This chapter looks at the nature of the emerging informational environment and the New Media industry to determine what kind of skills it requires and what kind of environment it is to work in. It Uses three case studies to inform this inquiry. The author draws conclusions on the implications of this information for educators of media producers. An annotated bibliography is included, along with research notes from a site visit, conference, and interview.
Table of Contents:
The Worker That Industry is Seeking
Academia -- Training Producers
Appendices:
Appendix A - CNET Production Process
Appendix B - Archipelago Site Visit Notes
Appendix C - EdTech Conference Notes
Appendix D - Andrew Leonard Interview
Appendix E - Comparative Dollar Size of Media Business Segments
Introduction
"Oh, what a brave new world, that has such creatures in 't"1984 is well past, and the Internet tsunami has swept away any doubts that a new Age of Information is upon us, so perhaps it is time to retire George Orwell's nightmare of a future locked in industrial fascism. There are plenty of giddy utopian technophiles who have abandoned the leaden paranoia of that older vision of the future, seeing digital technology as a force that will inherently bring freedom and prosperity to the world despite the efforts of any oppressive system. We can only hope they are right. New technologies have always elicited extreme reactions: both dire warnings and prophecies of imminent utopia. The truth is that nobody knows the exact effect of our powerful new tools, and an active ongoing dialogue at all levels of society is crucial for navigating this brave new world that technology is thrusting upon us.
It is Aldous Huxley's Brave New World that looks more like the world we are living in at the turn of the western millennium. His is a vision of a populace seduced into submission by a constant barrage of pleasures, similar to the subcortical wiles of contemporary media. Perhaps the McCluhanist magic of interactive video-on-demand will erode this current pattern of passive uncritical consumption, as the technophiles believe.
Where once wheat and steel and the labor needed to transform commodities into products were the basis of the economy, now information is. Attention is the new currency, and how many eyes and ears you can hold for how long is the measure of success. The information worker is needed by a thriving segment of our economy to support this effort to capture attention.
Young potential workers are growing up in the New Media environment and thus are creatures who will have a native understanding of it. This understanding is a force that educators must be attuned to. Teachers must be prepared to cultivate students' native understanding of media into a critical consciousness. Whether or not New Media has an intrinsic liberating effect, students who acquire the skill to wisely communicate using electronic media gain personal empowerment and the ability to influence their world.
This study will look at the new information industry and try to describe what kind of workplace it is becoming. It will look at the skills necessary to succeed in it, and the implications for education.
Transitional Workplace The information workplace is not all new. It still encompasses the traditional realms of print publishing, film production, and television production (Appendix E), but even these established industries are being transformed by the digital technology that they are using to do their traditional jobs. Thus a look at New Media production may contain some indication of the types of changes that will also affect traditional media.
The industries based on new technologies such as CD-ROM production and Web publishing are still a small (and risky) part of the media market, yet they are attracting a lot of attention because they are exciting and fresh, and because they are growing so fast. (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, 1997, p.10) For example, employment in New Media production in San Francisco grew 86% in the last two years. (Drucker,Appendix D) In comparison, jobs in more traditional forms of media employment such as television and film are expected to grow at a rate much less than the average for the rest of the job market in California. (California Employment Development Dept., occupational guide #359, pg. 2)
The Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) that made the World Wide Web possible was only invented in 1989 and made available in late 1991. Mosaic, the first Web browser, was released in 1993. The Internet, and all its associated business enterprises, has only been in wide use for five years. Companies producing Web materials are all younger than that, though some are ventures that were spun off from organizations that were involved in more established media. Most Web publishing organizations that have survived have grown rapidly, but have yet to turn a profit.
CD-ROMs came to market in 1985, superceding laser disks. At that time personal computers could not easily handle the graphic and audio load of multimedia, so CD-ROM technology had a slower start than the Web. Many laser disk/CD-ROM production companies such as the Voyager Corporation have risen and fallen since then. Their experimentation has been the source of many lessons about marketing New Media, the new grammar of interactivity, the organization of production, etc. (Virshup, 1996; Frankel, 1997) Currently CD-ROM players are widely available, and in some environments it is more convenient to play a CD-ROM than to hook up a videocassette player.
The future of New Media depends on bandwidth, and the bandwidth will be available -- that much is certain, but not much else is. Larger corporations and institutions already have intranet communications systems in place. Running at Ethernet speeds, these internal networks are already employed in high bandwidth uses such as training and teleconferencing, in addition to less demanding uses such as database access and e-mail. Continuing hardware advances will make this kind of communication smoother and easier, expanding the already large opportunities in this area for workers with media expertise.
When the average user is able to sit down in their home and easily interact on a network with smooth motion, full screen, high resolution video and high fidelity audio, the information age will be in full flower, and new markets and employment opportunities will be born. This will require devices in the home that are capable of handling the high data rates of video, and it will require a 2-way conduit into the home with a similar high capacity. (Grice, 1998) Home appliances that are both affordable and capable of handling full resolution video are just around the corner. Whether delivery to and from the home will be achieved through TV cable, on the telephone system, or some other way remains to be seen. Because of the huge investment and risk involved, the advent of full bandwidth 2-way delivery systems will probably lag behind the development of the household interactive video appliances that connect with the delivery system. (This may give an early advantage to CD type media such as DVD as users get weary of long download times on the Internet.) Also to be determined is whether the home connections will be symmetrical, with full bandwidth in both directions, or asymmetrical, with the user having a reduced bandwidth return connection but full band reception. This would have some effect on defining the role of the individual as primarily a consumer, or as a potential originator/producer as well.
Telecommunications corporations are busy merging, restructuring, and mounting small scale experimental delivery systems in search of the economically viable models that will attract the public and yield profit. The outcome of this process will determine the kind of information environment we live in for decades to come, with all its implications for our political lives, our social lives, and our workplace.
Regardless of exactly how these new technologies come to pass, it is clear that it will happen quickly. A high school Junior who can expect to come onto the job market in four to six years will be coming into a frontier zone of global interactive video. Corporate experimentation, success, and failure will create a working environment that is at once ineluctable and uncertain.
Shakespeare penned the phrase "brave new world" in The Tempest. This was his last play, and its imagery was strongly influenced by the discovery of the Americas, so the phrase seems appropriate for this brave new information environment we are exploring. However, this is not a geographic frontier that is already fixed in its form, this is a psychological and social frontier that the "creatures" who explore it will be creating as they go.
Our young people will need both practical production skills and judgmental skills to build a sane and satisfying society. Jobs in the information industries may carry more weight than we realize.
The Patterns of Change There are a few patterns that emerged from this initial study of the workplace that can give an overall picture of the environment.
Most start-up companies began with the technical production personnel. Typically they have begun as a small group of programmers writing content on the side. With growth, graphic designers and writers are added to the team. As the industry matures, and there is a larger pool of skilled people along with a clearer understanding of production necessities, this pattern is beginning to disappear. Now a complete team is more likely to be assembled at the very beginning.
New Media production requires a higher degree of integration among the various skills. It is not an assembly line where a writer produces a product that is passed to graphic designers who do more assembly, then pass it on to programmers who finish it. Every part of the team must have input from beginning to end.
The work is project oriented, and much work is done on a contract basis ("outsourced"). Permanent employment with a single company is not assured.
Quick growing start-up companies, reorganization, spin-off organizations, and corporate failures are part of the landscape.
To cope with the changing environment a person cannot be too specialized. Specific technical expertise should be built on a foundation of fundamental principles. (Regan & assoc. pp. 2,16,36)
Three Case Studies An investigation of three New Media production companies revealed a consistent trend toward tighter integration of the production team.
Archipelago Productions is a subsidiary of Harcourt, an established textbook publishing company. Archipelago produces tutorial CD-ROMs for educational use. These are typically high school or college level Chemistry or Physics tutorials. They are variously designed to accompany textbooks in classroom use, or to be used in Web-based distance education.
When developing a title, Archipelago brings in outside content experts, typically teachers in the field, who work with the writers to establish the content structure. Then the graphic designers begin to visualize the content on screen, and finally the computer experts bring the work into its final interactive form which is burned onto CD-ROM.
During a tour of Archipelago's facility several members of their team emphasized that a tight integration of these three elements of the production team is required. Graphics designers and production people are brought into the process very early in the writing phase so that they can have a lead in developing the look and interactivity of the project, then writers and content experts are intimately involved in the final production process in order to do any rewrites that may be required, and especially to monitor the accuracy of the information. It is both the need for accuracy and the complexity of interactivity that require this degree of integration in the production team. With interactivity, a change in one part of the project can cause discontinuities of information in other parts. In older linear forms of audio/visual media such as television and film there has always been a need for communication between the team members using documentation such as scripts, storyboards, and flow charts. With interactive media this communication becomes crucial, especially in educational productions such as Archipelago's when the factual integrity and instructional design of the content must be maintained.
CNET is a successful Web magazine that delivers information on topics relating to computers and the digital revolution. It is "aimed at computer-savvy Internet users." CNET began in June 1995 as a single Web site. It has since rapidly grown to include other specialized sites which deliver information on such topics as computer industry news, computer games, Web site creation and maintenance, etc. The original site functions as a gateway to these other sites.
After noting that "CNET is unique among major players in Web publishing in that we did not start out with printer's ink on our fingers." (Index page) Trisha Gorman (1997), a senior editor at CNET writes:
[At the beginning] Producers, the folks who understood HTML and the Internet, wore nearly all the hats. Eventually, they were joined by editors, copy editors, and designers, but there wasn't a great deal of coordination among the players. (p.1) . . . producers who built the site came along before content creation began. The concept was that one group of people would build the site, and then later the editors could just pour in the content. Unfortunately, it didn't work that way.
At the same time, the growing editorial staff, which came largely from the print world, began to realize how completely Web publishing entwines editorial and technical functions. Everyone slowly learned that deciding how to build and design an online story, as well as determining its structure and navigation, requires tight collaboration between production, editorial, and design. (p.2)
Salon is another Web magazine that has gained popularity and respect in its short life. It had its roots in a labor strike at the San Francisco Examiner in November of 1994. Union members established a Web site to counteract the Examiner's ability to use its own Web site to subvert the strike. A settlement was reached in 12 days, but several Examiner employees had gotten a taste of a new frontier that excited them, and a year later they left their print jobs and went on-line with Salon. It is a magazine of arts, books, and ideas that features columns and articles by well-known writers. (Thompson, 1997)
Though it was an independent start up with no initial corporate ties to older media, Salon was unlike CNET in that the producers did start out with printer's ink on their fingers. The New Media of electronic publishing required some adjustments for them. Since the Web is viewed one page at a time with links to other pages, these print journalists had to evolve a layout that accommodated navigation. The instant e-mail feedback they got from readers is quite different from the letters to the editor of print medium, and it led them to create reader participation discussion forums. Since changes to a Web site can be posted to the server at any time, the publishing cycle required by print was not necessary, and not really appropriate -- on the Web you can't really leave a cover page unchanged for a long time like a magazine on a news stand. (When Salon went from biweekly to daily its readership went up 30 percent.) On the Web the number of people who read the publication, how long they read it, and the number of people who "click through" to the advertisers can be monitored constantly, so success can be measured daily and in detail. (Leonard interview, appendix D)
Observations An additional element that is common to CNET and Salon, and less obviously to Archipelago is what is often called "repurposing." As mentioned, following its initial success CNET began to expand, creating several specialized Web sites. The same research may be delivered to the different sites, with aspects of it expanded to appeal to the interests of that particular readership. In the case of Archipelago the same curriculum content may be adapted for the particular type of delivery, whether it is a free standing CD-ROM, one that is intended to accompany a textbook, or one that is part of a distance learning curriculum.
Web sites can instantaneously measure the numbers of people who read them, which articles they read and for how long, and most important, how many "click through" to the advertisers who place banners on their pages.
Both CNET and Salon have developed a community of readers. The editors of Salon, who were accustomed to the letters to the editor of the print world, found that reader response becomes a much more dynamic factor on the Web. On the Net the instant an article is published reader response by e-mail begins to flow in. Salon soon set up conference areas so that readers could engage in dialogue with each other and with the writers in response to issues that stories raise. In addition to constituting an on-line community, this creates a marketing opportunity, since these readers are groups whose common interests are well defined by the fact that they have chosen to visit a certain Web site. Both Web sites now allow purchases of goods and services tailored to their readers in a type of marketing system that may have far reaching effects. This on-line retailing has very little overhead, since it requires no store space, inventory, or warehousing. The Web site merely accepts the order and transmits it to the manufacturer, who ships the merchandise directly to the consumer. Again it is simply the attention of the consumer that the Web marketer brings to the transaction.
In addition, CNET is marketing the Web publishing software that it developed to run on its own servers in response to the unique requirements of providing content on the Web.
Although they have achieved great success in a short time, the profitability of Web publishers is yet to be proven. Referring to established print publishers' ventures into New Media publishing Standard & Poors says:
"In general publishers believe that interactive media and online information distribution will continue to grow, one day becoming a multibillion dollar industry. For these publishers, the profitability of today's first forays into these emerging technologies is probably secondary to the goal of getting in on the ground floor of this new market." (P. M25)
The rapid change and uncertainty in these new ventures calls for adaptability and a wide range of skills in those who aspire to work in New Media publishing.
The Worker That Industry is Seeking All the sources gave a remarkably consistent list of traits that the media industry is looking for in its employees:
1. Ability to work in teams
2. Ability to communicate both verbally and in writing.
3. Creativity & problem solving ability
4. A knowledge of the whole production process, including an appreciation of the client relationship
5. A broad-based portfolio that demonstrates a knowledge of the arts & computer skills
6. A commitment to lifelong learning
Academia -- training producers This investigation into the current nature of the media production workplace provides an understanding that can help educators construct an authentic learning environment for students which will help them prepare for work in media production while cultivating a higher degree of media literacy.
While numeracy and literacy are as important as ever, clearly a "back to basics" approach to education is not appropriate for the information world. It is reformist principles currently being implemented under such headings as "project-based education" and "outcome-based education" that cultivate the very skills that media project managers are looking for in their team members. Teamwork, communication, creativity, and problem solving abilities are all fostered in a project-based classroom.
Industry leaders acknowledged that an individual will tend to work in a specialized area such as graphic arts, writing, programming etc. However they cautioned that excessive specialization can lead to a dead end career as technology changes. (Regan & Assoc., 1997 p.15) In addition effective teamwork requires an understanding of everyone else's job. Instructors must realize that the educational environment provides a unique opportunity for students to experience different roles in the team, free of the deadlines, budget constraints, union job classifications, and departmental divisions of the commercial world. Projects can be designed with the skills development needs of the crew as the major priority. Students can do the equivalent of "job hopping" without having to worry about interrupting the flow of paychecks, and from this flexibility the desired overall understanding of the production sequence is derived.
It is worth noting that this production sequence has fundamental characteristics that are common to any medium, from live theater to cyberspace, a realization that is embodied in the term "teledramatics." In order to provide a flexible knowledge base that will equip the student to deal with rapid change, the focus of educators needs to be on the underlying commonalities of the production effort that are somewhat media independent.
In the process of constructing the broad understanding of production, the student will likely discover a cluster of specialties that provide them with a personal career path which will be enriched by the broad-based Teledramatic insight.
The necessity of life long learning in a rapidly changing technological environment suggests some things about the role of the instructor. Of course a teacher must have a level of education and life experience that qualifies them for the job, but they cannot hope to be experts in every aspect of media production. In this circumstance the role of the instructor becomes like that of an Executive Producer who helps to assemble a group with the skills required to accomplish a project, and who is often shepherding several student productions at the same time while marshaling the resources needed by the students to attain higher skill levels, identifying learning needs, bringing in tutorial materials, perhaps bringing in outside experts to create a rich, participatory learning environment. Like everyone else, the instructor is a member of the team, and will often be a co-learner with the students. Modeling and cultivating meta-learning techniques may be the instructor's most important contribution. Learning how to learn is the task that will best prepare students for life.
In one discussion Drecker (1998; appendix C) stated flatly "teach portfolio." Then she discussed some of the simple techniques that job applicants often overlook: put the best work at the beginning, remember to label the portfolio with your name and contact information. The fact that employers are seeing these simple kinds of oversights indicates that portfolio skills are not being taught well.
In the past putting together a print resume has tended to be something that students have done in the last month before graduation. The complexity of putting together a multimedia portfolio makes this impractical. Portfolio building is a skill like all the others that a student should be practicing throughout their education. In addition, the ideas and techniques of portfolio building can make a major contribution to the curriculum when they are integrated from beginning to end.
The utility of portfolios precedes the graduate's job search. Portfolios are the collections of outcomes toward which the entire curriculum is designed. (Naguidala, 1997) In the first stage of educating media producers specific skills are acquired: students learn to use different software packages, practice script writing, learn to operate a camera, etc. As specific skills accumulate they begin to integrate into a higher communicative ability. Ultimately the critical/analytical faculties of the student develop as they pass several times through the cycle of conceiving a project, executing it, and evaluating it. Throughout this progress portfolios are tools in developing evaluative analytical skills, and provide students with a way of witnessing their own advancement. (Hebert & Schultz, 1996)
The implicit focus here has been accommodating the worker to the needs of industry. Issues having to do with the worker's personal welfare could also use some study. To some extent this is an extension of the life long learning issue.
Media work is usually project oriented. Sometimes the Teledramatic artist may ride a cycle of projects with one company for a few years, earning a regular salary and benefits, but often the worker will be hired for one project. When that job is over, they must look for another. The increase in outsourcing contributes to this phenomena. To find more work, media artists will need skills in promoting themselves and networking. They will also need new types of financial management skills, since in addition to writing and signing contracts, they will often be handling their own taxes, health care, and retirement planning. (Hazell, 2001, May)This is a working lifestyle that has long been familiar to artists in film and theater. Perhaps there are resources from these fields that could be developed to benefit students.
Conclusion Media production skills can be as empowering now as print literacy was 500 years ago, and society needs media literate students to chart the challenging course into the information age. There is a remarkable consonance between the characteristics that information industries are looking for in employees and the traits that educational reformers are attempting to cultivate using project and outcome-based education theories. An awareness of these points of consonance can help us to educate students who are equipped to contribute to society and find success and satisfaction for themselves in the media workplace.
Annotated References Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and The PMR Group (1997) Making Digits Dance: Visual Effects and Animation Careers in the Entertainment Industry [Online] Available in PDF format for download:
http://www.skillsnet.net/about/studies.cfm
Similar in scope to the Regan & Assoc. study below, with an emphasis on animation and special efffects industries which are centered in Southern California.California Employment Development Dept.
(1995) Professional Occupations in Multimedia, California Occupational Guide #2006 [Online]. Available:
http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/occguide/MULTIMED.HTM(1996) Web Page Designers/Masters/Mistresses, California Occupational Guide #559 [Online]. Available:
http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/occguide/Webmastr.htm(No date) Telecommuting, California Occupational Guide #2003-A [Online]. Available:
http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/occguide/Telework.htm(1995) Broadcast Technicians, California Occupational Guide #359 [Online]. Available:
http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/occguide/BROADCAS.HTMThe above guides give skill and education requirements for specific job titles with salary ranges and predictions for demand in the next five years. Other job categories of interest that are available at this site: Copy editors & writers, Film editors, Grip (theatrical), Lighting technicians, Motion picture photographers, Newspaper reporters, Public relations representatives.
Dodds, P. W. (1995) Digital multimedia cross-industry guide Focal Press
Broad look at applied technologies including broadcast, cable, computer networks, consumer devices. Looks at audience sizes and types, future implications of hardware developments on markets and media workplaces.Ed>Net the California Community College Economic Development Network, New Media/ Multimedia/ Entertainment Initiative [Online] Available:
http://ednet.cc.ca.us/ednet/mei/meimain.htm
This site presents the findings of an organization supported by the California Community College Chancellor's office commissioned to develop relationships with industry to determine how the colleges can best prepare students for employment.Frankel, A. (1997). The fall of the house of Voyager. Wired, 5 (2) 94
Follow-up to the Virshup article charting the continued corporate changes at Voyager.Garrand, T. (1997). Writing for multimedia Focal Press
While primarily a book of techniques for writing for multimedia, this book contains information about the nature of the work. The final chapters looking at the role of the writer, the future for the writer, and the biographies of working producers contribute to the focus of this paper.Goldberg, R. (1996) The multimedia producer's bible IDG Books Worldwide
This encyclopedic effort approaches multimedia production from a broad overview, and therefore largely succeeds in describing the entirety of the production process. An uncommonly informative discussion of the issues of career management is presented in Part IV: Making a living, pp. 457 - 555.Gorman, T. (1997) How CNET Does It [Online] Available:
http://www.cnet.com/Content/Builder/Business/HowCnet/index.html
This article gives detailed information about the evolution of the production process of the CNET Web sites during the first two years after its startup, and how the work relationships & procedures changed to adapt to the new medium.Grice, C. (1998) @Home to limit video downloads CNET News.com, November 30, 1998 [Online] Available: www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C29320%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.ts3.1130
News report describing the growing pains of one high bandwidth delivery system: cable modems.Hazell, J. (2001, May 2) The free-lance life. TV Technology, 19 (7), 32-33
This article describes some of the business issues that a free-lancer must confront: health insurance, income taxes, and travel expense reimbursement. It also mentions the advantages of free-lancing.Hebert, E. (1992) Portfolios invite reflection -- from students and staff. Educational Leadership, 49 (8) p. 58
Describes the evolution of a philosophy of portfolio use in one school and the initial four years of implementing portfolio use.Hebert, E. & Schultz, L. (1996) The power of portfolios. Educational Leadership, 53 (7) 70
Illustrates the benefits of portfolios in enabling students to critique and evaluate their own work over a period of time.Leonard, A. (1997) Workers of the Web, delight Salon Magazine Oct. 30, 1997 [Online] Available: http://www.salonmagazine.com/media/1997/10/30money.html
Salon magazine article on inflated pay for writers in New Media, compared to older media. Background on economic health of companies like Wired, programmers' salaries.(1998) Personal communication: telephone interview February 27, 1998. Notes included in Appendix D, below.
McNichol, T. (1998) Can Minor strike gold? Salon Magazine March 13, 1998 [Online] Available: http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/feature/1998/03/cov_13feature.html
Article about Halsey Minor, the founder of CNET. Focuses on the tension between ethical editorial content and advertising. Provides information about the financial history of the CNET group of ventures.Naguidula, D. (1997). Picturing performance with digital portfolios. Educational Leadership, 55, (3) p26
Describes the implementation of digital portfolios in six k-12 schools, how it was integrated into the curriculum, and its effect on the curriculum.Oblinger, D. & Verville, A. (1998) What business wants from higher education. Phoenix: Oryx Press
A thorough look at all the issues involved in keeping education relevant to the modern workplace. Not as business biased as the title might seem to imply. Topics include the current nature of the workplace, the ways corporate organization & work patterns have changed, the effect of informational technologies and globalism, and modes of education that are appropriate for these new conditions.Regan & Assoc. (1997) A Labor Market Analysis of the Interactive Digital Media Industry: Opportunities in Multimedia [Online] Available in PDF format for download:
http://www.skillsnet.net/about/studies.cfm
A detailed study tightly connected to current industry sources. Describes the segments of the industry, trends, lists occupations with skills required, demand and salary levels. Describes career paths, recommends educational goals and gives some sample multimedia curricula from educational institutions in Northern California.Standard & Poors (1995) Industry Surveys, Volume 2
Source of information about the dollar size of the various media businesses including print and electronic media. Gives investor oriented predictions of economic trends by industry segment.Thompson, H. (1997, Autumn) In good company. Adobe Magazine, 8(6) 37-41
A description of Salon Magazine. Describes the adjustments that print journalists had to make in moving to Web delivery. (www.salonmagazine.com)Thorn, L. (1998) Developing digital talent. New Media, 8 (13) [Also Online] Available www.newmedia.com/98/13/outsource/Digital_Talent.html
Describes the current hot topics in multimedia training and how individuals and corporations are getting the training. Mentions outsourcing as an alternative to training existing employees.Virshup, A. (1996) . The teachings of Bob Stein. Wired, 4 (7), 126- 174 [Also Online] Available:
http://www.hotwired.com/wired_online/4.07/voyager/index.html
A history of the Voyager Company and its founder. Voyager is a renowned pioneer in interactive media, having begun in laser disk technology before CD-ROMs were commonplace. Voyager's experience provides some historical context for those trying to understand the young New Media industry.APPENDIX A CNET -- The Production Process
C-Net Web pages describing the C-NET production process.
http://www.cnet.com/Content/Builder/Business/HowCnet/index.html
C-NET produces a Web news magazine that provides information on computer software, new hardware, games, computer business news, product reviews, etc. "aimed at computer-savvy Internet users." It is unique in that it is entirely Web based, it is not the Web venture of an established print publisher or television broadcasting company. It started from scratch in 1995 as a Web-based production.
The basic C-NET Web site has expanded to include more pages of information, and also to serve as a gateway to new sites aimed at specific new audiences such as industry executives, Web site managers, and computer game enthusiasts. Both the number of pages output weekly and the staff have tripled in two years.
The Web page cited above describes the evolution of the production process in these first two years. In the beginning there was a sharper division between the writers and editors and the HTML producers. There was the inefficiency of people repeating each other's work. The "producers who built the site" were in the majority at first, then the editorial staff who created content began to grow.
"Everyone slowly learned that deciding how to build and design an online story, as well as determining its structure and navigation, requires tight collaboration between production, editorial, and design."
The collaborative pressure of digital publishing broke down the barriers between artist and scientist, and a new structure for the production process was created that shortened the gestation period of an article from two weeks to three days.
Initially there was an essentially linear process with three divisions wherein editors, writers, and copy editors passed stories on to designers who gave them to producers. This was replaced by a system in which producers work closely with writers and editors. "At once decentralized and integrated, this process lets editors concentrate on story development and editing; designers, on look and feel; and producers, on HTML and JavaScript--while still keeping everyone aware of the overall picture."
This system is implemented with weekly meetings for scheduling and status reports, the use of a master schedule to note milestones and deliverables, and the use of a traffic coordinator to keep everyone informed of the status of stories by e-mail.
Along with the evolving social organization, C-NET has created a unique and proprietary technological system for electronic publishing which it is marketing as well as using. This is a system of servers which stores graphic templates, images and standard layouts which the content can be "poured into." The system gives a consistent look, eliminates duplication of effort, and provides a system of caching that allows Web pages to load faster when a user downloads them.
It was only a few short years ago, around 1994, that pundits had the realization that it was print media that would provide the model that would find first success when personal computers became widespread, rather than television as had long been expected. C-NET is one of the organizations that has proved them right, but the print model required new organizational ideas to be successful in the digital world.
APPENDIX B Notes from a site visit to Archipelago Productions, 70 Garden Road, Monterey, California
Wednesday, October 8, 1997
Archipelago Productions is a multimedia production company. It was purchased by Harcourt Brace 4 years ago, and was made a separate division among the 12 divisions of Harcourt Brace about a year and a half later. Initially operations were centered in San Diego with personnel working in many locations. As the number of projects increased they were gathered together in Monterey to work more cohesively. They have produced as many as 28 video disks in a year.
Harcourt Brace is a textbook publisher, and Archipelago's work is in the educational area -- they produce CD-ROM supplements to Harcourt Brace textbooks. Archipelago is also moving into the production of materials designed for Distance Learning. CD-ROMs produced for distance learning rather than classroom supplement typically have more audio narration and music content. The classroom supplements and especially the Distance Learning initiatives are developing a Web-based element -- textbooks will have an associated Web site with supplemental materials tailored for students, teachers, and prospective customers. These will include such things as expanded glossaries (some with audio files for pronunciation), sample syllabi, overhead transparencies, and mail list servers. For Distance Learning, the majority of the data will be provided to the student on CD-ROM, and the Web site will be used for communications with the students, testing, and other less data intensive and more personalized functions.
It is notable that Archipelago pays a great deal of attention to content development. They said that the editorial and project management area is the fastest growing part of the company. A project will begin with focus groups, surveys, syllabi, and teacher interviews. Four to seven people will be involved in this stage, including one content specialist and several writers working from lecture outlines. They employ outside content experts all through the development process, as well as academic reviewers (five to seven per project). They also have an alpha and beta level testing program. As many as 27 academic consultants have been used on a single project.
In addition to two or three layers of academic consultants, there are writers, project managers, and a project coordinator. The project coordinator begins early in the project to assemble the media assets that will be needed for the project. This may include graphics, illustrations, video clips, and even hardware such a scientific apparatus for demonstrations.
The line between pre-production and production does not seem to be as distinct in this type of multimedia production as it is in print, film, or video. Archipelago involves the graphic designers in the early stages of the pre-production so that they may begin planning the look and programmatic structure of the work, then the writers and other content people are involved in the production process in order to monitor accuracy, and to be available to make any adjustments to content that may be required to give the product a consistent look and to assure that it will effectively achieve its educational purpose.
Archipelago seems to employ about 50 people in its office park location. They have 3 Avid video editors, two Windows NT servers and two Mac servers. There are two small audio studios with a control room, and a small video studio. Media Tools is the primary authoring software, and Adobe After Effects is the primary graphics tool, with the usual ancillary software tools feeding into these, such as Photoshop, etc. It is anticipated that Java and Java Beans will be the primary tools used in producing for the Web. Most HTML and Java coding is outsourced.
One experienced multimedia producer expressed admiration for Archipelago's thoroughness in development. She noted that they keep staffing down by using outsourcing and by hiring without benefits for a specific project and laying off when the project is over or even if it goes into hiatus. These caveats came with the observation that it would be an exciting place to work, and the product would be something you could take pride in.
Broderbund in Marin County and another company in Walnut Creek were mentioned as similar high quality producers.
APPENDIX C
New Media Industry Workforce Needs/New Millennium Training ResponsesA panel presentation at the Technology in Education conference, May 3-6 1998, San Jose, California. Sponsored by the Community College Foundation
Presenters:
John Avakian, Director of the New Media/Multimedia/Entertainment initiative of Ed>Net, the California Community College Economic Development Network. Started in 1988, Ed>Net has a current budget of $28M. The New Media Initiative (one of several) is one year old.
http://www.ednet.cc.ca.us/
The Initiative has set up a structure of 6 Community Colleges, with several satellites, to develop programs and prevent duplication of efforts. One of the first programs of the Initiative is a 17-week multimedia production course in the North Orange County Community College District. Over 80% of the graduates of the programs have been placed in jobs.Susan Jordan, President of American Graphics Solutions, an 11 year old Silicon Valley Company which produces a variety of types of communications for companies such as Hewlett Packard, Apple, Intel, etc. These include marketing & sales training, presentation materials to accompany keynote addresses, sales tools for delivery on laptops, and some internal training materials. (Noted that in 11 years the company's use of media has changed drastically, since the technology has changed.) www.agsmedia.com
She emphasized the need for prospective employee to have a foundation in design, an understanding of marketing, and the ability to work with clients. She said they look for a background in art history, plus a familiarity with current works. In an interview they ask "how do you keep up, what magazines do you read, what do you do in your spare time?" She recommended affiliating with professional groups to network & keep up with trends. It is important to understand the whole production process, even though you don't do the whole process. Teamwork was emphasized. The importance of having a portfolio was stressed, also she indicated they would want to know the nature of your participation in the productions that are in your portfolio. It would be important to including thumbnails & notes to enable you to discuss the process of the production.
Specific skills would be looked at, but which software programs you know would not be as important as what types of programs -- "We can teach programs." They are looking for an employee who is "well rounded, but focused." "You should know what job you want to do, whether it be producer, creative director, or whatever." (Realize that in the long run you can change. One of the bookkeepers came in as an artist.) They are looking for "passion." they want to know that you like what you do. They do look at a degree as evidence that you are dedicated enough to finish a program.
The writers they use typically have a "marketing edge", but sometimes come from the games industry.
They use 2D & 3D artists, and have 2 tiers of designers. Senior designers do more planning & conceptualizing, junior designers execute the ideas. They use audio/video producers, and Web & authoring programmers. She remarked that "it is a new industry, there are not lots of roles to follow."
Brian Neider of Electronics Arts, a producer of electronic games that started in 1982, now has $800 million annual revenue. Their best seller to date has been John Madden Football, which earned $45M. They expect $100M from an upcoming World Cup Soccer game. Electronics Arts has 2,000 employees, half of them in the U.S., the others in 30 countries. 200 of them are in marketing, 1,000 in product development. In the beginning the company had 4 engineers to each artist, now the proportions are reversed.
Brian Said they are looking for "technical proficiency in the tools of the trade" but are looking at the types of software you know, not the specific software. He said that educators should foster a culture of constant learning. The student should acquire a strong base of technical expertise, but "another stage of learning begins when they are hired."
The portfolio is more problematic as a way of getting into the game industry because they push the limits of technology, and that level of tech is not available to students. Instead, internships are a good way to break in, as well as taking a job as a customer service representative.
The attitude of constant learning is important for advancement, and "taking the initiative to push the game to the next level." Brian cited an example of an employee imagining an idea: "wouldn't it be cool if we could make this game do such-and-such, then calling Intel to find out if the hardware could do it or urge them to design hardware that can." He also said it would be cool to ask the company to buy a tool so you could try it out.
He alluded to two career tracks: marketing and technical production.
Peri Drecker, with Skillsnet, a 1 (2?) year old non-profit organization formed to act as liaison between education & industry. They have produced occupational studies such as "A Day In The Life Of a Producer." Their Web site is an excellent resource for students, teachers, and industry. www.skillsnet.net
Ms. Drecker spoke with a no nonsense independent voice.
Peri noted that media jobs in San Francisco have grown 86% in the last 2 years. In her research with many different employers and industry groups, there has been a consistent mention of certain abilities: problem solving, creativity, teamwork, knowledge of the production process, the ability to communicate.Students need to be taught how to do their own career management; they should learn how to handle contract work (since much of the work in New Media is "outsourced" -- contracted out to freelancers or other agencies); they should utilize resource centers such as multimedia development groups, professional organizations, etc.
With strong emphasis she said "teach portfolio!" and mentioned basic items that students need to be reminded of, like remembering to label their portfolio disk with their name and contact information when they send it out to a prospective employer, and presenting their best work in their portfolio first.
She said that "2 years ago the industry was so desperate for producers that degrees were nearly useless, but now that the industry is maturing they are looking for more well rounded people." "The curriculum has to change, but is slow."
Q&A Session:
It was noted in the question & answer session that a lot of the work that is available is in existing corporations (as opposed to specifically New Media production companies). It consists of preparing Powerpoint presentations and creating Web sites. Many companies are not very advanced in using these kind of technologies that may seem fairly elemental to students immersed in New Media.
When sources list the skills required for employment in the New Media workplace, there is a striking similarity from all sources. The two columns below illustrate this and provide some expansion of the basic list. Each is derived from the organizations represented by two of the presenters described above: John Avakian of Ed>Net and Peri Drucker of SkillsNet.
From Ed>Net:
Effective communication skills, both verbal and written
The ability to work successfully in a team environment
Creative thinking and problem solving skills
The skills to organize time and resources wisely
The ability to access information and a commitment to life long learning
Computer literacy, proficiency in the use of common business soft ware applications, and significantly developed New Media software skills
Demonstrated proficiency in the use of one or more applications programming languages
A broad-based portfolio demonstrating fine art expertise and multimedia production experience
From SkillsNet:
Teamwork The number one competency for these industries is teamwork because virtually all projects are completed by teams. And, teams are often made up of people who haven't worked together in the past. The seamless merger of artistic and technological elements of a project requires input and cooperation from all team members. To be an effective team member, you must be able to work well with others and to work independently on your personal tasks.
Communication This core competency is closely linked to effective teamwork. In order to work well with others, you must have strong oral and written communication skills. You need to be able to talk in another person's language, whether technical or artistic. If you're brilliant technically or a very talented artist but you can't effectively communicate constraints that may limit or enable a technical or creative idea, you're not as valuable as a less talented team member who can do this. The synergy resulting from effective communication often leads to artists inspiring technical people with new and creative ideas and vice versa.
Problem solving Working on a team also requires that you can solve problems. It's one thing to come up with a new idea, but you need to be able to implement it. Since artists and technical people are constantly converting to new software tools, critical thinking skills are required to work in a rapidly changing environment.
Creativity and innovation These industries are enabled, not driven, by technology. Creativity and innovation often determine the success of a company and its products. You must display creativity to succeed in these industries, whether you choose an artistic or a technical path.
Understanding of the production process It's vital that you have a basic understanding of the overall production process in the industry you choose, whether it's multimedia or animation and digital visual effects. You need to know how your particular job fits into the larger context of multimedia, animation, or digital visual effects.
Organizational aptitude You must be able to follow directions, handle pressure, manage the project schedule to meet deadlines, work within the established budget, and maintain project information in an orderly manner
Enthusiasm for lifelong learning The constant introduction of new technologies and software tools demands that you have an enduring enthusiasm for lifelong learning. If you're wedded to one tool, you'll find your career die as other tools become the latest standard. Classes are often created when new tools are released. But, it's also common to teach yourself a new program rather than attend a class.
APPENDIX D Telephone interview with Andrew Leonard Friday, Feb 27 '98 9:30AM
Staff Writer for Salon Magazine
M.A. '91 U. C. Berkeley Asian Studies/Journalism
Has written book Bots - Origin of a New Species that will be out soon from Wired press.
(Not the A. Leonard who writes for CNET)Andrew said the he found the differences between New Media and old to be superficial. Indeed throughout the conversation he kept gravitating back to the basic principles of journalism.
With electronic publishing there is "more reader interaction. Reader feedback is amplified." "Stories never die." That's a good thing, gives an opportunity to re-write errors.The assertion that the rush to get a story on the net first is "a crock". The problem is that the established papers haven't learned to handle electronic immediacy like Radio/TV have.
[There have been recent incidents of erroneous stories appearing on-line, particularly the Dallas Morning News rushing online with a story about the Clinton/Lewinsky event that proved to be false.]Electronic publishers are "competing by the hour." The technology pages in particular are old news in the print media.
He said that electronic publishing is a "return to the journalism tradition." It is "opinionated, aggressive, takes a stance." He decried the "faux objectivism of the mainstream media" in which it is considered objective "as long as you mention both sides."
They started Salon because they were "disgusted with the mainstream."
[Verifys Adobe Magazine article.]
His work process: MS Word ---> server or e-mail. When asked, didn't notice any unusual integration with production process. "They're a couple of cubicles down.""Conventional press is worried that the Net will cut into their classified ad revenue."
Salon's revenue is from banner advertising, anticipating breakeven by the end of the year. Exploring tie-ins, other relationships. [He wasn't specific, but there is reference in the Adobe article or on Salon. A couple of weeks after this Slate, one of Salon's well reviewed competitors and a Microsoft venture went to subscription.]"Salon is infinitely more professional than Wired," prior electronic publisher employers, which include Web Review, an O'Reilly venture (defunct?) & Hot Wired (who he described as young and short on journalism.)
"Journalism transcends the medium. Present every side, there still can be opinion.
Follow through until you feel that you understand the story. Be thorough."APPENDIX E It may be useful to look at the relative sizes of the various information industries. Standard & Poors (1995) reported these figures for the year 1994 in billions of dollars:ELECTRONIC MEDIA:
Television $32B
TV cable $20B (mostly subscriber fees)
Radio $10.6B
Music $11B (sales of recordings)
PRINT:
Newspapers $34.1B
Magazines $8.5B
Books $8.6 (book sales)
(Above revenues are from advertising sales unless otherwise indicated)
MOTION PICTURES:
$5.4B (ticket sales, U.S.)
$4B (international sales)
$7B (sales to TV & videotape)
Informational CD-ROM sales are alleged to be approaching $20B, rivaling the size of the motion picture business. (Garrand, 1997, pg.53)
These figures should be used as rough guidelines only, since I have found contradictory information in other sources(1). Figures on CD-ROM publishing, in particular, vary greatly. Sources divide the industry in various way, making it difficult to make a direct comparison to other media. For example, sometimes hardware sales is included. Nevertheless it is clear that income from CD-ROM sales is already about equal or in excess of motion picture revenues. While both are growing, for the time being the CD-ROM industry is growing much faster.
1. Total book sales in the U.S. increased 4% in 1996 to more than $20 billion.
"Book of the Year (1998): BOOK PUBLISHING" Britannica Online. www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=boy/98/L03135.html
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