I saw a news story on Ad Age today where Brian Williams of NBC news had made fun of new media. The news report said he was speaking at a recent Ad Council Public Service Awards ceremony. In his opening remarks he lampooned the digital geek-speak that so often ignores the realities of traditional media. I was upset just reading the one paragraph news report! I can get a bit hypersensitive when old media barons mock or downplay new media.
My initial reaction was to think of Brian Williams as just another horse and buggy owner bemoaning the arrival of automobiles. I wanted to send Brian an email to tell him that I didn’t know a single person in my immediate circle of friends who had watched a NBC News broadcast in the past two years! Instead most of them read blogs, listen to podcasts and are heavy social networkers – despite this they’re very well informed on the news of the day!
However, I watched the video and contrary to my assumptions he actually makes fun of the “over-geekyness” of technology early adopters and had some very interesting things to say. It’s a very funny take on how over enthusiastic we new media folks can get. I think he makes a valid point and I do agree that new media hype can sometimes create nonsensical “innovations.”
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Watch the video and come back here to tell me what you think!
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