FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE FOURTH ESTATE
A business card, with the word "Publisher" upon it, was once beheld with the greatest of respect. It dignified one as the captain of a very beautiful ship.
Publisher is another job title our Tech Overlords have eliminated. A publisher was once responsible for the content, the design and the profitability of a publication. A publisher even selected what ads would complement the magazine.
Silicon Valley found their utility as publishers. They used bytes instead of words. With digital cheaper than print, the publisher began to lose opacity. The role has now vanished entirely.
Today publishing is at the mercy of the aggressive digital advertising developer, blind to content and style. The digital advertiser will devise heinous acts in order to divert your attention and to motivate your 'click.' The experience is no longer pleasurable and readership has declined.
Johnny and Janey can't read. And they have no reason to start now.
I believe I have failed to mention that Art Report Today had a seventh birthday on April 1.
This publication was created to be a vibrant depository of all breaking arts and culture news worldwide. Covid and the resulting mayhem has not allowed us to prove, or disprove, our concept. And a future cannot include the leaping digital ad.
To make our torpedoed hull seaworthy, I am adding the ballast of experiential events, content creation in every medium and the tools to market and promote the interests of our partners.
These are captivating times. Voices in the art world are calling for change, because there has been nothing new or exciting in quite some time. The arts media establishment continues to target the One Percent. There is a much larger art world out there, waiting for attention.
Art Report Today .com
