In this new way of thinking, there's a lot of discussion around the future and reliability of media. This is very much a US view of the world but it has resonance to millions of people around the world. I'm also something of a cynical ex-pat UK hack. I've never worked in an editorial office - too chaotic for my taste. But I've seen the rise and fall of technology mags - it was once 100% of what I do - today it's 5% - assuming I bother getting paid for the bits I write.
I've seen how the value of information and accumulated knowledge can never be taken away from the individual. So even though my print megaphones no longer exist - I used to do regular reviews of accounting products for Information Week, PC Week and comment on accounting vendors at AccountancyAge - I have the accumulated knowledge to comment about what Sage says or does, but with the benefit of history. I have, in other words, a story to tell. And everyone loves a story. So when I came across this bit of thinking at Forbes, I was truly gobsmacked:
"Journalists at MSM organizations also live in a zero-sum world. There can be only one evening TV anchor, one top editor at a newspaper or magazine, a fixed number of columnists on the op-ed page . . . and thus the MSM puts out alarming stories about GM job cuts, trade and fiscal deficits, global warming, oil going to $100 a barrel and so on. Why does the MSM love environmentalists? Both share a zero-sum view of the world.
Meanwhile, the most energetic, original and positive writing has been migrating to the Web and to blogs. No surprise here. Anybody who creates a blog is: (a) an entrepreneur and thus probably NOT a zero-sum thinker; (b) a producer first and a consumer second. These two attributes alone guarantee that the blogger probably has a more accurate view of the world, and how it really works, than does the zero-sum thinker toiling away at his MSM position."
Do I have an accurate view of the world? Do I accurately reflect some the issues you're facing? Can you do better? If so then go at it. My job may be done already.
Is it possible to morph from one way of operating to another? Is it possible to switch value systems? I think it most certainly is. I know it brings value to me and those with whom I speak. And I'm not charging a penny for this.
Technorati Tags : zero+sum+thinking, tax+marketing, citizen+journalism
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