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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
The three I of capitalism... and life
Erik Markov, Photographer
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Kokomo | IN | | Posted: 2:38 PM on 10.03.08 |
->> I was up late one night this week watching the Charlie Rose show on PBS and he was interviewing Warren Buffett and the financial situation. His outlook, suggestions he had made in personal discussions with various govt officials dealing with the mess.
I don't have the $$ to do anything the likes of Buffett, after all I'm a photojournalist. ;) Some people think he's a god, some can't stand him. But there was one thing he said during the interview that I thought was interesting.
Talking about the credit swap deals and various other new financial ideas that grew up in the wake of the de-regulation, what he mentioned was that there are three groups of people that made this happen, and it occurred to me, that the same three groups are involved in journalism.
Seeing the recent posts about the FSC, Spokesman Review and the numerous posts about jobs losses its made me think about this a lot the past couple days.
The Innovators, they are one of the ones that came up with the idea of the credit swaps. Which was prob fine, they are on the cutting edge, they knew what they were doing.
The Imitators, they follow in after the innovators. They know a little less about the way the situation works, but they can do a well enough job just following what is the innovators are doing. It makes the situation a little weaker, but hopefully everything goes along as it has.
The Idiots, they are the last group to join in. And they don't know jack about anything. But everyone else is making money doing this, why shouldn't they? And really how hard can it be?
Just my own thought here, but if all of this had stayed with the innovators, when the subprime mortgages had collapsed (as they probably had to eventually), the market would have taken a little hit but they wouldn't have been a $700B bailout, using an aluminum bucket that's full of holes, leaking all over the place.
There are a few innovators in journalism, unfortunately they don't seem to have a whole lot of sway in changing the way things are done. There are a lot of imitators doing video and anything else that they think will save them. I'm not sure how many idiots there are, probably because they're so hard to spot. But they have managed to screw everything into a cocked hat, which seems to be dragging everything down.
And unfortunately the idiots are in the newspaper offices, the freelancers charging crappy rates and the customers looking for something for nothing. Should they be required to start wearing signs?
Someone will probably mark this "huh" |
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Garrett Hubbard, Photographer
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Washington | D.C. | USA | Posted: 3:25 PM on 10.03.08 |
->> Erik. Based on your perspective many of us are imitators, myself included. I think you are mistaken. I think that unless you are in the top .5% of photojournalists in this country, you cannot afford to not do video. Telling solid stories with video has made me such a better journalist. I am more curious, enterprising, and a better still photojournalist because of video.
Video has not made "the situation a little weaker" for me as a visual storyteller as you paraphrased Buffet saying about imitators. I hope and believe many other photojournalists are neither weaker nor worse off because they learned this tool. Thus, I believe your attribution of people now doing video as "imitators" is incorrect. Multiple Emmy awards and photojournalists turned documentary film makers is evidence that We are not weaker, but stronger for learning video.
What are your thoughts on this Erik? |
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Karl Stolleis, Photographer
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any | nm | | Posted: 5:06 PM on 10.03.08 |
->> A carpenter using a hammer is not an "imitator." He is using a tool necessary for the job at hand. His worth is based not on the hammer, but his skill in wielding it.
Video is a tool. A good one at that, when used properly.
The innovation must come with the stories we find and tell, not with the tools we use. When you put Buffet's comments in that context they have much more relevance. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 5:31 PM on 10.03.08 |
| ->> Erik, I have top agree with karl and garrett. It's just my opinion but I think you're way off base with your video comment. Some of the video our staffers are doing is nothing short of fabulous and a hell of a a lot better than any television news stuff I see. And the world is full of idiots in every profession. You just have to learn to deal with it and make the best of every situation you have control of. In the past few years I've been trying to worry about things I have control of. If I don't have any control over a situation I might be concerned but I have decided all the worrying in the world isn't going to change something I don't control. The paper wants video. I'll do video. I can control that dynamic most of the time and pick and choose what I want to do. But to think it's idiotic and the wrong way to go is totally out of my hands unless I want to change my career path, which I don't. So I've been called worse, idiot? maybe but I'm still trying to sharpen my skills, because you're never too old to learn. |
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Chris Stanfield, Photo Editor
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Atlanta | GA | USA | Posted: 5:38 PM on 10.03.08 |
->> "Just my own thought here, but if all of this had stayed with the innovators, when the subprime mortgages had collapsed (as they probably had to eventually), the market would have taken a little hit but they wouldn't have been a $700B bailout, using an aluminum bucket that's full of holes, leaking all over the place."
"The Innovators, they are one of the ones that came up with the idea of the credit swaps. Which was prob fine, they are on the cutting edge, they knew what they were doing."
Where do I begin? Our current situation had nothing to do with innovation and everything to do with greed. Credit default swaps turned a bad situation into a catastrophe. They were designed as a means to hedge risk. These innovators - as you call them - never gave one thought about the possibility that sellers of this "protection" wouldn't be able to pay.
More pertinent to this interview he gave, Buffet said that you want to be fearful when people are greedy. He warned Wall Street for years of our impending doom and very few listened. Why would they when the average hedge funder was raking in truck loads of money and working about 25 hours a week.
The only hope for this thread would be to focus on the second part of your post.
"There are a few innovators in journalism, unfortunately they don't seem to have a whole lot of sway in changing the way things are done. There are a lot of imitators doing video and anything else that they think will save them. I'm not sure how many idiots there are, probably because they're so hard to spot. But they have managed to screw everything into a cocked hat, which seems to be dragging everything down."
Cash is King on Wall Street.
and for us...
Content is King on Main Street.
I don't need to tell you what happens when these two roads intersect, do I? Greed destroys innovation if it is placed ahead of everything else. Video alone WILL NOT save us. Relevant, interesting and compelling content, presented across multiple (mobile, web etc.) platforms and in multiple forms (video, stills, audio) should serve as a foundation for building the business of journalism's future.
Media companies need to promote innovation across all departments, not just in the newsroom. Most circulation directors I know are consumed with cutting costs. The idea of taking even a half hour to explore alternative ways to overcome a primitive and expensive distribution system would seem laughable and far beyond their reach.
Most journalism web sites are grossly understaffed in terms of programmers...you know...the ones at the epicenter of user behavior!?
And then there are the journalists themselves. Completely overworked, uninspired and under-invested in. It's darn near criminal to keep asking them to dream big when most of them drive home wondering if they'll be allowed to return the next day.
Until our nation (and more specifically, our industry) can answer the question - how much is enough - and until we can break the chains of greed from within our own walls, I sincerely doubt much innovation will take place. Last but not least, let us not forget that behind our greatest asset are the people who produce it.
We have to stop laying them off.
We have to stop letting them leave for PR jobs.
We have to stop ignoring the passion they bring to the table and start to capitalize on it. And by that I don't mean exploiting them continually by preaching the do more with less line of pendejada. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 6:12 PM on 10.03.08 |
| ->> well said chris. |
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Javier Gonzalez, Photographer
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Mayaguez | PR | Puerto Rico | Posted: 7:35 PM on 10.03.08 |
->> I must admit;
When I saw the title for this thread I was expecting a deeper discusion about how economics affect or lives. Capitalism affect the way we live and the way we interact with countries where their economic system is different. But, this discussion?
Nothing related with economy. |
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Paul W Gillespie, Photographer
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Annapolis | MD | USA | Posted: 8:00 PM on 10.03.08 |
| ->> Amen, Chris Stanfield. |
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Aaron Rhoads, Photographer
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McComb | MS | USA | Posted: 10:35 PM on 10.03.08 |
->> Since I'm not an innovator, I guess I should quit sportshooter and photography.
Maybe get my shovel and pick up roadkill for a living.
With the economy, that may happen anyway. |
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David Harpe, Photographer
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Louisville | KY | USA | Posted: 11:09 PM on 10.03.08 |
->> Just as with self-help mantras, this type of oversimplification rarely holds up when applied to anything in the real world at any level of practical detail.
Innovation, imitation and idiocy are not mutually exclusive, which means people can be all three at any given time. You can be ridiculously stupid yet highly innovative (Nuclear weapons come to mind). The entire scientific method is all about imitation and replication, yet innovation comes from derivative discoveries resulting from the process...and in some cases idiots not doing a good job of imitating.
You cannot typecast people with words whose only significance is a shared first letter. Our lives, careers and passions are far more complicated than half-baked idealistic memes. Stop it. |
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Erik Markov, Photographer
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Kokomo | IN | | Posted: 11:49 PM on 10.03.08 |
->> Guys, I didn't throw this out to stir up something. I really think this an important discussion to have. It's probably similar to other discussions we've had, but this is a constantly developing situation and so we need to keep talking about it. I thought the quote was an interesting idea.
And I'm not saying that if you aren't inventing something you aren't doing a good job. Being creative on assignments that no one else sees a photo to be had is being an innovator. And those photos go out and make a boss or client happy, thats good. Then that person asks for you next time because you get the job done along with doing something extra.
And I'm not saying all video is crap, Chuck, you're right there are a lot of people out there doing good things with video. What I was trying to say is that rather than being handed it and grumbling about it, take it as a challenge.
And no capitalism doesn't work the same way as a newspaper works in creating unique content, I realize that. But the groups of people are very similar for both fields in how they act.
What I was attempting to say is that being an innovator is a good thing. I see way too many people, mostly in management, but other places also, who see being innovative only thru a single lens. If is innovative, but not how they would do it, then its crap. It shouldn't be that way. Look at it another way, an innovator is someone who is creative. Whether you're taking your own idea and doing something with it, or taking an idea that someone else handed to you and are creative with it, thats all good. But I don't think its as easy to be an innovator without talking about ideas with other people. Kinda the idea of this board.
The issue I was trying to bring up with the imitators is that I've been seeing a lot of people who look at something, example: a good video that has some unique idea or shot to it, they go out, maybe they copy it or tweak it a little. They're happy with it, their boss is happy with it, and all along the line, everyone is pretty happy with it. But basically they are imitating it, they're isn't anything new or creative about it. How can we advance things if we decide to stop thinking of new ideas or being the third or tenth down the line to do it without even attempting to be different?
Thats been part of the problem with video I think. Its not that the people doing the video aren't working hard at it, I am positive many have been. But for some of the companies, they've been happy with the basics, and with imitating something else they've seen. Well the people they're imitating, whether its video or something else on the web, those people are already onto something new thats going to change things again. Unfortunately if you want to get anywhere, you can't just take the next step, you've got to take the next three steps. Thats what I was hoping we would talk about.
I don't think doing video or soundslides, whether its your decision or someone elses, is being an imitator. Its a tool, its what one does with it that's interesting.
If someone decided to clamp a camera to a motorcycle, shoot some photos with a 14mm lens, and thats all they did, would anyone be impressed? Probably not, Rebilas has it down to a science. Anyone who wants to try it should go ahead... and come up with something new no one's ever seen. Another angle, a different lens, slower shutter speed, I don't know what it is, something.
I had hoped by starting this post maybe we could discuss ways of being innovative because I think 99% of the people who are members here, want to be. Problem is everyone's so busy just trying to keep the status quo and stay afloat that it can be tough to figure out a way. And it's going to be a different way for everyone.
In the case of the market, the innovators were some what of a danger because they developed the ideas that everyone else followed causing the thing to collapse. In our case of journalism, I think the innovators are the thing that are going to save us. And if more photographers are encouraged to be creative, thats only going to create more opportunities for everyone, because my style is going to appeal to him but not her, and your style is going to appeal instead to someone else.
If they're creative, particularly as freelancers (instead of trying to undercut someone) they might charge what they're worth as opposed to making a quick buck. There will always be those trying to make a quick buck sure, but the fewer there are, then good.
Sorry to have gotten everyone so worked up before the weekend, that was not my intention. |
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