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Letter From The Editor

How to begin? Again? 

When Lizzy and Ashley offered yours truly a chance to edit a reconfigured Colab Brief, several things struck me with the force of a rolled-up copy of the Sunday New York Times smacked against my noggin.

First, they're approaching this from a perspective of possibility. Not anxiety. Too much of the news-on-news regarding the media, PR, and AI is, if you will, Actually Ignorant. The truth is that we've watched the skies fall in our respective professions for generations. Remember that new thing called the Internet? Or digital photography? The demise of afternoon papers? But we're still here. And there are solid reasons for that.  

Machines can't do many of the wonderful things humans can. And they never will. It can't mentor. It can’t apply a spidey-sense lie detector or exercise sound professional judgement. It can't sit down and work out a sticky media issue over java. It makes terrible company when you're at a bar ordering a Mai Tai or trying to build community. It's in that spirit that Lizzy and Ashley want things to head. Why wouldn't I jump at it with all the naive zeal of a Glorified Coffee Boy Newsroom Intern? (Coffee boys: another thing AI can't replace.) 

Second, we've collectively lost our way—relegating much of what we do to "content." What a terrible word. "Content" is the coin of the realm for Computer Geeks Who Sought to Take Over the World, and just about did. Just like "information," as in the "information highway." Content could be a three-part series on Medicare cuts, or the computer code that enables a startup guru to sell custom soldering guns online. If that's how broad the umbrella is these days, count me out.  

Instead, chew on this. There's a lost X factor that once defined what the best of us in communications did. It consists of this: Attitude. Verve. Style. Punch. And humor. There's much to be made of freedom of speech these days, but the fact is, we may represent its biggest threat. Here's why: We lock ourselves (and readers) in cages of boredom. Mediocrity. Both-sides-ism. And too often, fear of pissing off key constituencies. 

We're not about to be political, and The Colab Brief is a small newsletter fish in a big comms pond. But in bringing you the best of what's shaking in the industry, we don't mind shaking things up. 

And much of that will come down to the overall voice we adopt. 

You've got a lot of choices in terms of how to spend your time. If we can make you think, laugh, and ask yourself, "What are those bastards up to now?" then the hope is you'll come back. 

We also invite you to get to know our writers. Once upon a time, media outlets – even those covering the industry – celebrated their columnists as distinctive personalities. Readers came to know them para-socially, as though they were eccentric uncles or all-knowing neighbors who called it like they saw it. They weren’t just bylines. People trusted them. 

Who can you look to today in PR, journalism, op-ed, or any media arm and say, "Wow, that person is bullshit free"? Even ChatGPT makes stuff up all the time. It told me that I was the author of a book called "The World According to Bugs Bunny." (Sam Altman's posse got the gaffe fixed just in time for me not to get a book deal.) 

The columnists of old were not conveyor belts of content. And we aspire to create something more than just another rip-and-read portal.

I love the notion of getting my hands dirty. Of messing up but then getting up. Inviting you, dear reader, to join the party or the fray, depending on the day. And, hell yeah, to join me for a cup of coffee. Email me at [email protected] if you're in Chicago, and we're on. 

I look at my career and all the left turns it's taken. At its best, I interviewed Robert Downey Jr. one week and Helen Mirren the next; at its worst, I wrote a sponsored content piece about how to get rid of cockroaches in the home. I guess it’s the part where I should sing "My Way," but not even Sinatra liked that song. 

Instead, I look at this remarkable opportunity, take a nice long swig of iced latte, and think: How to begin? Again? 

Lou Carlozo is the Editor in Chief of Qwoted, the world's most widely used platform that unites journalists, PRs, sources, and podcasters. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Polk Award Winner (both for team reporting), and the host of the Bankadelic podcast, ranked Number 3 for its coverage of AI and finance as ranked by Million Podcasts. Connect with him on LinkedIn.   

Get to know our writers (more to come in the following weeks): 

Something else on your mind? Say hello. 

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