John Kobylt, afternoon drive host at KFI-AM 640 in Los Angeles, used his platform recently to make a pointed case for the growing class of independent digital journalists, arguing that the decline of legacy media has opened the door to something he believes is genuinely better.
“The traditional media is shrinking rapidly,” Kobylt said. “And in its place there is a vacuum — and what’s developing in its place is something better.”
John Kobylt described a new generation of content creators as those who can grab an iPhone, hit the streets, and deliver news coverage without seeking permissions from anyone.
“They can take their camera, their phone, their microphone and go wander around and bring you all the news stories that, for whatever reason, the regular old media doesn’t do anymore,” he said.
Rather than relitigating how legacy outlets lost their way, Kobylt said he’s simply moved on. “They failed. They’re not interested in recovering. They may never recover. They don’t have the money to.”
Among those he highlighted as a standout in the movement is Nick Shirley. Kobylt noted he has earned millions of views across YouTube and social media. Shirley is now monetizing that audience directly.
Kobylt went so far as to say that if he were starting his career today, he’d skip the audition tape circuit entirely.
“I wouldn’t be sending audition tapes to idiot program directors,” he said. “I’d get some equipment, go in my basement, start recording myself, and put it online.”
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