Assembled, Zipped, Transferred And Downloaded: Digital News

By Tom Spurgeon

* so apparently Derf Backderf is working on a webcomic to be called The Baron Of Prospect Ave. Sounds good to me.

* super happy to see Matt Bors receive a full-time gig at Medium.com. Matt Bors is a highly-skilled, funny, digitally-savvy editorial cartoonist, and his inability to score a full-time gig at a forward-thinking newspaper had me as distressed as any other factor about that industry's future in terms of cartooning. That sounds over-dramatic, but I'm not kidding. Bunch of stuff I like about this. First, I think Bors being paid for his work is a good thing all on its own. Second, it's a site paying a content creator. That sounds silly, and I know some people think this is some sort of aberration that anyone is able to pay anyone, but I see a lot of successful sites choosing not to pay people at all and this makes me think that a decision not to pay for content is as much a factor as any other contributing cause. Third, I like that Medium.com is basically paying not just for Matt but for the audience he's built on his site. The thing about the "exposure" model that rarely gets talked about isn't so much the concept of doing work for free or at a reduced rate to have your work be seen and appreciated, but the way that seeking that exposure through somebody else means you share in the perception that is supposedly your reward. You work for some other site for free, you have to share the perceived success with that site, and perhaps its driving personality. Matt Bors made an Internet vehicle for Matt Bors, and this new gig reflects an interest in Matt Bors that doesn't have to be shared with anyone.

* Mario Covone wrote in to introduce himself and asked for feedback regarding his webcomics work. I haven't been able to make the time yet, but I hope that maybe some of you could.

* finally, Gary Tyrrell's blog focusing on webcomics is the best, and I've lately come to appreciate all on its own the work he does figuring out the webcomics presence at specific cons and festivals.
 
posted 9:00 pm PST | Permalink
 

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