Digital Assassin
According to some sources the BBC have been looking for would be ‘Digital Assassins’ to attend a conference about the ‘Democratisation of the Media’ on May 3rd (Today). Now forgive me if I am in error here, but isn’t the whole point of being an Assassin, digital or otherwise, to remain hidden and do your dirty work in secret? Not ponce around at sponsored conferences, even if there was fifty pounds sterling on offer. That’s rather like hiring out the Albert hall for Al-Qaeda to conduct a ‘meet and greet’ session to show their victims the cuddlier side of suicide bombing. To go public and say ‘I am a digital assassin’ That is simple schoolboy posturing. It is also akin to walking around with a sign saying ‘kick me – I love the attention’ hanging down your back.
Seriously though, having had a look at the various articles, it looks like a bit of a wake up call for mainstreamers and their circles of influence. Having read ‘Who runs this place’ by Anthony Sampson, I can see that the Mainstream Media have a problem. If Sampson’s Venn Diagrams inside the flyleaf of his book are anywhere near accurate, the traditional news media has a lot to lose, as do many institutions that form the ‘Establishment’. What I am talking about is ‘influence’, be it Islington dinner party opinionista’s or those who covertly say ‘support our viewpoint or we’ll pull our advertising’. Both these means of influence require a readership or circle of influence without which, their opionioneering or advertising is futile. They rely upon getting their message across to their target audience with little or no gainsaying. In short, they peddle influence, rather like certain newspapers try to influence the voting habits of their readership by slanting a political story one way or the other. For proof of this statement read first the Telegraph then the Guardian (Or the other way around) and look at the way they present what they print. You sometimes wouldn’t think that they were talking about the same things. Same for the Sun or Daily Mirror.
If, or more like when, the bulk of peoples reading tastes are more influenced by news blogs and primary sources, the traditional media will lose their power and therefore their wealth and means of generating more wealth. When the power brokers pay more attention to primary sources they will decline. Information is the life blood of a civilisation, more so than money; because money is made with the right, most accurate or timely of information. When the money no longer controls the flow of said information, the market opens wide to include lots of smaller dealers more than just a few big players. That is what blogging has done for the Internet. However, it is still in its infancy and in the UK at least, the art of the ‘professional blogger’ is still underdeveloped.
Perhaps this is what they mean by ‘Digital Assassin’.
Seriously though, having had a look at the various articles, it looks like a bit of a wake up call for mainstreamers and their circles of influence. Having read ‘Who runs this place’ by Anthony Sampson, I can see that the Mainstream Media have a problem. If Sampson’s Venn Diagrams inside the flyleaf of his book are anywhere near accurate, the traditional news media has a lot to lose, as do many institutions that form the ‘Establishment’. What I am talking about is ‘influence’, be it Islington dinner party opinionista’s or those who covertly say ‘support our viewpoint or we’ll pull our advertising’. Both these means of influence require a readership or circle of influence without which, their opionioneering or advertising is futile. They rely upon getting their message across to their target audience with little or no gainsaying. In short, they peddle influence, rather like certain newspapers try to influence the voting habits of their readership by slanting a political story one way or the other. For proof of this statement read first the Telegraph then the Guardian (Or the other way around) and look at the way they present what they print. You sometimes wouldn’t think that they were talking about the same things. Same for the Sun or Daily Mirror.
If, or more like when, the bulk of peoples reading tastes are more influenced by news blogs and primary sources, the traditional media will lose their power and therefore their wealth and means of generating more wealth. When the power brokers pay more attention to primary sources they will decline. Information is the life blood of a civilisation, more so than money; because money is made with the right, most accurate or timely of information. When the money no longer controls the flow of said information, the market opens wide to include lots of smaller dealers more than just a few big players. That is what blogging has done for the Internet. However, it is still in its infancy and in the UK at least, the art of the ‘professional blogger’ is still underdeveloped.
Perhaps this is what they mean by ‘Digital Assassin’.
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