Monday, April 28, 2003

Annoyed

This is a story about my friend. He works in a publicly funded new media venture. He is annoyed that one small area in his beleaguered department has won a major national award for their project.

Let me explain why he is so annoyed at such good news. He tells me they take a massive chunk of funding - grossly out of proportion to the rest of the department (where people are being laid off.) They essentially produce an inferior product at great expense. Unfortunately, the people who hold the purse strings and give out the awards have little idea about the wider world of technology, outside of his backwards country. If they did they would see how dated and poor the product is, and how expensive to produce.

Worse still, as they are so blinkered, they actually think the product has some worth. He says it only appeals on a middle-class social and intellectual level. That is allied with the work having a community remit. Despite that, he tells me there is much better and more relevant stuff happening out in the wider world of new media. Unfortunately, as it picks such a worthy chord in the clueless people in charge, they think it is marvellous.

He goes on to tell me that this product is greatly disliked and ignored by the vast majority of the audience who pay for it and whom it is intended for. Also, while it pretends to allow the people bought in to make the product, to make it in their own voice and vision, it in fact makes sure that the voice they use is editorially controlled and shaped to reflect the tastes of those in charge.

Now they have this award, they have made sure they can perpetuate this nonsense, waste more public money funding more product of an equally poor quality that will be largely ignored by the people paying for it. All because a few backwards and out-of-touch high-ups think it is so worthy.

Unfortunately for my friend, he is in no position to question the people doing this. I must empathise with my friend, as that sounds utterly frustrating. I am sure he is glad he got this off his chest.

Posted by Dio Bach at 09:24

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