Welcome to High-Interest Rate Culture
Thoughts on high-interest rates’ impact on media and other trending topics.
This week, I’m breaking down my thoughts on several media trends.
Before that, I want to clarify a mistake in last week’s column. I wrote that the Catholic Church knew Cecilia Gentili was trans. It ends up reports contradict this statement, and some say the church didn’t know. I apologize for the error.
Either way, the activist’s behavior blew a chance to build inroads with the church. Catholic transphobia and homophobia will remain just as high–if not higher–than it’s been in recent years, and activists would be wise to think about long-term strategy over public spectacle. There’s a time and place for controversy, but it should be strategic.
But that was last week! Now, onto thoughts on the state of media and other trending topics…
Interest Rates Impacting Media
Wall Street expected the Fed to lower interest rates, but that isn’t happening soon. The high rates mean media companies need to rake in profits now more than ever. The days of growth over profits are over. So, we’re seeing reporters demand different stories from comms specialists. They need stories that either drive subscriptions or traffic.
Here’s what reporters now reject:
Celebrities who repeat press releases blabber
Philosophically driven tech companies that lack business cases
Lifestyle-oriented influencers who won’t move the Chartbeat needle or subscription numbers
Founders without a track record
Cancelling people
What reporters are looking for:
Celebrities who give salacious sound bites (Who is Reneé Rapp without her tendency to go off script?)
Tech companies with revenue and customers
Influencers who deliver salacious plotlines
Founders who discuss the bottom line
Heterodox thinkers
In other words, the Obama era, high-interest rates pretentiousness and Trump era pearl-clutching are over. Tabloid-style content is all the rage again. Welcome to high-interest rate culture.
The Need for Scooter Braun
I’ve been critical of celebrity manager Scooter Braun because his handling of reporters earlier in his career backfired. (I am, after all, a communications strategist viewing the world from a public relations perspective.) However, Taylor Swift wrongfully targeted him, and Braun knows how to manage celebrities. New singers could use his expertise.
Don’t believe me? Look at the current crop of pop stars. Tate McRae, Troye Sivan, etc., aren’t taking off like their predecessors: Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and other Braun proteges. New singers’ songs are plateauing, and their fame remains more Who Weekly than Us Weekly. They could all use a manager like Braun.
The media could use a manager like Braun, too. For one, he delivered much better media arcs for his clients. (The press’s business is only as good as the stories they have to tell and sell.) Secondly, we’re short on new, engaging, and influential backroom players. Where have all the charismatic behind-the-scenes operators in music gone? Scooter, come back!
Will Old Media Ever Realize YouTubers Exist?
These Scooter thoughts lingered as I watched the Oscars. The same celebrities from the past forty years lined the stage, and there were only a few new entries. Most young actors could walk into a Florida grocery store, and nobody would recognize them.
The same can’t be said for YouTubers. Look at the viewership for many popular YouTube channels, and even mid-tier YouTubers are crushing cable, network, and streaming TV in the ratings. The “industry,” as they say in LA, isn’t dead. It’s just moved to YouTube.
Yet talk to any legacy media editor or old-school Hollywood operator, and they’re unaware. They still see YouTube as beneath them even as it eats their lunch.
It’s a tragedy because YouTubers are so much more down to clown than actors–and being shameless is a crucial ingredient for success in a high-interest rate media environment. Now is the time to place Timothee Chalamet on Trisha Paytas’s lap on a magazine cover, yet old media refuses to engage with these supposedly low-brow celebrities. Where is Tina Brown when you need her?