Publishers Get the F Scott Fitzgerald Treatment
November 24, 2009
If you are a fan of F Scott Fitzgerald, you know he skewers his targets with a thin, sharp rapier. When the point finds its mark, often the victim does not realize at the moment that a fatal blow has been struck. I thought of F Scott when I read “Screening the News” by Mrinal Desai, founder of CrossLoop. the story appeared in TechCrunch and I think that that the publication used Mr. Desai as a sharp rapier. The victim is the traditional print media which seems intent on making the word “paywall” next year’s Oxford English Dictionary. Traditional publishers may want to “unfriend” people like Mr. Desai.
The guts of the story is that a motivated and sharp person like Mr. Desai can get along just fine without relying a whole lot on traditional publishing companies’ products. The write up is a tutorial on how to stay informed and use information instead of working the way people did in the Dark Ages. In case the clear explanation and links don’t drive the point home, a nifty diagram is included. I wanted to reproduce it, but the goose does not need a legal eagle darkening his Harrod’s Creek sky. Just navigate to the story on TechCrunch and scroll down until you see the headline “Social Distribution Channels.” You are there.
Several observations:
First, I think the article makes clear how traditional media faces an uphill battle in its slog against the digital environment.
Second, I like very much the method of Mr. Desai. I picked up a few good ideas too.
Third, TechCruch has used an F Scott Fitzgerald technical with a wonderful adeptness.
I wonder if the traditional media know that they have been run through with cold digital steel?
Stephen Arnold, November 24, 2009
I wish to disclose to the National Gallery of Art that I was not paid to write about this artistic piercing of traditional media.
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