Okay so for starters I want to be clear. I’m not picking on anyone or singling anyone out. I am going to be talking about a remark made by Dave Palumbo of RX Muscle. I’m not writing this article to rag on him or to rag on the mindset that questions newer bodybuilding channels and platforms. Believe me, at times it seems like there’s any number of websites and shows popping up. And you’re left wondering, how long are they going to survive? But it really isn’t a question of how long they’re going to survive or how much work they’ll do, rather what is their contribution to the sport. Do they really love it? Do they really want to grow it? These are the things that matter more to me than how long they’re on the scene for or how much work product they can pump out. That being said, I would be a nobody in this industry without Dave Palumbo. He gave me my break. He allowed me to write articles for RX and he allowed me to write 80 episodes of Muscle In the Morning. Before that I was just doing my little website that very few people heard about and watching the sport just like every other fan. So kudos to Dave. And one last thing about Palumbo before I dissect his basement media comment, I want to talk about censorship. When I wrote for Dave he never told me what to write. He never told me that there were things I couldn’t write about, either. And I always appreciated that. Even though he assigned me an editor, who many times would change what I wrote, that’s the process of being a writer and being an editor. The take-home message here is that I understand that Dave will not hold it against me if I take a position that may be slightly adverse to his, because he knows that it’s all about the article and it’s not personal.
Okay, let me rip into Dave Palumbo’s comment, now!! This whole basement concept is an incredible diss to any number of news channels and commentary websites. Basically what it’s saying is that they are not on an equal level playing field as the big fish. In other words RX, MD (which no longer operates), maybe FLEX Magazine (now just a website) would be in one category. Muscle Discord or Bodybuilding News Network would be in another. And it wouldn’t just be in another category, but it would be in a lower category. The “not so important” one. The “not so credible” one. They find themselves in a lower category, because they’re just not on the same level as the big boys. Basically RX would be on one level, and these other low-level, peanut-gallery, economy class, poverty programs would be on another. On the one hand it’s very disrespectful to independent media, but on the other it’s also incredibly narcissistic to think that one contributor is any more important than the next. But it doesn’t stop there.
Then we come into an area known as qualified comments. Now qualified comments are another misnomer that is sometimes employed by more aged members of our community. I wouldn’t go so far as to say learned, but definitely aged. And what I mean by this is, is that whether by number of years in the sport or number of years walking this planet, some older journalists feel as if they can draw a line in the sand between their opinion and that of other (less old) people. Sometimes you see this in terms of competition. For example, there are certain folks in the sport that do not take the commentary of a person who never competed quite as seriously as a person who did. We also see this in terms of whether or not people ever work for a serious publication or not. For example, Dave [Palumbo] and Ron Harris both worked for Muscular Development. So to a certain contingent of the bodybuilding world, they would be considered more credible as journalists based on that resume entry. It wouldn’t be because of anything they did after working for those publications, but just because they were once upon a time a part of them, they’re deemed professionals as opposed to basement wannabes. Because it’s not just any basement, the full comment is “your mom’s basement.” So basement media alone doesn’t just mean it’s DIY, it also means that you as a basement media host are a colossal loser, an Epic Fail in all regards. You can’t get even get your own place, YOU LIVE IN YOUR MOM’S BASEMENT. Lol
Obviously, I don’t subscribe to any of this. I don’t care where you’re from or how long you’ve been in the sport. I don’t care about what masterpiece of an article you wrote 20 years ago in the October edition of Muscle Mag or Planet Muscle. Show me what you wrote last month. Show me what you’re going to write tomorrow. Show me what videos you’ve published. I care about the here and now. And I don’t feel that anyone has a more qualified comment or a more qualified opinion than the next guy.
Whether we’re talking about level playing fields in different media formats or we’re talking about qualified comments or we’re talking about who has a production team and who doesn’t, I really feel like that is all besides the point. I think that the basement media comment comes from insecurity. I mean you know for Dave, it was a bitter pill to swallow, some years ago when Luimarco was burying RX in terms of hits. And then it happened again with Nick’s Strength And Power. But it’s not like he’s just burying RX, he’s burying everybody!! The fact of the matter is that even though Luimarco or Nick Miller don’t have a production team, don’t have a studio, don’t have branding up the yin yang, they still get more views and they get more comments and they get more engagement. Because at the end of the day, people gravitate towards them more. That doesn’t mean that they’re basement media. I think the premise of the comment comes from insecurity. And maybe with a little envy as well.
The term basement media is a bunk term. Just like qualified comments are a bunk concept. I say, the more channels, the better. Everyone should have a voice. To hell with hierarchies. Who wants them? Who needs them? Not me!
