Media People

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Today, I have a column on what makes someone a Media Person.

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.

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