adamdea
You are not a sound quality evaluation device
So (to adapt the famous saying about newspaper editors) the role of the hifi mag editor is to publish as many nice things about his advertisers as his readership will allow.
Journalism or public relations?
- Thread starter paskinn
- Start date
Much to my surprise, we do seem to have reached a position where hard-pressed audio journalists feel compelled to act as unofficial PR people for 'the industry.'For me, as a hard-news journalist all my working life (mainly in broadcasting, but I spent ten years on newspapers) that seems an utterly disastrous point to reach.
'Disastrous' because the inevitable result is to leave us 'punters' without proper representation in the audio press.The voices (actually, better described as demands) from the industry, take precedent over the paying public, whose hard-earned cash is the only thing between the audio industry and utter oblivion.
Alan Sircom has been very honest, and given up quite a lot of his time, unpaid.I hope he prospers, and he has risen in my estimation. But, sadly, it doesn't seem to change the basic point. the audio press is just a mouthpiece for commerce.
What profound error.
'Disastrous' because the inevitable result is to leave us 'punters' without proper representation in the audio press.The voices (actually, better described as demands) from the industry, take precedent over the paying public, whose hard-earned cash is the only thing between the audio industry and utter oblivion.
Alan Sircom has been very honest, and given up quite a lot of his time, unpaid.I hope he prospers, and he has risen in my estimation. But, sadly, it doesn't seem to change the basic point. the audio press is just a mouthpiece for commerce.
What profound error.
Joe P
Memory Alpha incarnate | mod; Shatner number = 2
What does audio reviewing have to do with journalism? I know arguments about audio here and elsewhere can get heated, but our kerfuffles over bit depth and the merits of expensive wire (or not) are rather far removed from, say, war correspondence, as but one example of real journalism.
Hope Chomsky has been alerted.
Joe
Hope Chomsky has been alerted.
Joe
To quote David's Twitter entry for 2nd February:
"After ten years editing hi-fi magazines, I am moving on to pastures new. It's been fun, thanks for the memories!"
Tony L
Administrator
One could make that accusation about the audio / music press since it's inception. To my mind it doesn't prevent it's usefulness at all, as it, the punter, manufacturer, and now online communities such as this one all form part of the same circle. I don't see it as something with sides, it's just a development, production, marketing, communications and feedback mechanism that should benefit all parties. Far better viewed as a loop / circle than battle-lines! We are all on the same side!
I'd like to give Alan some credit for being so frank with us.
What's next after the demise of the audio press as we know it?
Well my friends we are back where we all started so many years ago with the music and our home stereo's. The only difference between now and then is that we are all hopefully a little bit smarter and possibly have better taste in music. Nothing stays the same, our hobby will mature and evolve.
From Sunny Alberta
Louballoo
What's next after the demise of the audio press as we know it?
Well my friends we are back where we all started so many years ago with the music and our home stereo's. The only difference between now and then is that we are all hopefully a little bit smarter and possibly have better taste in music. Nothing stays the same, our hobby will mature and evolve.
From Sunny Alberta
Louballoo
Tony,
The battle is over. The audio press as we knew it is nothing more than a quivering carcass gasping its last breath. Just us audiophiles, the internet and a couple of journals left.
Your Pal
Louballoo
Robert
Tapehead
To quote David's Twitter entry for 2nd February:
"After ten years editing hi-fi magazines, I am moving on to pastures new. It's been fun, thanks for the memories!"
Oh dear.
Joe, at least in my case, I would give up my PC, TV and all other electronics before my stereo.
From between the Rockies and Hudson Bay,
Your Pal
Louballoo
Joe Hutch
Mate of the bloke
That's the problem. Way back, hifi magazines were dedicated mostly to 'how to build amplifiers/loudspeakers/other stuff' articles, lots of technical information and long, mostly classical music reviews. Then, in the late 1970s, a new type of magazine arrived, full of 'aspirational' equipment, often with scantily-clad young women posing around them, subjective reviews of 'what stuff sounds like' and shorter, rock-based music reviews. The two types of magazines co-existed happily for a while, with very different readerships.
Now, with fewer mags and a smaller reader base, the surviving mags are going to piss off one group or other by publishing reviews of stuff that's 'too cheap' or 'too expensive', by having too much, or not enough, technical guff, or by not catering to the readers' taste in music.
Yes, but are we the wagon train or the encircling Indians?
Joe P
Memory Alpha incarnate | mod; Shatner number = 2
Joe Hutch
Mate of the bloke
He's clearly levering himself up on the stack of receivers. You can tell by the way his arse has pushed the pillar several feet into the ground.