As a guy who still likes to touch paper, I fear she is correct.  The more I think about it, however, the more I am starting to realize that my fears are unwarranted.  The key fear that I share, apparently, with many others is that we will be reduced to taking our news from the uninitiated, ill-informed, biased sources that are the Mongol hordes besieging the traditional news media.  This is, in reality, unlikely to happen as it ignores all human experience, human taste and behavior and the lessons we have already learned from other periodic assaults on the media status quo.

Yes, there is a LOT of drivel out there.  That said, has the print and broadcast news world been devoid of its respective share of the same?  I have two thoughts.  First, people vote with their eyeballs and ears.  Second, we forget that there is market segmentation when it comes to content demand.  As the digital world evolves, why would those fundamentals of human behavior change?  The platform is really going to alter who we are, what we want, and when we want it in such a drastic way?  Really?

My first point goes to the quality fear.  Why do we assume that quality won’t rise to the top?  Why do we assume that the experienced professionals we hold dear won’t adapt, move on to other platforms and figure out a way to evolve their business?  The entire content space, right now, is a bit of a wheat field and, of course, we are still trying to figure out a new system of sifting the wheat from the chaff.  But that does not mean that we are eons away from new models that allow intelligent choice and the development of a pecking order when it comes to digital media sources.  There is a Murrow out there–and I am betting more than just one.

Secondly, it is not like the public has en masse, always turned their attention to the in depth, detailed reporting that most say they will miss. The market has always been segmented into the New York Times Crowd, the USA Today Crowd, The Star crowd and all of the nuanced mini markets in between.  There is no doubt that the dust will settle and the audience will self-select similar segments to which they will throw their support.  For those who want “journalism”, there will be journalists and quality content.  For those who like the brightly colored pictures and care little about fact checking and objectivity,  there will be plenty to go around.

When a guy like me (a paper toucher) finds himself checking news online, on my phone, etc. then you know times are a changin’.  As in all things, I think the news delivery / quality issue will find a new equilibrium.  Everyone will get what they want—only now there will be no more waiting for the paper to be tossed under the lawn sprinkler on Sunday morning.  I think we will all be ok with that.

Pfizer is pulling off a branding master stroke.  They are giving away certain prescription drugs to those who have lost their jobs and health insurance due to the recession.  Put yourself in the consumers’ shoes.  “I’m broke.  I can’t afford the meds that I have relied upon.  I really need them.  Wait, the drug company is going to let me have them for free until I get back on my feet?  Wow.”   These consumers are never going to forget this.  Pfizer delivers a message of caring about their audience, they deliver a tangible, high stakes benefit, and they do so at a time of need.  Nice.

Hyundai pulled off the same move even earlier with their “we’ll buy it back” offer.  In each of these instances, the brands showed up and stepped up for the consumer on the consumers’ terms.  That is the part that makes it memorable and that makes for brand loyalty. From the time the mouse removed the thorn from the lion’s paw to today, a friend, in those times of need, is a friend indeed.  Like the lion, the public won’t forget.  Now all we have to do is get brands to apply these same principles in all of their efforts, at all times.

My business partner and I were recently in SF to shoot some interviews for a client.  Zach lived in SF for many years and knows the town inside and out.  We were walking around near the Embarcadero, just killing some time.  And there it was.

On the most public of thoroughfares, amidst the hubbub of the SF foot traffic was, what I believe, is the true testament to the civility and welcoming nature of the City by the Bay.  There, right on the corner, was an above ground, public toilet, the likes of which I have never seen nor put to use.  Scoff if you will, but after spending most of my life in Philadelphia and New York, the idea of an actual public toilet not requiring risk of life was like the first glimpse over the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  I was in awe, doves flew by as if on cue, and I swear I could hear clerical music wafting through the air.  Zach nonchalantly told me that these had been installed years ago and dismissed by childlike wonder with a jaded smirk.  Not so fast Mr. Take-A-Pubilc-Toilet-For-Granted.  I was not going to leave this urban wonder without a closer look.

I approached the kiosk-like device, hit a button and, in seconds, was invited into the comodious (sorry), clean, above-ground lavatory. I won’t get into further detail, but let’s just say, the cleanliness, the self-cleaning design, the washroom sink and the overall experience made me gush with delight as I exited into the sunny San Francisco daylight and let the world know that THIS was undeniable evidence of the city’s love of its inhabitants, visitors, and those just needing a little private time.

My only regret was not capturing all of this in HD.  Rest assured, however, that I shall return to this Trevi Fountain of latrines, ready to test what really happens when the posted time allotment of twenty minutes is up.

While cave drawings present the first foray into the power of visual communication and storytelling, we are just beginning to understand how the human brain becomes an unstoppable force when trained visually.  Peter Coyote is one of my favorite actors and he hosted a show on PBS called Brain Fitness 2.  A powerful example of visualization they depict is a taxi driver in London: these guys (mostly guys) train for years studying maps and images to get the layout of London imprinted on the inside of their skulls.  Using imagery over an extended period of time, these drivers have increased the size of their brains – the hippocampus to be precise.  This is exciting.  We’re already steeped in an incredibly visual time in history.

We’ve always said, video screens are the real estate for the 21st century.  Everywhere you look there is a way to captivate people’s attention with compelling, entertaining and educational messaging.  Video search companies keep popping up and electronic billboards are starting to feature face recognition.  How long will it be before we can rely entirely on an image and visual representation, without the use of text and meta tagging?  We have only begun to realize the true potential of  video and it will be exciting to see how a new visual language evolves.  Whether or not you were born digital, if you’re visualizing, sharing and communicating your thoughts through sites like YouTube and Flickr, you’re taking part in this extraordinary language experiment that is just as exciting as it it sometimes annoying.

Zach Jordan

So, arguably, these guys are the collective Jefferson and Lincoln of UGC  video for both their declaration that content and distribution would no longer be in the hands of the few and for their technological proclamation that delivered on the promise and set the online video space free. Two giant sculpted faces down and two to go (the three of them will just have to learn to share).

But long before the launch of YouTube, the first large-scale UGC video success story had already been alive and kicking for over 15 years.  It was 1989, when a then little-known television producer had a notion, a bit of technology and an understanding of the inherent human desire for self-expression and more than occasional idiocy.  Meet the George Washington of UGC, the creator of “America’s Funniest Videos”, Vin Di Bona.  (Note:  I worked with Vin as his President of Worldwide Development for almost five years.  However, that doesn’t make any of the following any less true.)

In 1989, Vin was already quietly making pioneering efforts in the television format business.  While it is common place today to have prime-time filled with Americanized versions of foreign television hits like Idol, over two decades ago, Vin was busy establishing the first significant ties between Hollywood and overseas producers and broadcasters.  He was one of the first producers to import a foreign format for American television. On one of his many trips abroad, a bit of “technology” gave him a notion.  He noticed that the Japanese were rabidly into the newly developed home video camera and knew that the wave would be coming to the States.  A few glimpses into what people were capturing on video later, and the rest is history. For every somber wedding vow captured on tape, there were many more brides passing out and grooms calling their betrothed by a different name.

The show launched in 1989 and soon Vin and his production company were receiving thousands of user generated video submissions per week. And so, a franchise was born.  The show is still running on ABC, 20 years later—the longest running entertainment program in ABC history.  It has been sold to countries all over the globe and has single-handedly created a universal fear among men, any time a kid, a baseball bat and an exposed crotch are anywhere in sight.  Think about it.  An entire television juggernaut based completely on submitted content. So Vin gets carved in stone on the far left of the UGC Video Mount Rushmore in the GW slot—the Father of UGC, long before the acronym existed.

So who gets the last spot?  Who will be the Roosevelt of UGC? He spoke softly, carried a big stick and moved the US into an expansionist adventure. The analogous next phase in UGC will be finding editorial, commercial usage and creative indexing solutions for the morass of material floating about.  Whoever can harness the raw power of UGC, expand its influence in branding, entertainment, building community, and expanding the inalienable right to free expression will get my vote.   Now get to it.

Peter J. Schankowitz