The recent media silence on Ron Paul's extraordinary six million dollar Tea Party haul got me to thinking about how the MSM (and television in particular) has failed us completely. We know it has failed us because the internet affords us (those of us who care to see) enough transparency to see through its agenda-based reporting.
For those of us who exercise a modicum of discernment, MSM programming is not particularly threatening, at least directly. After all, your typical Ron Paul fan could watch Faux news all day and never turn to the other side. Nevertheless, there is a great harm done by the fact that so many people rely on (and trust) television for their news – people who would consider it unthinkable that in America, with its competing news networks and interests, the truth could possibly be withheld from the public.
Thinking about this, a devilish idea struck me. What if there were a way for the people to broadcast their own reports and programming over a cable television channel? YouTube has shown that there are enough adept individuals out there to generate hours upon hours of high-quality programming. Gone are the days when expensive cameras and video-processing equipment were needed – today an amateur investigative reporter can invest $3000 into the right hardware and software (much of which many people have already), and with some effort and creativity, produce his or her own high-quality content. All that is needed is a mechanism by which some of this great independent content could be selected from the rest and broadcast over cable TV.
Hence, the following idea:
The result would be a cross between some of the most successful internet companies out there. There are a LOT of details to iron out, but in general, here's how it might work:
- An idea originates from somewhere and is submitted to a web forum run by our new entity. The idea could be for a single show of some kind, a series or mini-series, ongoing coverage of a particular event from a particular viewpoint (a war, a political campaign, etc.), or anything else creative people could think of. The idea might relate to news reporting, investigative reporting, education, entertainment, or anything in between.
- This idea is publicly discussed in a forum on the new entity's site. One or more advertisers express interest in such a program, and one or more independent producers pledge to start working on it. (Alternatively, the idea generates no interest and does not progress.)
- The independent producer(s) produce the material and upload a low-resolution version of it to a forum on the web site. They declare how much money they want in exchange for airing the piece on the entity's cable TV channel, either as an absolute amount or as a percentage of advertising revenues. Meanwhile, advertisers submit bids for advertising time around the work, should it be shown.
- Some kind of computer-driven profit-maximizing (e.g., auction) algorithm could then be used to select which productions to air over the cable channel (and when to air them) based upon the advertising revenues bid for each piece as well as the costs (demands from the independent producers).
- Viewers of the content would then be able to go online and vote for their favorite content, thereby letting advertisers know which producers they should pay the most for in the future.
I have no doubt in my mind that given the right cost structure, organization, and access to the cable network, this idea could be immensely successful, by virtue of the fact that a decentralized media will be able to better respond to the desires of the people than a centrally-planned one (as they all are today). But there are a LOT of questions as to whether this is really viable or not, such as:
- What will it cost to get connected to the cable network?
- What barriers will the FCC erect, and how expensive is it to deal with them?
- How many normal television viewers will be willing to turn away from their major network channels to watch content from independent producers? Will the number of viewers we get generate enough advertising revenue to keep us in business?
- Is this model of advertising going to be attractive for advertisers? Convenient? Effective?
- How should the ads best be placed? As interruptions, scrolling text, online-only, or how?
Further, for this to succeed, several good (qualified, motivated, honest) people will be needed, including at least:
- Someone (or several people) with good web-design and programming skills.
- Someone (or several people) with good audio/visual technical skills.
- A lawyer experienced in communications and company law.
I submit this idea to a candid world. I do not have time to act on it myself, but I hope that, if this idea is found to have merit, that there will be motivated people out there who do have the resources to act on it. For it, the world will be a better place.
December 21, 2007
