On Media People
Not everyone can be one. Plus... Super Special Free Bonus Essay.
POD 160: Media People
Out Friday AM. Substack | Apple | Spotify
This week, we break down what it actually means to be a “Media Person.” We argue that true media people are troublemakers with taste. They’re people who understand narrative, tension, and how to make others feel something. Michael Wolff and Olivia Nuzzi are Media People. Scott Galloway and Silicon Valley People are not Media People. The media industry has been downsized in the Information Space, with media personalities rewarded more than Media People. Media People will endure.
Brian: Are You a Media Person?
Troy, I stole your idea about Media People (SEE FREE BONUS REBOOTING CONTENT BELOW). Something that’s true about Media People is while they’re moralistic about a lot of things, they are shameless in recognizing good ideas of others and passing them off as their own.
Last night, I had a drink with a Media Person. When I asked him how the year was turning out, he said he felt like he did in early March 2020. Not a great sign. What he meant was he was looking at shutting down the office and the reality they’d be remote for a long time. The goal then was simple: get to the other side. This was pre-PPP. He said now is similar, only he’s not sure what’s left on the other side.
There are easier ways to make money, that’s for sure. But we’ll always have media because we will always have Media People. Most could make far more money in another field, and some choose that path. But many, like my interlocutor last night, are career Media People who will remain Media People.
BTW, I’m looking forward to the PvA Holiday Party, a collaboration with Human Ventures. I’m glad we aren’t getting the oysters again.
Troy: I made you a hat.
Maybe we should get you a batch of these. Only give them those you deem worthy.
Truth is, I am grateful you stole the idea because I could have never done it justice like you did because, sadly, I am not a real Media Person. I wish I was. It’s probably for the best. I probably would have died from alcohol poisoning by now.
I included your piece from the Rebooting below. It felt justified because a) you stole the idea; b) I am not a real Media Person and have less regard for your intellectual property; c) I loved it. Hope you don’t mind.
The digital era has created many people who cosplay as Media People. Even if most real Media People don’t make any money, we still think they are cool and thus it is an aspirational designation, particularly in social settings. Real Media People are good companions at the bar. The cool factor is, perhaps, less true today than in journalism’s heyday. The people that want to take power from the Media People have done a good job of making you look dishonest and scounderly.
Media People sit along a wide spectrum. There are Journalistic Media People and Entertainment Media People. Documentary Media People sit between the two. All share DNA and were considered cool and will probably always be cool on some level because we love the storytellers. Until they cross the Power People of course…. but that is part of the game. We respect the commitment and long for the influence.
Good Entertainment Media People are more rarefied and richer and get the most cred. Entertainment Media People are far less threatening to the Power People.
Most people know they could never be real Media People even if they wanted to. That does not stop pretenders. Nobody pretends they are NBA players because, duh.
It’s fine if you want to be a Content Person. Or an Influence Person. This does not make you a Media Person. Vibe coders and not coders. Cooks are not chefs. EMTs are not surgeons. Bob Ross is not Picasso.
Now, there was a funny thing that happened… I watched it close up and regrettably participated in it… when the internet convinced a lot of people that you could win the media game not by getting the best team of Media People, but by building systems to make the average or fake ones perform better. Better analytics, better content systems, better distribution strategies, better “media product.” Success here turned out to be fleeting. No amount of systems or fancy media product can make a media brand great. Only great Media People can do this. The media is the product dummy.
Most people have realized this now. Media is being stripped back to the talent. This is what Substack represents. Platforms, for all their evils, allow talented Media People do a lot more with a lot less bullshit.
SPECIAL BONUS DISPATCH FROM THE REBOOTING
Media People
The latest release of Jeffrey Epstein emails will again raise questions about Trump’s relationship with the sex trafficker, but they also contain a prominent cameo by none other than Michael Wolff. Throughout the Trump drama, Michael has been a Zelig-like character, popping up at opportune moments.
Michael is a Media Person. Media People intuitively understand narrative. Michael would simplify this to “heroes and villains.” Media People have innate instincts for what will resonate, and that is usually firmly within the realm of narrative.
Michael also shares a frequent Media Person trait: causing trouble. This is someone who was kicked out of Elaine’s. The troublemaking ethos lives on in spurts. Olivia Nuzzi is a Media Person, no matter her journalistic transgressions. Puck’s Jon Kelly is a Media Person, and he’s given it a mischievous side. I like the spirit of Lachlan Cartwright’s Breaker because Lach is a tabloid Media Person who doesn’t bring the American snootiness to the profession. Semafor’s Ben Smith, also a Media Person, has made the critical point that this is why American newsrooms tend to have lots of Brits and Australians. Emma Tucker is a Media Person who has made The Wall Street Journal far livelier while causing problems for Trump along the way.
(An important note: There is a generational divide of Media People. Younger Media People tend to be more activist and high-minded than “seasoned” Media People. Younger Media People tend to want to remake the world.)
Media People have lost influence, without a doubt. Media right now is part of a larger attention industrial complex that’s downstream of technology interfaces. Tech is not run by Media People. So the incentives of these attention systems, which did not arrive like Moses carrying the tablets back down the mountain, were reduced by non-Media People to the raw material of media: attention. That shifts the power from Media People to attention carnival barkers. That casts the media production role to unearthing raw attention that ad systems can refine with data assets to create yield. Most media now is not created by Media People.
Media People understand the assignment is to create something that gets people to feel something, learn something or make a decision. And it has to be compelling. Simply getting attention is closer to direct marketing than media. That’s why so much of the modern media economy feels fake. It is optimized to a degree that would make direct mailers blush. Much of the newsletter world is closer to direct marketing than media.
Some of the creator economy is occupied by Media People, but much of it is filled with Media Personalities, who are not Media People. Feed Me’s Emily Sundberg is a Media Person. Pablo Torre is a Media Person. Kara Swisher is a Media Person, but Scott Galloway is not a Media Person. Mr Beast is not a Media Person. The courses crowd of productivity hackers are not Media People. Mastering the use of media to get attention and monetize that attention is an information business. It does not make you a Media Person.
Magazines were natural homes to Media People, before these titles became fronts for brand activations businesses. Media People have taste and sensibility. There’s a natural restraint instinct in Media People. They appreciate the craft of media.
The reality of the business now is it’s better to install a sweaty brand manager than a Media Person. Tina Brown is a Media Person. She can excel at any medium. Her magazine instincts have translated perfectly to her newsletter, Fresh Hell, which has another virtue Media Person’s value: energy. Joanna Coles is a Media Person who has given The Daily Beast new energy.
Nick Thompson is a Media Person building The Atlantic into a success case study. Many media companies are run by non-Media People. Elon Musk once noted that having non-technical people running software departments is like “a cavalry captains who can’t ride a horse.” I feel similar about the financializers who are put in charge of media companies. Non-Media People in media companies often focus on distribution arbitrage, layout gimmicks and new and improved floating video ad units. They were the ones who set up “shared content desks” and affiiliate-SEO arb operations.
Needless to say, private equity firms are not run by Media People. They see media as another asset class to be harvested. They tend to find Media People difficult, even exasperating. Silicon Valley is arguably in an “age of extraction” now, run with a similar PE energy. Silicon Valley realized long ago it was unlikely to win over Media People. In their minds, Media People live in cramped New York City apartments, pining to take over the means of production as revenge for losing unearned status and power to geeky programmers Masters of the Universe.
They find Media People cynical. And some are, although I believe this label tends to be used selectively and often cynically itself as a prophylactic from criticism and scrutiny. Media People see downsides and at their best warn of second-order effects. The run-up to the Gulf War could have used more Media People warning these self-assured powerful people were making shit up. Maybe that instinct’s not such a bad thing as a small group of people try to remake our economy and society with technology they don’t seem to fully understand.
Instead, Silicon Valley is backing its own Media People.These are a splinter group of Media People who appreciate narrative and taste, but are fans of tech and freedom or whatever else Andreessen has decided gives them leverage. All-In’s hosts are very good at media but not Media People. The array of podcasts the tech world is supporting are not run by Media People because they are safe spaces that don’t play the role of the boy telling the crowd the emperor is butt naked.
Many civilians misunderstand Media People. Journalists tend to work for the guild, not their employer. There’s a group loyalty in a profession that’s not the easiest to navigate and under near-constant compression. Condé Nast, a spiritual home to Media People, is in turmoil over the instinct of Media People to stand up for their colleagues, however ham-handedly and performatively. Media People have a rebellious streak that make them difficult to manage. This is why media companies are rarely well-run. This is why private equity always tries its hand at media.
Media People also have a nose for hypocrisy, which they detest at least 5x more than the general population. This can present to non-Media People as self-defeating moralism. I’m convinced that Silicon Valley believes the worst of Media People because they cannot understand the incentive structure. Surely, these educated and capable people have some other true purpose, the VCs surmise.
Media People persist. The true professional files on their last day, maybe gets clapped out by their colleagues. Anyone who has made media for a while knows how long of a game it is. You simply need to continue to show up, whether it’s every week or every day, and over time you make progress. I sometimes talk to impatient newcomers who are making great progress, only they come from more normal fields and expect it to be quicker. That’s why a lot of media made by non-Media People relies on growth hacks and distribution arbitrage. Media People intuitively find all of that unseemly and a form of cheating. Information Entrepreneurs aren’t Media People.