Text – Page 33 – Citizen Reporter

Murdochs, Media, and Money

I am a sucker for programs and some discussions about the future of media and what the newspaper industry will look like in 10 years. Even though I think it is discussed to death lately, with everyone just sticking a finger in the air and making a speech, I enjoy listening to people from different backgrounds and different experiences.

While I’m no fan of Rupert Murdoch and alot of his philosophy about the function and purpose of the media, it is interesting to see what he plans to do with his media empire online. More recently he has announced his intention that all his newspapers will be going to a for-pay business model where people will have to subscribe in order to get access. This comes as the conventional wisdom online says this is insane and will not work because the public has so much choice of free online news.

On a recent episode of Background Briefing from Australia Radio National, the topic was indeed media and business models online and it features a speech by Rupert’s son James Murdoch. They also get into what many executives see as a MEDIA WAR, when it comes to how the industry will work in the future. And just when you thought one episode couldn’t have more than two Murdochs, the program also gets into the media philosophy of Sir Keith Murdoch, who was critical of the public broadcasting model in Australia.

I highly recommend giving this episode a listen, especially if you’re like me, and you can’t resist more points of view and widsom regarding how media is funded and how it will be funded in the future.

What I Learned in Rostov

Greetings from my last night in Rostov-on-Don, where the N-Ost conference has just about wrapped up, and it has been a great success as far as I can tell. There is plenty to write about in a city that is so seldom heard about outside of Russia, yet has such personality. As its been a busy few days and I must already prepare to leave, I wanted to make a brief list of things I learned in and about Rostov which I thought you might find interesting:

Very big Korean population, who have been here for about 50 years, while still maintain their traditions and language, they’re an important part of what makes this city work.
Parks. They like their parks. Sometimes its more of a long green tree lined walk way stretching many city blocks and offering a great alternative to walking on streets with traffic.
Sometimes your huge truck breaks down in an intersection and its perfectly acceptable to just stand there and everyone will drive around you for hours.
Rostov has many religions, Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Armenian, Muslim, Jewish and according to the guy at the Korean cultural assocation- Buddhist.
The Bridge over the Don river takes you from Europe to Asia.
Don’t count on every street being paved and don’t underestimate how giant potholes can be.
People in Rostov don’t speak much in terms of languages besides Russian, but if you’re in need of something they’re more than willing to work with you through pointing, hand signals, and smiles.
The Armenian population of Rostov has been here for ages and make up another important part of the civic tapestry.
We may be far from Japan but Rostovians love Sushi and manage to put it on the menu at any kind of restaurant.
4 days is not enough to really get to know a Russian city like this, but it does provide enough time to make some great friends.

N-Ost Russia This Week

A bit too sick to write a proper post or prepare the next podcast today. However I wanted to point out that this wednesday I’m leaving for a 5 day visit to Russia. Specifically to speak at the N-Ost International Media Conference in Rostov-on-Don, which is located in southern Russia, near the Black Sea.

Looking over the program, which is in German, I see that speakers include many Russian bloggers and journalists working in the world of new and old media. Admittedly I don’t read any Russian blogs although I do read blogs by Russians and blogs by those who happen to be living in Russia. While I’m there I hope to be able to learn about their experiences, concerns, and projects. With any luck you’ll hear about it and perhaps from them directly on the podcast.

My talk, which will be held on Friday morning (and to my knowledge not streamed live) will be on Web 2.0 in Journalism, which means I’ll be talking about today’s web tools for journalists and how they help, hurt, etc.

I’m especially excited as this will be my first ever visit to Russia. While of course everyone thinks of cities like St. Petersberg or Moscow, I’m looking forward to experiencing a city that until recently, I knew nothing about.

On Afghanistan Goals

Recent guest Rory Stewart said some extremely interesting things on the Bill Moyers Journal. Speaking about the military goals in Afghanistan and how much of a failure, or more importantly, unachievable these goals have proven to be. That said he isn’t talking about all or nothing, not trying to give a simple answer to such a complex situation.

Obviously there’s no shortage of reporting on Afghanistan out there, and it might all seem the same at some point. But if you’re trying to understand what is happening and what has happened when it comes to the International Military forces in Afghanistan, Rory Stewart explains it in a clear and useful way. Highly recommend viewing or listening.

Adventures in Credit Card Land

Michael Moore has been appearing and speaking in alot of interview programs that I happen to listen or watch over the past week, in connection with his new movie – Capitalism: A Love Story. Moore certainly doesn’t need any help from me, nor will it come as much of a surprise that I’m a great admirer of his since I was about 17 years old. But recently during one of these interviews he starting talking about a topic that got me thinking about my own experience. The topic of credit cards.

Speaking about how credit card companies target young people by setting up right on college campuses on day 1, regardless if you have a job or any income at all, they want to sign you up. Moore goes on to talk about the high rates of debt among students, to the point that between credit card debt and college loans, when they graduate they owe more than they will make for many years to come. You might hear or read these statements (If you went to school in the US) and think to yourself: that didn’t happen to me. Or you’ll remember those credit card companies outside the student center, offering free gadgets and saying hello to you in that irritatingly friendly way.

Now comes the story I’d like to tell about one big difference I experienced when I moved to the Netherlands.

Currently this is the 8th year that I live in Amsterdam, having moved only about a year after graduating from university in New Jersey. When I got here I was a student, as well a European citizen, so getting a social security number, bank account, and most of the essentials, was a fairly smooth process. If there was an occasion I needed a credit card, I still had a trusty US credit card to fall back on, never mind the terrible exchange rate. But after two years as a grad student I was finished with zero school or credit card debt (fortunately I’ve never had debt in my life) and I found myself a part time job at the U of Amsterdam and a number of freelance editing, translation, and writing jobs. Around that same time I kept seeing advertisements at the airport and through my bank for a certain credit card company. Considering the exchange rate and the times where I could have really used it, I finally took one of the forms to fill out. Though I had heard its much harder in Europe, I also kept thinking back to freshman year at college and how easy it was. Just fill out the form and choose the funny graphic layout for the card.

Two or so weeks after sending in my forms I get a call. “Mr.Bicyclemark, we’re just going over your form and we wanted to confirm some things, it says here you’re self employed?” Indeed at that point I’d started my own company to make getting freelance jobs and handling the expenses and income a little easier. “Yes” I said, “I’m a freelance journalist, editor, and sometimes web consultant.” “OK very good. I’ll just need to know your yearly income..” She’d cut right to my achilles heel, as a freelancer and part time employee, my income was pretty embarrassing by most adult standards, I was and still am, a specialist of living on a shoestring budget. I fumbled through an answer “Well its hard to say as a freelancer, you know, some months its a good amount, some months it is hardly anything…” The credit card lady tries to help me along, “So about 20K per year?” I had this feeling that if I told her the truth, that is was surely less, that I wouldn’t qualify for their minimum, “Yes,” I answered confidently, “about that much.” What the hell, I figured, as long as I don’t have to prove it, I’ll be fine. “.. and we’ll just need some further information so we can confirm this..” – Shit I thought. Plan foiled. I quickly told a lie about having to go but that I would be in touch. She didn’t even fight me on this, wished me a good day and recommended I get back to her when I had a better idea of my income.

It would take me another 2 years to get a credit card, when I sent in another application hoping they wouldn’t remember the first. I got that call again, only this time I tried harder to lie my way into getting one. Once again I argued that as a freelancer my income didn’t always fit into one of their boxes, but that I manage a decent living and somehow deserve this credit card. After alot of convincing, and a much stronger arguement than my first attempt, I got my card which to this day I hardly ever use.

Why the long story? It is amazing the difference between what it took for me to get a credit card in the US compared to getting one in Europe 10 years later. Beyond it being impressive, I wonder if this difference doesn’t reflect on part of why so many problems have arisen with people and credit card debt. Not to mention banks that take advantage of people by inventing surcharges. Not that Europe is perfect, or that someone can’t eventually get a card who perhaps can’t really afford it, but in my experience, there is a real difference in how less easy it is to fall into this trap.

Longterm Social Crisis

This week several mainstream headlines quoted “experts” who pointed to signs of economic recovery on the horizon. I think they were referring to Europe, but if you search the news, you’ll find other experts pointing out signs of the same for Japan and the United States. Of course after experts say such things they add the caveat: but there is still a lot of uncertainty.

As I ride through the streets of Amsterdam and my neighborhood, the young yuppie mecca known as the Oud West, I see “for sale” signs everywhere. Most of those signs have been hanging there for most of this year. As I drive the Red August around the canals of Amsterdam, I see more “for sale” signs on house boats then I’ve ever seen before as well. Some disappear in a few weeks, some linger and have become part of the scenery.

Riding home from frisbee practice the other night I was chatting with a longtime friend who works as a freelance ICT person for the past few years. Talking about his business and how things have been, he pointed out that in the past few years he was always swamped with work, in many cases having to turn down jobs because he was too busy. In sharp contrast he described this year as one with hardly any work, for the first time in his freelance career he has had to approach businesses and potential customers in an attempt to convince them they could use his services.

Are so many people unemployed in the Netherlands? I suppose not as many as I’ve noticed back in Portugal or the United States. But what about all these freelancers and those of us who are employed part-time for the past few years, how do we factor in to the statistics in these troubled times. Beyond that, do any of us realize how much worse it can get?

Economic experts and government representatives can point to industrial output numbers and so-called investor confidence surveys to justify holding a “the economy is going to get better” press conference. But a walk down the street and a talk with your neighbors tells another story. Seems like everyone, from the big corporations who needed bail outs, to the banks who traded in fake money, to we the freelancers/consumers, thinks that we can have economic recovery but just doing things how we always did, not need to learn any lessons from the past. Looming social crisis? 25 million unemployed by next year? We don’t want to think about it.