June 2007 Letters to the Editor

Sure, Viacom seems untouchable. And maybe it is. Viacom sues Google. Who really cares? But what about "Media for the Masses." Isn’t it obvious by now? Everybody has a blog, or a vlog, or a webcam, or something. People want to share their ideas, but file sharing is evil, right?

People want to take the media back, because they’re sick of crappy media, they’re sick of it being run by people with no creativity, and, yes, they have a voice to be heard. Even if it only means uploading a video to YouTube, whether its Emo Girl or Stephen Colbert, it’s an opinion, and a voice, and it spurs further communication and media. And that’s what media is for. It’s not about who died on the local news. And then a laundry detergent ad. That may be what you think media is for. Clearly, that’s what TV network execs think media is for, right? Now that control is being threatened. People have been paid, copyrights are infringed, and lawsuits are being filed. And that’s the business of media. All in a day’s work. Never mind that the audience disagrees. It’s your show. You paid for these cameras. The script was written by your relatives. The director is your nephew. This is your media and you know the law.

True and correct. Thank goodness you said something, Mark. Eric and I are just media-loving fools. Thank goodness this letter is only an opinion and I haven’t slandered you in any way. Because if I had, you could sue me, right? After all, isn’t that the only way to really take care of business?

Jay Wertzberger
Los Angeles, CA
www.streamingmediadojo.com