To evolve into a reporting ‘team’ could be a good option, but it could also lose the spirit of independence that many value it for, unless it has a strong editorial position and cultivates people with real opinions. Which does run the risk of attracting those with an axe to grind or who could be accused of being critical of things, which surely has to be part of the territory – but is pretty much taboo in this city. As an advocate and occasional visitor to CIB I have to say it has tended towards a rather introverted and self-questioning journal of late, instead of focusing on ‘interesting things that are happening that you might not have heard of’. The original criteria and basic thoughts on CIB by Pete Ashton that are quoted above seem still valid and very straightforward.

But times change and a lot of good things do come to a natural end. I’m not convinced that CIB is not needed anymore, far from it. Actually, while there might be a lot of info out there online I’m not aware of anything that fills this gap. One of the selling points of CIB is that it is all in one place and has been filtered to find some of the gems that might have slipped past the usual, more mainstream channels. This leads me to agree with some of the others here that this is a resource issue, and far from whimpering out, CIB should be considering taking it to the next level and looking at how to resource it. B’ham seriously lacks independent voices, critical space and a platform for some of its fantastic ‘underground’ culture and arts. If CIB didn’t exist someone would have to invent it, as the need is still as strong as ever.

This is a hard course to steer from where you are at now, particularly given the wealth of public financing for the arts in Birmingham when a small contribution to linking it up should surely be a non-brainer for the Council or Arts Council. And it is sad that given the number of bloggers in Birmingham few want to take up the reigns of contributing to this site, but maybe Pete’s right that diversity is a good thing and people are happier and more autonomous doing their own blogging thing.

But I would suggest taking up Dave Harte’s offer to seek funding from other sources may be the best approach for now, and I might suggest that rather than one editor, finance could be used to support a pool of people at a lower level of participation to both blog and work on business development too to try and make it more sustainably future-proof, yet has the double-win of enhancing diversity on the team and bring in new ideas, ‘social graphs’, different sectors etc. It’s certainly what I’d love for the Nottingham blog project. I really hope you can find a way to continue.

Editing CiB, and deciding where to go with it is not an easy job, and my few months felt like treading water for the most part as I just didn’t have the time and resources to make any significant changes or carry out the things I intended to. Maybe CiB needs a editor in the future who can jump in at the deep end and dedicate to it full time? With no funding in place at the moment, Adrienne and I before have had to run the site in our spare time as well as our full time careers, which doesn’t leave much time for strategic planning / writing funding bids / finding advertising etc.

I agree with the suggestions above that the community has a lot to contribute to CiB, and in my stint I did a couple of call -outs for future contributors, with very mild success. If this is to become a viable model for the future, do we need to offer contributors a better incentive for giving up their time?

I used to do interviews for the site when Chris edited but I guess after he stopped it just fizzled out, plus I had to get on with uni work.

I wouldn’t mind getting back to interviewing though – even if I don’t film them email interviews are always fine to read and a lot less time consuming.

One of the big problems is that it simply takes a ton of time to put in the legwork to make a blog like this readable and a must-visit. You need to do more – much more – than just posting links to other people’s interesting stuff. Ultimately this turns into a merry-go round.

We’re all able to be author-publishers now, and that’s great. But there are drawbacks.

Pete suggests that if CiB is no more, it’s no big deal, and maybe it’s time has come and gone. To replace it, just go and build your own newsreader up to do the job instead. Fine as far as it goes. But, again, it assumes that there is always going to be discoverable original content or activity out there to start the whole comment and feedback process. Which takes me back to my first point.

I know this might seem lazy, but there is a whole lot of sense to having a CiB which passionately champions the creative arts in our town. I don’t want to see the withering away of CiB. On the other hand, it’s obvious that doing this right is chewing through your spare time.

There is still a vital role for a collective arts voice in Brum, there may not be any mainstream journalism covering the creative industries in Birmingham at all in a years time. We’re in a time where arts budgets are being slashed and creative voices need any help they can get to publicise their work.

CiB is a resource that should be celebrated, it’s role as I see it should emphasise the linking up of artistic communities that would otherwise exist in isolation, a role that is unique and is not covered by any other site in Brum. The site could and should evolve into an active, vibrant community of creative voices.

There are tonnes of features that could be added to the site. off the top of my head, why not get artists to introduce their projects to a wider audience? how about covering any of the arts campaigns in Birmingham (has there been any coverage at all of the campaign for a modern art gallery?), how about organising awards for the creative industries in Brum? or simply seminars where artists from different disciplines can learn and collaborate with each other?

CiB has a brand name that could be used for so much more than it has been recently, so much work has been put into it over the years that its death would be a tragedy.

Sounds modest and there’s no mention of changing the world but a useful tool for us to stay informed would be lovely thank you very much.

I feel the bringing together that happens here is invaluable; properly, genuinely invaluable. The reason I decided to take CiB’s editorial stance to task earlier in the year was because I value its presence so much. But I really think the ‘it’s an individual’s journey’ thing has run its course – it needs to learn how to agitate, it needs to reassess its approach. If there’s a funding issue about continuation then I’ve offered before to get my pen out and help write whatever fancy words are needed to write a bid (an offer that’s never been taken up by the way – maybe people think I’m shitter at it than I think I am).

Fuck – I care about this website enough to have bought the fucking t-shirt. I even wear it from time to time. If you want to innovate around income generation that way then keep it coming. If you want to register yourself as a charity and ask me to cough up a small amount per month then I’ll do that as well – maybe others will as well – who knows?

But yeah – let’s not lose this.

Apologies for the swearing.

As one who has considered relocating my creative services to Bham, CiB gives me a vital window into the creative scene and has helped me to understand some cultural trends as they unfold. I have discovered more about the creative industry in Birmingham through CiB than through any other site.

I appreciate that CiB does not attempt to be comprehensive in its coverage. Too many sites have become overrun by a torrent of indiscriminate information, rather than choosing to be more selective. Even if your focus changes, I hope you’ll continue to highlight what makes Birmingham shine.

Cheers,
JM