New books, new blogs, new Vines, and new competition. It’s going to be a good year.
ABC
I'm excited to see digital networks metastasizing into other mediums, from TV to live events. People who have been forged by the speed, inclusiveness, and oddity of working on the internet are moving off the web in fascinating ways, and I can't wait to see what happens when they do. Maybe it will be a train wreck? Or maybe the new distillations that result from the pressures and possibilities will produce wildly creative reporting, live events, magazines, companies, and TV shows.
The thing I am most excited about in media next year is diversity. We have a long way to go, but I'm so optimistic about 2015 after the changes I saw start to happen this year. There's a snowball effect when media organizations broaden their recruitment networks and see that true diversity in many areas helps them do better work and reach more people. Plus, platforms like Twitter, Vine, Instagram, and YouTube have actually made it possible for reporters, writers, and entertainers to prove themselves and make their voices heard without the necessary connections, degrees, or the approval of the gatekeepers. I'm excited about this because it's right, but even more so because I'm bored of sameness. I think the greatest chance we have for truly fresh, experimental, creative, and challenging media is for the people creating that work to come from a variety of backgrounds and be able to tell many different kinds of stories. I can't wait to read, watch, and listen to them!
