Should I Pose Nude?
Hmmm, should I pose nude?
Trust me no magazine, Web site, periodical or person for that matter, short of my wife, has ever expressed even a joking interest in that.
But there’s an idea that’s been percolating for a while and it’s time to expose it.
The media landscape grows messier and more painful each day. Century-old newspapers are folding, good journalists are out of work and friends are asking do I need a new career?
The hard news is that for some of us – the answer is yes. But from what I’ve seen in 20 years in journalism, it becomes clearer each day that we need to rebuild rather than renovate. We need a relentless dedication to what the user needs, wants, deserves and expects. Not what’s the most convenient change we can make to our existing systems.
“Maybe, just maybe, the existing model for generating, distributing and monetizing content could benefit from a Ctrl-Alt-Delete reboot.” -- Brian Solis, TechCrunch
Now there are lots of smart people out there who have theories of what can, should or should not be done to re-invent journalism in this new media landscape. That’s not me. What I’d like to do is point out bold attempts that are worthy of consideration and share some crazy ideas of my own.
But most of all I’d like to connect with open-minded people willing to try, share and develop new means of storytelling.
This is where the nude part comes in.
What if my boss reads it?
What if my friends read it, (either one or possibly both)?
What if my wife, kids, coworkers, church members or mailman reads it?
What if my U.S. congressional representative (sorry to drag you into this Frank Pallone Jr.) thinks it's dumb?
What if no one reads it?
Well, this will be as much an experiment in conquering the fear of "what will others think" as much as "how do we reinvent journalism." So here goes nothing, hopefully it means something. How’s that for a weak mission statement?
