The Sad State of the Fourth Estate

All right, before I begin, I have to tell you what just happened.

I was separating a pomegranate and the phone ran. An 855 number. I hesistated but answered.

It was a robo-call from Ben Carson. Yep.

How the hell did I end up on a list that would have them spend money on a call to me? Granted it was only pennies but still.

It's really a reflection on how worthless lists are in the direct mail business these days. A lot of traditional direct mail businesses that used to flood your mailbox with offers and assorted 'marketing materials' had to shift to email as the internet went from fad to reality. A lot of Old School marketers kept thinking it was the same concept with a new medium. 

Nope. The nature behind the sell may remain fairly consistent, but the way you sell is increasingly different. And the traditional DM mailers, have kind of screwed themselves in the new online DM world.  

To protect their new lists, they kept the good names to themselves and rented their worst names. Now, no one can build a decent list using other people's lists. Which makes everyone's lists worthless. 

My old publisher had a penchant for saying, 'We're not in the publishing business, we're in the list business.' 

It was very true. And remains so. But because they never adapted to seeing lists in a new way, they helped make their list business a dinosaur. And nowadays, once you get behind, you don't get out ahead again.

And listening to smooth-talking Ben today reinforced that this problem is happening across all sectors. 

And that's why individualization and curation are such important aspects to any kind of successful marketing these days. Whether you're a publisher, a restauranteur or an industrialist, customization is what separates the winners from the losers.

Sorry Ben. 

And on the other side of this issue is the media.

You see, before the Carson call, I was debating whether I wanted to even see the debate tonight.

The first one was an event. The second reasonably entertaining. The third was fine - until the candidates started that 'gotcha' crap.

Look, you're running for the presidency of the United States. You think every question you're going to get is a thoughtful rumination that meets your approval? You're supposedly going to be running a democracy, not a dictatorship.

What's the difference between a 'bad' question to a dictator and a president?

Democratically elected politician: Fuck you, answer it. You're working for the people that asked it.

Dictator: Refuse to answer such a stupid question. Excoriate the idiot (or group of idiots). Then quietly make sure that person (or group) never gets to ask another question that doesn't meet your approval.

Now I get that virtually all politicians are a callow group. And that is why they don't get to set the agenda. 

To see the media outlets cave to this group's demands was yet another nail in the coffin of the corporate or establishment media.

This is the reason there has been a generational shift on where younger people get news. They're searching for people who aren't going to lie or distort a story because of advertisers, parent companies, coziness with the powerful.

The Fourth Estate used to be adversarial to all and disenfranchised from the corridors of power. It was a badge of honor. But now journalist are corrupted by the corrupt. They feed off the power they're given by the powerful.

And the large media organizations are in a self-actualized death spiral because there's more accounting in a newsroom than integrity. At every point when we needed our major journalistic organizations to stand tall, they cowered.

Yes there were some exceptions and I laud those individual journalists. But they are exceptions to the new rules.

And these engineered debates are one more bright path to news organization's decline.

So, do I want to watch that? 

Yes in some sick way. And wouldn't you know it would FOX that hosts the devolution of its own credibility.

I think Maria will be the highlight of the event. I worked with her and she's very bright and does her research. I used to like Cavuto until he sold his soul to the FOX machine. They're both from the group that put CNBC on the map as a credible financial organization. And I can certainly see why they left, but I'm not sure their celebrity has helped their credibility.

As an aside. This is why the only place I turn for financial news is Bloomberg. For now.

Bloomberg still hires smart people that do good hard work every day. It's a bit more 'audience friendly' than it used to be but it still talks to people and tells stories that are important to what's going on in the markets and economies around the world. It hasn't lost its editorial mandate to grab more ad revenue.

And again, the irony is, it's the most successful of the 3 financial networks because it sticks to its mission. It doesn't sell or message anything. I doesn't have a bunch of CEOs on to blow smoke up each other's ass. It doesn't do semi-investigative journalism to ad to its revenue stream. It does the news.

So, what should we expect tonight?

Maria and Neil will not be fawning but it's not going go down as the toughest questioning these candidates will ever get. 

It's about the candidates, after all. They want (and will get) the spotlight to be wise and passionate and compassionate visionaries without anyone telling them they're full of shit.

Trump: Just be Trump and it will be fine.
Carson: Stop blaming and show us some real ideas that stand up to the mildest of scrutiny (and stop calling me!)
Bush: Care. Act like you want to win the office, not like it's an inevitability.
Rubio: Don't be an asshole. And don't act like an impatient bounder.
Cruz: Tell us when you led a group to success and stop bragging about being an outsider. You're a freakin' senator for God's sake.
Fiorina: I find her utterly annoying and hypocritical and distasteful. No advice.
Kasich: Keep acting like the adult in the room. The American people will eventually get it. Just stop telling us about the same damn things you did in Ohio. Give me the future, not the past.

So, bottom line I think. If I can get to the liquor store so I can fortify myself for this bread and circus, I may actually watch it. I'll certainly DVR it, just in case I don't have the nerve to see it live. Then I'll read all the crap tomorrow and tonight and then watch it to see how the media spins it vs the way I see it.

Because the more I listen to the media, the more I don't trust a thing they say, sadly.

Another Media Twist

Ok, I've said enough for one day. But before I go, check out this article from Fortune today. It talks about a very interesting trend that will continue to grow as we see sites like Facebook become so staggeringly important to media and advertising sources.

I haven't wrapped my mind around it yet but I think it's important. If any of you have some thoughts, I'd love to hear them.