WHEN DID THE word ‘content’ become normalised as a catch-all for creative work? Was it in the 2000s, when ‘user-generated content’ was expediently deployed to fill websites without the need to pay writers and artists? Was it in the 2010s, when the blog and social media heyday spawned influential ‘content makers’ working for free? Was it in 2023, when the ABC restructured its entire operation into just two divisions, ‘News’ and ‘Content’, suggesting a strategic distinction between expert journalism and interchangeable filler? Was it in 2008, when Jeffrey Zeldman coined the term ‘content-first design’ to frame the structure of digital experiences? Or was it way back in 1996, when Bill Gates infamously wrote that ‘content is king’ in a Microsoft blog post anticipating a future where writers and artists would be well respected and well remunerated?

In 2025, we’re very much not living that reality…

>>> Read on in Griffith Review 88: Culture Vultures edited by Carody Culver

>>> Join us at the Melbourne Writers Festival for a discussion facilitated by Carody