Distinguished alum offers up advice: 'Be the Media'

Traditional media models are dying. The advent of digital technology and the explosion of social media have created not just a media revolution, but a renaissance. The once-exclusive power of giant media conglomerates in billion-dollar industries is now in your hands. What are you going to do with it?This is the premise of Dave Mathison's message delivered in a keynote address, "Sustainable Journalism and the New Media Revolution," at the Western New York College Media Conference. The College at Brockport's chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists conceived and organized the conference, which was held at the college Saturday, March 6.

Mathison, a Brockport alumnus, is the CEO of natural E creative group, an independent media company. The group published the book BE THE MEDIA, which more than 50 media experts (including Mathison) contributed to. BE THE MEDIA advocates self-publishing and covers almost every media topic under one large, 536-page umbrella. Mathison sold more than 5,000 copies of the book in 11 days using social media Web sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Mathison's message is quite simple: adapt to the digital-social media model and cut out the middle men - - agents, labels, studios, distributors and publishers. Artists of all mediums are following this message and reaping the benefits of self-publishing. These benefits, as Mathison explained, include retaining the rights to your works and developing a stronger, more personable relationship with your fan base. This can result in more money and less "regulatory approval," Mathison said.

"We don't need some suit in an office to spread our message," he said. "What used to cost millions of dollars I can now do with my cell phone. The business model has changed from scarcity to abundance."

Mathison pointed out that only five companies control most media, including FOX and Viacom. These companies overshadow the creation and distribution of media and in effect, artists and their audiences suffer.

"Media elites like Rupert Murdoch (FOX CEO) want you to live in a scarce world," Mathison said. "They don't want you to know there's talent right here in this room. They want you to consume their crap. People we know and love, whose songs we sing, are near bankrupt because they signed a contract with one of these companies at a young age. These [elites] are ripping off artists and we are all perpetuating a model of indentured servitude."

The good news, Mathison said, is "we're on to their game."

While most presenters would discourage the use of electronic devices at a conference, Mathison encouraged it. He directed the keynote audience, which included students and faculty from Central and Western New York colleges, to turn on their cell phones so they could Tweet.

Twitter is instrumental to the new media model Mathison elaborated on, especially in relation to news reporting. To illustrate this, Mathison displayed the Twitpic and Tweet that first reported the crash landing of the U.S. Airways plane in the Hudson River in January 2009.

The Tweet, posted by Florida man Janis Krums, read: "There's a plane in the Hudson. I'm on the Ferry going to pick up people. Crazy."

Mathison said staff members of the news service he used to work for, Reuters, watched the whole thing happen from a New York City skyscraper and "nobody grabbed a camera."

"To me, this means everyone in this room right now has the same power and immediacy of the world's largest news agency," he said.

Mathison also said people often call the digital transitions in music, newspapers, radio and mediums alike, "revolutions." According to Mathison, they are not.

"There's too many 'revolutions' for this to be a coincidence," he said. "It's a renaissance. You know you are in it, so what are you going to do?"

According to Twitterholic.com, the two most popular Twitter users are Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears.

"Are these the philosophers or prophets [of the new media renaissance]?" Mathison asked the audience. Another question was intended to amuse the audience: "What would Jesus tweet?"

Students from Brockport and area colleges found insight in Mathison's presentation.

"It's valuable to learn the new media models tie in [with the old ones] and how they are making a difference," said Amanda Faulkner, a junior broadcasting major at Brockport.

Ben Jay, photo editor of SUNY Geneseo's student newspaper, The Lamron, said he uses the methods Mathison mentioned to gain exposure for his work.

"It's interesting to see how the institutional [media] structures are outdated and how old media is going down in a violent way," Jay said. "Mathison conveyed the democratization of media, which in the end, means people are able to get their message out and are less programmed to consume or believe what a small group of rich people want them to.