http://thecomeupbmx.net/features/tcu-exclu...ouney-interview

This is a really good read. I like what he has to say about the directions media need to take.
He also posted a good article about newspapers on his site last week. http://jaredsouney.com

I really like what he has to say about print being dead.

To me print is not dead, its just trying to commit suicide. Personally I skip past the first 20 pages of Ride because its all old news. Most of the stuff in the news is 2-3 months old. I dont care about it. There is nothing like going through a magazine full of original content and full page photos that are amazing.
Im pretty sure that the entire time Jared was working for Ride, I went through every magazine cover to cover 15 times because there was no come up, or bmx news online. All I had was the magazine. Now, ride is full of stuff that is old news.

"To me print is not dead, its just trying to commit suicide. Personally I skip past the first 20 pages of Ride because its all old news. Most of the stuff in the news is 2-3 months old. I dont care about it. There is nothing like going through a magazine full of original content and full page photos that are amazing.
Im pretty sure that the entire time Jared was working for Ride, I went through every magazine cover to cover 15 times because there was no come up, or bmx news online. All I had was the magazine. Now, ride is full of stuff that is old news."


Not to sound like a dick, but you sound a little off.
Last time I checked, Ride isn't the only BMX magazine, whether you like Ride or not.

"There is nothing like going through a magazine full of original content and full page photos that are amazing."
Last time I checked, I think that's what Ride does.
Last time I checked you talked about trying to get photos printed in a magazine on this very forum. Sounds weird that you like the ideas Jared said.
See below:

"bjwolfebmx
Jan 12 2009, 04:27

Group: Members
Posts: 1,126
Joined: 9-March 08
From: Asheville NC
Member No.: 306
This is a good subject. I have often considered submitting stuff to Mags, but Ive always wondered if it was worth it. I didn't know they paid until a few months ago.
Dont get me wrong, I want to get my stuff published. Its a goal of mine in fact, but I tend to be too critical of my work to even submit it. Part of it, is I dont want to get my very best work rejected."

Last time I checked, magazines were not trying to be up to date news sources (that's what Ride's website is for), only cataloging news for that month in the issue as an archive for the future.
And nothing against that guy Jared, but he seems to be an older dude wrapped up in the corporate money- making side of BMX not necessarily about bike riding itself when it comes to photography, whether he rides or not, a little out of touch. There are other things going on in riding besides vert, and old school guys (both of which deserve the utmost of respect, but it's not all that bike riding is). He's been in it for a long time which is admirable, but being jaded by his experiences with one magazine doesn't mean that print should die, no matter what he thinks is a better way to go. Should anyone who wants to see progressive bike riding need to be required to have to tap into the internet? If anyone thinks that, then they need to get on their bike a more and stop being a bench warmer and a commentator. That's not what BMX is about, at least to me and everyone else I ever run into who actually likes to ride their bike.
I'm not trying to start beef, I'm not trying to call you names, so you can be a dick to me all you want, and I'm not going to respond anyway. That would be more fitting for other sites. Just pointing out a few things...

Thanks BJ. Much appreciated.

I appreciate Joe signed up specifically to make this post. If you read between the lines on that and the post, well, yeah. hah.

As for the " cataloging news for that month in the issue as an archive for the future." I don't buy that argument for one second. Everything on the internet is equally as archived, if not more so than print. I started my personal site back in 1999, and every word I've ever written on it is still there. It's accessible to everyone who wants to read it - with a computer obviously, but it's a web site so that's obvious.

I love print more than anyone, I don't want it to die. I have a huge library of print magazines that I'll never get rid of. I'll probably do another magazine of my own at some point strictly for the love of paper. But I'd argue some changes need to be made if print magazines want to stay alive. The industry is very different than it was even 6 months ago. The "end of print" is a dead horse. There is no end of print, only the end of an old approach.

As for being in touch or out of touch... it's BMX. The only reason any of us are involved in it is the love of it. Old guys, young guys...corporate guys, core guys, vert guys, street guys... it's bikes. It's all the same shit. Personally, I shoot as much street as anything. Probably more now than ever that I live in Portland. It's all BMX.

Thanks for reading the interview. Glad it made people think. If it doesn't, what's the point.

I did talk about getting my photos in print. As a photographer thats the ultimate goal. I think most anyone on here would like to get their photos in ride, or any other magazine for that matter.

I hit on Ride because I am a subscriber. I have been for the last 10 years. I would pick up a dig, or rideUK from time to time. Never bought a transworld, but I bought every Snap the last few years of its life. If you have read any of my other post on this Fourm, you would have also read that I have stated many times I dont get the same feeling from Ride that I used to. The main reason for this being is they havent adapted to the changing of times. Ride has the same general concept it had 10 years ago. 10 years ago, the internet wasnt full of stuff like it is today. And I dont even check the come up. (Yea, this article is on the come up but I found out about it through twitter.)

What I was trying to hammer in my subject is a key topic that Jared talked about, and thats print needs to adapt.
I can talk about the current RideBMX. They did something completely original with the recycled x-games ramps, then posted a video after the magazine was released. This is the kind of original content, and good ideas that they need to keep coming up with. Not only did it drive hits on their website, they also made people go back to the magazine with a contest they held. It got people talking, and allowed people to see it in live motion, and have great photos.

I am with Jared in the fact that I love print.

I also find it kinda weird that you thought Jared was wrapped up in corporate money. I dont know him personally, but I dont get that feeling from him at all. He is very in tune with whats going on in bmx, but he has a great resume attached. This makes big companies approach him. When a company like right guard/ amp comes in and says we need the best photographer/ designer for our adds most pros will point to Jared because he has been in the business and done contract work for companies like this before. Its like Levis approaching Will Stroud.

Im glad you have came over to bmxperception because we always need new members. However, I am a bit disappointed that you will come here to argue a point, but then say you will not respond.

Thanks for the non-shit talking in both replies. I guess I just assumed that's what would happen and that's why I wasn't going to respond, as that seems to happen on every other BMX site, so that is a pleasant suprise. I found out about this site a few weeks ago, and it has had some good subjects I'm interested in.
And it's good to hear your constructive criticism on magazines in your reply, BJ. I hope to work as a journalist for one day (Ride would be awesome), regardless of what kind of income it pays, and it seems like a lot of people just bash Ride for no good reason. I think print mags are a really important part of all media, not so much for up to date news, and think it would be a shame if they faded away. I guess that's why I decided to actually post on here.
Jared, I didn't know you posted on here; it's cool to hear your appreciation for print. It's just in that interview, you didn't seem mention that at all. Maybe I missed something though. I got the impression from you talking about your experiences working at Ride you were jaded about anything related to print.
I still have to disagree with you on the archive argument; it still seems like it's way easier and better organized just to pick up a magazine from 5 years ago to see what was going on then, then to try to do a search on a website. I guess that's why I like the idea of news being in a magazine, even if it takes up a few pages.
And I hope I didn't sound like I was calling you old. I'm 23, and I'm still in diapers compared to other people. Age usually equals wisdom, and I respect that. It just sounded from your interview that you didn't like print at all. I think it would have been more interesting and less one-sided to hear that and your thoughts and suggestions on how print could evolve to a new approach.
And posts like this definitely will keep me coming back here.

Several times in that interview I mentioned that print is my first love... the main idea is that a lot of things have to be done very differently if print is going to live on as we know it. This is fact, not subjective. Here's one of the places were I talk about print.

"I love print magazines as much as anyone. I still buy a lot of them, but I think Action Sports magazines have been a bit slow to balance the web/print model. There is still the “it’s just for the web” mentality and that’s very old-world at this point. In my opinion, they need to be producing top-notch original content for the Internet. While they do some, the bulk of it is re-hashed, print magazine leftovers. Or stuff that wasn’t “good enough for print.” That’s a very 90s way of thinking."

"I want print magazines to live. I love seeing my photos in print and I love designing for print. But magazines full of three-months-old news aren’t going to fly. If it were my decision, I’d cut back to four or six print mags a year filled with timeless feature content. Not flavor of the week shit, or news that is already out of date. Four good issues that I will want to hold onto forever, then take the rest of the resources and focus them online. Transworld Skateboarding, Ride, Transworld Snowboarding etc. should be hands down the online content leaders, in addition to a print mag. Instead they just “also have a web site.”

The idea behind this is I don't want print magazines to fail.... however, with the current model they can't support the staffs they utilize. If you look at the numbers, revenue on the Transworld books including Ride was actually up late last year. So longevity is indeed possible.

Wow, really good read Jared. Thanks. And thanks for linking it BJ. As far as Twitter - still resisting for now, but as I see more and more photographers imploring others to use it as a marketing tool I might start. I just don't want to have to say that I "tweeted" something...


Joe, it seems like you've misinterpreted a lot of what both Jared and BJ were saying here. To me it didn't seem like either of them were bashing print media at all. I thought it was pretty obvious they were both just a little disappointed with the potential it has to fail right now. I think the last thing a photographer or designer would be "jaded" about would be print media. I got the impression that he was concerned about it's future because he wanted it around.

And you won't find the shit talking here. There's potential for some really good discussion.

You say that now. Then one day you will become addicted. I dont think I have ever said tweeted, but I have said "I read or I found this on twitter." Plus it was awesome getting to read about the old school bmx reunion while it happend, and getting to see this photo right after it was taken. Along with all the sidehack backflip videos.

Twitter is becoming huge and is definitely going to become a new marketing tool. Tony Hawk was putting up locations of decks around the city, and having kids find them in no time. Just shows how many kids are making Twitters and following everyone they want to follow. Kind of off topic...

But Jared that was definitely the best read on The Come Up yet. Studio that smells like cake, you've got it made. haha

i actually missed the interview the first time, just read it. it was a good read, pretty sweet that things are working out for you over there.

i went onto twitter once and didn't really get it so i haven't been on it since.

You have an iphone right? Are you using a Twitter app?

Yea, the best two free ones are twitterific, and twitterfon.
And for your desktop (mac) I suggest Lounge. Its in beta, so its a little buggy sometimes.

I don't know why the news portion of the magazine always gets brought up as a predominant portion of the magazine. It's been two-to-three pages for the last three years, and it was five pages for the two years before that. Completely trimmed down the bare-minimum. Anyone can argue that everything is online, the difference is that not everyone visits every website (or the all encompassing major websites) everyday, checking their RSS feeds, and droolin' over Twitter. Every time I see someone read the news, from normal dudes to big name pros, they always comment about the stuff they didn't know.

I seriously challenge someone to pick up the magazine, read the news, and then say, "I knew about every single thing that I just read about." If you can, you're a certified BMX-geek...and I write the news, so don't think of that as a bad thing. Welcome to the club.

As for the print/web model, I couldn't tell if Jared's points were directed towards us or the other BMX magazines...out of all of them, I think we've embraced the web rather well; by far the best out of anyone. There's obviously room for improvement in every aspect, but we do a fair job.

And Jared, I don't want to sound like an asshole, because you know I like you, but I got this under-lying impression that now that you're no longer involved with print, that you've gotten some sort of ex-girlfriend remorse. "I still like her, we still get along, but I've moved onto something new...unless she wants to meet up sometime." That's probably a really bad analogy, and I do sound like an asshole.

Not at all, I'm still very heavilly involved in print. It makes up a good chunk of the work my studio does, and we'll likely do some sort of one-off short run print mag in the future again for the fuck of it. I just finished up a piece for Dig today.

The current model doesn't quite work though, in my opinion. There are some significant adjustments to be made. There's a certain balance that needs to be struck. Just my opinion.

I'd be interested in picking your brain in person. I see the room for improvement, but maybe I'm not forward-thinking things.

Am I missing something... isn't twitter just a glorified "facebook status" to make people think they are more important than they are?

Am I missing something... isn't twitter just a glorified "facebook status" to make people think they are more important than they are? I mean, its not much different than a blog. It just seems silly that someone would want to read what someone else is doing ever ten minutes.

Some people do use it to post things like "I just farted and it smells" or "I just ate a microwave burrito". But it can be a great way to share information and pass along links.

Twitter is a blogging platform. It's just "micro-blogging." It's part of the transparent society we now live in. Some people and businesses are using it for marketing. Great links and information are changing hands on their constantly. People are communicating through it. It's also the first place news hits. Something happens, and there is a photo up there instantly. It's awesome.

I've also gotten work out of it (and turned down some), both photo and design, which suprises me. It's just another necessary tool for any business. But it's also interesting and handy.

Like anything else it's all in how you use it. Will it be gone and irrelevant eventually? Of course. Shit moves a mile a minute now. But at the moment it's growing enormously, and photographers and commercial artists need to be on top of new media. Photography is one of the industries that is changing completely every day. Photo wise all the photography news outlets are on there, as well as most of the major image makers around the world. All the big agencies are on there as well.

I think another thing on there is it has allowed me to communicate with people that I would never really get the chance to meet.
I see why so many people hate it. Its just what you make out of it. Im not a fan of myspace because there is so much spam, and so many bands that send friend request that Im just not into.
Facebook seems like all these kids in high school that I didnt talk to in high school want to ask me what Im doing with my life. I didnt talk to them in high school for a reason. And you feel like you are forced to respond to things otherwise you seem like a dick.

Twitter allows people to follow me, but if I dont care about them, I dont have to follow back. If there is someone that interest me I can follow them. People are limited to 140 characters, so its not like Im reading some emo kids 5 page bulletin on myspace about how bad their life is.
Another thing Im enjoying about it is I follow Asheville Jobs on twitter. Every job posted on 5 different websites in my city gets listed almost immediately to their twitter page without me having to visit the other sites every five minutes to see if something new opened up.