The Need For a Slow Media Paradigm Shift

“One might almost say that truth itself depends on the tempo, the patience and perseverance of lingering with the particular.”

The ever increasing, headlong rush for more and more “trite and superficial” content without regard for the use of critical thinking has resulted in our society , by and large, becoming ADHD.

No longer do people read newspapers or magazines that published long form well written content, which by the very nature of the medium, forced readers to slow down and actually digest said content within the printed page. Now it’s all about disposable, digitized, bite sized pieces of information that superficially passes over the deeper context of a given subject (and their declining readership is proof of that).

Consider the number of Facebook postings with misleading, sensationalist headlines (aka Clickbait), deceiving in most instances viewers who read said misleading headline only and give it a “like” (whatever the hell a “Like” is worth is beyond me) with no conscious effort on their part of reading the information — and then doing their own due diligence over whether the content is based on fact or is merely an op-ed from some obscure media source.

This brings to light what I believe is the lack of critical thinking and interactions on a broad range of topics that should be worth discussing.

People would rather watch cat or dog videos (I’m just as guilty on that one — especially for Panda Bears — but I do like to laugh throughout my day) instead of digesting what I term “the meat” of important subject matter. The number of trite and superficial videos posted to Facebook, YouTube, et al only reinforces this lazy way of thinking. Mainstream news media (or as I refer to as Lamestream News Media) is the ongoing perpetrator due to declining viewership — ie; cord cutters. These corporate controlled media outlets are grasping at straws, trying to stem the bleeding that can’t be stopped.

What if — and I believe this is important to consider — we view slow media in the same way many have begun to ascribe to the Slow Food Movement that is sweeping the planet? Why not place greater importance on the quality, not the quantity of what’s being consumed? This entails things like rejecting/refusing to accept the simplified, highly processed pablum of information fed to the sheeple masses by said mainstream media.

Its my observation that the lack of respect for deep skill sets in writing, photography, video production, etc. is clearly evident in the declining number of jobs, and the commensurate monetary compensation that use to be associated with what mentor, friend and colleague david dunkley gyimah refers to “Craft Skill”.

What does the slow media movement advocate for?

– Mindful, thoughtful media consumption.

– Quality content.

– Promotes mono-tasking — concentrating on one thing at a time.

– Social media — connecting people, facilitating quality, in depth discussion that fosters deeper levels of personal interaction.

– Distribution of content via recommendations, rather than advertising.

– And fair compensation for those who have said craft skills.

As a multimedia photographer, I’ve been just as guilty of consuming the fast food equivalent of information and have realized over the past couple of years — especially the past several months — that this unhealthy diet of consuming information not only creates higher levels of anxiety, it’s also distracting, further encouraging an ADHD mentality — and it’s just flat out not healthy for the mind, body and soul.

I’m committing myself to the slowing down process, the idea of creating meaningful, non-exploitative types of storytelling content in my own work that respects the subject matter.

I’m putting the call out to my colleagues and contemporaries for them to commit to this same paradigm shift. The almighty buck should not be the primary motivating factor. It should be a part, but not the main reason.

The slow media manifesto has been developed, with guidelines for creating and consuming sustainable and focused media and is a worthwhile read daily until it becomes a part of our thinking and way we do our creative business.