I have a great video. It’s worthy of a Pulitzer.
A cute kid (who just happens to be a flood victim) is painting over the anti-Culver, anti-Halloran graffiti on his newly remodeled house in the Corridor. He is almost finished but can’t reach up to brush over the CULVER IS A DOOFUS higher up. Suddenly, Air Force One lands and President Obama leaps out and hoists the kid on his shoulders to help him finish. Obama puts the kid down and the kid tells him, “Yes I can!”
I’m swearing to you, I have all of the above on tape! I have a probing interview with President Obama about flood relief in E. Iowa. and even a clip of Gov. Culver promising to do more.
The problem is, no one will watch. The public is too busy watching a former nursing building get demolished. It’s a predicament. Shoot high quality video and the dirt (see, literally, below) always wins out.
I watch my traffic like any other good videographer would. Most of the eyeballs go to videos about snake rescues. Forget the moving video on the flood victim. We want gore, destruction and dirt!
I can hear people cursing me as a snob, but imagine you’re an auto worker … auto workers are not snobs. I should amend this to imagine you’re a auto worker or newspaper journalist if both are even around anymore …
As an auto worker, you spend your days on the line putting together well built, highly functional American sedans with a flair for (gasp!) design. You exit the factory proud of your company’s product only to see a 2009 Neo-Pinto dealership go up and do rock-’em, sock-’em business. What about your high quality sedans? Sorry, sucker, Pintos win! Particularly online.
So please rescue me from the bathos of this post and write a comment. Why do so many people enjoy schlock online? Am I cabernet-drinking elitist snob? Meanwhile, enjoy the destruction and dirt below — Michael Barnes
