In an excellent video explaining how to pitch the tech media Milo Yiannopoulos, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Kernel and public relations agent Colette Ballou discuss PR and startups at the Pioneers Festival in Vienna.
One thing that jumps out from the presentation is Milo’s confusion about who their market is – at no time in the spiel does he mention readers or advertisers.
At one stage he says “we’re here to serve you,” this is to a room of tech entrepreneurs.
Milo’s focus raises the question about where do journalists add value and who they serve?
Traditionally that focus has been on giving the readers or viewers useful and valuable information.
In order to do this, the businesses employing journalists have either raised funds through advertising, subscriptions or government subsidies.
That in itself created conflicts and it took strong courageous editors and managers to resist pressures from advertisers and governments.
With the web stealing advertising revenues, journalists and the organisations that employ them have a problem.
The question now for journalists is where can they add value in a form that people will pay.
Maybe it is shouting into social media echo chambers or spruiking the wares of the latest hot tech start up although it appears those channels are no more profitable than the old forms of journalism.
Another point Milo makes in that presentation is pertinent as well;
The arrogance of a journalist is inversely proportionate to their talent. So the tech bloggers are massively arrogant and have huge opinions of themselves.
Ne’er a truer word spoken.
The question remains though, who do those bloggers or journalists serve?