One of the questions that people pose to me on a regular basis is whether or not I think media is dead.

Obviously, my answer is “no.” Someone has always had to report the news and someone always will. There will always be a town crier, a blogger, a tweeter out there spreading all the news that’s fit to print … er, spread.

The better answer is that media is evolving in some very good and in some not-so-good ways. The speed at which we get our news has changed dramatically. It’s a good thing and a bad thing in my book. I have to admit that I like real-time access to breaking news. I like being able to read news on web sites.

If speed doesn’t kill creativity, it certainly bullies it. If you don’t think this is true, try watching an entire day of newscasts or listening to the radio from morning until evening. You’ll know the news so well — it doesn’t really change — that you could moonlight in media.

But this speed comes at a cost. The news gets dumbed down and recycled. Publishing experts like to tell people like me that readers like it that way. They like their news in small, easy to digest bits. They love lists and bullet points. They don’t like to think when they read. Graphics are good, text is bad.

Know what I think? I think they’re a little off base.

I don’t think experts give another segment of readers enough credit. There are people out there like me who don’t want to just be informed. They want to learn. When I finish reading something, I want to be able to take something away from the experience.

Though, I do admit, I’m a big web user myself. Faced with a need for knowledge, I start to Google. I actually tried to Google something out of sheer habit while standing in the middle of Cave of the Mounds last month.

But if you do this on a regular basis, you start to realize that so much of the content repeats itself over and over, almost verbatim.

And don’t get me started on the subject of plagiarism.

My writing has been plagiarized more than once, like the time I wrote a profile of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, a wholly unique and wonderful company with a Menomonee Falls tie that makes organic, hemp-based liquid soaps.
Can you guess who picked up my entire story and printed it on their web site without my permission? It was an online magazine dedicated to the use of hemp … and not the kind that makes your hair and skin squeaky clean.

To top it off, when I contacted them with a polite cease-and-desist email, I kid you not when I tell you that the one-sentence response I received was exactly this: Dude. I had no idea it was illegal.

My point in sharing my thoughts on the media, writing and publishing is that Corporate Report Wisconsin is looking for fresh voices and fresh opinions from business people around Wisconsin. We’re seeking guest bloggers for our newly revamped web site.

It’s easy to have ideas and opinions. It’s not as easy to write them down. But we’re hoping that a few good people are up to the challenge. It doesn’t matter if your company is large or small, if your community is rural or urban. As a guest blogger, we’re giving you a temporary platform to say what’s on your mind … within reason of course.

Think you’re up to a two-month stint as a guest blogger? Send a sample of your work (500 words or less) on a Wisconsin business topic or issue of your choice to crweditor@crwmag.com.

By Laurie Arendt

Laurie Arendt is editor of CRW. She can be reached at crweditor@crwmag.com