Another 15 Minutes: A Guy Goma Update

by on June 2, 2006 · 2 comments

What’s the hottest topic in the tech/media world today? Neutrality regulation? DRM? Wiretapping? No, its Guy Goma. Remember him? He’s the “wrong Guy” who was interviewed live on BBC a few weeks ago by mistake. Goma–a Congolese-born IT job applicant was waiting for a job interview at BBC’s offfices, when he was mistaken for Guy Kewney, an Internet policy expert whom BBC had meant to interview. (see here for my earlier post on this.)

Turns out that Goma’s time in the spotlight didn’t end with that appearance. He now has his own website–guygoma.com–featuring Goma’s worldwide media coverage, Goma’s followup interview on BBC (this time they intended to talk to him), a Goma news feed and e-mail update list.

At the same time, it seems Guy still hasn’t gotten a job (its unclear whether he ever even got the job interview he was waiting for.) But he’s working on it – the website features an on-line petition to “urge the BBC to give Guy the job he applied for, or a better one.” The petition now has close to 6,000 signatures from around the world, and growing fast. The comments on the petitition are effusive: ” a national hero,” “a legend,” “a true star.”

No telling where this Goma-mania will end. But certainlly Goma is making the most of it, parlaying few minutes of accidental airtime into a virtual movement.

He certainly will get a job. But if he doesn’t, perhaps he could join us here at TLF. We could use his media savvy.

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About James Gattuso

James Gattuso is a Senior Research Fellow in Regulatory Policy in the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Gattuso also leads the Enterprise and Free Markets Initiative at Heritage, with responsiblity for a range of regulatory and market issues. Prior to joining Heritage, he served as Vice President for Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and also as Vice President for Policy Development with Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE). From 1990 to 1993, he was Deputy Chief of the Office of Plans and Policy at the Federal Communications Commission. From May 1991 to June 1992, he was detailed from the FCC to the office of Vice President Dan Quayle, where he served as Associate Director of the President's Council on Competitiveness. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Dana, 8 year-old son, Peter (whom he relies upon to operate his VCR), and his four year-old daughter Lindsey (who does the DVD player.) He has no known hobbies, but is not nearly as boring as he seems.

Read more articles by James Gattuso.

  • Edward G. Nilges

    Guy exposed the fact that at the level of actual work, the world proletariat in fact engages the world at a difficult level, while at the level of media and governance, you don’t have to know jack…in fact it is dangerous to be complex, informed, substantive on air.

    For example, Goma wisely generalized as to what “people” want, saying that “people” want to download music … that is packaged using business rules that overdetermine the kind of music nonmusical old white businesspeople think the people want.

    The very idea that music companies like Sony, in being so focused on giving people what they want (and, critically, are willing to pay for) are in fact pathetically pandering to a constructed Hipness that perverts the meaning of alternative culture is a complex thought and a non-starter.

    The adverts celebrate the Dionysian iPod, yet curiously, when I see actual iPod users they are not dancing nor do they seem to be using the music for enjoyment.

    Instead, the iPod shuts out the Hong Kong commute and when used by women discourages unwanted attention.

    Which is perfectly OK, but since I like to move to music, it shall be Katie bar the door when I can afford MP-3.

    RCA in the 1930s under David Sarnoff tried to lead and not follow. David Sarnoff thought that people “should” want to listen to Western classical music. However, the dynamism of his corporation led him in the opposite direction.

    People “wanted” be bop a lu la. But even here, the only delight that was visibly taken first appeared only at Midway airport in 1964 when the Beatles landed and at most other times, the music was taken far too seriously.

    The effort at RCA culminated in the hiring of Adorno who told Sarnoff what he “wanted” in so many words that RCA instead turned to the safe middlebrow and Saturday afternoon opera with Deems Taylor.

    What neither model can accomodate is the fact that the Dionysian isn’t constrained to give me or anyone else what I want.

    Now, this would have been heady stuff even for the BBC and would have resulted in sound-men making the chopped head gesture. Goma was wisely in safe mode.

    He has my best wishes and is ready for prime time. When we’re ready for Truth on the news, Truth will come.

  • Edward G. Nilges

    Guy exposed the fact that at the level of actual work, the world proletariat in fact engages the world at a difficult level, while at the level of media and governance, you don’t have to know jack…in fact it is dangerous to be complex, informed, substantive on air.

    For example, Goma wisely generalized as to what “people” want, saying that “people” want to download music … that is packaged using business rules that overdetermine the kind of music nonmusical old white businesspeople think the people want.

    The very idea that music companies like Sony, in being so focused on giving people what they want (and, critically, are willing to pay for) are in fact pathetically pandering to a constructed Hipness that perverts the meaning of alternative culture is a complex thought and a non-starter.

    The adverts celebrate the Dionysian iPod, yet curiously, when I see actual iPod users they are not dancing nor do they seem to be using the music for enjoyment.

    Instead, the iPod shuts out the Hong Kong commute and when used by women discourages unwanted attention.

    Which is perfectly OK, but since I like to move to music, it shall be Katie bar the door when I can afford MP-3.

    RCA in the 1930s under David Sarnoff tried to lead and not follow. David Sarnoff thought that people “should” want to listen to Western classical music. However, the dynamism of his corporation led him in the opposite direction.

    People “wanted” be bop a lu la. But even here, the only delight that was visibly taken first appeared only at Midway airport in 1964 when the Beatles landed and at most other times, the music was taken far too seriously.

    The effort at RCA culminated in the hiring of Adorno who told Sarnoff what he “wanted” in so many words that RCA instead turned to the safe middlebrow and Saturday afternoon opera with Deems Taylor.

    What neither model can accomodate is the fact that the Dionysian isn’t constrained to give me or anyone else what I want.

    Now, this would have been heady stuff even for the BBC and would have resulted in sound-men making the chopped head gesture. Goma was wisely in safe mode.

    He has my best wishes and is ready for prime time. When we’re ready for Truth on the news, Truth will come.

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