Search Results for: philippines

I used to enjoy watching Ian Wright on Globe Trekker. He was always enthusiastic about the locations he visited and respectful to the people he met along the way.

There is one telling line Ian says in the video above, ‘We don’t stitch people up’

I think it is important as a travel video producer to not be too critical and sensationalist with regard to the countries one visits. I think it is also important to try and avoid comparisons between one’s own country and the countries one visits.
Previously we relied on television stations to give us our news of the world. Now anyone can be a citizen reporter, giving their slant on the countries they visit. I’m always aware that in some countries, local people can get in trouble with local authorities, or victimised by their own people for things they say on camera. And I always make people aware of the possible repercussions of discussing any negative aspects of their own country. The last thing I want as a travel video producer is to have someone’s death or imprisonment occur because of something they say to me.

I was recently criticised in many comments, mainly from American’s, about my North Korea video. Before visiting North Korea I read a lot of books about recent events such as the 1990′s famine and the prison camps. I think anyone can watch the footage and see from the lack of cars and lack of farm machinery, that North Korea is not exactly booming! It seems that because I didn’t criticise the North Korean government, and only reported on what I saw, I was some how encouraging the dictatorship! The reality was, I was well aware that if I did a beat up story, criticising the government, based on 2nd hand information, people I’d met in Korea, could suffer the repercussions. I went in there telling people I would do a story on the fledgling tourism industry, and that is what I did!

I’ve read a bit about war correspondents, I find it fascinating that people risk their own lives to bring us such stories. It seems their biggest disappointment is that despite showing the world the atrocity of war, their reporting generally has little effect in bringing about change. Despite the lessons of the past, wars still happen!

So I think it is important for anyone wishing to produce travel videos to be well aware that there stories can lead to problems for local people, even if it just means online bullying! I interviewed a young man recently about outsourcing to the Philippines. I felt it was important to mention corruption. Even though Darby wasn’t really qualified to answer the question, and skilfully avoided so, he was attacked in the comments as unpatriotic by faceless pinoys! I don’t think there could be anymore more proud of their homeland than Darby, and he wasn’t expecting a backlash for what was essentially a harmless interview.

There are 25 hours of video uploaded to youtube every minute. That works out to be 600+ new videos. The competition to get found is intense and there is the temptation to sensationalise stories in order to capture eyeballs. I think it is important to practise some ethics in one’s work and to be honest in your dealings with local people.

I’ve managed to travel the world interviewing local people where ever I go, many who have never been in front of a camera before, many speaking in their 2nd language!

And a lot of this rests on my reputation, people can watch my videos and understand I am not out to make people look like fools, or do a beat up on their country. One can be honest about a countries problems without being sensationalist. And by doing things this way, people are more likely to open up to you and show you the best their countries have to offer, and also be honest in discussing any problems.

The video below represents a meeting of old and new journalism, New York Times vs Vice. David Carr is crushing in his regard for the shock tactics of ‘new journalism’ but it does remind one that one must at least try and be impartial in how one presents stories.

I recently visited the centre of the online video universe, California, and explored how the media landscape is changing and where it is heading.

The motive of my visit was to work out the direction Overlander.tv is going to take, after changes to youtube have reduced my ad revenue to unsustainable levels.

The California visit was well worth the time and effort as I now have a clear plan of where I must take things to continue my charmed life of being able to afford to travel the world making videos.

Below are some of my findings:

YOUTUBE IS DEAD – for the independent creator!

Youtube wants to become TV on the internet and copied old media techniques to do this. They funded studios or networks pushing the original creators to the side. This lead to a bit of a goldrush where in the last two years television production studios were given wads of cash to produce online content. There is no way someone like myself, producing travel content, can compete with the likes of the vice empire that received millions in funding. The situation now for these tv production companies is they find they are producing more online content for less money. I was amazed to discover daily rates some producers were willing to work for, were well below those received in Australia.

One negative side effect of the ‘corporatisation’ of youtube is that now you can no longer trust organic search results. One can get found on youtube now, but it will cost you! While visiting the Philippines I saw the white hat factories where rooms full of pinoys click ‘like’ on the content of large multinationals. It is cheaper for these corporations to use such techniques than to pay the likes of google and Facebook for advertising.

THE FUTURE – Niche Curated Content
There really is too much content online now, particularly travel content. One of the most common things people post on facebook are their travel photos and videos. I believe the future for independent content creators involves establishing niche platforms that curate the best content on the net. Previously I didn’t believe stand alone websites were sustainable, but with social media platforms becoming more and more overcrowded, and changing their structure to suit advertisers, I now think it is a viable option.

So what will I be doing next? Well you will just have to wait and see! Another thing I learnt in California is that the days of a friendly community of independent creators sharing ideas and encouraging each other are well and truly over. It’s dog eat dog now, with everyone competing for eyeballs.

It took six years for youtube to replicate television. It will be interesting to see if they last another six years, or whether another entity, can seize the cognitive surplus of independent creators, left behind by the channel they helped create!

Google’s contribution for 2012! Dumbing down media? Put on you clown suit and join the circus!

I was awoken this morning, in the early hours, by the furious sound of the guy in the bunk bed across from me masterbating! It was not a pleasant sound, more like the sound of someone grating a carrot! It sounded as though he was using cardboard in his practise, and I’m sure if I was game enough to look across, I would have seen small wisps of smoke arising from his bed!
The reason I tell you this story is not to shock you, but more to imprint on you the reality that travel is not all fun and games. Travel can be challenging and I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing. The old saying, ‘Use it or lose it’ is as relevant with travel as with any other endeavour in life. Since setting off on my year long sojourn I have lost weight, gained muscle and surely increased my ability to read maps, decipher language and read people’s motives.

Sketch by 85 year old beginner

I was lucky to meet a mate’s 85 year old father in the Philippines. A.J. had moved to the Philippines after his wife had died. He wanted to be close to his expat son and on his Australian pension, could afford to hire a carer. A.J. was a fascinating study in ‘use it or lose it’. This sprightly old man showed no signs of memory lose and could converse intelligently on any number of topics. He lived in the provinces and had to climb steep goat tracks to reach his house. He kept his mind active with crosswords and, his new hobby, sketching. He knocked out one of me, the visiting traveler. OK, it is not something you would hang in a art gallery, but so what! At 85, at least A.J. is willing to learn something new!

When one travels, we have access to one of the modern world’s most valuable commodities, TIME! And yet how we use this precious commodity is entirely up to us.

I have been staying in a hostel of late, something I don’t always do. If I can, I like staying with couchsurfers as I feel locals or even expats can give me a better understanding of a place. I’ve also had a terrible barking cough and runny nose, so I haven’t been interacting with others. This has given me the wonderful opportunity to just observe other travelers. In the common room I listened to numerous conversations and, as one would expect, most of them revolved around travel. At one stage I, and everyone else in the small room of six tables, had to endure a loud mouth American bragging about how he had just done the North West of Sichuan, hitchhiking the whole way, going places only the locals venture. Now this loud mouth could well have been Australia, Canadian or European, his nationality did not matter. What I think irked me the most was his concept of travel, that it is like some competitive game of one-upmanship.

Which leads me to the old chestnut of the traveler/tourist divide. The idea that you are nothing more than a mere tourist if you are not off the beaten path living on yak butter or bushmeat.

Well let me tell you I’ve ridden both sides of the tourist/traveler divide.

I’ve seen the international backpacker hotspots, where if romance is your motivation, you are offered a veritable hotbed of exotic flavours to savour.

I’ve also visited remote indigenous communities in the heart of the Borneo Jungle, miles from road or car.

And my belief is, if things go wrong in these remote locations, without having a knowledge of the local language, you can get yourself into a lot of trouble! Not everyone desires or seeks such adventure, and rightly so. Travel should not be judged on such merits.

Time is the most valuable asset you have when you travel. Don’t feel you have to use it to tick of lists or visit must see sights. Use it as you wish but most importantly, use it in a way that helps you grow. To be free from the nine to five grind is a great ‘rich man’s’ gift. There is no right or wrong way to travel, there is only your way.

It has taken me a year on the road, and maybe even my first sickness, to realise this important lesson, in life, and in travel. If you are a man rich in time, you are a man rich indeed!