Meet The New Middleman, Same as The Old Middleman - Issue #50
If I remember correctly, the promise of the internet way back in the dark days of dial-up and corporate T2 lines was that we were going to get rid of those dreaded “middlemen.” Want your news? Why deal with the daily paper or the local TV network channel when you could go online and get the news from….someone?
Groceries? Send your order directly online to PeaPod and "Presto", PeaPod would go and...get the groceries from a participating retailer and deliver it to you.
Why deal with bookstores and and the big publishers when you could buy the book from a self published writer on Amazon? Oh, wait, Amazon is essentially both a book wholesaler and a book retailer and a book publisher.
So maybe you want to subscribe to a magazine? Maybe you want the print version? Or the digital version? Or maybe both plus that weekly newsletter? Well guess what? You may not be doing business directly with the publisher. Nope. Sorry. There’s often a platform involved that handles all of the publishers’ back office functions (because it’s cheaper than hiring and retaining their own staff). Got a complaint about a subscription or can’t find the magazine at your local Walgreens? The person responding to you just might be me. In that way, I’m the “middleman” between you and the publisher. You’re not talking directly with them, you’re talking to me, (Or someone like me).
Once more, and with feeling: I’m no Luddite wishing for the days when you had three TV networks and the library card catalog system was exactly what it sounds like. I don't yearn for incandescent bulbs and McDonald's fries cooked in animal fat.
But the greatest, silliest, most foolish (and frankly very stupid) conceit of the tech world is that they have smoothed things out between consumer and provider. Customer and sales person. Yeah, sometimes. Maybe. But often, nope. Frequently all that's happened is the "middleman" was disrupted and replaced with a new "middleman."
I’ve worked for a while now in magazine publishing - exclusively on the business side. The difference between now and my first year in? The work is harder, more isolating, more obscure. And sometimes the results are less inspiring.
On the other hand? The latest deck I prepped for the 2023 promo budget is super cool.
1___Prof Galloway on Trust, Trustless, and Middlemen
Trustless | No Mercy / No Malice — www.profgalloway.com
It’s been a bummer summer for crypto. Flagship coins Bitcoin and Ether are at multiyear lows, while lesser coins barrel to zero. Luna went from a market capitalization of $34 billion (“market” and “capitalization” are becoming misnomers for crypto) to worthless in a matter of days.[…]
The second quarter, out here on the flatlands feels like it's ending with a whimper and Prof Galloway's mediation on tech bros, crypto and middlemen struck a big chord in me.
In the magazine world, trust is an essential requirement . The words inside the book, print or digital, have to have been edited, verified, certified trustworthy. Advertising promises have to be met. Circulation claims (or Audience Development, or whatever the heck you want to call it this week), needs to be believed.
And a lot of it is done by "middlemen" and "middlewomen" and "middlepeople" and we are, in fact, people.
So treat us that way. Please.
2__Speaking of "Trust", DuJour Publisher has some "Issues"
Jason Binn arrested for allegedly grabbing teen relative’s buttocks after Cipriani meal — nypost.com
Jet-setting media publisher Jason Binn was arrested Monday...
Luxury magazine publisher Jason Binn denies groping relative, blames estranged wife for claim — nypost.com
Luxury magazine publisher Jason Binn claimed the sexual abuse charges against him were concocted by his estranged wife...
Honestly, I feel a little queasy giving any oxygen to this story. However, it serves as a reminder that even the wealthy and vaunted and well protected can find themselves in hot water for any number of reasons.
It also reminds me of the excellent advice that my first grade teacher, Mrs. Sarah D. Cutler of Washington Elementary School gave me one day, " Keep your hands to yourself!"
She also told us not to pick our noses. So there's that.
3__What it's like to be a Production Director at a Magazine These Days...
When you need 70,000 pounds of paper a month and the supply chain is in chaos — www.marketplace.org Claudia Smukler of Mother Jones explains the unique hurdles to producing a print magazine in this economy.
Marketplace interviewed the Production Director of Mother Jones Magazine and I was amply impressed by how succinct and calm she was in describing what is going on in our industry right now.
It is pretty incredible to consider all of the tiny details it takes to get those giant rolls of paper into a printer's warehouse.
It's a skill that we shouldn't underrate.
4__Minx TV Series re-created Magazine Publishing from the 1970's
‘Minx’ Production Designer Jefferson Sage On Learning “Old Techniques” To Bring Back A Lost Art In Publishing — deadline.com Production designer Jefferson Sage discusses learning old techniques of magazine making to build authentic sets in 'Minx'.
Speaking of underrated skills...
I'm often reluctant to watch TV series or movies that try to show magazine or book publishing because they often seem to get it so wrong. But this article gives me some hope - even though the time period being displayed on screen was well before my time in a magazine publisher's office.
5___Reuters 2022 Digital News Report
Overview and key findings of the 2022 Digital News Report | Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism — reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk Last year’s report contained some positive signs for the news industry, with higher consumption and rising trust amidst a second wave of Coronavirus lockdowns. Many traditional news brands seemed to benefit not just from greater attention, but also financially, with more people taking out online subscriptions and advertisers looking to associate themselves with reliable content.
This was a fascinating report that unearthed several key items: Such as the fact that the proportion of news consumers who say they avoid news is increasing in many countries, often because they find it hard to understand. There are also large groups of "disconnected" news users with the use of traditional news sources such as print, TV and radio falling steadily over the past decade.
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That's all for this week. If you're still doing remote Zoom meetings and worried about what things look like in your background! Good on you! Keep it up. Change it up! I'm thinking Star Wars posters for my next meeting. Drop me a line and let me know what you're thinking of.
Have a great week!