media – Page 23 – Steven Savage

Media and the Future: What we bought wasn’t what was sold.

February 24, 2012 by Steven Savage

Hollywood's movie number aren't what they seem, SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA have support that is clueless if not malicious. We're not happy as we decry lousy media, bad law, and bad faith. It seems that people are a might distressed with some media companies – even as we geeks want to work in or with media.

I've been speculating on this divide recently. We're glad to pay for our media – most of us have a fundamental sense of fairness that goes into "Shut up and take my money" territory. We're glad to work with media because we like it. Yet, too many times, various media interests dodge, engage in subterfuge, or just outright try to turn government to their interest and away from ours.

Yes, this is stupid. Yes there's greed, malice, and inertia, but I think there's a major factor being ignored here. I think this factor is one reason Hollywood and the rest of Big Media are caught so flat-footed.

They sold us one thing, but we were buying another.

What Whitney Houston’s Death Teaches Us About Publishing

February 15, 2012 by Steven Savage

I'm going to confess I'm a bit uncomfortably writing this story. Whitney Houston's death was a troubling event, and among the love and sorrow I see over her passing are things that disturb me; snarky jokes, exploitation, disrespect for the dead. So as I write this, if it's not the usual "Steve" please understand.

Also, admittedly, it's a bit personal; she's one of the distinct singers I grew up with. It's a familiar voice, and it's gone, and even sadder as she had her personal demons to cope with.

Alan Cross notes an interesting phenomena in the wake of her death – fourteen books on her life appeared within seven hours of her death. Fourteen.

Cross notes this is part of the larger trend of changes in media, and is much like what happened to music. Those are very true words – publishing is being changed rapidly with technology, much as music was. I recall how even a near-decade ago the rap scene was getting a lot of indie people with home studios who made a living with a small market – stuff that today comes cheaply or pre-installed.

Publishing of course is something computers have let us do for decades – it was just the publishing of a word processor and a printer. Now technology is interlinked enough we can make books in what would seem to be an instant to an author of 20 or 30 years ago.

It's so fast that people can shovel out books the same day as an event. I'm quite sure a lot of these are crap, but for all we know someone put out their near-finished personal work or some hidden gem of dedication. Yeah, I doubt it, but . . . it's at least possible.

We're now in an age where book publishing and journalism/reporting (and yellow tabloidism) are on the same speed.

Think about that. Me, I'm still a bit sad and I'm going to end this here.

– Steven Savage

Media and Fan Relationships: Zones Of Creativity

August 16, 2011 by Steven Savage

A lot of us work in or want to produce media, including fiction. For those of us writing fiction, or planning to film it, or whatever, there may be some concerns about how to deal with fanfic and the like. Fans are why we're here and how we get paid, and their fanworks help promote our works and draw everyone into a community. However fanworks can also accidentally "brand" your work, something creators don't always seek or like – as we've had discussed here by our own Rob Barba.

I'm pro-fanwork as long as there's mutual respect and understanding. I also know some authors fear what happens when people begin "playing in their world," and it's not always irrational (i can immediately think of two series I avoided due to fanfic battles and fanwank that gave me the wrong impression). For authors and creators who want the best of both worlds, I had an idea.