blog.ninety-three // I’m writing this from my hotel room in Austin.
I had a lovely Saturday exploring Houston, courtesy of my good friend Peter—who then drove me two-and-a-half-hours westward.* We said our goodbyes following some phenomenal Texas barbeque; now, the real work begins.
I’m here to report our next Creator Mag cover story, which releases October 15. The subject lives in the Austin area, and I’ll be spending the afternoon with her, organizing a photoshoot and following up from our background interview in August.
Scroll down for my thoughts on why we still pursue original, in-person reporting. Plus: Notes from a catch-up call with Hank Green…and the coolest art we’ve ever received.
— NGL
P.S. Last blog, we reviewed the biggest streamer in the world’s tour across America. You can read it here.
One :: I think original reporting is more important than ever. AI is changing how we intake news and digest information. You know it, I know it—and your search browser certainly knows it, too.
According to a July report from Pew Research, Google users who encounter an AI summary click on a search result link only eight percent of the time. That figure nearly doubles to fifteen percent (!!) when searchers don’t use AI summaries.
So what does this mean? It’s not just that SEO is tanking, or that the accuracy of information is hit-or-miss. No, we’re no longer interacting with the original source of that information—and as professors, scientists, and journalists have lamented to me in recent weeks, it’s not like that information already existed, pre-packaged and gift-wrapped in a tidy bundle.
Producing original work takes time, and effort. The scientific method revolves around forming a hypothesis, testing it, drawing conclusions…then doing it all over again. Journalists undertake the laborious process of research and reporting—often running into dead ends while fact-checking every source.
It’s costly, slow, and the payoff is questionable.
So why do we still do it?
As time’s passed since my original Creator Mag profile pieces, the more I’ve come to appreciate this aspiration to be the “paper of record.” Cleo Abram, a video journalist, had recently left Vox when I spent the day getting to know her in New York; now, she spends her days interviewing titans of tech. When I profiled the YouTube creator Anthony Potero, he was still a college senior; since then, he’s ignited a global phenomenon—and created two viral, masked characters.
I’m not implying that these profile pieces are the only stories that help you better understand the journeys of individuals like Cleo and Anthony. They’re both insanely talented at telling their own stories, anyway—with large libraries I encourage you to watch back.
But I do believe that journalists are the documentarians of their time, investigating a subject and translating the impact to audiences at a given moment (cultural or otherwise). Algorithms may change, and servers may falter. But the work lives on.
It’s real, it’s evergreen, and it’s certainly harder to make than regurgitating what’s already out there. Yet without it, no new information would emerge.
Two :: I think original photography takes a story up a notch. Alright, fine. You got me.
I can espouse all of these lofty journalistic ideals about on-the-ground reporting, but the truth of the matter is that I really just like cool editorial photos.
If you’re gonna make a magazine, why not make it feel special?
Three :: I think I’m unequipped to give advice on many things. I can, however, share ideas and quotes that have impacted me.
I caught up with Hank Green on Thursday. Given our next cover story is about a creator and science communicator, I reached out to see if Hank might be willing to lend his perspective for the piece (he obliged).
Before hitting record, we chatted briefly about the state of our country and *gestures at everything*. Unlike me, Hank is often asked to give advice on things. But in that moment, he seemed pretty unsure of what to make of the online discourse unfurling in front of our eyes.
Nevertheless, he said he was staying off social media and focusing his energy instead on what he does best: creating something interesting. That interesting thing ended up being a twenty-minute deep dive on a recent NASA paper—which hinted at the potential of life on Mars.
The next day, I watched the video. And it was quite good! What stood out to me more, however, was what Hank wrote in his Friday newsletter:
How am I supposed to make videos in a world that is changing this fast? But then I remembered what a friend of mine who has terminal cancer said recently.
He was talking about whether he would plan to go to his friend's wedding, and he simply couldn't be sure whether he would be able to or not. Then he realized that, if he acted that way, he'd basically never do anything again. "I just need to learn how to live sick," he said.
I don't know what America has. I don't think anyone knows. I just know it doesn't feel as clear and stable as it once did, and that's really hard. But I can't let that box me into never being able to make another choice.
So I worked my ass off on a video about life on Mars.
You can only control what you can control.
Four :: I think this may be the first animated art we’ve received. People have made fan art of Creator Mag photos before. But shout-out to reader Alex Rumsa for sending us this 3D animation of Stormy, our brand mascot.
Y’all are so talented fr.
Five :: I think you should become familiar with the name “Alveus.” It may or may not be where we’re going tomorrow…
Thanks for reading! Shoot us a reply, comment, or DM if anything resonated with you in particular—we respond to them all.
* Along with being a good friend from college and a great human being, Peter is a very skilled journalist who works for The Houston Chronicle. You can check out his work here!
So excited to see your piece about Maya and Alveus, I’ve become obsessed with her work after the algorithm gods blessed me with a video from her vlog channel. She’s been able to utilize streaming and content creation to solve funding gaps that most non-profits struggle with—it’s such a unique model that I think more orgs should explore!