"You’re not a radicaliser of surf culture, nor the
arbiter. You’re just another pawn, serving up the same old
flim-flam for ad revenue."
Dear Mr Sam McIntosh,
We don’t know each other, but I’d like to address your recent
piece on Stab, the surf blog for entertaining
educational ad copy.
Firstly, I know you think it was some grand justification of
ideology, but it’s just nonsense.
For one, we know how surf media works, Stab especially. For the
most part, it has served us sycophancy and trojan horse ad copy
since it existed. If not for that, perhaps it never would have
survived. You understand that, and you know what keeps lights on
and pockets lined. We get it.
But to be magnanimous about it, as if kowtowing to people of
influence is doing us a favour, well that’s just shite.
To address one of your arguments specifically, you assert that
“modern media is essentially worthless” because athletes and
organisations can speak directly to their fans via social
channels.
Now, stop me if I’ve misunderstood what social media is all
these years, but does this line of argument not prove the
exact opposite of your assertion?
Is social media not just what people want us to see, from a
personal or algorithmic perspective?
In which case, modern media, independent outlets with objective
voices that you can trust, is more valuable than at any point in
history.
Modern media should exist to challenge what people want us to
hear. It should exist to combat the algorithms. It should exist to
ask the questions that people don’t want to answer.
As for exhuming Orwell then murdering him to justify your
existence, that was just cold. And oh so wrong.
But that’s not really the point. Stab has never been about
independence and objectivity (well, maybe a brief flash in the
embryonic stages).
You don’t do objective journalism because no-one wants it. The
surf world is too inconsequential for anyone to care, and we’re
conditioned by what we’ve been fed for so long. I mean, come on,
any surf media, and especially anything that involves the WSL is of
interest to such a minuscule percentage of people who surf that
it’s almost unsustainable, far less important.
It’s why the WSL seem to be constantly gasping for air, even
though we know they have a product that should be worth
something.
But here’s a thing. What if it’s not the product?
No-one takes surf media seriously, from inside or outside the
industry. Those inside understand that what they’re served up is
disingenuous or tone deaf, and people outside see through the
veneer, even if they don’t know exactly why.
Does the WSL deserve a bigger audience, more attention from a
greater number of surfers? I think so. Probably.
But it doesn’t speak to them. It never has. Instead it treads
this no-man’s land between the Dream Tour and The Inertia.
Culture doesn’t change overnight. I know you (as Stab) see
yourself as this great disrupter (how many times can you tell us
you once used a floating dock?), but you’re not a radicaliser of
surf culture, nor the arbiter. You’re just another pawn, serving up
the same old flim-flam for ad revenue. The difference is, you’re
asking people to pay for it now.
To be disruptive is to change things, to go against the flow. To
sacrifice the back-handers and the bottom line because you believe
in the work.
I don’t read Stab. Your content doesn’t speak to me, nor appeal.
(It is a shame that Paul Evans’ writing is paywalled.) I subscribed
for the first time a few weeks ago because Lewis Samuels had
mentioned me in his interview and I wanted to see what that was
about.
Ask yourself why Samuels mentioned
me, of all the established voices he might have noted, why me? (And
Shearer, of course.)
It’s not because I write for a major outlet, nor that I’m even
very productive. This isn’t my full time job.
And it’s not because I’m a great writer who cares deeply about
his audience and craft. (Though that is true, clearly.)
No, if I had to guess, I would say it’s because I’m not
affiliated with anyone in the surf industry. They don’t pay me,
they’re not my friends, so my voice remains my own. I’m just some
chump on the other side of the world, in a small town in the
Scottish Highlands (that’s not even very close to waves), saying
what I see. It’s ridiculous, really. I think about it daily. I
couldn’t be further removed from the surf industry. I’m a fraud,
really. But also a Real One. And maybe if I’d sooked at the
industry teat it would’ve changed me. Maybe if I met some of the
people I comment on, my humanity would turn me into something
different, something like you. So it’s nice to remain at arm’s
length, valuable even.
But if you want the truth, I’m more interested in pursuing
writing outside of surfing, because I don’t trust the majority of
surf media, nor respect it. There is no objectivity here, no
journalism, no real future. It’s a small pool that lacks talent and
freshness, and there are so few credible outlets for writers to
stretch themselves.
The Surfers’ Journal
and BeachGrit. That’s it.
(And apologies for missing one or two Australian titles I just
don’t have access to. I’d guess that Sean Doherty is
producing fine work.)
I am not loyal to anyone but those I respect for their work, not
their influence. My eyes are clear, as is my conscience.
Who do I respect? Those who have independent, objective voices.
Samuels himself,
Steve Shearer,
Derek Rielly,
Matt Warshaw, Surf Ads (don’t want to out
him). And yes, even Chas Smith.
And if it’s just on pure writing talent and not objectivity, I’d
throw Paul Evans,
Sean Doherty,
Jed Smith,
Nick Carroll and
Vaughan Blakey in
there, too. (Shit, even Ashton and
Mike C can be bright
writers, if they weren’t so happy in voluntary confinement.)
Yes, Derek runs BG, and does so in a way that might be
challenged. But I will tell you this: people can speak freely here.
He lets me say whatever I like, and I value that. Only the overtly
abusive, racist or discriminatory is off limits at BeachGrit, as it
should be everywhere. Aside from that, it is objective and
free.
Most importantly, it’s a place to exercise creativity in
writing. I mean, I don’t need to tell you that, it’s why you
poached your staff from here. And it’s no coincidence they’ve never
been as good since.
But this is not to fluff DR’s feathers, this is just to say that
there is another way. People can trust what they read here (if they
can make it through the clickbait), and hopefully they will attract
a greater number of independent voices because of that. Does it
make them as much money as you? Absolutely not. But they don’t need
to type furious, sweaty defences of their polluted ideologies
either.
Like I say, culture doesn’t change overnight. And maybe we’ve
gone too far. Maybe surf media will always be seen as glorified ad
copy. Certainly, if no-one challenges it then nothing will
change.
If I gave my kids chocolate and sweets for every meal they’d
keep eating it, but it doesn’t mean it would be good for them.
What if I started charging them when they got hooked on the
sugar?
Try serving some greens, Sam. People might not like it at first,
but in the end they might thank you for it.
