Out With A Bang

We have alreday been round this particular block once before…

http://outwithabang.rickwaghorn.co.uk/?p=164

… but the thoughts of Ms Bell are worth exploring further; one or two lines therein worth poring over again.

These two, basically… taken from the original report by Laura Oliver… http://www.journalism.co.uk/2/articles/532538.php

‘In the UK media, Bell said she could see five national newspapers going out of business, ‘the regional press heading for complete market failure’ and no commercial UK-owned broadcaster operating outside of the BBC.

‘”We are standing at the brink of what will be two years of carnage for western media. Nobody in my business has got a grip of it yet,” said Bell.’

The fact that she can’t see a commerical broadcasting operator beyond the BBC surviving and that no-one – not even GMG themselves – has ‘got a grip of it yet…’

If only because I know so little about that particular world, I’ve always strayed away from trying to work out ‘What next?’ for TV types. We’ve delved a little into that arena with Mr Magic Lantern and backpackdave08 – http://outwithabang.rickwaghorn.co.uk/?p=157 – but otherwise I’ve no idea what the future holds for Channel Four, ITV and Co.

Nor, if Ms Bell is to be believed, do they.

But what is interesting is if you put her thoughts about journalism’s future being somehow tied to becoming part of someone else’s conversation – ie, ‘Journalists should be actively encouraged to see news as a conversation…’ and then wonder whether or not you couldn’t advance the same argument for TV and broadcasting…

… that mabe their role going forward is to do little more than the rest of us and spark fresh conversations in the communities that already gather around, say, Grand Designs, or Lost.

That just as, say, Robert Peston’s ‘brand’ can – on various tumultuous ‘Meltdown Mondays’ or whenever – transcend even the BBC, so maybe in this great, splintering world of ours, programmes of the Lost or Wired varieties are actually breaking out of their mother broadcaster ‘brands’ and becoming communities of their own.

How many friends and family do you know who are already trading box DVD sets of ‘Lost: Series One’ between eachother?

Simple, dinner party evidence suggests that whether the series is on Sky, Channel Four or whoever matters little; we hop from one to another with precious little regard for who our old media ‘host’ is. Just as long as someone has got the box set we can borrow…

So, the argument might run, if the likes of Channel Four want to be part of that conversation going forward, then perhaps the onus is increasingly on them and their like to actually start facilitating and curating those conversations better.

That as they poke around the many-headed thing that starts life as simply www.channel4.com so, perhaps, they need to start looking at how they might make the lives of those communities easier; to recognise that the loyalties of those communities are to Lost first, Channel Four second; that being the case, how do we – as an ever more distant and detached host – enable and empower what was once our audience to enjoy a better class of conversation?

If David Cushman’s whole campfire thing is the future, do we all need to start thinking about making sure that there’s enough logs for the fire?

Ordering the seats in neater rows? Making sure everyone can hear what’s being said? Hand out the sticks and marshmellows for toasting – but always in the knowledge that the conversations are now going on without us… all we can ever hope to do is to get a little bit of thanks and recognition for chopping up the wood and throwing it on the fire…

So, here’s our community of ‘Lost’ fans – how can we help? Here’s a gathering of Grand Designs buffs – have you got everything you need? Desperate Housewives – all well, ladies? And so it continues…

Now, of course, someone, somewhere has got to have the financial wherewithal to actually produce the original content around which such communities gather; but the success of, say, Kate Modern suggests that the audience is already adept and enabled enough to make their own entertainment if Hollyoaks goes under.

So if Channel 4 is, indeed, in the midst of something of an identity crisis – and, heh, who isn’t? – perhaps there’s part of the answer.

That you aspire to be this house of many conversations; warm, welcoming, safe and secure.

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