The death of craft?
Today at the Cannes Lions festival Radio jury president Tony Hertz decried the death of craft in the medium, while the Press jury pointed out the Grand Prix was awarded becuase of simplicity.
Hertz told the press gathered at the Radio conference: “More of marketing and communications has become a visual business, the new technologies are all screen based. Everything is visual and you can see this in the number of entries.
Hertz
“Radio has seven per cent off Cannes online entries. The fact is the whole marcomms business is concentrating on the visual and as a result of that there’s not a lot of teaching of radio skills, copywriters are expected to do it.
Forsooth bring my foolscap,
Let me furnish my typewriter,
My gosh this television is a new medium,
I do so lament the loss of writing for the wireless.
The youth of today, just do not appreciate the pushing through the creative pain barrier….
As the world became saturated, first with images, later with so called moving images, the ability to appreciate the written word and to listen to and appreciate the sound and the colour of prose and poetry faded.
This is why radio seems to have drifted away and the craft of radio appears to have died. Radio is valid today and will become more so in the future, as the only medium that can be realised and utilised whilst conducting a range of other activities, not only drive time, which is so often the one great claim for radio.
It is not a matter of fashion or so called old techniques, radio is a modern invention, not a lot older than television slightly younger than film. The ability to appreciate poetry and prose will rekindle in time. Lyrics have held their own and are becoming more important than beat, talking books and the spoken word is on the increase and I believe that the ability to listen and the ability to enjoy the images of the mind’s eye are slowly returning.
Surely you don’t mean video DID kill the radio star?