Today’s passage of the new FCC media ownership rules is a great moment for all of us. Naysayers be damned, get ready for a new, exciting age.
I wasn’t going to let “Fanatical Apathy” miss out on this new exciting age. As of 1 PM today, as soon as I heard about this fortuitous moment in media history, I began buying up as many political blogs as I could get my hands on. But don’t fret - the new map of the blogosphere may look a little different, but for now all your favorite sources of web punditry will continue as they are, unaffected by the change in ownership. For the most part.
Reactions from my newly acquired blogs has been gratifyingly muted. Here are some of the issues I’ve been dealing with:
- Eric Alterman over at “Altercation” was relatively sanguine about me buying a majority interest in his (previously) MSNBC-owned blog. I expected a lot of whining about my ties to big business and strident pledges to give no special treatment to my Presidential campaign. But Eric’s only question was, “Can I still talk about Bruce Springsteen all the time?”
Short answer: No. Fanatical Apathy has no existing relationship with Sony Music, and Springsteen scores extremely low among the key 18-35 demographic. Eric, if you must reference aging roots-rockers, allow me to suggest Tom Petty, whose catalog is owned by the fine folks over at MCA.
- Atrios over at “Eschaton” wanted assurances that I wouldn’t try to curb his frequent references to other humor-oriented blogs. While I don’t intend to interfere with Atrios’ freedom of expression, I can’t guarantee that I won’t find someone else to write “Eschaton” if this kind of behavior continues.
- Oliver Willis was a bit miffed, going on about how he “was the pioneer of imaginary blog empires,” and that he “floated the idea several hours ago.” Indeed. Keep watching OliverWillis.com, the future home of “Fanatical Apathy’s Bed and Bath Emporium.”
To all the new members of my blog family, including Josh Marshall, The Rittenhouse Review, and the legendary Doc Searls, welcome to FanapCo! In time, we’ll streamline operations a bit, make sure we’re not replicating each others efforts, and create a more unified look, feel, and approach. You’ll all be receiving a “Standards and Practices Handbook” soon. For starters, all I ask is that you attach this logo to your blog (with, of course, a linkback):
Great things are afoot, folks, great things!
Fanny Roborat
12 comments
Lis
June 2, 2003 at 8:27 pm
1So, are you currently in the market for quantity or quality? I may just be a lowly Flippery Fish in the Blogosphere Ecosystem but I might be able to offer both.
Your acquisition of Oliver Willis does give you brownie points for diversity, but so far I notice no female-owned blogs in your stable of talent. I’m sure that’s an oversight, but one I can correct.
What do you say?
N in Seattle
June 2, 2003 at 8:40 pm
2Adam, you also seem geographically concentrated in the northeastern quadrant of the nation. Sure, Doc’s in California, but he’s really so amorphous and so de-emphasizes his location that he hardly counts. You need to diversify into every corner of the great land that Michael Powell now offers to your greedy, oligopolistic, grubby little fingers.
Like Lis, I’ve reached the level of Flippery Fish in the Ecosystem … small, but not completely insignificant.
Murray
June 2, 2003 at 9:41 pm
3You know the great thing about Murdock, Disney, GE, Westinghouse, Gannett, and Time Warner taking over all of the media? No one cares. A half dozen corporations can lull the willfully ignorant masses into thinking that more power for them is good for us. Corporations that benefit from the current administration, which benefits from the corporations. Now if they were having sex in the oval office, that we could get excited over.
Pat R.
June 2, 2003 at 11:08 pm
4Good point re: female-owned blogs. Adam, why aren’t you going after quality concerns like Dooce, Que Sera Sera, Fussy or Mimi Smartypants? They all get big traffic, and unless I’m very much mistaken, big traffic = commercial potential.
Rook
June 2, 2003 at 11:10 pm
5If you’re in the market for a truly bland, PC correct, and totally wimpy site, why I think mine fits the bill. We’re talking poor writing, totally biased views, oh and I promise I can insult with the best of them, unless, of course, they pay my salary.
Rook
June 3, 2003 at 1:08 am
6Look, I’ve been waiting on an offer for my web blog. But I’ve not got one word from you. If you’re going to be the next big monopoly, you’re sure going about it all wrong. Fine, I’ve got better things to do………besides, I got all painted up and don’t want to waste it.
Chicory
June 3, 2003 at 11:07 am
7How can I buy shares in Fanapco(tm)??? Sounds like a sure thing to me.
Today, blogs. Tomorrow, Time-Warner!!!
Chair of the Board
June 3, 2003 at 6:52 pm
8Um, if you haven’t bought shares in FANAPCO yet, you’d better hurry.
And as majority stakeholder in “Fanatical Apathy,” I’d just like to say that Adam hasn’t cleared any of these buyouts with the Board.
Ahem.
Rook
June 3, 2003 at 7:57 pm
9Hey, I’ll take overinflated stock options as payment for my blog. Come on, I’m going to be the next big thing. Well, maybe not the NEXT big thing, but I’ll definitely be in the top 10,000.
Ok, how about in the top 100,000,000?
Manic
June 4, 2003 at 12:13 pm
10Sold!
katie
June 5, 2003 at 1:38 am
11ummm…. Shouldn’t that be “Sold, American!”
Jelisse
August 16, 2005 at 12:17 pm
12I appreciate that you keep this blog going and allow comments. To me feedback is an interesting part of a blog.