In “Why the Wired West Still Matters,” J.D. Lasica posits that location matters in publishing. Lasica cites the inroads into publishing made by Wired (and its online HotWired offering), Slate, and Salon and attributes their success to their west coast locations. Or, rather, their collective “break” from the elite corporate media of the east coast; call it a west coast state of mind. The article is exceptionally well researched, sourced from interviews with John Battelle (formerly publisher of The Industry Standard and currently a teaching fellow at Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism), David Talbot (founder and editor of Salon), and Josh Quittner (formerly managing editor of Time.com and currently editor of Business 2.0).
What Lasica and his sources miss—completely miss—is that the west coast has its own elite that is every bit as arrogant as the east coast media cartel they bemoan. When was the last time you saw a link on Salon or Slate to a weblog or an independently published essay? It just doesn’t happen. Why?
In the past six months, virtually every major breaking story has been broken first by the purveyors of personal media: weblogs, personal essay sites, and independent publications operating on a shoestring. This is especially true in the technology sector. When was the last time you read an important story first in CNET? About six months ago, right?
Fed up with the media elites on both coasts? Go ahead and roll your own; we’re watching….
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