Korean Job Discussion Forums

[DDDstylee]

Someone told there is a Dave's column on magazines in Seoul...
Uhm this is it... and...
it seems to me that when people make an effort to live with each other and amongst things that are culturally different while at the same time being universal to humanity ... WELL THEN the potential for creation is explosive.

SO don't leave out "DDD" magazine. Free, Bi-lingual, Indepndent.
It has an underground--non- tourist-- made-for-real feel to it.

It came out five times last year at 5000 copies a throw.
It relaunches in September with four more pages and placement stands for it.

It's look is large, colorful, artsy generally fetching with eclectic cross-cultural content like:
*Interveiws with outlawed student leaders.
*An English Language contest speech given from a Korean juvenile in Prison
* A Poetry feature with Korean-set poems submitted form 6 different countries.
* Social features like the the prosecution of Falun Gung from the perspective of the Korean branch of Falon Gong.
* Quirky student writing from Korean high schools and universities
*Various fiction features from both foreingers and Koreans.

Yes I started "DDD" magazine and yes I grew up reading the New Yorker, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone and Cream magazine (hail hail Lester Bangs). No I don't think "DDD" is going to win praise from obvious non-readers ( no barbs at any Dave's esl cafe web posters here) and "DDD" will not for now take advertising.

What it does do is display an assidous energy and ambition in its bilingual and west meets east positioning.
Nobody gets paid to make it; nobody pays to read it and our staff (of course transient) is equally Korean and foreign.

And the parties are fun too. Next one is Saturday the 13. Map at www.lifeinkorea.org
All are welcome...
"DDD" magazine we don't blog and we don't Von Dutch.

[Nemesis]

I've heard of DDD but never actually seen a copy.

Making a magazine is hard work but damned fulfilling -- its like a drug when the creative vibe of flowing. Better than cok -- er... Pepsi.

I'm busting my hump over at K-Scene of course for artistic gratification, but also with the hope that one day, if all goes well, maybe I can do a job like that full-time -- and get paid properly for my efforts.

Without a tangible end goal to work towards, what is the point of so much effort?

Just wondering about your objective?

[Nemesis]

Hope that didin't come off as sounding negative. Just interested is all.

At this level of the publishing chain, we should be supportive of each other as much as possible. DDD, I don't see you lads as "competition", but rather "other guys doing a similar project."

Just wanted to make that clear to avoid the possibility of catfight eruptions or something. Let's discuss magazines.

[Nemesis]

Actually I've been trying to inject a bit of personality in the editorial.

Bland is boring. Instead of saying "Branford Marsalis is playing in Seoul. He's won grammys and he's done films and he's so cool", I wrote: "He's too black to teach English here but black enough to make sweet jazz. Four years after his Seoul debut blah blah..."

As Homer SImpson might say, "its funny because its true!"

The objective was that by putting in a few off-kilter bits like that, it would inspire people to read each and every word, as opposed to skimming, just reading headlines and looking at pix.

K-Scene before I got there IMO was a 2-minute read. I think I've at least boosted it up to a 10-minute read. Not all the bits are cheeky like that, but just enough sprinkled about to keep people focused on the pages. That's my job.

I see it as advertiser service. The longer I keep people on each page, the longer their exposure to the adverts. Good for business.

I did the same job (running a city mag) in Japan for two years and that kind of stuff worked a treat. Here, it didn't really seem to click. My publisher wants bland, generic and unoffensive. I say a bland city mag is a dead city mag.

In the end, from the feedback I received, some people liked it, but several hate mails also flooded in. One angry Scotsman actually wanted to fight me.

But IMO, in the mass media game, it doesn't matter if they hate you or love you, as long as they pay attention to you. Keeping things on the right side of good taste is a matter of personal integrity. Otherwise you're just Jerry Springer.

Anyway, here's a mail from one of my fans. heh:

[DDDstylee]

A few quick points.

*When "DDD" started in daejeon the Kscene brothers had me to their office to ask about editing processes of their magazine... nothing came of it.

* Some of the earlier posters are right you should have scene K scene a few years ago... dreadful

* When I was out last week two people came up to me and said the K scene is much much better now... good news.

* "DDD" is completely bi-lingual... More Koreans pick it up and take it with them to read Vs. english teachers. The English teachers over here are generally not that interested in issues/art/written word. They seem to be satisfied by internet info and talking about themselves without coming up for air from either... "DDD" tends to overwhelm their Hey-what's-up,,,,-on-my-way-Thailaind, OR, I-am-buying-a house-in Canada mentalities. To a lot of foreingers (though absolutely not all 50-50 my guess) "DDD" represents everything that they are not and don't care about. A talented rapper from NYC once told me for most people over here, ""DDD" can't make it with a crowd that's A.D.D."

*That doesn't bother me because "DDD" is a brave and ingenious project. The goal is revolution. Korean people are wowed by it. I have droped the magazine down on the bar and 90% of the time when I come back.. It is stuffed in their bags or they come to me and act all emtional usually postive but not automatically.

"DDD's" Bottom Line? Base ??? I'll go with Oscar Wilde, "People hunger for beauty, there is a void."

I suggest you drop in our party Sat night and please bring me a copy of the new Kscenes. Thanks S.L.S. aka dddstylee
www.lifeinkorea.org

[Nemesis]

[mindmetoo]

[jinju]

My beef with K Scsne hs always been the low level of photography at the magazine.

[Poktanju]

[Nemesis]

***

[jinju]

[mindmetoo]

[yellowroseoftexas]

K-Scene is a joke, as is most media directed towards foreigners living in Korea.

Yes, the current editor is getting paid--enough, but not much. The articles suck and are more directed towards Koreans and people who can advertise. Hence, IPark Mall was a cover story...c'mon!!!! Articles about ettiquitte? The writer is great but it's the wrong article for an entertainment magazine.

It doesn't necessarily have to do with the writing or the editing...it has to do with article choices and the publisher. No matter what, K-Scene will never be a legit publication. After more than five years, the rag has been struggling for an identity. This is a business problem. No matter how much this new editor thinks he can do, which hasn't been much but change to a crappy logo, he'll never be satsfied and in the end, used.

It uses foreigners to write its articles and pays next to nothing. If you really want to get published, it would be better to go for the K-times, which is somewhat better.

[mindmetoo]

[JongnoGuru]