Wrap the front page in a look alike "wrapper", logo/masthead and all, that is really an ad? No problem said the L.A. Times and our own Anniston Star. Hack into private cell phone conversations and records? Full speed ahead said NewsCorp (allegedly). When staff cuts at an Alabama TV newsroom causes staff to plummet from about 90 people to about 30, but the number of newscasts stays the same...how many ethical lines will be crossed to keep producing "news"? I'll bet this is a great time to be producing VNRs (Video News Releases). Stations are probably inhaling, without so much as a word to viewers that they were produced by interested parties. And frankly, it's a tough time to take a hard line. I know where those reporter salaries come from. And its not subscription income.
[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a weekly feature of this blog.]
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Jul 13, 2009
MMMM #51 - Ethical "Lapses" - Here come more!
You may have read the ombudsman's column in the Washington Post over the weekend, criticising the paper for its ill conceived scheme to raise cash. The paper was to charge big bucks to lobbyists and other people in power to come have dinner with Post journalists and important invited government guests in an off-the-record gathering. A major "stain" on the Post's reputation, he wrote.
I suspect there are already other such "ethical lapses" occurring. Because sometimes, when times get rough, the rough get weak-kneed. And times, as anyone with any knowledge of the media knows, are very rough indeed. Newspapers especially are under such pressure to produce income there are bound to be temptations. Wrap the front page in a look alike "wrapper", logo/masthead and all, that is really an ad? No problem said the L.A. Times and our own Anniston Star. Hack into private cell phone conversations and records? Full speed ahead said NewsCorp (allegedly). When staff cuts at an Alabama TV newsroom causes staff to plummet from about 90 people to about 30, but the number of newscasts stays the same...how many ethical lines will be crossed to keep producing "news"? I'll bet this is a great time to be producing VNRs (Video News Releases). Stations are probably inhaling, without so much as a word to viewers that they were produced by interested parties. And frankly, it's a tough time to take a hard line. I know where those reporter salaries come from. And its not subscription income.
[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a weekly feature of this blog.]
Wrap the front page in a look alike "wrapper", logo/masthead and all, that is really an ad? No problem said the L.A. Times and our own Anniston Star. Hack into private cell phone conversations and records? Full speed ahead said NewsCorp (allegedly). When staff cuts at an Alabama TV newsroom causes staff to plummet from about 90 people to about 30, but the number of newscasts stays the same...how many ethical lines will be crossed to keep producing "news"? I'll bet this is a great time to be producing VNRs (Video News Releases). Stations are probably inhaling, without so much as a word to viewers that they were produced by interested parties. And frankly, it's a tough time to take a hard line. I know where those reporter salaries come from. And its not subscription income.
[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a weekly feature of this blog.]
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Tim, how is the decision by the LA Times & the Anniston Star to place their paper in a "wrapper" crossing an ethical line?
ReplyDeleteI view it along a similar line as placing the paper in a plastic bag.
It needn't be clear plastic, and sometimes isn't.
Hi Kevin,
ReplyDeleteIt's not the wrapper itself, it's the use of the paper's Masthead above the full-page ad. Together they imply this is the front page material of the publication, not an ad.
Well... I suppose it's possible to get into deep discussion about communication theory, and all, but it seems to me that those actions are much on a par with magazines.
ReplyDeleteMagazine publish whatever picture on the cover, along with type that teases the interior contents.
Since part of the for-profit press is to increase or optimize profitability, then why would they not want to - on occasion - give the readers/subscribers/purchasers something different to look at before they throw away the "wrapper"? (Doubtless, that's what happens anyway.)
Then, there're those pesky advertising inserts - especially on Sunday! Disposing of those printed nuisances is the second thing I do, the first one being take the paper out of the bag. You know, if they're doing it for me, they can save it, because it's wasted on me... to be certain; as are many other types of advertising. I don't "do" advertising.
When I want something, I research it and then make a decision. I don't need a Billy Mays-type to hawk anything to me - including cars. (Although, in an odd way, I will miss his quintessentially Americana persona hollering at me to buy _x_ because _y_.)
Similarly again, I dare say anyone purchasing the newspaper considers for a moment that the "wrapper" is the front page!
And then, what IF the front page did NOT have any stories, only headlines and teases... much like magazines?
It's almost a content v wrapper issue, don't you agree?
For example, I've rarely ever seen any flashy headline type styles or pictures on the Harvard Business Review, Southern Reporter, or other scholarly journals.
If those reputable publications were to have a "Page 2 Girl" on the front wrapper, would it really increase readership or sales? Probably not. It'd just give some folks something to talk/gripe about. It certainly wouldn't change the contents!
Conversely, what if newspapers did NOT have any graphics?
What if magazines had NO pictures (there are some, of course)?
Again, we're getting into communication theory. But hopefully, you get my point.