Do It Yourself!

Something quite despicable is happening, and it's all under the guise of empowering people. Perhaps that's the typical way of it. What it is has to do with media. I think it started as a case of necessity being the mother of invention, as did reality television, whose rise I trace to the emergence of 'COPS' during the late 80s writers' strike. There was no interest in buying such a show until the value of one which operated independent of writers became apparent. In a pinch, that program became a hit with an incredible profit margin and the rest was quite inevitable. Consumer-driven content for media outlets was probably likewise inevitable.

Those running the outlets probably never dreamed that anyone but trained, experienced professionals would be fit to do things like contribute film reviews or footage of news events. They weren't qualified, they didn't possess the necessary equipment, and who would ever work for free? It was a dream too ridiculous to entertain. Certain factors made it less ridiculous. When certain media began to struggle and cheaper content became very appealing, I suppose they were quick to dispense with antiquated notions of professional pride. The proliferation of good consumer technology such as camera phones made it practical. Now we have Joe Schmoe's video footage of a mudslide and his review of the latest Indiana Jones movie. The tv station runs the former and the paper runs the latter, both at no greater cost than attribution to Joe Schmoe, who is a sucker.

There's an expression my father has said in reference to having political donations solicited from him. In the absence of strong profanity which I don't care to use in writing, I can think of no better thing to say to those who would have me contribute for free and receive nothing in return but the satisfaction of seeing my own name on a page. Anyone like that can pound sand. People who give away their creative output are fools, and anyone who asks them to is egregiously insulting them. I certainly won't speak for others (and particularly not for those who I consider untalented), but what I come up with is worth something. I'm not going to turn over my efforts so that some lazy staff member at a station can take it easy.

I won't say that I'm entirely opposed to working for free. I do it for those who need it, and I myself am first on that list, followed by anyone I care about who is doing no better than I am. I'll do something for free if everyone is, or else there had better be some amazingly compelling reason why I would. I'm no mercenary, but I'm not John D. Rockefeller either. I'll be generous and magnanimous later when I have bathtubs full of silver dollars. Until then, any media entity requesting content from me for no charge will get a furious tirade, and they can do with that what they will.