When rich creatives support local media: Stephen King

Rich people buying media properties or getting involved in adjacent media businesses is not necessarily a bad thing. We've seen some great things come out of visionary artists such as Oprah (OWN, Oprah's Book Club) but I would like to talk about local media businesses ... specifically author Stephen King quietly helping local broadcast media in Maine for decades.

You've probably heard about super rich businessmen from tech and finance and biopharma purchasing marquee media brands to extend their influence or fulfill other needs. Amazon titan Jeff Bezos buying The Washington Post. Biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong purchasing the Los Angeles Times. John Henry and The Boston Globe. The Facebook early employee who bought The New Republic. These efforts seldom end well. The purchase of the brands is often described in altruistic terms, but the real goal is to exercise influence or live out some sort of media mogul fantasy.

Importantly, despite their business chops, these gurus from other industries are shockingly bad at understanding the fickle needs of media audiences, developing great creative talent, or recognizing the intangibles that lie at the heart of all great art and media. They can't help themselves from forcing their views onto the creative teams and final product. They assume that quantitative insights always trump creative decisions, which invariably leads to cloying, shallow media experiences and disenchanted audiences who don't stick around. Quoting Le Monde from June 2024:

The Post has lost half its audience, with 50 million unique visitors by the end of 2023, compared with 101 million in 2020, while its subscriber base has fallen from 3 million to 2.5 million, according to the New York Times. It accumulated losses of $77 million (€71.7 million) last year.

Author Stephen King is different. Decades ago, he got involved in local broadcasting in Maine. This was not a money-making gambit, or an attempt to exercise political power. Zone Corp. and WZON in central Maine are not reaching millions of people or serving as power levers in major coastal cities. King did it because he loved rock and roll radio, and he recognized that the airwaves were the lifeblood of far-flung rural communities and the spirit of the Great State of Maine:

“While radio across the country has been overtaken by giant corporate broadcasting groups, I’ve loved being a local, independent owner all these years,” King said. “I’ve loved the people who’ve gone to these stations every day and entertained folks, kept the equipment running, and given local advertisers a way to connect with their customers. Tabby and I are proud to have been a part of that for more than four decades.”

He's winding down his broadcasting activities, but he should be applauded for what he's done. King's investments in local radio stations were investments in local communities and small businesses in Maine, subsidized by his own global media empire. Good on him and wife Tabitha King for keeping them going for 40+ years.

I would love to see a new generation of successful creatives get more involved in local media businesses in New England and further afield. It could be broadcast outlets, online journalism, performance venues, or other projects. There are a few other examples that spring to mind such as "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" author Jeff Kinney's bookstore and downtown revitalization project in Plainville, Mass. But there's a lot of room for other successful creatives to help.