Why the pipers should be paid to play their own tune

WHATEVER happened to those legendary feared newsroom editors? Outspoken, eccentric, independent and unpredictable in their views? This is more or less the theme raised by Washington University Professor Doug Underwood in his must-read work on the profit-driven newsroom ‘When MBAs rule the Newsroom’.

(When MBAs Rule the Newsroom: How Marketers and Managers Are Reshaping Today’s Media, Columbia University Press, New York, 1995) Over a decade later, the scenario in the book is particularly applicable to Africa’s media now – budget slashes, strong competition, high profit targets. Today’s African editor is more likely to be found sitting far from the noisy newsroom, in meetings about budget plans and target marketing.(Target marketing in a nutshell means – “give audiences what they want instead of what they should know”.) We all know the side effects.Public responsibility goes down the drain.Target marketing also often leads to a dumbed-down, formulistic, predictable product.Everything is “me-too”.Features and shows all start looking alike, viewers and readers are called consumers.Advertisers gain disproportionate power over editorial content – pretty much like the ruling parties had in the bad old days.The line between editorial and advertorial becomes blurred.”So what?” we may ask.”Everybody’s happy”.Yes, but subtly and over the long term, there is damage.It’s called loss of trust.Now, a decade after the scene described in that book, American media outlets are starting to wise up.Markets are clearly showing that, in the long run, trust plays a much bigger role in growing viewership among all target sectors than previously thought.We may as well learn from them.Do not underestimate viewers or readers.Audiences are not always fooled.They will at some point pick up that a report on a wonderful corporate or product is badly disguised (and almost always corny) advertising.When viewers and readers start realising that their newspaper or news bulletin is misleading them about paid-up content, they will stop trusting the views of such a production.The product will be debased as selling to the highest bidder.Credibility is the only currency newspapers and news bulletins have.If that trust and credibility is damaged, it takes very long to rebuild.Long-term losses will be much more than the few advertising dollars gained in the short term.So if you are a big corporate threatening a credible news outfit that you will take your business elsewhere – where the hand that feeds is guaranteed not to be bitten but to be praised and glorified, think twice: 1.Long-term, steady readership and viewership growth does not take place in line with a growth in content such as ‘reality TV’ shows, sensation, sport and soap operas.It takes place in line with trust.In the long run, the most eyes are gained by the news outfit that has the most trust.2.Besides, what are the costs to society if the media are a tame lapdog that self-censors its own bite? Would your company want to operate – would you and your company be able to survive – in a society where ills are swept under the rug since the media are turning a blind eye? This article is not meant to steal the fun or plead for a nerdy media outfit.It IS possible to have fun and be serious.It IS possible for newspapers and bulletins to maintain a balance between responsibility to shareholders and responsibility to the public.But it takes two to tango.It requires responsible and forward-thinking corporates as well.* Rene Loetter is the News Editor at One Africa Television. The views expressed are her own.Today’s African editor is more likely to be found sitting far from the noisy newsroom, in meetings about budget plans and target marketing.(Target marketing in a nutshell means – “give audiences what they want instead of what they should know”.) We all know the side effects.Public responsibility goes down the drain.Target marketing also often leads to a dumbed-down, formulistic, predictable product.Everything is “me-too”.Features and shows all start looking alike, viewers and readers are called consumers.Advertisers gain disproportionate power over editorial content – pretty much like the ruling parties had in the bad old days.The line between editorial and advertorial becomes blurred.”So what?” we may ask.”Everybody’s happy”.Yes, but subtly and over the long term, there is damage.It’s called loss of trust.Now, a decade after the scene described in that book, American media outlets are starting to wise up.Markets are clearly showing that, in the long run, trust plays a much bigger role in growing viewership among all target sectors than previously thought.We may as well learn from them.Do not underestimate viewers or readers.Audiences are not always fooled.They will at some point pick up that a report on a wonderful corporate or product is badly disguised (and almost always corny) advertising.When viewers and readers start realising that their newspaper or news bulletin is misleading them about paid-up content, they will stop trusting the views of such a production.The product will be debased as selling to the highest bidder.Credibility is the only currency newspapers and news bulletins have.If that trust and credibility is damaged, it takes very long to rebuild.Long-term losses will be much more than the few advertising dollars gained in the short term.So if you are a big corporate threatening a credible news outfit that you will take your business elsewhere – where the hand that feeds is guaranteed not to be bitten but to be praised and glorified, think twice: 1.Long-term, steady readership and viewership growth does not take place in line with a growth in content such as ‘reality TV’ shows, sensation, sport and soap operas.It takes place in line with trust.In the long run, the most eyes are gained by the news outfit that has the most trust.2.Besides, what are the costs to society if the media are a tame lapdog that self-censors its own bite? Would your company want to operate – would you and your company be able to survive – in a society where ills are swept under the rug since the media are turning a blind eye? This article is not meant to steal the fun or plead for a nerdy media outfit.It IS possible to have fun and be serious.It IS possible for newspapers and bulletins to maintain a balance between responsibility to shareholders and responsibility to the public.But it takes two to tango.It requires responsible and forward-thinking corporates as well.* Rene Loetter is the News Editor at One Africa Television. The views expressed are her own.