Ken McCarthy (born September 20, 1959) is an American activist, educator, entrepreneur, and Internet commercialization pioneer.
Contributions to the Internet industry
McCarthy is best known for his pioneering work in the movement to commercialize the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
in the first part of the 1990s, including early experiments with legitimate e-mail advertising, contributions to the development of the
banner ad
A web banner or banner ad is a form of advertising on the World Wide Web delivered by an ad server. This form of online advertising entails embedding an advertisement into a web page. It is intended to attract traffic to a website by linking ...
, practical applications of
pay-per-click
Pay-per-click (PPC) is an internet advertising model used to drive traffic to websites, in which an advertiser pays a publisher (typically a search engine, website owner, or a network of websites) when the ad is clicked.
Pay-per-click is usually ...
advertising and
Internet video
Internet video (online video / cloud-based video) is the general field that deals with the transmission of digital video over the internet. Internet video exists in several formats, the most notable being MPEG-4i AVC, AVCHD, FLV, and MP3.
There ...
. He is credited in ''Time'' magazine with originating the idea of using click-through rates as the key metric of website performance.
In 1994, he organized and sponsored the first conference ever held on potential commercial applications of the World Wide Web.
Marc Andreessen, co-founder of
Netscape
Netscape Communications Corporation (originally Mosaic Communications Corporation) was an American independent computer services company with headquarters in Mountain View, California and then Dulles, Virginia. Its Netscape web browser was onc ...
and developer of the first commercially successful
Web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...
, was the keynote speaker. Other Internet pioneers who acknowledge the impact McCarthy's ideas had on their own work include
Ed Niehaus Ed Niehaus is an American CEO and publicist.
Along with partners Bill Ryan and Melody Haller, Niehaus founded Niehaus Ryan Haller (NRH) which served the Internet industry during the rapid growth period of the 1990s.
NRH provided public relations s ...
,
Rick Boyce
Rick Boyce was an early marketeer in the commercialization of the World Wide Web.
A media buyer with the San Francisco ad agency Hal Riney & Partners, Boyce was recruited by HotWired's chief executive officer, Andrew Anker, to be HotWired's direct ...
, and Steve O'Keefe. In a talk at
Pacific Bell
The Pacific Bell Telephone Company (Pacific Bell or Pac Bell) is a telephone company that provides telephone service in California. The company is owned by AT&T through AT&T Teleholdings, and, though separate, is now marketed as “AT&T”. The ...
in 1994, McCarthy described in detail the new content marketing and distribution model the Internet was making possible, a model now sometimes referred to as
The Long Tail
In statistics and business, a long tail of some distributions of numbers is the portion of the distribution having many occurrences far from the "head" or central part of the distribution. The distribution could involve popularities, random nu ...
.
In 1998, he sold his company E-Media (a term he coined and for which he owned the federal trademark) to an investment group that rolled it up into Nine Systems, which in turn was absorbed by
Akamai Technologies
Akamai Technologies, Inc. is an American content delivery networkJ. Dilley, B. Maggs, J. Parikh, H. Prokop, R. Sitaraman, and B. Weihl. (CDN), cybersecurity, and cloud service company, providing web and Internet security services. Akamai's Inte ...
. He remains active in the Internet industry as an advisor, investor and entrepreneur operating under the name Amacord, Inc.
He worked as a consultant to NEC's Biglobe, Japan's largest online service, from 1996 to 2001. He wrote the first book on Internet entrepreneurship published in Japan: ''The Internet Business Manual''.
Activism
In 1995, McCarthy organized and sponsored a conference on the topic of using the web as a local publishing medium to assist community building.
Projects that came out of that conference include one of the first detailed studies of an
election fraud to appear in any medium (the 1997 49er Stadium bond issue in San Francisco); a virtual museum dedicated to recovering the forgotten story of one of San Francisco's most historically important neighborhoods (the Fillmore); and documentation of the largest and most successful maritime evacuation in history (New York City on September 11, 2001.)
McCarthy has also worked with challenged communities —
Hudson, New York
Hudson is a city and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. Located on the east side of the Hudson River and 120 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, it was named for the rive ...
and
— to develop strategies to use the web to organize citizens and engage in public education and outreach. His work in Hudson resulted in the defeat of a plan to build what would have been North America's largest coal-fired cement plant on the banks of the Hudson River.
Since 2006, McCarthy has worked wit
Levees.org the New Orleans-based organization dedicated to ensuring that New Orleans' levees are rebuilt correctly and that levees in other parts of the country with similar engineering flaws are tended to and repaired.
Internet video publishing
In the summer of 1994, McCarthy commissioned Hank Duderstadt, then head of the Video SIG for the San Francisco chapter of the
International Interactive Communications Society
International Interactive Communications Society (IICS) is a professional trade association for companies and individuals involved in interactive media. The organization traces its roots to the days of interactive laser disc production in the Sa ...
(IICS), to write a cover story for the Internet Gazette on the potential of streaming video on the Internet.
The Internet Gazette, a short-lived print publication distributed for free in the San Francisco Bay Area, was founded and published by McCarthy to serve as a vehicle for disseminating practical advice to members of the Bay Area digital interactive communications community on how to use the Internet as a publishing and marketing tool.
In 2005, inspired by the launches of
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
and
Google Video
Google Video was a free video hosting service launched by the multinational technology company Google on January 25, 2005. Similar to YouTube, this platform allowed video clips to be hosted on Google servers and embedded on to other website ...
, McCarthy began an online publication on Internet video called The System Video Blog. In this publication, McCarthy tracked the development of the Internet video industry and reported on his own experiments in Internet video publishing.
The projects included providing support for Levees.org, the New Orleans-based non-profit and creating an online video encyclopedia about the city of New Orleans, FoodMusicJustice.org; a searchable compilation of clips from television newscasts and independent video makers, BrasscheckTV.com; a search engine for videos of jazz performances, JazzontheTube.com; and an educational site on nutrition and food safety issues, TheRealFoodChannel.com.
Other activities
In addition to his work in the Internet industry, McCarthy has been involved in the music industry, as a concert producer and promoter; in the film industry, as co-founder of one of New York City's first digital film
audio post production
Audio post production is all stages of audio production relating to sound produced and synchronized with moving picture (film, television, or video). It involves sound design, sound effects, Foley, ADR, sound editing, audio mixing, mastering et ...
studios (''
When We Were Kings
''When We Were Kings'' is a 1996 American documentary film directed by Leon Gast about the " Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight championship match that was held on October 30, 1974, in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) between worl ...
'', ''
Like Water for Chocolate''); and on Wall Street, as a technical communications consultant to Bankers Trust and First Boston.
[Website]
"E-Media's Ken McCarthy" Ish, David. The New Fillmore, 1996
/ref>
In the 1980s, while still in his twenties, he guest lectured at the business schools of Columbia University, MIT and New York University as part of a project called Optimal Learning which was based on practical applications of his academic studies in psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
.
Over the years, McCarthy has published a large number of articles on a wide variety of subjects including business, eCommerce, the history of media, economics, the business cycle, financial markets, geopolitics, U.S. politics, political dissidents in China and other countries, medicine and public health, agriculture, and military science. These articles have been a mix of investigative journalism, analysis and prediction. Some of these articles have been posted to brasscheck.com[http://www.brasscheck.com Brasscheck.com Dated August 1, 2002] and brasschecktv.com
The content o
Brasscheck
is the property of the First Amendment Defense Trust. This organization was created after McCarthy's investigation of the San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
stadium bond issue election.
BrasscheckTV features videos on a wide range of contemporary topics, available via e-mail subscription. Ken McCarthy has been an advocate of alternative media
Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media (such as mainstream media or mass media) in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, ...
. He is quoted in an interview on July 9, 2007, with Wes Unruh, o
Alterati.com
describing traditional news reporting as "so incredibly inept," and asserting that "...for that small percentage of people that really wants to know, the Internet's been a blessing and I think it will be very persistent."
Speaking specifically of BrasscheckTV.com he said "I'm putting the videos into context and giving people background on the significance of what they're actually seeing..."
In 1999, McCarthy collaborated with filmmaker Rick Goldsmith to create an online archive of the work of American investigative journalist George Seldes
Henry George Seldes ( ; November 16, 1890 – July 2, 1995) was an American investigative journalist, foreign correspondent, editor, author, and media critic best known for the publication of the newsletter ''In Fact'' from 1940 to 1950. He was a ...
(1890–1995) in support of Goldsmith's Academy Award-nominated film Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press.
The name McCarthy gave to his own investigative efforts — "Brasscheck" — came from a book by Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in seve ...
about which George Seldes
Henry George Seldes ( ; November 16, 1890 – July 2, 1995) was an American investigative journalist, foreign correspondent, editor, author, and media critic best known for the publication of the newsletter ''In Fact'' from 1940 to 1950. He was a ...
commented:
"''In 1920, Upton Sinclair, an outsider to journalism, wrote ''The Brass Check
''The Brass Check'' is a muckraking exposé of American journalism by Upton Sinclair published in 1919. It focuses mainly on newspapers and the Associated Press wire service, along with a few magazines. Other critiques of the press had appeared ...
'', the first book exposing the press. It was this book, plus a friendship with the author lasting many years, that influenced me and the books I wrote on the press, beginning in the 1930s.''"
McCarthy is the founder and publisher of JazzontheTube.com, the high-ranking jazz and blues video compilation website.
Early life and education
Born in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
, McCarthy's father Francis W. McCarthy (1922–2003) was a pioneer in the practical applications of data processing technology for the insurance industry.
McCarthy's maternal grandfather, Andrew Paretti of the Bronx, New York, was the pre-eminent granite masonry contractor in the New York City area from 1936 to 1955. His firm did the stonework for the chapel at West Point, Keating Hall at Fordham University, and the Peace Plaza of the United Nations, as well as numerous public works projects during the Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
era.
McCarthy graduated from Regis High School in Manhattan in 1977 and Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
in 1981. At Princeton he hosted a jazz program for WPRB
WPRB (103.3 MHz) is an FM radio station licensed to Princeton, New Jersey, and owned by Princeton Broadcasting Service, Inc. It broadcasts a freeform radio format, including shoegaze, slowcore, noise music, harsh noise wall, plunderphonics, ...
-FM.[http://www.wprb.com/about/70s.php 1970's Recollections WPRB Accessed 14 January 2009] While at university and immediately afterwards, he produced numerous concerts including several for his college roommate who later became a multi-Grammy nominee Stanley Jordan
Stanley Jordan (born July 31, 1959) is an American jazz guitarist noted for his playing technique, which involves tapping his fingers on the fretboard of the guitar with both hands.
Music career
Jordan was born in Chicago, Illinois, United St ...
. His studies at Princeton included neuroscience, cognitive psychology and anthropology.
See also
* Alternative Media
Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media (such as mainstream media or mass media) in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, ...
* Internet Marketing
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
References
*Comm, Joel (2008). ''Click Here to Order: The World's Most Successful Internet Marketing Entrepreneurs''. Morgan James. .
*Drews, Laura Gail (2020) ''Henry S. Dakin: From Physics to Metaphysics & Guns to Toys''. Happy Medium Productions. .
*Dushinski, Kim (2009). ''The Mobile Marketing Handbook''. Information Today. .
*Gross, Ronald (1991). ''Peak Learning''. Tarcher. .
*Hunt, Ben (2011). ''Convert! Designing Web Sites to Increase Traffic and Conversion''. Wiley, John & Sons.
*Jacobson, Howie (2008). ''AdWords for Dummies''. Wiley Publishing. .
*Kennedy, Dan (1996). ''How to Make Millions with Your Ideas''. Plume. .
*Kennedy, Dan (1996). ''The Ultimate Sales Letter''. Adams Business Media.
*Kennedy, Dan (2019). ''Almost Alchemy: Make Any Business of Any Size Produce More with Fewer and Less''. Forbes Books. .
*Kennedy Jr., Robert F. Kennedy. (2021) ''The Real Anthony Fauci: Big Gates, Big Pharma, and the War on Democracy and Public Health''. Skyhorse Publishing.
*Kurtz, Brian (2019). ''Overdeliver'': ''Build a Business for a Lifetime Playing the Long Game in Direct Response Marketing''. Hayes House.
*Marshall, Perry (2013). ''80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More''. Entrepreneur Press.
*McCarthy, Ken (1996). ''The Internet Business Manual''. Japanese Language, Bunksha (Tokyo).
*McCarthy, Ken. (2010) ''The System Club Letters''. (Privately published.)
*O'Keefe, Steve (2002). ''The Complete Guide to Internet Publicity''. J. Wiley. .
*Pepin, Elizabeth and Watts, Lewis (2006). ''Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era''. Chronicle Books. .
*Reid, Robert (1997). ''Architects of the Web: One Thousand Days that Built the Future of Business''. J. Wiley. .
*Rosenthal, Sandy. (2020) ''Words Whispered in the Water: Why the Levees Broke in Hurricane Katrina''. Mango.
*Valentine, Douglas. (2016) ''The CIA as Organized Crime: How Illegal Operations Corrupt America and the World''. Clarity Press, Inc.
*Vee, Jimmy; Miller, Travis; and Bauer Joel (2008). ''Gravitational Marketing: The Science of Attracting Customers''. J. Wiley. .
Footnotes
External links
McCarthy's personal Web site
Amacord home page
Articles
*Article
"David Cements Goliath"
DM News, May 9, 2005
*Video
"The first conference on web commercialization"
Ken McCarthy, Mark Graham, Marc Andreessen. San Francisco: November, 1994
*Web site
"The Fillmore Museum"
A mid-1990s experiment in community Web publishing
*Interview:
Ken McCarthy on DIY Journalism
at Alterati
*Interview
at brasscheck.com
*Article
Ish, David. The New Fillmore, 1996
*Web site
A collection of McCarthy's articles about the Internet's commercial potential, 1994–1996
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Ken
1959 births
Living people
Internet pioneers
American activists
Regis High School (New York City) alumni
Princeton University alumni