I'm writing this from the window seat of a plane, en route to Chicago. While I was standing on line back at the terminal, a man who looked enough like Christopher Noth to make me stare uncontrollably, boarded the flight. And as luck would have it, I wound up sitting right next to him. (Seriously, he's reading a copy of USA Today right now - I'm watching him!) This is a situation, a Mr. Big Moment!
It's now been an hour, and the flight attendand came by to ask what we'd like to drink. His order, for a decaf coffee with a little water added and also milk which she should add because we've hit a skosh of turbulence and he has a very important meeting, led me to determine three things. First, and perhaps most importantly, this guy ain't Chris Noth. Secondly, a pair of Coach sunglasses and shiny leather bag do not a savvy businessman make.
The third thing I realized is this: the Internet is the great equalizer. That because of this medium, my children may never have their own Mr. Big Moment. Let me explain how I arrived at this point...and I promise, what I'm arguing will also impact journalism.
I'm fascinated with Chris Noth, partially because I'm attracted to him, partially because I associate him with the role he played on Sex in the City. And so I'll often sit through TV shows or movies featuring him but that aren't particularly good. Same goes for Clive Owen (my crush happened in "Closer"), the guy starring in "300" (because he reminds me of Clive Owen) and Rufus Sewell, a tremendous U.K.-based actor who America has yet to really discover.
I've seen these men with and without their clothes, in cineplexes and in my home theater. They're special because I've seen them on a big screen, and only a fraction of people ever appear in larger than life like that. My friends and family recognize these men, their images, their names...Chirs, Clive and Rufus...so they're Big in real life.
And yet I mistook the guy next to me for one of them.
Before the Internet, they only way to cultivate that kind of celebrity - because there were only a few, unattainable venues like theaters and televisions - was to appear in a movie. And now we have inexpensive video cameras and digital recording devices. We can upload video without really having any programming skills. We can spread that video virally without spending a penny, and ensure that millions of people around the world will see us.
I wrote yesterday about Paltalk, and I just can't stop thinking about the myriad ways in which we collect and perceive information is about to dramatically change.
There's nothing preventing the guy next to me from crafting a sitcom-style program and launching it on YouTube except, perhaps, for his whiny voice and drink ordering fetish. (On the other hand, Meg Ryan made a mint...) Hell, enough people appear to be watching network shows, 90% of which I think we'll all agree are terrible. So why not him?
And so let's say that he does launch a show, something akin to Lonelygirl15's YouTube adventures except with a more straightforward plot. And let's say that the show is uploaded to YouTube and that he also keeps a blog, a sort of personal diary, about the show. The blog and show are tagged and spread around the web using Slide, Stumble Upon, bebo.
Now, this average guy is suddenly a celebrity, recognized for real in the airport. And maybe people start mistaking Chris Noth for him.
Unlike filmmaking, which costs a lot of money and requires deals and relationships to get a movie produced, distributed and ultimately seen by people, there are no barriers to entry in the digital world, save for a few hundred bucks to buy equipment and the ability to think creatively. And so now there are movie star doppelgangers running all over cyberspace.
But when something unattainable and special becomes ubiquitous, it becomes ordinary. With all this access to both produce and receive media, won't the playing field eventually equal out? Sure, fantastically talented or attractive people will always command more widespread attention than others, but the field itself will be larger than ever before, with limitless players and possibilities.
Barriers are falling down everywhere. Some companies, such as Anheuser-Busch, are already taking advantage of this. I'm referencing bud.tv, which so far has been a commercial success. You already know my feelings about Paltalk.
Now consider the career trajectories of the men behind PerezHilton and Daily Kos. Neither Entertainment Weekly nor People magazine was banging down Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr.'s door asking him to report for them. Markos Moulitsas was a consultant, not a Woodward or even a Bernstein for the Washington Post.
We're still in the early stages of this media transition, but I'm starting to believe that as services and access become more widespread - and it may take a generation or so - more people than probably should will become content providers.
That brings me to journalism. There are more publications right now than any point of our global history, if you include blogs and websites. Enough people understand the basic way you craft a story: call a source up, ask him a few questions, call another source up, ask a few questions, repeat. Check notes, write story, repeat. Check facts. Publish.
Journalism's silver screen is gone, and gone forever. Yes, most people look to recognizable brands such as the New York Times and Washington Post for news. But more people, especially millennials, are open to PerezHilton and Daily Kos and the thousands of other topic-specific blogs out there. Citizen journalists have access to people, companies, government sources, etc. to do their reporting.
Will the old cache journalism once held evaporate? Working for Newsweek, I'd make a call for an interview and was never, ever told no, because, well, it was Newsweek. I can't say that 10 years ago I had the same success writing for Japan, Inc. Magazine.
My perception, even as a journalist, has changed. If the New York Times called me up wanting an interview on digital media, I'd be pretty stoked. But if I got an email from Michael Arrington or someone from Boing Boing...that would knock my socks off.
Seed Newsvine
If you plan to be at ONA, please let me know. While we're there, John Havens (
