Earlier this week ESPN announced it was laying off 100 employees, which ESPN President John Skipper outlined who was on the receiving end in a letter to employees:
Dynamic change demands an increased focus on versatility and value, and as a result, we have been engaged in the challenging process of determining the talent – anchors, analysts, reporters, writers and those who handle play-by-play – necessary to meet those demands.The outcry was swift, and along the lines of "how does veteran reporter XYZ get canned, but talking blowhole ABC keep their job?!" The answer? You, us....we want to watch talking mouthpiece, and we're no longer tuning into the facts fueling these 'hot takes' (albeit, carefully thought through and normally well articulated). The ratings show this and advertisers know this, so follow the money folks.
The takeaway: Viewers do not want to be bothered with regular reporting anymore, we want opinions only please.
Are we surprised?
We just had an election outcome (painfully for some, gleefully for others) that illustrated this point on the grandest of stages. Say what you will about left vs. right, our society as a whole is simply not tuning in like we used to. We consume media that supports our interests, and attack outlets counter to those views.
Sure newspapers slimmed down because the Internet took a hatchet to the classifieds, but how many of us want to read rows upon rows of tiny words anymore? Give it to us in the headline in my Facebook feed please and thank you.
What's left? Either nodding our heads in vigorous agreement or disagreement with the day's latest outrage. Indeed, the only thing that we can all agree on nowadays is that it's cool to be outraged.
While I don't support him, I honestly can't fault our president for speaking to us in the medium we prefer and use on the hour. We're there...furiously scrolling as we walk across the street, while we push our kids on the swing, etc. etc. etc.
Context is dead. And if you really want to find it, the remnants can be seen on the highly-curated walls of our Facebook feed.
Inserted here would be some closing opinion on how to change the world...my 'hot take.' But that's kind of the point of today's entry, so.... _________________________.
