E-Media Tidbits

Ian Ransley, via Flickr (CC license) Online and mobile media are not spectator sports. Do you really have skin in this game?

This may surprise Tidbits readers, but I don't think Clark is entirely wrong. Part of what he's saying is that if you're in the media business, eating your own dog food is crucial context. I'd add that you should not just eat one flavor, but the whole menu.

Here's my take: If you work for a media organization that publishes a print product, you should indeed read the print edition regularly. You should also read the online edition regularly -- including the comments and forums (if any), and explore the multimedia and interactive offerings.

There's more: Subscribe to your company's podcasts, vidcasts, and feeds. Check out the mobile offerings -- not just the mobile version of your company's site, but also mobile services (including SMS alerts) and tools for posting content from camera phones like photos, video, or audio. Participate in public conversations hosted by your employer by making public comments on its stories, blogs, and forums. Does your company have a presence on social media like Facebook or Second Life? Check that out too (more than once).

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Do these things even if -- perhaps especially if -- certain aspects of your online or mobile operations aren't making much money yet.

Here's why: If those operations aren't making much money, but that's where the future of your industry lies, and if you want your company to stay in business so you can keep getting your paycheck, then it's YOUR BUSINESS (not a moral imperative, just smart business) to figure out what your company is missing or doing wrong. Then you can offer constructive solutions or new options to try, backed up with first-hand experience about your range of current offerings.

In any field, but especially media, it's important to have some skin in the game. Normally people say that to refer to making a personal financial investment in your company (from buying shares to using products). But we're also in an attention economy, so we all "invest" in media ventures by deciding where we put our attention.

I would challenge Clark on this point: Most journalists already know how to read a print newspaper, and they already know what to expect from that experience. Seems to me that if you have scarce time available and little or no experience with your company's full range of online and mobile offerings, it's probably more useful to invest your attention in new experiences.

Also, learn from media ventures that are already making money online -- especially niche content operations, or ways to capitalize on social or mobile media. There are profitable lessons and models that can apply, and journalists and ad sales staff alike should learn them.

Clark isn't entirely wrong: Having skin in the game really does count, and it is a crucial job skill for journalists. His specific advice for practicing that skill is maybe only 90 percent wrong. (And I say that with all due respect, Roy; I really like your work.)