Sloppy Potatoes

Evolution (of media) is not supposed to be easy

Another post in a series about the impact of Electronic Gaming Monthly’s closing and the fate of the newspaper and magazine business in general. The first post was about EGM’s closing.

If evolution was an easy process, we’d all have mutant powers by now, or some other creature would have kicked us off the top of the food chain. Fact is, it takes a long time and several small steps to evolve. Members of the media should take note.

Here we are in the middle of a financial crisis and the print media industry is getting hit particularly hard. It’s more difficult now to do what we do, but these are those difficult times. We are taking those small steps that proceed our great evolution. I’m certain of it.

What we used to do as journalists will make us extinct. Nobody has figured out what we need to do to survive. But we will survive, and we will be able to remember the good old days, just like the employees at Electronic Gaming Monthly remembered their days recently.

After reading blog posts (here, here and here) by James Mielke, former editor in chief at EGM, and (here) by 1up editor Sam Kennedy, it was pretty obvious that the atmosphere there focused on great pride in the product and a fun, family-like atmosphere.

Remember the time when…

We had the same thing at my small town paper before all this economic crisis crap. It was an amazing environment to work in, and I’ve realized that it will never return. It was a once in a lifetime experience that lasted for several years.

As sad as I am to see it go, as I’m sure the folks at EGM were crushed by the shuttering, I also know I’ll never forget it, or tire of telling the stories about it. I will be grateful forever for having experienced those days.

At our best

In 12 years of newspapering, we were always at our best when driven by group cooperation, collaboration and massive communication. The economy has made the groups smaller, but when people come together in a creative effort, embrace it and love every second of it, that’s when the job is it’s greatest. That’s when the most fun happens. It’s when the best work is produced.

In a setup like that, everybody wants to participate and nobody wants to be the one to let the group down. More importantly, there’s a sense of pride in contributing and improving the whole. That has to be one of those revolutionary traits we carry on.

Some small steps

Change is coming for us, just like the EGM/1up.com folks. The people who lost jobs during the recent purchase of the EGM/1up brand are starting new ventures. The people still standing after the bomb had been dropped, they’re moving on at www.1up.com and trying to maintain the quality their readers expect.

In the same vein, the tiny staff at our small paper here pushes on. As we all trudge through our work and the work previously done by several of our colleagues, it’s a different and difficult world. How can we do all this and continue to improve in an effort to stay relevant? I have no idea, but I know it will not be easy.

One way or another, we’ll survive

Luckily, nobody in our papers — we are owned by a larger paper, which in turn is owned by an even larger newspaper chain — has lost a job. We’re all still working. Through attrition and position changes, the men in the corner offices have steered us clear of the worst this recession has to offer. For now.

I’m a realist. Layoffs, or something along those lines, are very much a reality. But if (when?) they arrive, we’ll shrug it off and maybe be better for it. People bounce back. The economy will rebound. We’ll all make it through this. But how can print media survive?

After my last post, I had no idea what turn I was going to take, but the next one is pretty clear. EGM had a worldwide circulation in the hundreds of thousands, and they couldn’t stay open. What does that mean for the rest of us?

The previous post in this series:

-Still contemplating EGM’s closing