Leland Buck is a writer, photographer, filmmaker, audio recordist and coder. He lives in Missoula, MT.

Leland Buck

Life is story.

This I believe. If you take the story out, all that remains is activity – busy work. I can appreciate activity, but it’s not what get’s me out of bed in the morning. What motivates me is a good story.

I’ve spent my life so far doing interesting things like building web sites, teaching, working at bookstores, publishing companies, newspapers and magazines. I’ve done heaps of photography, filmmaking and writing and I’ve spent vast amounts of time learning foreign languages and using them to understand different stories and perspectives. All these venues and channels are where stories live. I’m a writer, coder, editor and unabashed lover of technology. Though I’ve worked plenty in print, my approach has largely been digital and been flavored by my passion for using digital technology and programming to support storytelling. In ways my career has been a challenging balancing act between the content-oriented, story side and the technical, programmatic delivery side. As a digital journalist, I have explored how news reporting can incorporate data and data visualization to the reporting process, and how the immediacy of digital communications can make storytelling a more meaningful, engaging, and thought-provoking process. I am an analytics junkie, and I very often find that the story I’m engrossed with is the behind-the-scenes meta-story of what has been published.

I have also seen how the business demands of modern media companies frequently create low-quality platforms that fail to deliver informative, thoughtful, inspiring and sustainable content. Good content should have value beyond it’s ability to generate ad revenue, but the economics of the web mean there are higher incentives for publishers to serve canned click-bait than fresh thinking. I’ve found some solace in the blogosphere, where talent and enthusiasm have somehow reigned as the solution to the ills of the modern digital economy and culture. Many blog because they have a story to tell, not because they’re getting fat on the lucrative profits of their AdSense account.

I’ve watched news organizations cannibalize themselves in search of higher margins only to leave audiences in the dark. I’ve watched a fair number of startups take bold steps to bring light to communities left behind when traditional media fails. I’ve seen bloggers tackle some of the most important issues of our time: war, revolution, poverty, and of course, raising children.

If you are looking to read my writing, this is a good place to start. If you’re looking to contact me for consulting or to build something, please visit my business site at Indigitis Digital Media. If you’re looking for information about my work with Mamalode, the Mamalode website is where you should go. Similarly, visit the Treesource site for information about Treesource.org.

This site is really for two things:

  1. A repository & portfolio where I can curate and present various projects and work I do in the digital realm.
  2. A personal blog.

There’s not much more to it.