A year ago, Ted Gioia predicted that new media would triumph over old media in 2024. A few days ago he expanded on the idea with some high-level and admittedly USA-centric examples that I found thought-provoking:
• You can love him or hate him but Joe Rogan is now more powerful than any establishment journalist.
• Elon Musk, for better or worse, drives the news cycle as Twitter CEO in ways Walter Cronkite never dreamed of. (And I’m not even including the news Musk causes, just what he amplifies.)
• Cable news can’t match the impact of the biggest YouTube channels and social media accounts. Many influencers have audiences ten or twenty times larger than Fox or CNN hosts.
• Substack has moved out of the fringes of the media world, and is just as influential as the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal—and breaks just as many big stories.
He mentions an example of the NYT interviewing Rogan's guests after the fact to much smaller-sized audiences & other copycat approaches that aren't paying off yet. Read the article here.
My take? We've all seen the struggle of the outlets we all know and love and independent editors as they venture out on substack, etc., as mentioned above. I think there is a micro trend in our media circles of similar cut-and-paste approaches to gain clicks & eyeballs and a similar full-circle trend is coming around as well: initial fragmentation as a response to publisher consolidation but now fledgling publications are popping up. And collectives as opposed to authors & influencers on their own.
Examples like Escape Collective & Bikepacking.com indicate people want journalism without corporate influence from a professional team, and even new publications are cropping up! We've all seen the struggle of the outlets we all know and love and independent editors as they venture out on substack, etc., like mentioned above.
I think the once ad hoc rosters of influencers to (loosely) organized teams in gravel is an aspect of this return to collective capability instead of yolo solo content careers.
It gives me hope & I can subscribe to a number of magazines but dozens and dozens of Substacks. That's a tall order! ; )
What do you think?
Thank you for reading,
Jon
p.s. some honorable mentions that didn't make the big link lineup below: Grinduro is returning to Scotland, Nic Morales covered my friend Steve's Orange Blossom Gravel event, a guide to influencer campaign budgeting, Erik from Old Man Man & I rode another Cyclingworld promo photos wave last week, Huhn Chabo pre-orders are open & the bike industry survived to 2025 – what happens now?
February
- 🇳🇱 7 Dox Under The Tracks Nº10 featuring Nicolò Ricci
- 🇳🇱 9&10 Nieuwsfiets' B2B Festival
- 🇳🇱 13 International Bike & Hike Conference
- 🇳🇱 14-16 20th Fiets & Wandelbeurs & E-bike Challenge
- 🇳🇱 15 Werewolf and Run Wild
March
- 🇩🇪 15 Rad Race
- 🇩🇪 28-30 Cyclingworld Europe
Bikes
CIOVITA's Activewear Range: MOTION
CIOVITA's MOTION range launched last week with the same advanced performance Lycra found in their Apex Bib Shorts using recycled plastics. Yarns from recycled plastics are also used in the creation of their tech tees and all inks and dyes are bluesign® Certified.
Additional Spots Available to Race VIA this Year!
Digital Solutions For The Cycling Industry Panel
- How can a global and unique identifier for bicycles unleash new business opportunities? with Bartek Czerwinski, Bicycle Identification Number (Poland)
- Connecting the bicycle to Danish society and circular ecosystems,
with René Nørgård', Bikekey (Denmark) - Seamless data exchange across the cycling supply chain,
with Anna Buchmann, NOCA Mobility (Germany) - How the bicycle digital passport can give superpowers to retailers, brands and users
with Sondre Norland, BikeFolder (Norway) - Moderation by Jacques Lovell of Cycling Industries Europe and Till Kraemer, BikeBusinessHub
Ideas
PR.CO's Intro to PR Course on Pioneer Academy
Pioneer Academy
PR.CO is offering their 'Intro to PR course' on Pioneer Academy to Twotone readers for free until March 1st! Enter 'TTIntroPR' for 100% of the regular €79 cost here.
Will AI Sell Your Decisions Before You Make Them?
Fred Lewsey
Hat tip to Peter at Let's Be Fwends for this one. He asked "If a Decision is Sold Before it is Made, does it Make a Sound?" The irony of what sound decision means in the context of AI is just brilliant. Nice tongue-in-cheek play on words, Peter! :D Also worth reading: my friend Luke's article "You can't Generate Trust With AI" & Simon Steyne at the Guardian says its a threat to democracy. I agree with both.
Dox Under The Tracks Returns on 7 February with Nicolò Ricci!
Friends
Building a Cargo Bike Community
Arleigh
Arleigh is sharing her process of Building Cargo Bike Life. Read her story here.
Joe Laverick on FDJ-Suez’s Off-Season Masterclass
Joe Laverick
I got to know Joe when he was writing the newsletters for a former Twotone client years ago. Super cool to follow his writing & insights to this day!
Reinier Honig, Niki Terpstra and Laurens ten Dam & The Quest to Save The Alkmaar Velodrome
Thessa Neef
I've been following this story since the beginning and props to the LSRF team for penning such a solid overview and in English too! We're all rooting for you!
Radness
Shardana Bikeventure's 19 Partner Towns Confirmed
Thank you very much for reading!
Here's to paying attention to how stories are told this week!