's decision, its impact on News and open admission? Or the first network TV magazine show that secures the first interview with Ryan Tate?

More importantly, will they pay for it, too?

I'm not so sure. But the race for Ryan Tate could be interesting. Unless of course it simply falls to Breitbart TV to do as an Internet story, though I very much doubt that. I wonder how many young TV producers were paged by the talent this AM when the item broke to see if they were on it?

The Economic Issues Of e-Politics

h/t to Fausta for the link to Parcbench.

The evidence that can be gleaned is that Arianna and her gang of 100 acolytes that “staff” the Po have a burn rate of maybe $1M/month, giving the Po about a 24 month shelf life (from last December, giving them about a year to live … unless they get a new cash infusion).

Through previous business experience, I've been involved intermittently in discussions on monetizing web initiatives now for well over a decade. And that involves non-political projects. During a more recent meeting, a savvy politically-oriented player with his own initiative said he had come to the conclusion a for profit model just won't work. If that's generally true, and I'm not conceding that it is, it wouldn't be a big surprise given the history of political publishing.

Putting aside the ideological and particular focus on HuffPo, the Parcbench piece is also a worthwhile read as regards the economics of e-political punditry and activism. With a few worthwhile exceptions, it will not thrive without philanthropic support. One would think the Right would get that given that publications such as NRO and The Weekly Standard have bled philanthropic dollars for years. They aren't business concerns, so much as they are vanity publications for rich Republicans. It's important to understand that in reading their content.

By and large, they aren't written for you folks. Their primary job is pleasing the deep pockets that feed them so they can keep raising money to survive. So, don't look for them to go too far off the Republican plantation any time, soon. It ain't going to happen. They'd be as broke as are most bloggers, at least as regards their blogging pursuits.

While her financials aren't our, or my business, Michelle Malkin may be one of the few exceptions on the Right. And it at least seems Hot Air was the shrewd move of a very smart woman who understands the space and her own brand. At least, I hope that's the economic case, as I always admire innovators and people who accomplish significant things. Nevertheless, she did have an accomplished and successful brand with which to start.

But with all due respect to Michelle, how many of her are there? And how many of those are actually willing to come out here and be an integral part of the whole?

Certainly Instapundit is another extremely notable exception on the center-Right. I doubt there will ever be another one of him. You'd have to manufacture it from circuit boards, mp3s, law journals and sci fi mags. Don't look for mass production any time soon.

Sure, there's Lucianne - in some ways, a true original like Glenn Reynolds and Michelle. But that's a different animal, though the site certainly involves itself in the affairs of the blogs with outbound links, shared readers, and such. There's Free Republic, as well, of course. You won't find that shared space instinct so prominently at NRO, or many of the other old line Right media outlets who mostly imported the same old boring (to the grassroots) product on to the Internet. And I believe RedState is for the most part funded as a genuine blog.

It could be argued that many of them drink up Right-side funding dollars in older, inefficient and often expensive models that offer little benefit to Republicans beyond the Beltway crowd such as it is. Just don't let them know you made the argument, or they may not like you very  much. Fortunately for me, I don't generally have that concern. heh!

In fairness to NRO, Jim Geraghty is something of an exception as an individual. But he's still a part of the institution that he is and must be accountable to it in some fashion.

There is one thing I will concede though. Genuine grassroots activism on either side of the political spectrum can not succeed without money behind it. That has always been true on the Left. If Republicans of any stripe want it, sooner or later, someone other than a bunch of cash-strapped bloggers is going to have to pay for it if it is to be as truly effective as some might like it to be.

Note To Readers

It had been my intention to continue updating the blog with pertinent news items today. However, due to developments in a story I've been focused upon lately and additional research required, it became impossible.

At this point, while hoping for some call backs for comment in that regard I doubt I will get, I do have the story nailed down enough for publication.

Either later today, tonight, or tomorrow if absolutely need be, I anticipate breaking a significant story as a blog exclusive in due course. And, yes, I suspect many of you will be pleased.

As an aside, the phone lines have been burning up between Florida, Alaska, California and even Utah as a direct result of the story I uncovered, with some solid help I'll note later. So ...., if you want to hit the tip jar. Just sayin', is all.

Yeah, and I'm absolutely kind of stupid silly right now. I have been since last night when I first discovered the thread I've been unraveling, save for some few hours of sleep.

It might not be the be all and the end all, by any means. But it is sweet. Where it goes from what I will be able to document remains to be seen. One can always hope for the best, or the worst, depending on where you stand.

Quick Blog Round-up

A quick blog round-up from Reaganite Republican.

Yes, I'm in it. What do you think I am, stupid, or chopped liver?? ; )

Some Neat Pics And Posts

Just click the link and scroll, you might appreciate it. i did.

Very Few Lines Get Drawn Out Here

Yeah, this is inside blogging stuff. But it's only links. Very few lines actually get drawn out here. Like most, I draw my own and I'm confortable where I'm standing in all this. It doesn't really impact, or even have much to do with me in any event. But a pretty large line has apprently been drawn and I neither know nor care on which side of it any people might ultimately stand, or perhaps I should say fall. That's up to them.

If you're interested, you can read about it here and also read more about it here.

Make of it what you will, I've mostly moved on as far as any public commentary. With any luck, it'll stay that way.

I'm Such A Racist, Don't Ya Know

The left has discovered a post of mine from yesterday and now I am learning what a racist I am! zzzzzz These people will look for anything to make what they think is a big deal.

What a juvenile joke they are.

On the flipside of this two-sided coin, you've got people like conservablogger Dan Riehl, who is so eager to prove that he's totes not racist, that he sits down at his keyboard and writes one of the most racist things I've ever read. I could throw up some blockquotes, but really, you need to just read the whole thing for yourself.

WTF?

Update: The post below was excerpted from American Power, which will no longer be linked in any way due to some additional documented information I've learned about the blogger there that has nothing to do with me. This is a guy we really don't need in the right blogosphere. He appears to be as troubled as he is troubling to deal with. 

Sorry, just saw this. Weak stuff. I take exception to someone's unethical and, to several people, distasteful blogging tactics and this is what he comes back with? Guess I forgot rule number two out here, never biatch slap a little girl. zzzzzz

Strangely, though - and perhaps to compensate for whatever insecurities he may suffer - Dan feels the need to pat himself on the back for the scoop; he then TOTALLY BLOWS IT it with some of the worst writing I've seen in the conservative blogosphere:

Slow News Day?

Seems like a slow news day to me, though I could be wrong. Problem is, I had my head down on something I want to break into the Right, as I found it troubling for conservatives. Unfortunately, it didn't develop as a story as fast as I wanted to. It happens. I hope to be able to get it nailed down going forward, but it's complex.

That's a long way of saying I was distracted by something I find very important and hardly had time to look in today. Maybe that's why what I did manage to throw out there was atypical. Anyway, tomorrow's another day. It's been a good couple of weeks for me news-wise, anyway.

So, how about a little Otis to chill things out? Oh, and I also got to re-connect with some blogospheric friends I've lost touch with mostly over the years in email between all that and that was pretty special. Enjoy - Otis and the Bar-Kays ... Try a Little Tenderness.

He Just Doesn't Get It

Stacy McCain has responded to my post. I see Smitty is being a bit of a dope, too. Evidently, they can't stop long enough to figure this out.

And, yes, for readers, I know this is all inside blogging, but it isn't as though I devote much time to it, as these conjugal link trollers do. Call it half a day off for housekeeping and administration, of sorts. So, forgive me and let me lay out some things in a slightly different way and re-visit this one last time before giving up and just ignoring them.

Stacy is actually one of the most resourceful, intelligent and well-schooled bloggers on the Right. It isn't as if I want to see him fail at all. He carries my praise of him in his sidebar. But he is squandering his value away as he doesn't understand how the system actually works.

I'd like nothing better than to link to Stacy more often. But I see too much mindless crap to bother reading him much anymore. But this is not about my particular sensibilities, videos of naked women, or constant cross-blogger snark. It is about what really works out here for a blogger and what does not. Many newer bloggers are hurting themselves and other newer bloggers with what they are doing due to Stacy's misguided advice. And they don't understand that because they don't fully understand how the system really works.

A link from blogger A does not carry the same weight from blogger B. The value of a link is measured by the blog that links in's own blog authority, or weight. So, a bunch of relatively new, still lower-weighted bloggers linking to one another does not impact the scale for established bloggers who built their rankings over time. And none of them really throw off enough unique traffic on an average day to be of note.

But all that nonsense blogging turns off many more established blogs, which means, they become increasingly less likely to throw said bloggers more higher value links that would actually take their rankings up to wherever they might want to be. Stacy is an exception, because as he engages in all this silliness, he is also mostly at it full time and gathering higher weighted links from some established blogs for the fine work and kiss ass stuff we all know he can do. And there's nothing wrong with all that, including the sucking up, by the way - provided it suits one. Still, a little subtlety never hurt anyone in that regard.

But the link fest crap is not what is adding to his count in any real measure. He is earning it just as any blogger should - with his content on some fewer number of solid posts. And few if any of the other newer blogs playing the game are getting that bump. Stacy will continue to separate himself from that pack until he finally abandons them for his own benefit. That's not meant to be harsh, it's just common sense.

I had to do it to some minor degree to a few folks years ago, simply because my objectives were different than theirs. It wasn't a value judgment of them on my part.

Now, imagine were he producing even more of his solid work with all this time he is frittering away? He would generate even more links from higher ranked blogs taking his ranking up far faster and higher than all this silly link scam nonsense can ever do.

And for the other smaller, newer blogs who don't have Stacy's time or talent on their hands - all they succeed in doing is turning off more established blogs from ever reading and linking to them at all.

This all makes sense if one genuinely understands the algorithms involved beyond the superficial understanding these folks have of how it works. But obviously a great number of newer or smaller blogs don't understand that. So, they are hurting themselves, more than they are helping themselves over the longer haul.

Now, given that I was posting more outlandish, over the top crap than any of these folks will ever do years ago when it didn't matter all that much, as so many of us were new and no one important in a media sense was even looking in, and they are misinterpreting what I am saying as being "uppity," and somehow better than all that - they seem to be headed for this myopic and uninformed position that it's Dan who has a big stick up his butt. Too bad, though in the final analysis I don't care all that much, as I've never cared about what most anyone thinks of me out here except for a few that are highly respected and uniquely valued by me to start.

I'm not a prude. Outrageous, or sexual crap doesn't bother me in the least. Some bloggers who do it all the time are actually very good at and known for that. And I respect and value that far more than this silly hybrid attempt by some to be both. You can't. You are either serious and credible with an infrequent break now and again for shits and giggles, or you are not. That isn't my opinion. That's just how the world now looking in comes to judge you - and rather quickly, at that.

The market doesn't allow you to be Gawker and Malkin all in one blog. It just doesn't work. And if you want to be a Gawker, good on you. You'll get far more traffic and make far more money than political content will ever provide. I - don't - care what choice you make. Both have their place. Still, you only get one brand out here. Screwing it up by trying to be both just leaves you on the short end of the stick on both accounts.

Now, you all go on and do whatever you want. I'm moving on. You want to judge me because you think I'm wrong? Go for it. I won't lose a bit of sleep, or do anything but ignore you from here on out. But at least try and understand I've been trying to teach you something you were never around here to learn when we were all discussing it openly across our blogs every day, as the Sphere was just bloggers then and no one else really gave a damn.

And, to be blunt, none of the players here mean that much to me purely in a blog sense because they don't mean that much when it comes to me getting to where I want to go. And the misguided approach they have seized upon will only succeed in getting them branded as rank amateurs in the blogging world until they walk away from what won't work and have to re-invent themselves from scratch once more. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt if you get my drift. And I don't intend to have to do it, again.

Ciao!