Another response to a question from The Wire HBO group moderator! SO MUCH FUN.

Jim King asked this in one of his posts and I answered his question or I hope I did.



Why does everyone else think they have to explain everything?

In short, management colliding with the fear of not making substantial enough Profit.
Lots of media based industries have been moving more and more towards the "sure" thing as opposed to getting back to the basics of Write a good song, Write a good story, put on a powerful show etc..

Those basics have been eschewed and power has been consolidated to the managers who are responsible for growing profit. As if, a modest gain in profits was a bad thing, but these people answer to a higher power. Jackass shareholders who know nothing about music, newspapers, TV or whatever. (just think of Gus Haynes asking the higher ups about why there were cuts to the newsroom when the company was still profitable...because they wanted more profit...honestly not always the case but many times it is the case)

I'm not saying they shouldn't be concerned about profits but taking all the risk out of writing a piece whether it be a song, a newspaper piece, a movie or a TV show means that good and great writers have to battle not only the demons of writing but also the guys in the room who don't get it. Artistic vision be damned.

The challenge should be telling the story and not fighting with the suits whose sole concern is the bottom line. That ironically turns them into instant experts and gets their brains going and pretty soon they're the ones in charge and we get NCIS, Britney Spears, an expanded section in the paper in showcasing anything but actual news. Its a brave new world or not.

It is as if they got into this type of business without regard that their "product" was more than just a basic necessity in life. We need good reporting to be informed in our democracy so that we can make decisions at the polls. Music is necessary to people in that said democracy in order to be entertained, comforted, released or whatever people get, either indivually or communally, by listening. TV can be entertainment on some basic level and that is pretty much what it has become lately, but it also can be educating. However, I'm guessing I'm not going to learn much about crime and life in Miami by watching CSI Miami.

There is the other way in which artists have the tools and resources/money to tell their story. KUDOS to HBO, who with the exception of Episode 1 Season 1 of The Wire, have allowed writers, actors and producers to tell intriguing stories that educate. (David Simon knows what scene I'm referring to...aka flashback to witness on the stand while witness lies dead in the courtyard).

Maybe I have no clue. Either way.

jo nathan dudley