Keynote preview: Jesse Thorn
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January 17, 2010 8:00 AM
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In an age where — depending on whom you ask — institutional journalism is in various states of collapse, there are still media producers who have managed to create a viable and fulfilling career in the field for themselves.
In a lot of ways, Jesse Thorn is living many aspirant journalists' dream. His Public Radio International program "The Sound of Young America" — in which he interviews cultural figures from the worlds of comedy, music, and new media who might go otherwise unnoticed on more mainstream public radio shows — has been gaining attention and influence each year.
He has since created a small cottage industry trading on his TSOYA brand, including a less serious podcast "Jordan, Jesse, Go!", a men's fashion website, and his now annual conference, MaxFunCon, which is like a fantasy camp for people who share his sensibility.
So how did he do it?
"I'm pretty unusual, and frankly a little bit pathetic, in that I'm still doing my college radio show," says Thorn on the phone from his home studio in the Silver Lake neighbourhood of Los Angeles.
"There's not a lot of money in American public radio. It's been a struggle to find where the money is coming from on a day-to-day basis. What I found is that by building a really engaged audience over the course of many years, I've been able to find money along the way."
Thorn has become a master of personal branding, using his clout from one platform to bolster his efforts in others.
"Because I own what I make, that money tends to be additive. I don't quite make enough money from being on the radio, but I make some more from being on the internet. Maybe I don't make quite enough being on the Internet, but I make some more from my annual conference...until, all of a sudden, I'm doing fine."
In a time when so many freelance journalists are having trouble finding pay from institutional sources, Thorn has cut out the middleman, engaging directly with an audience.
"One of the things with media creation in the 21st-century is that you're competing with hobbyists who have rouhgly the same platform that you have. Really, what you have to do find an audience that cares about you. When you have that, it doesn't have to be huge. If you have 500 or 1,000 people who really care, no matter what kind of media you're making, you can make a living. I'm not exactly Mr. Richguy, but I have a nice apartment, and I can buy expensive shoes, which is an interest of mine."
Jesse will be sending out the conference on a hopeful note during his keynote address tonight at 8:00 p.m. in Jubilee A/B.