THRU Media was developed as a Portland Oregon-based online magazine. We published hundreds of articles, original video documentaries, and a podcast. The project discontinued after three years in 2017. Most of the content is archived and available at magazine.thru.media.

The brand is being resurrected, but without the kind of pressure that is involved with a magazine. Original content and media services were always the vision for it, and there a magazine can always be put back together.

Among the two dozen contributors to the magazine, the core several remain in Portland, and in contact, while the creator of the brand has relocated to Philadelphia. If the coasts can be brought together with newfound connections, a decentralized agency can be formed, dynamic content can be produced.

The first new piece under the THRU brand is a short documentary about a Colombian couple settled in Philadelphia starting a new brand to benefit animal sanctuaries at home and abroad (which are one and the same for them). The short is called Somos Artesina.

A music video was also generated from the same content. Straightforward intro and out music was needed for the doc, so an original piece of music was made, and using the b-roll from the doc this music video came together.

Another short documentary is in post-production. It is about the open music jam at Grape Room in deep northwest Philly’s Manayunk neighborhood. This weekly jam allows musicians to meet, collaborate, network, and perform for a live audience all at once. There is a particular come one come all vibe attached to it. It should be ready very soon.

Decentralization

Is it possible for a small media company to provide services like an agency with a network of freelancers specialized in fields such as copy writing, design, and video production?

Publishing original content usually involves the central ownership of it by the publisher, but can that be set up differently, so that the artist remains the owner of their work?

It’s not enough anymore to replicate the models for business and organization that built mass media. We live in the era of decentralized media and this is good. To build something worth doing takes as long as necessary.

Value for Value

Without corporate sponsors or paywalls, pop-up ads, and data harvesting, is it possible for content to be delivered publicly without barriers, in a profitable way? Can everyday people be executive producers?

THRU can be an agent of decentralized business models to cut out all influence beyond the creative and journalistic goals of a creator. A producer can be one who sees the value in that work and wants to help support it without control over outcomes.

Please reach out if you have any interest in THRU.