Chapter 4: "The Future of Journalism" - A cautionary tale

We've been having an interesting discussion about the Future of Journalism in class recently and these conversations have got me thinking about the direction things are headed. A friend and classmate Posted Her Thoughts via an editorial in the Winnipeg Free Press, we spoke at length in Journalism class, and even my instructors, Kenton Larsen and Duncan McMonagle have weighed in.

My turn!

I have been thinking about An Article I read about a month ago that introduced me to the term "Hit Board", which I found out, is a public record of how many pageviews or "hits" every single article has, on the the videogame-journalism site Kotaku, The article focuses on Kotaku's new EIC Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo), his philosophy on journalism in gaming and how his website measures success.

Apparently, with this site and all subdivisions of Gawker, Kotaku's "parent" blog, the content producers use the "Hit Board" as a tool to help tailor their future content to what is most popular and what got the most pageviews because essentially, these articles got the most advertising views.

Tailoring content towards the masses seems like a dangerous concept to me, because of what the general population seems to value in today's instant-gratification, change-fearing, reality-TV/celebrity obsessed culture that we've created. 

This creates an atmosphere where contributors to the website would steer away from writing a potentially interesting, engaging story about something no one has heard of yet, and instead choose to write a puff piece about something already popular just because it's guaranteed to drive high traffic.

Kotaku is a good example of this degradation in quality of content already. Articles and editorials about videogames and systems released months (and even years) ago are being written and posted on a daily basis, because the writers know that established fans will read a familiar article about something they like, as opposed to an article about something foreign to them.

This is a dangerous system for journalism to operate under but it seems like one of the only business models that is proven thus far, at least, in the realm of online media. 

Popular = Hits, Hits = Ads, Ads = Money, Money = Success!

One might argue that journalism should never be concerned with what's in or what sells, but in order to operate an actual media outlet that can pay its employees and continue to do business... It will need to bring in revenue somehow. 

For content producing sites, is there another business model that can or will emerge? Will subscriptions or paywalls emerge as profitable options? Are people even willing to pay for premium content?  Or will our content producing journalistic media be forced down a dangerous path of writing to appease the masses? 

Only thing I can say for certain is... It's a damn interesting time to be a Creative Communications student. 

                                                                                        -NxB

Playing: Guild Wars 2 by ArenaNet 

Watching:  The Office

Listening to: Childish Gambino - Camp

Chapter 3: "Does Obama's Product Placement Belong Inside Our Media?" - An honest question

In 2008, when President Obama was campaigning for President, he did something that no politician had ever attempted before him; he placed a virtual advertisement in a video game.

Two actual in-game advertisements from 2008, photo via blog.epromos.com/

Electronic Arts Inc. was the first to allow such practice to occur, in their NHL, NBA, NFL, and Need for Speed franchises. Virtual Billboards were purchased with Obama's face plastered all over them, and this practice is to continue in the 2012 election.

Now this makes me wonder, why are blatant political shills allowed to exist in this genre of entertainment and not others? 

What if, at the end of the The Dark Knight Rises, Obama walked out, shook Bruce Wayne's hand, and said "I hope I can count on your vote in November. Obama/Batman 2012!"

I mean, aside from being awesome, and Fox News literally imploding on itself... What else would happen? Would there even be an uproar?

How far away are we until we see Political Product Placement in our mainstream media? It's already happening in video games but no one is batting an eye. Artists are already whoring themselves out for both American political parties and they are applauded for it.

Can you imagine the metaphorical shit-storm (and Twitt-storm) if Walt from Breaking Bad or Jax from Sons of Anarchy walked past a Romney billboard in the season premieres of their respective shows? Would the potential outrage be the same if it was an Obama billboard? Do political ads even belong in the same vein as the commercially driven product placement we see every single day? 

Obama/Tellar 2012!

This is a slippery slope and I, for one, hope that political advertising doesn't infiltrate/penetrate our entertainment any further. Artistic integrity is hemorrhaging to death and is almost non-existent in today's culture, but is nothing sacred anymore?

                                                                                        -NxB

Playing: Borderlands 2 by Gearbox & Guild Wars 2 by ArenaNet 

Reading:  Whatever I'm assigned to read in school.

Watching:  The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Chapter 2: "Twitter Followers, How Bad Do You Want 'Em?" - A reflection

Yesterday, Ben Kuchera (@BenKuchera) of The Penny Arcade Report (@thepareport) wrote an interesting editorial titled Lying to get press: the seemingly bought or faked Twitter followers of NBA Baller Beats.

To summarize the article, Kuchera received a press release from videogame developer Majesco Entertainment for their upcoming game NBA Baller Beats a new-concept videogame you play with an actual basketball as your controller.

 Official trailer for NBA Baller Beats, via YouTube

In the press release, Majesco stated the game has nearly 700,000 Twitter followers. Kuchera investigated the claim found that 95% of those Twitter accounts were either fake or inactive, leading him to believe that Majesco gained these followers in an unethical and/or dubious way.

The most damning evidence is the Baller Beats Twitter handle (@NBABallerBeats) gained exactly 21,321 followers per day, starting August 19th. Every day. Never more, never less.

Majesco denied the accusation but the evidence is hard to ignore. Especially since blockbuster videogames like Call of Duty only have 570,000 followers and it is widely considered to be the biggest videogame franchise in the world.

NBA Baller Beats vs. Call of Duty... Something doesn't seem right...

For the sake of argument, let's assume Majesco actually bought over 650,000 followers. This brings up an interesting question: Why did they decide to do this? Why take the chance that the public finds out, and potentially damage the integrity of their brand and their product?

The conclusion I've come to is that they believe, that consumers must believe: Quantity Of Followers = Quality Of Product and the risk of being caught misrepresenting themselves was outweighed by the potential consumers gained.

We were taught the first week in PR class, essentially, that honesty is the best policy when dealing with the public and this is one instance where misrepresentation could turn around and bite them in the ass.

Quantity of followers = quality of product...

Is it, though? When you follow someone on Twitter, do you see how many followers they have first? When you buy a product or watch a TV show or download a song, do you see how many other people did first? When you're in line at the grocery store, do you see what other people are buying before you decide what to put in your shopping cart?

I don't mean to be dismissive of the fact that if a product is popular, there might be a valid reason and therefore, people are more likely to give popular products a try.

I can see where Majesco is coming from and why they (allegedly) did what they did. It's too bad, really. The game is a very cool concept and seems to harness the Xbox Kinect in a very unique and intriguing way.

What gives me pause is this... If a relatively small videogame developer is (allegedly) capable and/or willing to mislead the media and the public, then anyone can. Musicians, comedians, writers, journalists, anyone! You have to wonder, when it comes to Twitter's inherent popularity contest, who's really following who?

                                                                                    -NxB

Playing: Guild Wars 2 by ArenaNet  (still!)

Reading: Guild Wars: Edge of Destiny by J. Robert King  (still!)

Watching: Sons of Anarchy (Season Premiere TONIGHT!!)

Chapter One: "The Virgin Diaries" - An introduction

My name is Nolan Bicknell, I am a Creative Communications student at Red River College in Winnipeg Manitoba. This is the first real blog I've ever sat down to write and in all honesty, it has been a struggle so far. Not a good sign, considering we're only two sentences in...

I don't know what this is going to be. Perhaps it will grow organically into something worth reading/writing, perhaps I'll find a new pastime, perhaps I'll make new connections with friends and professional acquaintences. Perhaps all, or none of the above. I guess we'll see.

I intend to write about the things that interest me the most: Videogames, media, gaming journalism, artistic integrity in the medium, and any other topics in the entertainment industry that pique my interest. I hope to engage in conversations with like-minded individuals, learn from them, and hopefully walk away with more knowledge and a better understanding about various aspects of the industry. I guess we'll see what happens, this is all very new to me and I'm learning as I go.

If it isn't already blatantly apparent, I'm new to blogging and uncomfortable with the whole idea. I'm from a dying generation of people that believe "public diary" is an oxymoron and until now I have kept my personal thoughts, feelings, and opinions private. I believe my Journalism 1 Instructor said it best during the first or second day of class when he callously, honestly, and accurately announced to the entire class "no one gives a shit what you think."

I guess we'll see.



                                                                                                               -NxB

Playing: Guild Wars 2 by ArenaNet (epic)

Reading: Guild Wars: Edge of Destiny by J. Robert King (see a pattern?) 

Watching: Sons of Anarchy (reruns)