Impetus

As media organizations unfortunately cut positions left and right, I have to wonder how many people have a story of why they started a blog that’s similar to the one shared by ESPN writer Bill Simmons:

“I tried to break in conventionally — but it didn’t matter how good you were, you had to wait 10 to 12 years to get a column,” he said in an interview. He wrote for a while and even spent a year bartending before giving the Internet a shot. “The Web site was a way to get out all the frustration of not having a column.”

I know I certainly qualify here. While it’s not exactly the same, I saw a situation where what I wanted to write about – the ins and outs of movie marketing – wasn’t exactly a topic many big publications were itching to devote resources to. FilmThreat was a great home for a while, but that’s where Simmons’ next quote also becomes relevant.

Over the years, the Internet has prevailed over print — in July he stopped writing his column in ESPN’s magazine. “I got bored with the space of it,” he said, “of having to write 1,200 words, and with a deadline six days in advance. It is impossible to write a great sports column six days in advance.”

Simmons is very much a model of the new media world. No need to travel with the team when you can sit and what Sunday Ticket on-demand, and your columns then come complete with digressions into what your dog is doing or phone calls from your dad. In other words, they’re more engaging to the reader, a goal those media companies going through hard times are desperate to reach.