Thesis Diary #10: The End of the Line

"Most people listen to rock n’ roll, others read about it and some actually have the lunacy to write about it.”

- Mike Saunders

So, it's finished. 18,275 words all devoted to the service of not really proving anything conclusive. My contention that labels influence rock journalism more than they did in the 1960s. My reply? Are you sure about that? It saves you reading the whole thing that way. I doubt many people would at the end of the day.

That's what's so painful about today - realizing a grand total of 10 people in the entire world will read what I had to write and I'll get a piece of paper that will represent the one-third contribution to what it actually stands for. I'll get (read: rent) a cool mortarboard (for an afternoon), but that's not the point.

Anyone in academia will know about the loneliness and isolation the pursuit of intellectual interrogation brings. For the past six months I've mostly stared  at words on a screen and a blinking cursor. As I was talking to the very funny guys of the Four Horsemen program on BlogTalkRadio today, I realized I'd have to go through a steady period of re-socialization, despite keeping up Hapkido classes and other routine meetings. I've not had time for meeting new people or keeping track of old friends since every activity that wasn't devoted to the completion of the thesis felt like a luxury. 

It's a feeling of emptiness - I almost don't want to let go and move on. It's consumed me for such a long time (well, it feels that way) it'll take some adjusting to the real world once it's actually handed in on June 20th. I'm thinking of having a graduation party - I very much hope connecting with friends both old and new will revitalize me from this six month hellride. But the feeling of relief? Indescribable. Thank fuck this is over.

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Thesis Diary #9: In at the Death

"What are we gonna do now?"

- The Clash - Clampdown

The past two days were spent at the Walkley Foundation Freelance Conference, learning how to be a freelance journalist; well, more or less. (More, rather than less.) It gave me a bit of a helicopter view of freelance journalism - and of all freelance writing really - and a bit of a confidence to pursue it now that I've got some skills in pitching (I got Jonathan Green's card!) business principles and other writing tips. 

But, as egotistical as I am, there's just no way I could drop my Masters knowledge on the world and make a whole ton of cash without being very fucking poor for at least 1-2 years unless I did something else as a primary source of income. (I think every freelancer there did something else before they became a freelance. Horticulturalist/Pharmacist/Architect + English skills = FREELANCE!) Is that such a bad idea? Well, I've got about one month to go: what exactly can I do? Apart from this?

1. Media consulting

You would not believe how many people at the conference asked me about social media when I said I did media consulting. They stood there, pens scribbling furiously on pads lapping up what I had to say about "providing value to your network" and "engaging in conversation." I felt like a massive wanker, but if someone wants to pay me $50/hr to tell them how, who am I to refuse?

2. Copywriting

I feel that copywriting is like "journalism-lite" - especially if its blog copy that requires a bit of research. I've been doing some online copywriting for a while, and a few odd corporate jobs. While I don't loathe it completely, it can pay a fair bit if I get some sustained and solid work.

3. Researching and news wire work
 

There's always researching - people need people that can find things out for them. Some of the firms and topics are painfully boring but then again, it's money. I also found out about doing precis writing for news wires, abstracting reports for "redeployment" elsewhere. See, these conferences aren't just full of bad catering, fragile egos and free booze after all!

4. Public relations and advertising

I don't think I have enough money to pay for the operation to have my soul removed, but it's always an option to get into at some stage. An optional option that's optional.

So the future isn't that bleak. I am determined to move forward with my career in the media even if climbing to the "peak of the pinnacle" may take a while.

I've also surmised that I'm going to run about 1-2K over my word limit for the thesis. Mostly waffling on about heavy metal. I'm a big metal fan, you know. My settings go up to eleven! (Sorry, I just had to.)

 

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Thesis Diary #8: Finkle is Einhorn

Today, as I was re-combining my thesis into something resembling an academic quality thanks to the tips of Dr. Tony Moore I had a "Eureka" moment. I called it my "Finkle is Einhorn" moment in honor of Ace Ventura's spectacular and gut-wrenching realization (which you can watch here - but of course, it's a massive spoiler. Seriously, watch the film.)

It was mostly due to this line that I wrote, that sums up the theories of Bourdieu as applied to rock criticism and the media ecology approach to describe the differences in the environment prior to the internet and during. Back in the day, label types would tee up interviews in Rolling Stone and Creem and NME - and sometimes they wouldn't have to because journalists would want to hang around bands because it made them cool and would champion new rock genres and styles such as punk, new wave, progressive rock and so on. I was so embedded in this circuit, it only just dawned on me, but I was unable to explain it via theory and real-world examples until now:

Brown contends that contemporary rock journalists are merely “sponsors” of pre-fabricated trends transmitted through public relations “spin doctors” in order to appear in tune with what is popular in the rock subculture as a “survival mechanism” to keep themselves in the employ of their magazine and position as a "rock authority" or on behalf of their publication, which is beholden to a variety of publishers, shareholders, etc.  The access to the “stars” themselves becomes a field of limited production – that is, new content to be generated and sold to the readership. People can go to gigs, etc. and upload footage of the concert to YouTube – but anyone with a web-enabled smartphone may also do the same. Not everyone may interview or “hang out” with a rock star in order to write an article about him or her and be afforded an opportunity to further consecrate the rock music field in its rich and storied timeline. This imbues a position of [privilege] on to a rock journalist who is given this “face time” with rock musicians, lending them a heightened position in a market of symbolic value.

What's more interesting that even in Australia, there's a huge bunfight over what's cool and more 'hip' and what's commercial trash, even though they're basically getting a different phonecall from the same publicist. Creem would criticise Rolling Stone for being too serious, and we have the same thing repeating today between different websites, even though the sources of their content is near identical. I've only about a month to go, but of the 12K words I've got now, I feel that 80% is solid. I've also decided to re-write my introduction from scratch since it almost makes no sense. (Well, marginally less sense)

I may even have to ditch the original title: The media ecology approach takes a back seat to the theories of cultural production, which seems more sociological rather than grounded in pure media and communications. Over the last few days, I've cleared mental cobwebs away from my thesis after meeting with Tony - I wish I'd discovered how to do this before, but even at this advanced stage (I should stop saying that. Quan from Regurgitator was right; it does sound like my thesis is some sort of disease) I could very well pull this off and have it handed in with time to spare despite the tendency to distract myself with paid work and other dalliances into something that I used to call "fun."

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