The lack of quality in today’s media, when you boil everything down, is really our fault.
A radio announcer who can’t pronounce local names.
Impersonal voice tracking by broadcast wannabes.
Newspapers filled with typos and factual errors.
Television news reports done by kids so green their ears are still wet.
The problem is, management serves up crap in their lifelong quest to cut costs, but we swallow what they’re serving.
It’s very simple, really. You could be excused for making a mistake once, say going to a store and buying something of inferior quality. But continuing to go back to that same store and supporting the merchant and the manufacturer, even when you know the quality sucks – that’s inexcusable.
Many of you who are reading this went through a development period in which you and your work matured. You had an inner voice that pushed you to do the best work you could. Why don’t today’s media practitioners have that inner voice?
Do they not understand how horrific the quality of their work is? Do they not understand the sense of satisfaction one gets when one takes pride in his/her work? How can they do their jobs so poorly and have any pride?
But I guess it really boils down to you and me. I can think of only one thing that would light the proverbial fire under today’s media managers: The fear of failure.
If you and I stop “consuming” today’s media, eventually the erosion of users will be noticed. Stop listening to lousy radio. Stop buying badly produced print media. When their user base goes down, advertisers will look elsewhere for places to spend their money, and that, in the language of management, is failure.
Want better media? The ball is in your hands.
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