Howdy Steve,
(In ‘Reality’ this is a letter to readers and contributors) Over the past year we have exchanged cyber opinions both with agreement and disagreement and we both are still happy to hear each other. Neato!! I disagreed with some of your words in the last issue and, as I remember, popped you a note regarding them.
You said, in context, to stop watching Fox News. I agree within you in context but I disagree with what you did not say. As I replied, “Fox is a lifeboat of sanity and truth in a sea of hyperbolic vitriol that is the majority of mainstream media.” With all its’ flaws we must not stop watching Fox. But I also saw your last paragraph and your subtle sales pitch for a REALITY NEWS NETWORK. So I started, what many refer to as being dangerous, thinking. “Scary Movie” HAHA.
Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.……” An opine true then, now and before and the media has always grabbed on the latter and the readers and viewers have always gleefully waited with bated breath for the next issue of mayhem from Mother Nature and her two legged citizens. Ted Turner was one smart boy. Before him were Brinkley, Morrow, Cronkite, Kuralt, Vanocur and many more. The difference between them and Turners’ (Trump viscous) spawn is that they were not spin artists. The modern dichotomy is that contempt for the media is at an all-time high and their ratings are at an all-time high which is an insight into the human psyche.
I have great respect for you, Mr. Steve, because of your motivations and that bit of Don Quixote with your dream of a network. Reality News is about, family, community, state and country. It is about the best and worst of times without spin and resides within core values. With you Steve, it is about the message not “ze dollairs” and if you make a zillion it’s an “atta boy” within me because you will do the Smith Barney ad; “We make money the old fashioned way, We EARN it.” The American dream that is the core of the social and economic wonder that is the United States of America.
I sit here tapping away on my black and white ivories and see the conundrum. I remember the three most important words I was taught in sales class; Presentation, presentation, presentation and two words in marketing class; market share. So now I present the question to both the readers and contributors; “How do WE grow Reality News????” This present, sotto voce of ideals will benefit all with growth.
Okay Steve, here we go!!! As you know, I’m a bit eccentric, a rabble-rouser and an iconoclast which are euphemisms for being a S
T DISTURBER. Sinatra’s “I Did it My Way” is a fave with me but there is a core within me of creativity and an understanding of the insatiable thirst within people for excitement and things new and different.
Therein sits the problem and here’s what I see.
I see Walter Cronkite et al in your format but this is 2017, over a half century later and the hunger of the populace has grown. The beast is hungry and omnivorous. I am afraid that you are going to have to adapt to the Barbarians somewhat to get that larger market share. So what I’m doing here is throwing this out to the readers and contributors for ideas. Ideas within content, writing style, format. I have to think that the desires and needs of the readers is the area of feedback that is most important. The writers can adapt. Your Mission Statement will remain the same within content. As I wrote you the other day, this is a raw idea in my mind. The old expression; ‘two minds are better than one’ is totally apt and here we are talking about thousands of brighter minds than mine.
I’ll use an automobile analogy here. Reality News has a solid chassis and frame and motor. Let’s add power windows and door locks and oh boy, air conditioning would be great. The fuel comes from writer’s words and ideas.
Let’s get some high octane. I’ve been struggling a bit with my words but I think that all reading them can grasp my nebulous idea here. Like anything of value it will require effort but I think that a Reality News Network is a concept that your dedicated readers and contributors will gladly roll up their sleeves to achieve.
-Alan Stewart, alphalima@vaxxine.com