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A fair question. If you've navigated to this site, you're probably wondering what this is and why you should care, and asking yourself what it means. Maybe starting with the name.
About that: In the early 1950’s, a group of West German writers, artists and editors gathered to publish Kultur, a monthly magazine of the arts community. Our take is a little different. The present name, a Brooklynese neologism of the word "culture," attaches phonetically to a high percentage of global langauges.
Besides insinuating itself into the mind of the consumer, the name of this proposed venture, Culcha, boldly embraces both the tone and the scope of the online magazine, expressing what's hoped will be a fresh editorial perspective on the popular culture that is America’s most inspiring and consistently lucrative export: A perspective on entertainment and pop culture according to its fans and champions around the world.
The name’s not lyrical, it’s not elegant. What it is is the first most visible indication of a willingness to paint outside the lines, to come up with something new and potentially world-rattling — a way to make entertainment journalism resonate with everyday people in a way it hasn’t before — because much of it will come directly from them. From you.
That’s what’s behind what we hope will be a diverse, provocative, somewhat crowd-powered approach to entertainment news and commentary, one that gets past both the boundaries of the acknowledged experts and the borders of countries. One with literate, insightful voices from all over the world, the better to build a community of readers and writers alike who are passionate about popular culture everywhere, in every place those readers live, from Los Angeles to London, from Boston to Beijing.
Brutal truth disclaimer: There’s no way to sugarcoat the fact that, with virtually no operating capital right now, you’d be doing this out of the goodness of your heart — so I won’t even try. But if the stars align and investors step up, there’s the chance to realize as a reality what will make this go: a corps of citizen writers whose original content gets the same exposure as the professionals of entertainment journalism and dispatches from established newspapers, altweeklies and Web sites. A broad and unruly mix of global voices with a wider perspective on culture than we’re used to.
So here goes. Culcha. It’s rough and strange and even a little weird as it stands, and it doesn’t have a voice of its own yet. Maybe you can help change that.
You have to start somewhere.
What the hell. One of Apple’s first computer prototypes was made of wood.
Michael E. Ross
Editor
Principal, Culchamedia LLC