About six minutes into the judging, it dawned on me just how screwed most of these magazine companies really are. In their rush to cash in on web video, most seem to have convinced themselves that sloppily edited six-minute clips pass for must-see content. It’s as if the very act of creating something that moves and talks has blinded producers and editors to the dullness of their creations.
Take Playboy.com’s “Ask Hef Anything” series, in which the robe-encrusted octogenarian answers questions in a manner so stiff and stilted as to prompt concern about his well-being. Ignoring the obvious first issue — what kind of sick, misguided bastard would ask Hugh Hefner about a flag-burning amendment? — I have no clue how training a camera on an individual who has lived his entire adult life in the public eye qualifies as innovation, much less as something that could ultimately bolster the bottom line.