I had the honor to be on a panel at the Convergence Conference this week where the stated goal was to get down to the nitty gritty on ‘Revitalizing Stodgy Old Media’. Of course with any panel, there are many points to be made and moderator questions can create an unexpected context where the core issue loses some of it’s focus.
Mark Ramsey did a great job keeping things interesting, but surprised me a bit by defining the context of the session to identifying problems and solutions on the radio station and group level. No problem. We had a few minutes at the beginning to address the ’stodginess’ premise. I made the point that there is a droned narrative about radio’s backwards views on media that I don’t agree with at all. It is an unfair characterization, and as Mark also clarified, stodgy might just be another way of saying that radio is established and careful not to sacrifice it’s soul at the alter of ‘new’.
This brings me to the larger point I had hoped to bring across on the panel had we not moved on from the attitudinal to the practical. The point is that in my experience, new media types have issues of their own to deal with if we truly want to see convergence happen as it should to the benefit of all. New media has at times an unpleasant arrogance to it. There I said it. The idea that something new is categorically more valuable than something established makes as much sense as electing Barack Obama on the mere oratory of change alone. New media types expect to grow virally and replicate with impunity, but then come around to radio to exploit their mass reach.
Coming from the new media side, we have enjoyed much more success in convergence as we have sought to compliment radio and became students of the radio culture and mission. Not only has this been rewarding for me personally, but will reward us greatly as our partnerships continue to expand.
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