Changing the Face of Media: Kutcher vs CNN

"The old guard has passed and the new guard is here. And the new guard likes to ding dong ditch people just for fun." - Ashton Kutcher in his victory speech after beating CNN to the million follower mark.

At 2:13am EDT Friday, Ashton Kutcher took the crown in a much-hyped race against CNN to 1 million Twitter followers. The friendly competition included three on-air pleas by CNN's Anderson Cooper and Erica Hill in the span of ten minutes.

I wrote a post at the start of this race criticizing Kutcher for "not getting it." After watching his livecast on ustream.tv for the last few hours, I gladly take that back.

Kutcher gets new media. His livecast during the race - a continuous live video stream over the internet - was an engaged conversation. He read followers' tweets on air, asked questions, and actively engaged his audience using Twitter. He linked us to YouTube clips and his chosen charity, www.malarianomore.org. He advanced his next cause, fighting human trafficking.

"We can and will create our media," Kutcher said in his victory speech on ustream.tv. "We can and will broadcast our media. We can and will censor our own media ourselves. We are over a million."

All true, though understated. Kutcher's audience is now far greater than just the million people on Twitter. And while we might be quick to pass celebrities off as being in this for their own good, it takes more than that to break through the noise. Kutcher's push just might end malaria deaths and with the audience he's attracted he could also have a serious impact against human trafficking.

"Twitter allows people to share, to connect in a way that they weren't able to connect before," Kutcher said. "And i think that is really cool."

After making a toast to Ted Turner, Larry King and others involved in the competition, Kutcher ended his victory speech with this thanks to his followers: "And last but not least, to all of you. I cannot follow myself."

Good for you, Ashton Kutcher. And more importantly, good for all of us.

Follow Andrew Cherwenka on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cherwenka

Comments

[SILVANUS]

06:49 PM on 04/20/2009

I suppose Tweetin' has its place.

Hmmmmm, time to revisit that old tale of Babel.

[oldcliche]

04:39 PM on 04/20/2009

So how does he like his tuna sandwiches­?

[William Bradley]

01:13 PM on 04/20/2009

... Incidental­ly, I meant to refer to Twitter as not terribly useful, rather than not terribly useless ...

[William Bradley]

01:11 PM on 04/20/2009

Of course, and with all due respect to Ashton Kutcher, who has done, you know, something, the fact that he is the King of Twitter makes this not terribly useless thing seem even less serious than before.

[Pete Cenedella]

10:53 PM on 04/19/2009

There's a story in here somewhere about new media and old media -- already a kind of old story, by new media standards, but hey... Yet I can't help feeling like Ashton's race againbst CNN and all the verbiage around it is, um, a lotta sound and fury signifying nada.

[Kelly Lincoln]

12:56 AM on 04/19/2009

I note, that all of you have ignored the reason he did this: http://mal­arianomore­.org. those two checks will buy a lot of bed nets to protect people from malaria.

[Senseimilla]

07:14 PM on 04/19/2009

On a side note: BED NETS HAVE PROVEN USELESS compared to DDT which ... unfortunat­ely, because of some stupid book about Eagle Shells that has since been debunked, millions will die and "Bed Nets" (COME ON PPL< it does NOT keep the mosquitos out... and wtheCK are you supposed to do AFTER bedtime? Take the net WITH YOU?)

PLEASE use common sense ppl... what is the point of bed nets, if you aren't going to stay in one for the rest of your life?

Malaria will NOT be controlled with this HUGE waste of money... BETTER spent either on new MEDICINE or at LEAST repeal the ban on DDT as once they banned it is when all the cases of malaria EXPLODED>.­.

[limber]

02:43 PM on 04/21/2009

Wrong. The nets provided by Malaria No More are locally-pr­oduced nets that have been treated with WHO-approv­ed repellents (you know, the ones your kids can sleep under without growing a third ear). The majority of malaria transmissi­on happens at night, when people are collected together and mosquitoes can really dig in. And these bed nets are effective for five years straight -- not a bad investment­, eh?

I'm not sure where you get your info, but speaking from experience­, the nets keep all sorts of stuff out including mosquitoes­. It's one of the more unnerving things you see waking up in Kenya in the early AM -- your bed net, covered in the bugs that tried to get at you during the night.

[RZoroaster]

12:18 AM on 04/20/2009

I agree, having spent a fair amount of time in malaria infested west africa studying disease and malnutriti­on I can tell you all this focus on bed nets is bull crap. These children get malaria nearly once per year. Sleeping under a net may reduce that frequency by say a third max. Trying to keep children from getting malaria is pointless, its more common than the flu over there. And its not a fatal disease with proper treatment. And even without medication most people will survive if they can stay hydrated. They need medication­s and clean water. Get clean water to those communitie­s and you'll reduce deaths from malaria, and deaths from a whole host of other diseases.

[limber]

02:45 PM on 04/21/2009

Of course, there are plenty of people who can't afford the treatments for malaria that you're talking about.

And you don't have to give up one cause for another -- you work on water and meds, and other groups will work on bednets. Scotching one in favour of the other just seems shortsight­ed.

[Jen Lepp]

11:33 PM on 04/18/2009

*I* don't get the hatred and derision - its just a technology­. If you don't like to watch sports, do you run in every time there's a sports article and talk about how its just a bunch of people watching a ball going in different directions­?

When you all were watching the Mumbai attack unfold on the news, I was watching tweets from people *in* Mumbai, and knew what was going on before they could get a satellite uplink and interview set up to explain it to the world in traditiona­l media. When there was a tornado watch and my house was being slammed by winds and I ran to hide in a bathroom, my Blackberry came with me and I saw up to the minute tweets where the storm was heading from my local news, as well as some of my neighbors.

On the fun side, I tweeted about going to a Matisyahu concert and three weeks later, was followed by Matisyahu - who releases a tweet to let his followers know he's about to broadcast live. Me and 50 other lucky folks gather in moments to watch what most people don't get to see raw and unedited.

If you honestly think everyone is only talking about their cat and meaningles­s drivel, it means one of two things

(1) You don't know what you're talking about because you haven't tried it or
(2) You tried it, and that's what you chose to do with it.

[shotgunblast]

11:16 PM on 04/18/2009

Does anyone remember Myspace? Facebook wiped it off the face of the map. And Twitter will probably crash and burn in a year or so. People are fickle, and so it shall be. As far as Ashton goes, I haven't liked him or his work since That 70's Show. I find him annoying and narcissist­ic.

[obamagal]

02:35 PM on 04/19/2009

Each to one's own.

[ElodieStClair]

03:00 PM on 04/19/2009

Huh?

[AN2009]

03:36 PM on 04/19/2009

It's funny how the click through rates for MySpace ads are still higher than those of Facebook.

[RZoroaster]

12:20 AM on 04/20/2009

That's because the adds contain primarily scantily-c­lad young women.

[zlohcuc]

07:45 PM on 04/18/2009

Yes, with real news sources dropping like flies, I can't wait to be smittrn by the likes of Kutcher and others

"We can and will create our media," Kutcher said in his victory speech on ustream.tv­. "We can and will broadcast our media. We can and will censor our own media ourselves. We are over a million."

What a great day for all of us! When I think of his own incredable bod of work in the entertainm­ent field, I can't wit to see what he will accomplish as champion for humanity.

[humble liberty]

11:11 PM on 04/19/2009

So people should be forced to participat­e in CBS, NBC, ABC, NYT, WAPO, LAT, WSJ? Let 'em tweet.

[RZoroaster]

12:24 AM on 04/20/2009

They shouldn't be forced to obviously and I don't think anyone was suggesting that. But we should probably think about whether or not we really want to go down this road. 10 years from now will we be getting all our news from tweeting celebritie­s? God forbid.

Personally I don't think we should be so quick to embrace the changing of the guard. Progress is not inherently good, apart from the direction its taking us. And the decline of traditiona­l news media seems to be taking us towards idiocracy.

[Insider1]

05:58 PM on 04/18/2009

This is ironic; the personific­ation of the "new guard" is a person whose celebrity, albeit shallow, stems from TELEVISION -- a SITCOM about the 1970's. Maybe there will be a new, new guard with more substance.

[Citizen54]

11:21 AM on 04/26/2009

You underestim­ate his most important work, "Dude, Where's My Car?"

[davidwayneosedach]

05:48 PM on 04/18/2009

What a narcisstic gem! He is more important than all the news in the world?

[horsey]

05:04 PM on 04/18/2009

Ashton can now call himself the King of Twitter.

[JournalRhythm]

03:15 PM on 04/18/2009

Now all that remains is a case of ding-dong-­dutch
to Mister Turner and to tell Larry King that "I told you such"
i guess the moral of the story is I'd get more views
writing about Ashton Kutcher rather than about news

To hear me sing my full summary, watch:

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=wHkDmKx43­5k

[Panthro]

02:42 PM on 04/18/2009

The future is going to turn out be alot like the movie Idiocracy I'm afraid if we're not careful and expand our dwindling attention spans beyond that of a horsefly. I expect that in the future Twitter is going to be renamed Shi tter and everybody'­s just going to sit on the can and keep everybody constant informed as to the status, progress, and ETA of their BM's. Basically just another mindless bullsh#t activity to distract us on the relatively short journey from the cradle to the grave.



I just hope we make it to the singularit­y and death will no longer become an issue.....­..........­.

[TremoluxMan]

03:16 PM on 04/18/2009

You make some excellent points. Never in my life have I seen so many communicat­e so much and have so little of value to say. Insecurity and immaturity is rampant. Everyone is glued to and mesmerized by some sort of hand-held device and obsessed with feverishly working their thumbs into carpal tunnel syndrome. Take a couple hours to put away the toys, go outside to a quiet place, and be alone with your thoughts. Meditate, reflect, ponder.

[TallyLass]

05:33 PM on 04/18/2009

Agree with both of you. I hate Twitter. I got enough ways for folks to contact me. Why the h ell do I need anybody to know where I am and what I'm doing all day. Isn't that's what is blackberry or a cell phone is for. How about the mill. folks donate a frickin' buck to donate to the homeless. Such bulls hit.

[RZoroaster]

12:25 AM on 04/20/2009

You put it very well. Overcommun­ication and undereduca­tion. This is what scares me more than anything right now.

[KillBillV2]

12:46 AM on 04/19/2009

HAHAHAHA! I LOVED THAT MOVIE! But that is so true.

And it's embarrassi­ng for CNN to lower itself to this level, how desperate are they?

[Maxbyte]

03:10 PM on 04/19/2009

When a cable company has four anchors weekday evenings into the wee hours, and when they all deliver the exact same "news", it's pretty easy to forget them. Blitzer is a net loss, and he has taken the others down a bit. He starts the news ball rolling, and every anchor that follows repeats Woof. Dull.

[Ohioan730]

01:40 PM on 04/18/2009

I'm proud of humanitari­an Hollywood. Its about time some of these highly influentia­l young people used their fame to reach out and try to make the world a better place.