0:05

We're press media Corp. You might even chuckle

0:07

when you hear the phrase. This experimental

0:09

initiative is a team that replaced the WordPress

0:11

marketing team. Not commercial WordPress,

0:14

mind you, but the open source.org

0:16

side of the house. If you've been following me for

0:18

any amount of time, you don't need me to spell out how

0:20

important this initiative could be. A

0:22

chance to legitimize the work. Only a handful

0:25

of people across the entire globe have dedicated

0:27

their professional careers towards myself,

0:29

included. Before we dive deeper

0:31

into what the media Corp could accomplish.

0:34

Let's take a look at the outgoing struggles.

0:37

With the marketing team. How could a volunteer

0:39

led marketing team accomplish the fundamental

0:41

responsibilities of marketing with no

0:43

access to website traffic data survey

0:46

results, or have a stake in the product?

0:48

That's right. It's nearly impossible. I

0:51

know some of the people that were leading the charge with that

0:53

effort and led it with great care in intention.

0:56

But they were handcuffed. Let's face

0:58

it open source. WordPress doesn't function

1:00

like a commercial product because it isn't,

1:03

which is why it has succeeded. Marketing

1:06

has to come organically with no

1:08

budget or access. You're basically building

1:10

out tasks for a team to accomplish. Take

1:12

the box, keep moving, but don't, you dare

1:14

critically think about how you can impact

1:17

the brand sentiment of WordPress.

1:19

In my previous post, who was responsible

1:22

for WordPress marketing are reported on the

1:24

media Corps initiative stating that I'd

1:26

reserve my opinion until I saw the process

1:28

mature a bit more consider

1:30

the rest of this, my reaction as

1:32

the dust settles on the media cores contributor

1:35

kickoff call. Our north star

1:37

that I've been following is how do we keep

1:39

WordPress thriving? This was a call

1:41

to action. Put out by Joseph A. Hayden

1:43

jumbo, C executive director of WordPress

1:46

in the state of the word 2023. It's

1:48

recognized that in order for WordPress to

1:50

escape a growth plateau, that the community

1:52

needs to go beyond code quality

1:55

and features. Humans need to recognize

1:57

WordPress cores worth importance and

1:59

benefits for the greater open web. Simply

2:02

put. People need to recommend

2:04

WordPress more. If you can't

2:06

do it with a volunteer marketing team, forge

2:08

a bond with the people that have been

2:10

the biggest cheerleaders for WordPress WordPress

2:12

media, but this is open source.

2:14

WordPress, why do we need an official team

2:17

to wrangle the media? What even

2:19

is WordPress media? I've

2:21

been covering WordPress for well over 10 years. And

2:23

whenever I needed anything, I reached out to the person

2:25

and asked if.org was releasing

2:27

something new. I read about it, decided if it

2:30

was newsworthy for my audience and

2:32

then reported on it or shared my opinion.

2:34

Yes. Something like the WordPress media

2:36

Corp helps galvanize the work I've been doing here

2:39

at the WP minute in my previous podcast,

2:41

Matt report, but the approach has been

2:43

opaque at best. Starting

2:46

with the initial WordPress media kickoff

2:48

call. Based on the call to action to comment. If

2:50

you want to be involved from the initial roadmap

2:52

post, I was under the impression that

2:54

the kickoff call was going to include media folk

2:56

and the contributing team. I wasn't alone on

2:58

that assumption. Either check out the comments. The

3:01

kickoff call commenced and a private call with

3:03

a contributing team. And Bob Dunn,

3:05

founder of do the Wu who somehow found

3:08

himself with the media liaison title

3:10

record scratches. Where did that come

3:12

from? Was it voted on? Did WordPress

3:14

media folks put Bob's name in a hat?

3:17

Before we go further. I have nothing against Bob. Everyone

3:20

loves Bob. He oversees some solid

3:22

content that helps WordPress thrive.

3:24

That said this was the media course for

3:27

a shot at launching a meeting and

3:29

through transparency out of the window. We'll

3:31

get to the media Corp media partnership

3:33

requirements in a minute. So just hold that thought.

3:36

But there's another issue at hand that I've talked

3:38

about ad nauseum. WordPress media

3:40

is tiny, impossible to turn

3:42

into a sustainable business. And largely

3:45

depends on in kind sponsorships

3:47

that genuinely see value in this

3:49

type of content existing. one only needs

3:51

to look at the lack of effort to turn around the WP

3:54

Tavern, to see the proverbial proof

3:56

in the pudding. That's if you define WordPress

3:59

media, like we do at the WP minute

4:01

versus what WP beginner would publish

4:03

nothing wrong with that. It's just two different paths.

4:06

Remember the media Corp team still

4:08

hasn't released how they will definitively

4:10

define this. more on that later,

4:13

I do this work because I love WordPress.

4:15

And because I think people should be informed

4:17

on certain topics on the most widely used web

4:19

publishing software. Do the Wuhan,

4:21

the WB minute, both jockey for

4:23

those in-kind sponsors to keep

4:26

us afloat, to help pay our writers, production

4:28

teams and other overhead to be included

4:30

in the media Corp. Kickoff call is the equivalent

4:33

to the. The theme team, holding a private meeting

4:35

to change how themes get included and only

4:38

inviting Sujay power from Astro themes on

4:40

the zoom call. But that's just my opinion,

4:42

which is also my self-imposed job

4:44

to analyze these community events.

4:46

It's what I do. I'll reiterate nothing

4:48

against Bob it's just media business

4:51

brand and trust are really the only things

4:53

we have and it goes both ways.

4:56

This isn't the only time I've seen favoritism

4:58

play out in WordPress media. I

5:00

recall my team being rejected as media

5:02

partners for word camp Europe, 2023.

5:05

While I sat back and saw some other brands,

5:07

have their logos added to the website with barely

5:10

a peep out of them on social media

5:12

or blog posts covering the event. WordPress

5:15

media is a perfect storm. There's

5:17

only 10,000 English speaking people

5:19

in the world that actually care about

5:21

this type of content. Eight people in the world,

5:23

myself included who actually care about covering

5:25

it. And so few people that know about the

5:27

brands like WP minute and repository

5:30

who tirelessly cover it. I

5:32

miss Sarah Gooding. There's

5:35

only a handful of WP media types. As I

5:37

see it, independent WordPress news sites, paper

5:39

of record, WP Tavern. General

5:41

WordPress tutorial, information, blogs, podcasts,

5:44

and YouTube channels. People that do it for funsies

5:47

and people that do it because their company tells them to blog

5:49

about WordPress. Which brings me to

5:51

the current media core requirements. On

5:54

how they're evaluating us. I have

5:56

a focus on producing content that is 80%

5:58

about WordPress. Report factual news

6:00

or produce relevant educational content. Maintain

6:03

high standards of content, quality and journalism.

6:06

And here to WordPress community guidelines and

6:08

respect information sensitivities, if

6:10

any. Have you ever come across fake WordPress

6:12

news? Who decides what the standards

6:15

of content quality and journalism are. I

6:17

mean, I lost that word, camp, media partnerships,

6:19

lot to a tech YouTuber, and I know I

6:21

barely pass high school, so maybe I won't cut

6:23

it. There'll be another debate report

6:26

news or relevant educational content.

6:28

Here's a huge gap in scrutiny and body

6:30

of work, possibly ethics. When

6:32

you put tutorial brands on the same

6:34

level as new sites. Hopefully

6:37

you see the tug of war here. A small group of people

6:39

being held to high levels of quality

6:42

and standards. Serving a tiny audience

6:44

for very little income in an oversaturated

6:46

space of link sharing emails wrapped

6:49

in a big capital M media

6:51

blanket. So, what do I want to see?

6:53

Come from this? Besides

6:55

feeling validated, I'm happy to have

6:57

a more refined process for getting updates

6:59

about WordPress releases or features.

7:02

I would like to see a more concrete definition of

7:04

WordPress journalism. It would be great

7:06

to get recognition as WordCamp media

7:08

partners. If you're already a media Corp

7:10

partner. Uh, process to be heard

7:13

up channel back to WordPress, the software

7:15

and leadership teams based on what we're seeing

7:18

from our audiences. I also

7:20

don't like the fact that we're slapping

7:22

the experimental label on this

7:24

it's too. easily used as an out,

7:26

if this whole thing doesn't work. And it's also a way

7:28

to bulldoze some of the voices

7:30

that have legitimate concerns or have unique

7:32

ways of contributing to media. Almost

7:35

like an internship for volunteers to do marketing.

7:38

Where have I seen this movie before? We

7:40

need more folks covering WordPress news.

7:43

We need the Tavern back. We

7:45

need WordPress thriving so

7:47

that it continues to grow. In the

7:49

end, I'm hopeful for this team

7:51

and effort to flourish. With or

7:53

without the WP minutes involvement, we'll see

7:55

how this shapes up, because I know that I

7:57

would do this without an official team

8:00

or badge or qualification matrix,

8:02

or someone saying that my work is worthy

8:04

enough to be included. Go

8:06

open-source and keep WordPress thriving.

8:09

Oh, and by the way, Happy birthday,

8:12

WordPress.