ALL mountain climbs contain an element of risk. How a mountaineer chooses to approach that risk, using the sum of the physical, mental and emotional powers at his or her disposal, is the basic challenge of the endeavor. At its best, mountaineering rewards shrewd and independent decision making.

Read the whole thing here.

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Chris Johns

To: Chris Johns, Editor of National Geographic magazine
Re: Your Everest story / reality show / iPad application

It’s time to bring everyone home.
 
 
 
 
 

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≡ drawing by Paul Rogers via The New York Times 

James Cameron, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence

Tim Kelly, President of the National Geographic Society

Chris Johns & Terry Adamson celebrate NGM's new publishing partnership in the People's Republic of China. (2007)

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≡  Ai Weiwei graphic from Beware of Images
≡  James Cameron quote from The New York Times
≡  Tim Kelly quote from The Hollywood Reporter
≡  Chris Johns & Terry Adamson cartoon & imagined quotes by Society Matters

From “Why Publishers Don’t Like Apps,” by Jason Pontin, editor in chief and publisher of Technology Review:

… Publishers believed that because they were once again delivering a unique, discrete product [with apps], analogous to a newspaper or magazine, they could charge readers for single-copy sales and even subscriptions, reëducating audiences that publications were goods for which they must pay. They allowed themselves to be convinced that producing editorial content for the apps and developing the apps themselves would be simple. Software vendors like Adobe promised that publishers could easily transfer editorial created on print copy management systems like Adobe InDesign and InCopy directly to the apps. As for software development … well, how hard was that? Most publishers had Web development departments: let the nerds build the apps.

Jason Pontin

Publishers hoped that the old print advertising economy could be revived. …

I never believed that apps would unwind my industry’s disruption; but I felt some readers would want a beautifully designed digital replica of Technology Review on their mobile devices, and I bet that our developers could create a better mobile experience within applications. So we created iOS and Android apps that were free for use; anyone could read our daily news and watch our videos, and people could pay to see digital replicas of the magazine. We launched the platforms in January of 2011. Complimenting myself on my conservative accounting, I budgeted less than $125,000 in revenue in the first year. That meant fewer than 5,000 subscriptions and a handful of single-issue sales. Easy, I thought.

Like almost all publishers, I was badly disappointed. What went wrong? Everything. …

Read the whole thing here.
Read Chris Johns, Editor of National Geographic, on the Magazine’s iPad app here.
See my response here.

{ Read the whole thing here. }

According to a recent Frontline documentary (Murdoch’s Scandal), Rupert Murdoch makes piles of money from television, which keeps his newspapers running, and it’s the newspapers that give him political power.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is the majority owner of the National Geographic Channel.

 “Retweeted by National Geographic”??

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is the majority owner of the National Geographic Channel.

This is embarrassing — especially from someone who recently became a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence:

… James Cameron: “Titanic” is actually censored less this time [in China] than it was in ’97. Because it was their second bite at the apple. It’s gotten much wider and we’re seeing it being less restrictive. So we’re moving in the right direction. The quotas for international films coming in now, it’s a higher quota, the percentage of revenue is higher, so everything is moving in the right direction. You see the market opening up. And I think that that’s having a beneficial effect in that it’s growing the exhibition market internally, if you look at how rapidly theaters are being built here.  …

NYT: You must have had people talk to you to give you a briefing on the censorship process, about how it works or how it’s affected certain films [in China]. Do you have any general thoughts on that?

James Cameron

James Cameron: As an artist, I’m always against censorship. But censorship’s a reality, even in the U.S. We have a form of it there. We used to have the Hays commission. We now have the M.P.A.A. ratings system, which is basically a self-censorship process that prevents government from doing it. But the economic imperatives are that if you get an R rating, the studio won’t make a film that looks like it’s headed toward an R rating, and if you get a R you’ve got to cut it yourself to comply with PG-13. So it’s really just a form of censorship indirectly.”

NYT: Do you consider that the same as Chinese censorship?

James Cameron: You’ve got a little more choice in it. It’s not as draconian. But I can’t be judgmental about another culture’s process. I don’t think that’s healthy.

NYT: Did you talk to other filmmakers – your peers – about Chinese censorship?

James Cameron: No. I’m not interested in their reality. My reality is that I’ve made two films in the last 15 years that both have been resounding successes here, and this is an important market for me. And so I’m going to do what’s necessary to continue having this be an important market for my films. And I’m going to play by the rules that are internal to this market. Because you have to. You know, I can stomp my feet and hold my breath but I’m not going to change people’s minds that way. Now I do feel that everything is trending in the right direction right now, as I mentioned earlier.

Read the whole thing here.

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As Mr. Cameron mentioned earlier, “trending in the right direction” isn’t about human rights or freedom of expression; it’s about quotas for international films, share of revenue, and the Chinese market opening up to people like James Cameron. 

If Mr. Cameron suddenly develops an interest in the reality faced by his peers in China — filmmakers, writers, artists, and others — then he should take a peek at Freedom in the World 2012 (published by Freedom House): 

China

OVERVIEW:
With a sensitive change of leadership approaching in 2012 and popular uprisings against authoritarian regimes occurring across the Middle East, the ruling Chinese Communist Party showed no signs of loosening its grip on power in 2011. Despite minor legal improvements regarding the death penalty and urban property confiscation, the government stalled or even reversed previous reforms related to the rule of law, while security forces resorted to extralegal forms of repression. Growing public frustration over corruption and injustice fueled tens of thousands of protests and several large outbursts of online criticism during the year. The party responded by committing more resources to internal security forces and intelligence agencies, engaging in the systematic enforced disappearance of dozens of human rights lawyers and bloggers, and enhancing controls over online social media.

And this from Reporters Without Borders: 

And this from Liu Xiaobo, winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Price, who is still under house arrest in China. Mr. Cameron says “you have to” “play by the rules that are internal to this market,” but Liu Xiaobo is a living proof that you don’t: 

Chris Johns & Terry Adamson celebrate NGM's new publishing partnership in the People's Republic of China. (2007)

Chris Johns & Terry Adamson celebrate NGM's new publishing partnership in the People's Republic of China. (2007)

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≡ Desmond Tutu quote & graphic via The Idealist

More on National Geographic’s Hitler fixation here, here, and especially here.

Could the people of China be telling us something?

Screen grab from today’s TimesCast

Chris Johns

To: Chris Johns, Editor of National Geographic
Re: Responsibility

It’s wonderful to hear that Cory Richards is healthy and is walking away from this Everest expedition. I hope he has a joyous reunion with his family.

But when you say “we completely support his decision to put safety first,” it’s worth remembering: Putting safety first should be your first decision, not just Cory’s. You’re the Editor. You have real responsibilities here. You approved this “story” and you’re financing it. None of this would be happening without a green light from you.

And you still have skin in the game, even though it’s not your skin.

In fact, if safety is your primary concern, why don’t you tell the remaining members of the NG team to return home immediately? Why subsidize “the brotherhood of the rope” at all?

You clearly don’t think there’s any compelling scientific excuse for this expedition, or you would have mentioned it here. Your writer, Mark Jenkins, has admitted there’s nothing noble about these climbs. And you know what Bruce Barcott says: “Unlike any other sport, mountaineering demands that its players die.”

Lives are still at stake here.

Which is why, Chris, it’s imperative to remember this:  You’re not a curious bystander with a camera. You’re The Enabler.

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