1938 Media -- AKA video blogger Loren Feldman -- has lost its distribution deal with Verizon's VCast service in the wake of some ridiculous protests about a video that made the rounds more than a year ago.
The Verizon deal was formed at the end of June and put Some of Feldman's videos in front of Verizon's VCast users and Fios internet customers through video-on-demand. Now, the deal has been ripped up.
Loren Feldman, who does one-man monologues on whatever strikes his fancy and, more recently, has been interviewing big names in the tech scene with puppets to make fun of social media consultant Shel Israel. Some of his videos are actually very funny -- to some people -- just like any comedy.
The video at the forefront of this drama was filmed in August 2007 and made quite a splash at the time. (view it here) Some were offended by the tone of the video which asked "Where are the black tech bloggers?" Feldman wondered, "where is the black TechCrunch?" or "black Scoble?" Feldman went on to dress up in a do-rag and gold chain necklace and parody a "stereotypical" black tech website called TechNigga.com. He "reviewed" a Google Maps mashup that allowed you to keep track of your "hos" through GPS technology. Pay attention VC's: there's an untapped market segment there.
I thought it was mildly amusing in the way that over-the-top stereotyped satire usually is, but knew that much of the tech blogosphere would have an anti-Loren knee-jerk reaction to it. A former co-worker of mine at Valleywag, Nick Douglas, called Feldman the "Don Imus" of Silicon Valley. That actually fits pretty well. I'm a big fan of both Imus and Loren Feldman. I think they both have a sharp wit and a knack for pointing out hypocrisy in society that others would prefer be left alone.
The video in question was never scheduled to be shown on Verizon. A "news" story on African-American music enthusiasts website HipHopDX wrote up the story and listed a number of professional protesters like Al Sharpton's National Action Network and a group called Project Islamic Hope that were calling on Verizon to drop the deal.
I really doubt that one video from one sort-of well-known video blogger is going to change anyone's mind towards black people in a bad way. In fact, for me, it did the opposite. I did wonder where the black minds in tech are. Sure, there are a few, but they aren't very prominent. From my (very white) point-of-view, there are more blacks in Conservative politics (Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, etc) than there are in high-profile tech-circles.
Comments
self-righteous? ridiculous?
basically you're placing the blame on people who share indignation over this racist video?
you couldn't be any more distant from reality.
tell a man you're being satirical and see how far that "humor" gets you outside of your computer monitor.
for every action, there's a reaction.
It amazes me how wrong you guys at TIS get it time after time. Echo calling chamber. Leave the keyboard maybe once, twice a week?
Feldman's "Black People Are Lame," "Black People Can't Get It Together," and Technigga, not to mention his latest round of could-be-funny-but-aren't puppet videos, don't add to a mainstream brand like Verizon. What would you expect?
Golddigga Feldman wanted mainstream money and mainstream glory for niche NY street corner "humor." Not gonna happen.
That's show business.
No, that's Big White None of Our Business Men.
"I did wonder where the black minds in tech are. Sure, there are a few, but they aren't very prominent."
You might want to start here, Mr. Golson: http://whydoeseverythingsuck.com/2008/07/verizon-dumps-loren-tech-nigga-...
Like I said, not very prominent. I'm sorry, I have trouble taking someone seriously who uses a standard blogspot template.
Oh My God. You really are an idiot, Jordan. Isn't there a thunderstorm you should be chasing somewhere?
Well whether I am "prominent" or not is indeed a matter of opinion. I have certainly never called myself that. But if you base it on stats, like my monthly pages views after 6 months of blogging (30-35k) or the fact that I am a regular (and high traffic) contributor at alleyinsider.com might also be relevant. Of course maybe all you really need is a pretty template to fit your definition. In any case I am no Scoble, or Arrington... but then again blogging at thestandard.com (120k uniques/month for entire site) neither are you. Then again Industry Standard does have a very nice template...
"I'm sorry, I have trouble taking someone seriously who uses a standard blogspot template."
Well thank you Judge Judy. It may be of some interest to you to realise that a lot of early adopters still use "a standard blogspot template", including authors of The Cluetrain Manifesto and the inventors of the first blogging tool - without whom we would not be having this inane "conversation".
I can see clearly where you stand on the book cover issue - and its human equivalent.
... umm, not to mention, Jordan have you checked out your own template? http://jordangolson.com/
case rested.
"I did wonder where the black minds in tech are. Sure, there are a few, but they aren't very prominent. "
Let's see: there's Newsweek's gaming blogger N'Gai Croal and the folks (Paul Scrivens and Tyme, who is also a woman) behind 9Rules. There's tech blogger and CEO Lena West of InfoWorld.
Former MSNBC contributor Omar Wasow is biracial, making him legally black. There's Tony Pierce who manages blogs at the L.A. Times -- or maybe blogs aren't "technical" enough. Lynne d. Johnson ran the sites for Spin and Vibe before decamping to FastCompany.com.
No, they may not be Mark Zuckerberg famous ... but then neither are most white guys. "Prominent"? I guess it depends on how you define the term.
I mean, you can zing me, I guess, but that doesn't change the fact that I still haven't heard of any of those folks.
Why are you arguing so hard against me? I'm saying that blacks are underrepresented. Are you saying there are plenty of blacks in tech, so don't worry about it?
Not that I like referring to The 250, but how many of these folks are black?
http://www.twitterholic.com/
And haha nice thunderstorm comment. For the uninitiated, she's probably referring to http://www.thestormtrack.com/
Everybody: This thread is interesting, particularly the debate about whether or not black writers are underrepresented in the tech sphere.
However, when I read Jordan's comment, I was very disappointed. The use of Blogger is completely unrelated to the arguments in Jordan's original post and Hank's analysis on his own blog. In addition, the choice of a blogging platform has *nothing* to do with the quality of one's writing or their prominence in the tech sphere. Hank is an excellent writer. I also follow several other quality blogs which happen to be hosted on blogspot, including one of the most authoritative blogs on 3D technologies that I know of, Len Bullard's 3D on the Web - cheap. While neither Hank nor Len is in the Techmeme Leaderboard, there are a few prominent bloggers who are, including Dan Lyons/Fake Steve Jobs (see Jordan's coverage of FSJ from yesterday).
For anyone who is interested, Jordan explains his reasoning behind the blogspot comment, and has also elaborated on his original post about 1938media on this Friendfeed thread.
Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard
I think the most important thing is in fact not to distinguish by skin color, gender, eye color, or any other physical characteristic.
Om Malik is a well-known blogger. Is he a well-known Indian (guessing) blogger, or is he just a well-known blogger. Mike Arrington is a well-known blogger. Not a well-known WHITE blogger, but just a well-known blogger and entrepreneur.
Is Will Smith a well-known actor, or a well-known black actor? Judging by the success of all his movies (he has the $100 million golden touch) I would say he is a well-known actor, regardless of his skin color.
The more you focus on any physical or genetic distinction, the more you miss the big picture. America is about equal opportunity. Not just on websites and employer contracts, but that for many from all over the world of whatever background, America levels the playing field. Is it perfectly level? Of course not. Never in history has everyone been born into an equal situation, even in all-white societies, all-red societies, or all-black societies and cultures.
We don't focus on color except when it comes to blacks. No thoughts on whether Om is Indian, whether Jeremiy Owyang is Korean (i'm guessing), or whether , or whether Mike is Scandinavian.
Don't miss the forest for the trees.
Jordan, you're focusing on the wrong aspect of Feldman's piece. The issue isn't why aren't there more black tech bloggers. The issue is why did Feldman find it funny to characterize black bloggers with crude and offensive stereotypes? And by extension, why did you find it funny? Perhaps there's an opportunity for self-reflection and growth here.
Post new comment