HERE WE ARE AGAIN YOU MISSED ME AND I SORTA MISSED YOU ALL (Maybe)
IT'S AMAZING SYNERGY that when you lack any significant funds laboring this daily ritual, you lose the natural creative forces to produce a column. It's a fancy way of saying I have ZERO moolah and thus, was ready/am ready to shut all this down and thought I would just disappear and head for some nomadic outpost in Lake Merritt savoring a last plain turkey on rye and root beer. I WAS DONE doing this and had no intention to post anything anytime soon.
Then you all chimed in. At least some of you and then I was left with what to do, just ignore, move on, react, don't react and just quietly fade away which would invite unintended trouble because you really cannot fade into oblivion these days, that damn internet makes it so difficult unless you just do a blatant mode of secrecy and again, that invites crap that I don't want to create.
This site was intended, originally, as a device to report on; create; produce; comment on and write about Bay Area media; mostly TV and radio and digital too. It quickly branched into another element which at first I was enthralled but as time moved forward and responsibilities grew more tedious, I simply wasn't prepared for the onslaught. Sure, I was taken by the enthusiasm and tried my best to carry forward your desire to read a daily site that wet your appetite for the Bay Area goings-on for 24/7 media; a legit feeling for a TV/Radio Top 10 market that should be able to support such an endeavor. I thought wrong.
From the early goings, my thought process was to write this as a non-profit project and simply provide a service to you, the public. It was a simple theory: I don't necessarily have to make money but I'm not going to work for free either which is completely within the realm of decency and nothing extreme nor out of bounds. YOU ALL seemed to like the migration into more edgy commentary and non-filtered content; the shit you would normally read in the trades or the Chronicle (WAIT! the Chronicle does NOT cover media in this or any other city) therefore the idea of asking for donations and paid subscriptions would not be met with insults and ridicule. It has mostly not been but unfortunately those of you that sent in money (some of you, multiple times) are/were outnumbered by the freebie crowd that thought 2 bucks a month was unacceptable\ and in, of all places, the zeitgeist of billionaires alley from Downtown SF to Silicon Valley.
I cannot make it writing a 24/7 daily media blog and I'm not going to write periodic blogs every now and then and be a DH. It's either an everyday deal or NO DEAL at all which I'm perfectly OK with because I've had a few rodeos in my life and ego enhancements over the years to be satisfied. I'd be happy with a roof over my head and lifetime supply of cherry-flavored seltzer water. A few bucks here and there is not good enough which is reason for this latest (and truly last) post about 415 Media's future, if there is one.
Here's the game plan: I love writing this blog. It is cathartic and it goes after targets that should be targeted because they think their egos and BS are bigger and better and they get a free pass; you have indicated; most of you at least; that you want these buttheads and their Neanderthal leanings to be held accountable --and that's where I come in and have repeatedly produced for you. Because having worked in this fractured industry, I know how these lemmings work, I feel your pain. I am here for you but I cannot perform gratis. I am not a Zuckerberg nor a Musk nor anything else. I am more a half-eaten TV dinner bereft of fruit compost and just trying to break even, literally.
Beginning Monday, after gauging interest, contribution(s) to my latest plea for capital enhancement (big words) I will, once again, write multiple stories, ideas, scoops, non-scoops, commentary and the like that you all have grown to appreciate and relish. But I will do so with the caveat that you step to the plate and BOTH pay for a six-month, one-year, two year or lifetime subscription to 415 Media make it worth my time and effort to provide you the entertainment you deserve and look forward to every day. I REPEAT: I'm here for you.
I CAN'T and WON'T WORK for free. I have tried to sell advertising but because the major gist of my work here is off the conventional chart, it is difficult to bring in sponsors even though I have *50,000 daily clicks and *20K unique visitors. You folks in media and PR and advertising guys/goirls LOVE MY SITE and I know it but unfortunately have taken in the Internet-Is-Free detour, wrong move.
TO INVEST in 415 MEDIA and make it a sustainable and UN-FILTERED, INDEPENDANT, site devoid of advertiser-influenced control, then I ASK YOU to CONTRIBUTE. It's easy, affordable, and you'll have my constant ear and eyes. Even you haters and corporate enemies that detest me but find a way to come here repeatedly on an EVERYDAY basis. If KQED (worth north of $500M) can ask you all for money --which includes a cheap coffee mug, ouh la la--17 times a day!!, then I most surely can do the same but I will not. Oh, and my content is way more interesting and exciting than meh KQED.
TO SUPPORT 415 MEDIA IS SIMPLE**
1. BUY a PAID SUBSCRIPTION NOW: It's $25 for one year (roughly 2 bucks a month); $30 for two years; if you want to donate more than I'll be grateful and personally call you and/or e-mail you thanking you for your contribution.
2. HOW TO CONTRIBUTE: Go to the Pay Pal "donate" button on the right side of the blog (scroll down, you'll see it) simply CLICK on the donate button and follow the prompters; it takes less than a minute (you can use any major credit card) and it's 100% safe and secure; confidential too.
*THANKS AGAIN TO ALL OF YOU WHO SUPPORT MY 415 MEDIA.
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