Defamed
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix…”
Perhaps using Ginsberg is overstating the case. But when Stu Van Airsdale heads out of his own business into yet another situation where he is truly a round peg in a square hole – Stu blogging Oscars? Stu doing Hollywood gossip? Are you f-ing kidding me?!?! – you have to realize that the hopeful lie of blogging for money is narrowing to the pinhole of reality it always was.
It’s not so much of a shock. I have been seeing this ugliness coming for about 9 months… really, ever since Nick Denton was forced back to work at Gawker and soon after started interviewing any monkey who had put together a clever insult for the Defamer slot. (I love Stu’s brain and I wish he were still working with MCN. I am willing to bet that we’d be paying him more than Gawker Media to do the kind of work he really should be doing instead of trying to pelt Hollywood from an ivory tower that will distinguish him from his down & dirty predecessor. But that’s more water under the bridge.)
But it’s hardly just Gawker. I have seen it on site after site, waiting for their payday. I have seen it as many known journalists are thrust into the cold world of joblessness, hopeful for a moment that blogging is an answer until they realize that $20,000 a year for working endlessly is no great shakes. I saw it during the Oscar season when studios were happy to pay MCN well for ad space, but showed little interest in smaller sites, even ones that were getting lots of attention from The Bagger and others. Others pretended to have paid ads when they did not. Others begged and cajoled to little success. Frankly, MCN is lucky to have the industry base we have and a flag set on the Oscar season for years now… or we too might be wondering what to do.
Stu’s launch of his own niche version of MCN, more heavy on original content, was brave and passionate and smart… and too late. And by niche-ing NY, he limited his potential ad base to true indies, most of whom are struggling to survive right now. Even $500 for an ad is a lot for many of these companies and their movies.
And while I hate to bring up La Finke, please note how few site-specific ads have turned up on her page… after all those WGA writers in love… after all that publicity… after more positive mentions in mainstream media in the last six months than MCN has been afforded in over 5 years… and all she is running are the same ads from the LA Weekly. In her case, it is studios being afraid or unwilling to be associated with her ranting rage… even the 3 or 4 studios that feed her info on a daily basis.
And then we can start looking at the Traditional Media sites that muscled up for awards season and found out that not only was it hard to find a consistent audience, but that studios were not willing to pay premium prices to reach Oscar obsessives when what they were looking for was Oscar voters. How many TM sites have gone out buying bloggers only to find out that the content was better than the page views (or, in many cases, not)?
Let’s keep in mind that MediaBistro.com, the big sale of last year, had established a brick-n-mortar business generating $5 million a year in revenues with the web as the doorway, but their classes as the cash machine that made a buy of 5 times yearly earnings make sense to someone. If someone was out there with $25 million for Gawker Media, they would now own Gawker Media.
It’s hard out there for a pimp. My biggest concern these days is how many established writers I can hire for a price and what to do with all the content we could create. Is the cost – even the low cost – going to add value to the page… not just financial, but will people take the time in an oversaturated media culture to read smart, thoughtful writing on film? I have no interest in being in the Lindsay Lohan’s tits business or claiming exclusives on every third story we bump into or making noise just to make noise.
Maybe we should take a cue from Karina Longworth, who reacted when it was suggested she could be better used by a more aggressive outlet by saying, “Not really… thanks.”
I know that Stu and others have to do what they can to get where they are going. But much as I love him – and you can love someone without agreeing with all of their ideas – I am just blown away that he is now embarking on a further lowering of his standards in a job that he really isn’t qualified for anyway (Stu knows about as much about pop culture as I know about being hip in Brooklyn).
I pray for the day when Stu grows into the role he was born… an arts commentator at the NY Times or Village Voice (may it live on) or Vanity Fair or Details or anywhere they want to get a movie-loving Andrew Sullivan for the future. He will surely kick me in the balls when he has a chance, if I am still offering my balls up for kicking. But that would be a pleasure, in its way. I don’t mind fighting battles with angry young men (who look like mild mannered reporters). What I mind is watching so many kids prove themselves and then ending up starting out again at the Obits desk because they have to pay rent.
But so it goes…
“Oscar season when studios were happy to pay MCN well for ad space, but showed little interest in smaller sites, even ones that were getting lots of attention from The Bagger and others. Others pretended to have paid ads when they did not. Others begged and cajoled to little success. Frankly, MCN is lucky to have the industry base we have and a flag set on the Oscar season for years now… or we too might be wondering what to do.”
Unfortunately studios don’t yet know how the web works. But they’ll catch on eventually.
So does this mean he’s taking Lisanti’s duties? Or is he just a new hire?
Hard to blame Stu for making a business decision. You gotta strike while the iron is hot and if he can make more money, then that’s the way of the world I suppose. I’ll miss his musings on the indie scene; it’s unfortunate that such a talented writer who had carved out a unique spot in the blog world will become just another gossip blogger, his special voice fading into the ether.
But again, I can’t say I blame him. I don’t know what his situation is financially, but this job is not for people hoping to get rich. And if he’s able to bank a little more money, then more power to him.
Christ. Who wants to follow Lisanti?
I don’t think so, Zimmergirl. Just the opposite.
I think we are already seeing a mainstreaming of web ad buying, with buys with the same places they buy in print and TV and then bulk buying via the ad buyers like Guerilla Nation, etc.
I think it’s only because there are consultants unique to awards season that buys are now made outside of that circle of same-old-same-old. (Things were more adventurous in the past.) Part of my belief in that is that when pushed/reminded that some were being forgotten unreasonably, some of the smaller buys were made by instruction of the studios out of respect. But the ad agencies? The niche numbers are just too small for them.
Flip side, when everything gets niche-ier, more respect may be paid to more deserving sites. But the numbers will be much smaller, leaving that arena mostly to non-pros while companies with internal ad sales position packages across more than one medium.
Whew.
Never quite sure what those kinds of comments mean, Kris. But you and Sasha and Eric Kohn and Scott Feinberg and a bunch of the G2.0ers and more are also right in this mix…
2.0 is over. Signs have been around for a while, and now it’ll get flushed along with the economy same as 1.0 did in the last recession.
You ought to know what it means. But I’ll happily send an email your way to explain.
Wow Dave, that’s awesome, you don’t know how to invest your windfall. Lunch with David, anyone? Hint: see Reeler TV and forget your “biggest concern these days is how many established writers I can hire for a price and what to do with all the content we could create. Is the cost – even the low cost – going to add value to the page… not just financial, but will people take the time in an oversaturated media culture to read smart, thoughtful writing on film?”
I’m not 100% clear on what you are suggesting T Holly… and it’s hardly a windfall… it’s a parade of people who have been and should be employed by TM being cut loose and MCN with some money to spend on talent.
But Lunch With David, which I love doing, is great for me… but builds MCN primarily by proximity. Maybe “Lunch With IO” would do better for the site.
I just want to see more eating on Lunch with David. I miss seeing people chowing down on fries.
PLEASE do a “lunch with IO”. it’d be the highlight of my week.