The Media Drop

For the last day and a half, I had heard that the mysterious man (yes, we knew the author was a man) behind CableNewser would be revealed this Thursday in the New York Times. Turns out that it was Thursday, just not in the Eastern Time Zone. Lisa Napoli at the Times has the skinny on CableNewser.

Why all the hiding and secrecy, you might ask? Well, for good reason - at least at first glance. As it turns out, CableNewser is actually Brian Stelter, 18-year old sophomore at Towson University. While juggling some jobs at newspapers (off and on campus), doing web design, and working on the Towson news television show, Stelter was able to follow enough cable television news to be a very serious contender in the cable news coverage world. Some might consider Stelter and his site the cable news source right now. You can read some more details, straight from the source, here in the post he put up this evening.

Think this is going to hurt the site’s traffic and followers? I don’t. While a few people might be staring at their screens tonight or at the newspaper tomorrow morning (though if they’re reading this firsthand in the paper tomorrow, they’re probably not reading CableNewser regularly) saying to themselves, “Whoa, what am I thinking?”, I think the credibility is built and there is no reason it should go away. What do you think?

This isn’t the first time someone has had some pretty good credibility and turned out to be a surprise. Back in February of this year, I did an email interview with Marisa Hoheb, who is a senior (actually, has probably just graduated in the last week or so) at the University of Virginia. Marisa is also known as “Rachel” - the person on the other end of the “Rachel Speaks” column at Media Life Magazine. It’s an advice column for people in the media world.

What does this mean for the world of media? Well, not only are the web and business savvy continuing to get younger and younger, but those with some industrious abilities are making a mark on the world, in a big way. There are probably dozens of Brians and Marisas out there that we haven’t realized yet - or maybe they haven’t realized it yet, either.

[update] I’ve been corresponding with CableNewser off and on via instant message for a bit now, and was able to corner him this evening to ask him a few things. Details below:

TMD: Hypothetical - someone offers you a media column at a publication - do you think you would take it, and do school at the same time? You’ve pretty much shown you could do it.

CN: Absolutely. I can juggle 7 balls in the air at the same time — why not 8?

TMD: So why cable news - where does the fascination come from?

CN: It’s a lot more influential than most viewers realize. I was in a newsroom today when Ashcroft spoke. Everyone stopped and watched CNN. Last week, I noticed FOX on TVs in a health club, at the bookstore, and a Starbucks. It’s everywhere! And it shapes the news we see on the networks and in the newspapers.

Stories like Kobe or Laci or Chandra would have never been covered by network TV (or even the morning shows) ten years ago. It’s because of cable. It’s more influential than we think.

TMD: Do you think the stories would have been “national” like they are now, outside of television, without cable news networks?

CN: Not to the extent they are today. Some nights, Peter Jennings will introduce a story by saying “as Americans watched on cable this afternoon,…”

TMD: So what do you bring to the table to differentiate yourself from the usual media following suspects?

CN: An outsider’s view. I’m just a viewer — albeit one who views quite a bit.

TMD: Great answer. So you intend to stay on “this side” of the fence, at least to the best of your ability. So what happens when news co’s start sending you their press releases?

CN: Well, I get their press releases everyday. And I get tips from all the networks from time to time. Certainly, I aim the site toward insiders and outsiders. It’s a balance between the two.

We talked a bit about the Times story, and it turns out they weren’t the only ones interested. I expect some more publications - online and off - to try and reach him tomorrow. I asked if he would have more televisions in the dorm next term - his answer: “I’ll have two TVs next semester.” Perhaps picture-in-picture is also in his future. I also asked what his long term plans were for after his studies were completed - he came back with an answer I hadn’t forseen, actually.

My dream job hasn’t exactly been invented yet. I’d like a job where I can write a news story for the newspaper, put an advance version online, do a package about it for the evening news, stream that package online, record a radio spot about it… I don’t think it should just be “broadcast journalist” or “newspaper reporter,” it should be Journalist, for many platforms.

Don’t be surprised to see that type of role appear in the next two or three years - because if someone else doesn’t invent it, Brian Stelter just might do it himself.