I don’t know if I have the best answer, but this CGM (consumer-generated media) I’ve been counseling my reporters to ask people in the beats they cover to always ask - what are the stories in which you’re interested. Maybe I should have some informal external editorial board - that serves as a check and balance to make sure we don’t again get lost in the fog of (weekly publication) war.

Obviously, I’m glad I didn’t decide to write about the brand in Consumed. But that’s not why I bring this up. I bring it up because as far as I could tell, Nau got nonstop love from every “influential,” “tastemaker,” “thoughtleader,” blah blah blah blog you can name.

I thought that was the secret sauce? I thought if you win over the blognescnenti, then you flat-out win? Because the MSM is irrelevant? And stuff? So, what’s up? Could it possibly be that the whole bloggy-buzz thing is, oh, I don’t know … bullshit?

So we featured Nau on the cover of our green issue (free link here). My intro seems pretty interesting now.

As the green movement gains even more momentum, many companies are encouraging their customers to live a more eco-friendly life - and are offering the tools to do so.

If judged by traditional promotional means, the short film that outdoor clothing manufacturer Nau created, though it eventually led to a mention on Good Morning America, would’ve been deemed a failed opportunity.

The four-minute film, which detailed the transformation that “friend of Nau” Dee Williams underwent when she moved out of a regular house into an 84-square-foot house on wheels, was originally posted on a portion of Nau’s Web site called “The Collective.”

[snip]

There was only one problem: The video made no mention of the company, aside from a “Nau presents” at the beginning and the word “Nau.com” at the end.

Maybe that was the issue. Or maybe people care about sustainability. In my apartment, currently, are three people from Portland, OR. One didn’t know the company. One said, “Those clothes are expensive.” One said, “How could it close down? It was featured in every magazine.”

Nau could be the tipping point for expensive green companies. It could be something completely unique. But I think it needs to be explored. I think Nau is a really compelling case study. More to come, I hope.

He probably would have gotten fired day one if he announced he would be doing this side project, but no one should be surprised if the WaPo - upon his revelatory post - looked through the archives and found grounds for his firing. To work in the media (save for a few choice spots) is to shed your opinions and much of your personality when writing. Maybe this will change, but it hasn’t yet.

The outrage from readers - if not mock -is kind of weird. It does suck when someone whose work you admire gets fired, but they were certainly not raptly reading his WaPo metro coverage.