It’s odd the way that something you’ve known was a problem all along takes on vastly different proportions when it impacts someone you know and respect.
That’s where my head is at right now, though, with the news that Anne Thompson is among those who just got let go from Variety.
Ever since I first discovered her writing years ago I’ve been a fan of Anne’s writing, first at The Hollywood Reporter and then at Variety. While I’ve always respected her great writing – especially her ability to approach the changing marketing and distribution landscape in a non-condescening way – she became one of my favorite people ever when she was among the first people at a Hollywood news organization to link to Movie Marketing Madness.
The whacking of someone so prominent and so respected is a sign that no one is safe in these tough economic climes. Or, as The Playlist puts it, “We’re all fucked.”
Luckily, Anne says she’s staying put on her Thompson on Hollywood blog, which it sounds like she’s working with Variety to continue the hosting of. She also alludes to being involved in some sort of stealth-mode web start-up and I’m anxious to hear more about that.
This isn’t to say that all the other layoffs in the Hollywood media industry – and everywhere else – aren’t tragic in and of themselves. But I know Anne and so it’s hitting home a little more than the rest of the onslaught of bad news.
I’ve used Anne in a lot of examples about how journalists at traditional media publications need to be getting involved in the larger online media world in order to 1) Maintain and build their personal brand and 2) Bring the audience to the publications they work for. My respect for Anne has had secondary effects on my opinion of Variety and I’m more likely to link to stuff from there – especially hers – because I read it and give it more thought than I might to some other pubs. That means I’m doing what I can to send traffic to Variety.com, which translates into ad revenue for them.
It’s called the “link economy” and Anne’s been a player in that, sending traffic elsewhere which results in links back to her stuff and related sites. While a lot of journalists have been starting blogs related to their home publications not many use those blogs to link outside those home publications and into the larger industry coverage/conversations, which is why so many of those blogs go largely unread and certainly aren’t linked to very often.
I’m off on a tangent, but you get what I’m saying.
Anyway, good luck to Anne and to all those who have been hit in recent months.
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