My friend, Eban Crawford, writes recently about new media “pirates” and the ostracizing of one in particular. I consider Eban about as good of a friend as one can have in this medium, so I know he’ll understand my writing a response here is a continuation of the conversation and not any form of personal attack.

I write here often that we in New Media should be the new pirates. I don’t say that just to be spouting inane rhetoric. I really believe that we should embrace the spirit of the pirate radio types that came before us. We need to be brash and confrontational, not Touchy-feely. Danny Golden understood that side of podcasting, and his show reflected it. (As much as I hate to admit it, he seems to have understood this even more than me)

I’m all for using the blunt approach and “calling it like you see it” (for lack of a better term). This is one of the many reasons I enjoy reading and listening to people like Eban, Dave Slusher, and Eric Rice — you’re not going to get anything sugar-coated, and they respect other people of the same ilk.

Sadly, podcasters and other new media producers are in a piranha tank where calling these things out or otherwise being critical of intents and results gets you labeled a wet-blanket cynic, simply dismissed out of hand, or actively attacked for daring to speak out. When you take disagreement with an idea personally or outright refuse to accept someone might hold a valid contrary opinion, you immediately close off all avenues of discussion and understanding. From a maturity standpoint, it’s the functional equivalent of a child holding hands over ears while chanting “I am not listening”.

Another thing Danny said in the last WWoD episode that strikes as true is most podcast listeners are from the podcast world. I will take that a bit further, Social and New Media consumers, no matter what form, are usually also producers of said content as well. We need to break down the walls and stop with the support group mentality. It is somewhat incestuous. We have to get out there and get the eyes and ears of those that do not look to New Media for their entertainment at this time, not those already converted to the cause.

Again, spot on. I’ve said before that the ego-chamber is alive and well, still, in podcasting, and it continues to run its circular course through the non-forking family tree that is the so-called “podcast community”. Podcasters (and their network overlords) are still too interested in patting themselves on the back for an infinitely small increase in the infinitely small coverage rate they have in the overall grand scheme of media consumption.

Notice I said millions of other viewers. How many eyes or ears does your new media product reach? They pull in millions with mindless crap. Even the best of the New Media products only pull in a fraction of those numbers.

This is exactly why most of the Top-20 podcasts in iTunes are dominated by old media conglomerates, folks. They already have the eyes and ears of millions. If you think your new media content is going to go mainstream and make you a star, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons, and you’re in the wrong business.

We have one group of new media citizens that seems to be trying to do things the way old media does things. That won’t work for us, it has been done and we don’t have the resources to compete.

Another group is those New Media folks that are looking for profits and revenue before we actually make the cut and get into the eyes and ears of the masses. I don’t completely disagree with this as the old adage it takes money to make money is true in most cases. But we do have to be wary of putting the cart before the horse and building an unworkable model.

Sadly, both of these groups include most of your hierarchal podcast networks. With their 30-second ads, the pre-rolls, the post-rolls, and the over-rehearsed advertisements for other in-network shows, they are trying to take chapter and verse right out of old media’s playbook, without the corresponding astronomical marketing budgets. Preaching to the converted, indeed.

I produce for Podshow, and while not perfect, Podshow does not deserve a lot of the crap directed in their direction. There are exciting things going on that will be announced in the future that will impact the world of New Media. I find Podshow to be in the something totally new crowd and I am happy to be there.

While I’m glad that Eban is happy with Podshow, this is where I must disagree with my friend. Podshow, and every other for-profit podcast network out there inclusively, deserves every bit of the criticism they receive. These companies put themselves out there as the so-called “torch bearers” for new media, promising to lead the unwashed masses out of the desert to the promised land. Such brass not only invites critical watch over and review of your actions, it encourages it.

Most of your for-profit networks are set up with a few big “stars”, a lower tier of minor producers, and what can best be described as the steerage. It’s the job of the minor producers to promote the big stars (in hopes of one day being granted membership in the court) while helping the stars hold a carrot out in front of the the port window of the bottom deck. Keep eating your vegetables and saying your prayers every night and you too can some day make pennies on the dollar for your content.

In other words, it’s one very murky (and sadly, very legal) pyramid scheme. Only the first-class content producers at the very top (or the early entrants, which are usually the same people) will ever make any real money from being part of the network. The rest of the content producers will continue to chase an unreachable dream that is nothing more than a highly subjective moving target which may not even be there at all when (if) the end of the rainbow is found.

These schemes are not good for podcasting, but they are good for the podcast networks and the first-class content producers, which is why they continue to flourish. The sooner these schemes sink to the bottom of the sea the better off podcasting will be for all of us. Sadly, when that does happen, a lot of good content producers and a lot of good content are going to go down with the ship while the upper classes row away towards the next round of angel funding.

There’s nothing wrong with being a new media pirate. Go forth, sail the seas and explore all there is to see, hear, and do in the new media world. Just make sure you’re on the right boat, lest you be left rearranging the deck chairs.

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