http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2008/09/a-passionate-am.html

A passionate amateur almost always beats a bored professional
In the endless debate about the relative merits of amateurs vs. professionals in a world the two have equal access to the tools of production, I think people miss a key point:

Amateurs self-select for the job. Professionals are selected. For most jobs, volunteers beat draftees.

No matter how much you love your job, you will eventually end up doing something that feels like work--something that you have to do because your boss asked you to or because the market requires it. At that point, your professional skills may be negated by your lack of authentic interest.

But amateurs are by definition volunteers. They choose to spend their time on what they do, and they go exactly where their passions, interests, knowledge and personality takes them--no further. If they lose interest they move on and are replaced by someone bursting with fresh energy. Self-selection ensures engagement.

To me that's the difference between amateur and professional content: the first may not be polished, but it's driven by the sort of intense interest that cannot be faked. The second may be better written, spelled more correctly and otherwise competently produced, but all too often it has the arms-length perspective of a drive-by.

This is one of the problems with professional journalism: journalists go where the story is, and every day brings a new story. Journalistic skills are portable, but deep domain skills are not. Meanwhile, the amateur lives one story, their own. They make lack journalistic skills, but if you're interested in their world, there's no better guide than a native.

These days I find that more and more of what I read is created by amateurs (or at least amateur writers) talking about what they're most interested in, whether it's Spore walkthroughs or robotics tutorials.

I'll take a passionate amateur over a bored professional any day.

Posted by Chris Anderson

Holla.

The above illustrates perfectly why unions have no place in creative mediums.

Quoted from thanksfrthat

Holla.

The above illustrates perfectly why unions have no place in creative mediums.

And explains why most of the people in creative mediums will continue to make wages on par with those of volunteers.

Want to make more money?  Start looking for a new gig.  You'll quickly learn how valuable you really are.

guys, this doesn't have anything to do with unions... basically, if you like your job, and you live the lifestyle, you'll be a superior presenter compared to the person that tackles the assignement as a "job."

If "unions" hampered that, then the CBC should have lower ratings, but they don't, because.... they still manage to hire people who have a passion for what they present.

Quoted from thanksfrthat

Want to make more money?  Start looking for a new gig.  You'll quickly learn how valuable you really are.

and how valuable is that?  Maybe I am spoiled b/c I live in Victoria, but there are tons of jobs that pay more than broadcasting that go begging for workers (this should hold true for almost every major market west of Kenora).  But I trained to be a broadcaster and my passion is music radio, not  government agent or marketing rep.

Many "downsized" broadcasters have come on here and said, they make more money after leaving the industry, so I guess to answer your question, respectably valuable.

But that brings up another point.  If there's one consistent complaint I read on these boards, it's that the "professionalism" has gone out of radio and that the "enthusiastic amateurs" who are taking over the business can't read, can't write, can't spell and have little or no knowledge about the music they're playing.  That's because the people who DO have these skills usually leave the business because they can't live on the tiny salaries.

A private radio news guy commented to me once about the problems he was having in hiring and keeping good staff.  When I asked him how much his station was paying, he told me that his top news guy was probably making $2,500 per month.  And this was in the late 1990s!  

Energy and passion are great things, but they can only take you so far before you burn out.  While the industry is still making good profits off the backs of "enthusiastic amateurs", how much longer can the product be diluted before it becomes unpalatable?

Quoted from Flamethrower

and how valuable is that?  Maybe I am spoiled b/c I live in Victoria, but there are tons of jobs that pay more than broadcasting that go begging for workers (this should hold true for almost every major market west of Kenora).  But I trained to be a broadcaster and my passion is music radio, not  government agent or marketing rep.

All I meant by my above comment was that, many times, when you've been offered a gig that will take you away from your present situation (a new daypart, a new city, whatever) your present employer will throw money your way to keep you around.  Those are the times I've seen my biggest raises.

Dig?

Quoted from Flamethrower

If "unions" hampered that, then the CBC should have lower ratings, but they don't, because.... they still manage to hire people who have a passion for what they present.

The CBC does well because they offer an intelligent alternative to commercial radio.  Light on songs, heavy on content.  That's what's going to win down the road.

I've heard from more than one that many CBC'ers "lack motivation".  And that's what I remember from my time in a Union shop.  Lots of lazy, lazy people.  

Quoted from thanksfrthat

All I meant by my above comment was that, many times, when you've been offered a gig that will take you away from your present situation (a new daypart, a new city, whatever) your present employer will throw money your way to keep you around.  Those are the times I've seen my biggest raises.

Dig?

oh, I see... sorry... I misread that comment.

Quoted from thanksfrthat

The CBC does well because they offer an intelligent alternative to commercial radio.  Light on songs, heavy on content.  That's what's going to win down the road.

I've heard from more than one that many CBC'ers "lack motivation".  And that's what I remember from my time in a Union shop.  Lots of lazy, lazy people.  

I have worked for unions too (not in broadcasting) and I remember some of those types as well, but I also remember being 20 years old and making a lot of money, so I put up with the lazies.

Quoted from thanksfrthat

The CBC does well because they offer an intelligent alternative to commercial radio.  Light on songs, heavy on content.  That's what's going to win down the road.

I've heard from more than one that many CBC'ers "lack motivation".  And that's what I remember from my time in a Union shop.  Lots of lazy, lazy people.  

Can you put a name to one of these "lazy, lazy people" who is still working in broadcasting? Just so we know this isn't one of the typical urban myths that surface so often.

Quoted from thanksfrthat

The CBC does well because they offer an intelligent alternative to commercial radio.  Light on songs, heavy on content.  That's what's going to win down the road.

I've heard from more than one that many CBC'ers "lack motivation".  And that's what I remember from my time in a Union shop.  Lots of lazy, lazy people.  

BTW...I'd love to meet some of the CBC people who "lack motivation".  In a time of cutbacks at Mother Corp, we're all working harder than ever.  Anybody who doesn't gets shuffled out pretty quickly.  And that's the reality of that situation.

That's reassuring.  And I mean that.

And trust me, I know lazies that are coasting by.  They're tucked away in smaller markets, but they're there.

Quoted from thanksfrthat

That's reassuring.  And I mean that.

And trust me, I know lazies that are coasting by.  They're tucked away in smaller markets, but they're there.

Well then, enlighten us as to who they are and where they work.