In March this year, Dieter Brinzer, Editor-in-Chief of the german magazine VISUELL, the leading magazine for the stock photo industry, published his unforgotten and legendary fax machine optimized opinion poll, together with initial media data, which he later had to adjust.
With this move Dieter Brinzer has entered beyond all doubt the Hall of Fame of the most legendary newspaper and magazine publishers in the world, together with his ingenious news editors, and for his merits in delivering what could be described as the most stunning stock photo news information source ever, he presumably will receive the Pour le Mérite, the Grand Cross of the Pour le Mérite as well as the Alfred E. Neumann Memorial Medal for Excellence In Journalism in a not so distant future.
In the light of this glory, we few others shyly stand aside.
Here´s yet another glorious example demonstrating how this stunning system constantly creates excellence in generating unique content.
[Image: Framed Alfred E. Neumann Memorial Medal for Excellence In Journalism]
On Dec. 11, 2006, Will Carleton of London-based Photo Archive News broke the story that "Hachette Fillipacchi sells all photo interests". Will´s website is one of the most respected stock photo news websites in the UK, besides BAPLA, and EPUK of course.
He did this not by looking out of the window or by watching television, but because he is working in the UK stock and editorial photo industry.
Will said a few things, I asked someone else familiar with Hachette and wrote my own follow-up later, but never without crediting the source Will.
The US boys, the heavyweights like PDN or American Photo, never had difficulties with this kind of behaviour, to credit the source. Some blogger or other news sources have a story first, no big thing, they link. They don´t need not to do it.
In contrast to the heavyweights, the lightweights seem to have these difficulties in crediting the source, for obvious reasons. If they would do, it might turn out that a large part of their reporting on international stock photo news is only the result of content-grabbing. And finally their readers might intend to place their ads elsewhere, namely on those sites which had the news first.
All of a sudden, the superheroes of modern journalism from VISUELL enter the scene. And it seems to be always the same kind of behaviour: translate the news you´ve found elsewhere in the english speaking stock photo news world into german, add some I´m the guy stuff found elsewhere, publish a rewritten, remixed and supplemented story online and two months later in the bimonthly print issue, and never credit the source. The result in the reader´s brain: "Wow, what a great bunch of time and work VISUELL has invested to break this story, I´m deeply impressed and moved to tears."
VISUELL published yesterday their follow-up (I don´t link to this Kraut stuff) on the Groupe Hachette Filipacchi Photos deal, and it reads like a supplemented translation. Anyone watching the news closely will have noticed that only three stock photo news sites have written about the sale of Groupe Hachette Filipacchi Photos earlier.
So, VISUELL, where are your news coming from? Who told you that this had happened? Will Carleton, who? Where did you read it? Do you possibly need to grab content from blogs and remix it to stay alive (national VISUELL print run decline from 12.000 in 2003 to 9.500 in 2006)? By the way, when was the last time VISUELL was at the forefront to report about new developments in the stock photo industry? Every second month?
"When I run a news item or interview, they steam in afterwards and take the idea", is usually what I hear since over a year. This is just stupid. If you, VISUELL, have no concept and no idea how to survive with your bimonthly published magazine in the digital age (with news which are old when the magazine hits the street), then close your business and quit your job.
Do you really believe people think that you are not checking regularly others sites for new inspiration? No big thing, but then, in the event another site has something noteworthy to report for your inspiration, just link back, or you will see a similar message like this one here on every single day in the future. Try to grab content without crediting the source, and the Alfred E. Neumann Memorial Medal for Excellence In Journalism will pop up again each time.
Then there´s the Perez Hilton and the X17 story, first reported with all details by Light 'em Up!, the NYC insider blog with "Ramblings and Observations about the NYC Paparazzi", on Nov. 30.
And again, these guys did this not by looking out of the window or by watching television, but because they work in the NYC Paparazzi scene.
With six hours time difference across the pond, I read the news the next day, wrote about it, and linked back. David Schonauer/AmericanPhoto was the only other stock photo news related website writing about this the same day.
And again, VISUELL ran the story days later "quoting" all the details the insiders of Light 'em Up! were reporting. We all know that the swabian VISUELL magazine has the longest history ever in the world to report about paparazzi photography in New York. So again, VISUELL, where are your news coming from? Who told you that this had happened? Light 'em Up!, who? Where did you read it?
Until today, no single website out there can cover all the things happening in the stock photo industry. It´s literally impossible. Some websites report the news, others like to investigate the chicken and egg dilemma of the stock photo industry in depth, although in fact neither the chicken nor the egg really care much about it, because they only intend to instrumentalize the sites reporting on the chicken and egg dilemma for their needs. But that´s another story.
And while on the topic of borrowing content, we all have seen it earlier when one the industry´s most respected observers simply rewrote a PDN article and presented this newly created piece to his readers. Very recently, there´s another spam website out there, running by the name of a predatory fish (believe it or not), which repeatedly has even stolen content from the password protected areas of PDN or the WSJ. A case which attorneys-at-law are currently investigating.
Related:
- VISUELL´s Dieter Brinzer Is Back With The Latest Media Data News (Apr. 12, 2006)
- Corbis was overwhelmed with emotion yesterday learning through the "leading magazine for the picture business", VISUELL (the online version), that its 2004 revenues were m$ 140: "revenues went through the roof, climbing from m$140 in 2004 to m$ 228" (March 11, 2206)
- VISUELL Releases New Media Data (March 07, 2006)
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