Media

There wouldn’t be many cabbies who regularly read The Australian’s weekly supplement, Media.This covers a profession I find endlessly fascinating, in particular regarding new media and the massive changes wrought upon the industry by the digital revolution.

In fact I enjoy the caper so much that blogging has largely been an unpaid hobby over the years. Until today, that is, with the introduction of (sidebar) advertising on Cablog. Yes, I’ve sold out!

This interest is also complemented by those closest to me - my son and his girlfriend plus my girlfriend and her daughter, all of whom work in either traditional or new media. Ours is a media mob.

Anyway on Tuesday night I was working my way through last week’s Media – always a week behind - when I read an interesting snippet in the Diary section. This reported how some young fellas created a YouTube video, Beached Az just for fun only to see the clip go viral with nearly 5 million views.

Now Beached Az has been commissioned by the ABC as an 11-part digital animation series and will appear on ABC2 next month, testament to the opportunities available to those with a passion for producing digital content. Start a hobby and who knows where it could lead when new media platforms are crying out for content.

On Wednesday I carried some illustrators working for Animal Logic on their next hit, Guardians of Ga’Hoole. This is being produced at Fox Studios and employs some 300 illustrators. My passengers were relative newcomers to digital animation but Animal Logic provides them with on the job training due to a skills shortage in Australia.

In related news a journalist this week asked how the blogging was going and I had to admit to not being very productive of late. Too many nice passengers, I joked, and who wants to hear about them? Hence this rather lame, substitute post. My apologies.

Comments

[AG Canberra]

Adrian,

You haven't sold out, you are supporting your hobby. A woodworker can sell his wares to continue his hobby, just as a photographer and an artist can. Charging readers al la the suggestion of Mr Murdoch is another matter entirely.

[Sarah]

As long as you do it tastefully!
I find it amusing that even our newspaper sites use google advertising. I would have thought that the revenue from the flash ads that stuff up my browser would have been enough. Content provided free still costs someone something so its a fair call.