Exciting developments in radical media

April 1st, 2005 | by aobaoill |

As someone who’s been blogging, on and off, for almost as long as MediaGeek (and in even more obscurity) I must say that I was not at all surprised by today’s announcement repositioning the enterprise and refocusing on the more productive topics covered there. In fact, those of us who’ve been tracking the rise of what can fairly be described as the MediaGeek empire realised it was only a matter of time before the group went public on plans to leverage their cross-platform brand for more revenue-intensive operations.
So where next for MediaGeek? The announcement is sparse on precise plans but one significant announcement is the MediaGeek store. This is a smart move – as a trusted brand in radical circles it makes sense that MediaGeek can leverage a segment that is, understandably, inaccessible to other media brands. Even NPR merchandise is seen as increasingly ‘square’ in this trend conscious market, and larger operations such as Indymedia have proven unable to marshal resources to fully commoditise their brand.
Given this then, I am somewhat disappointed at the range of products proposed by MediaGeek. This is, after all, a brand identified as edgy and radical, thoughtful but irreverent. Why then no MediaGeek thongs, baby doll t-shirts or, even, that perennial radical favourite, buttons?
Of course, it may be that Paul, the guiding force behind the group, doesn’t believe he is yet perfectly positioned to move on those products. In that case, my personal prediction would be for some major personnel changes at the mid-level of the organisation, and if I were MediaGeek’s Drew Tarico I’d be watching my back – and expect a more feminine public face to the MediaGeek organisation.
My guess would also be that the mid-term plan is to dispose of at least some of the group’s operations, with a possibility that the entire group will be folded into a larger operation. The increasing range of activities – publishing, broadcasting, internet and now merchandising – has to be unwieldy for an organisation the size of this. The recent trend within media, not withstanding overall conglomeration, has been for the trimming of operation lines, with only the largest groups attempting to maintain in the long run cross-media diversity of the level demonstrated by MediaGeek.
The problem, of course, is that the group has leveraged a single brand so tightly across media boundaries. It is difficult to see how MediaGeek the zine would be an attractive investment when the website would be out of the control of investors. So ultimately we have to be talking about a sale of the entire operation, perhaps to the local News-Gazette who have recently indicated interest in both new media and media analysis.
Of course such a move would be a hard-sell to the current client base of MediaGeek so perhaps the most interesting thing for media watchers to follow will be the strategic relocating of MediaGeek – will Paul opt for a slow shift to the center, hoping that regulars won’t notice, or a quick shift with the hope that while some will leave others will “stay for the ride”?
In somewhat unrelated news, it seems that that other communications powerhouse Microsoft are planning exciting developments for Word!

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