Interview with Eric Berlin, Blogcritics Executive Producer - Page 4

Phillip Winn is our technical director and lives outside of Dallas. I live in Pasadena California and EO lives outside of Cleveland.

And our editors live around the world — several key editors live in the UK which is great because it gives us "wide coverage" in terms of the unending 24 hour production cycle.

So it's all virtual, all grassroots, all people working together to create something that's never been done before. That's the thing that's important to remember: Blogcritics is singular in so many ways.

That's why it was named as part of the AlwaysOn 100 in the trendsetter's category, I believe, and that's what makes BC so fascinating.

Now Eric, a harder question! Do you see this as a model for running media organizations? Even mainstream ones? What the advantages to it? And what are the problems? Is this a model for a more accountable media?

Well — I see your questions as taking on a few different issues. Let me start with the first one.

I do see virtual organizations and small teams of founders working closely together as the present and future of software development. The barrier to entry is so much lower than it has ever been, which is a huge boon to the Internet industry and people who simply dig the Internet and technology.

I'm not sure if it's the model for "mainstream ones" — I think it depends on the particular circumstances but certainly it's there as an option.

At the same time there's really no replacing in person day-to-day contact. As to your other question about a more accountable media, I think you're talking about the role of the blogosphere in making the mainstream media and other institutions more accountable?

I believe so but I am also interested in talking about ownership and editorial policy decisions that are decided differently than they are today. BC is creating a new type of socially owned media company and do you think media itself can be reorganized via this principle and what kind of issues do you see around it.

Well, I think media in general is in a state of great flux with the role of traditional media companies declining in some ways and changing rapidly to deal with changing times while new and online media companies are gaining audience and credibility and dealing with the many issues that come along with that accountability and responsibility.

Article Author: Spincycle

Spincycle is interested in questions around media, governance, and political economy. He strongly values reading good fiction for he feels that it imparts the important value of empathy.

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