My thoughts print media today and what we do at BTL

Some of you may read our work at Between the Lines (BTL). Here, I outline some of my thoughts on print media today and the vision behind what we do.

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My sincerest gratitude

I’ve noticed that my Substack is gaining a small following, so I thought it best to post something as a token of my gratitude. Rather than producing the kind of research and analysis we do at Between the Lines – where I write a weekly column and serve as editor-in-chief – I will instead devote this page to informal blog-style writing where I share my thoughts on a number of things, including the nature of media today.

This page isn’t about war or geopolitics: if you want that, please read Between the Lines. I am also purposely avoiding politically charged subjects because God knows there’s enough of that out there these days. I don’t know how often I will be able to contribute here, but when I have time, I’ll do my best to get in a post every now and again. I hope you enjoy it.

Expert analysis for everyone

The Internet is the most important advent in disseminating knowledge since the Gutenberg press. However, just as in the time of Johannes Gutenberg, not everyone can access and understand the information increasingly available to them. This lack of understanding is mainly because influential individuals and interests actively manipulate access to this information – including what I believe to be essential to civic life – by creating jargon. They invent words that misdirect the understanding of the broader public. I don’t think this is done out of malice or with intent; it’s simply a by-product of the tribal nature innate to us all. However, having an open society requires us to overcome this nature in many ways, including when it comes to sharing knowledge.

With enough jargon surrounding a topic, hyper-specialized individuals create control languages that are only accessible to others in their field or those willing to take the time to learn the precise meaning of each word they invent. I fall into the latter category not by choice but by nature – possibly due to falling on the autism spectrum, where literal meanings tend to carry more weight. However, most people don’t have the time to explore the befuddling and inane depth of these control languages, thus rendering this often essential information utterly alien to them. In essence, it’s bad for society.

It doesn’t need to be this way. At Between the Lines, and everywhere else I write or edit, I do my best to break down these mundane expert control languages to offer ordinary people with a genuine interest a chance to understand it for themselves, at least in as much as I understand it myself. In addition to geopolitics, I’ve also worked in tech and financial research, which have their own complex control languages. By breaking down these topics that are typically glossed over, I hope to provide readers with a better understanding of the world around them. I am humbled by the fact that myself, Preston, and the rest of the team can provide this research and analysis mostly for free.

Print media that cuts through the noise

Most experts were good students at one time. Students in most fields are not rewarded for their ability to tell a story but rather to repeat the information they learn, often in extraordinary and unnecessary detail. That’s why many articles covering complex subjects such as war, geopolitics, terrorism, and technology are difficult to read. They tend to be overly long and lack focus. In an age of shortening attention spans and endless distractions from 15-second videos featuring salacious and borderline pornographic content, this jargon-laden and often blathering type of print media cannot compete and, therefore, must evolve.

Studies show that people retain more information and better understand the subject matter when they read something rather than listen to it or watch a video. This enhanced understanding is because print media – unlike audio or visual – requires active participation from a person at all times. It engages the mind and forces you to think. This is why I think print media is essential for modern society and that without it, our collective civic future is bleak. Because we cannot limit the combined distractions of the Internet, print media must evolve in a way that engages the reader much more than most of the written content out there does at present.

As an editor, I’ve seen many unfocused and jargon-laden articles come across my desk. I struggled to understand many of these pieces myself and knew my expert writers’ words would never have their intended impact on readers if they were published without a substantial overhaul. 

High-concept research

Describe it to me in a sentence or two.

I ask each writer I work with to do that when they pitch an article to me. In university, students are often asked to develop a thesis statement for their work and propose an outline. I do this also. This is the essence of the high concept: everything that happens in a story falls into the purview of this brief statement. It makes the narrative easy to follow and, when applied to research, allows the reader to take in the most information while getting the clearest possible image of the story, at least as the author sees it.

Hollywood also uses this formula. Starting in the 1980s, Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson used the high-concept formula to produce some of the decade's biggest blockbusters, such as Flash Dance, Top Gun, and Beverly Hills Cop. They carried this formula into the 90s, producing their final feature before Simpson’s death, The Rock – one of my favorites. In each of these films, Simpson and Bruckheimer took active roles at each stage of production, ensuring their vision remained consistent throughout the final product. I try to do this myself: I must have the author's same understanding of the outline for each article before editing, and I must visualize each idea without being burdened by overly complex wording. It is a process that takes some getting used to, but the talented people I work with continue to amaze me in this regard. 

My vision

At Between the Lines and everywhere I contribute, I aim to ensure that each reader understands the subject matter with as little effort as possible. Having spent decades delving into daunting and complex subject matter, I know the frustrations of people who enter with genuine curiosity, only to be turned away by the literal gatekeepers of these hyper-specialized fields. I aim to save readers the hours spent by myself and the talented people I work with delving into these byzantine fields and hopefully quench their curiosity. Publishing is fast-paced, we are a small team, and sometimes we make mistakes, but the result is something I am proud of. If it enriches one reader’s life a fraction as much as it has mine, it is all worth it.