Anthill Magazine, an Australian-based publication, has been in steady production since September 2006 and, as an entrepreneur my hat’s off to Anthill’s founder and publisher James Tuckermann, who earlier this year transitioned to a mostly-online commercial model, while the magazine itself still physically appears a few times each year.
Anthill now publishes a series of themed daily e-mails and acts as a sort of aggregation blogging site for a number of contributors. It also has a number of annual awards: Cool Company, 30 Under 30 – and an Innovation Index.
And I really respect what James has done and is doing, so it was with a split conscience that I clicked on the recent survey link and added my two cents worth. And – on one level because there’s a case of Shiraz in the offing – decided to be clear and concise in my feedback, AND willingly assign my name to it.
Which was, simply, that if James’ intention on founding Anthill was to counter a perceived “dryness” in Australian business media, amassing a collection of blogs on “contemporary” business topics (SEO, SEO, SEO + social networking) doesn’t automatically make a good business publication.
In fact, it seems kind of like a lazy way out – and hence my summation that Anthill fails to live up to its potential.
I’m not for a minute suggesting that I’ll be awarded the prize case of Shiraz (although I’d gladly give it a good home), and I know that in a resource-starved business environment accepting the multitude of blogged contributions from SEO swaggerers and business coaches might be of some use to the broader SME market. but to me that isn’t business, it’s just providing online advice outlets to self-promoters. Who might as well (and usually do) have their own blogs anyway.
What’s lacking in the Australian business media is any sense of business journalism aimed at the innovation sector. Seeking out good stories, not just publishing yet-another “cool” list or ghost-writing OpEd pieces. I’ve run my own businesses, generating software IP and real revenues, for more than 7 years now – and I can say without any sense of self-deprecation I have learnt literally everything I know from listening to the war stories of fellow entrepreneurs. Not their product pitches, not their VC-endearing confidence-speak, just the stories about how and why they took or were forced to take the directions they did.
In this country it seems that you have to massively fail in a ball of flames, be a property developer, or have a mining lease somewhere to get anything written about you in the business press. Or be able to brag about your SEO prowess.
Look at Andrew Denton’s ability to get stories out of ordinary people with extraordinary experiences, and compare that to what you see on current affairs programs, and you’ll appreciate the contrast I’m talking about.
I really wish Anthill or someone else would pick up this opportunity to provide business journalism; James clearly has so much potential – I just wish he would follow his own mantra.
And James, if you’re reading this, I really meant what I said – I’d willingly give that Shiraz a good home!
