THE NEWEST THREAT TO PR

Last night, I was researching various newspapers, in preparation for a release I was about to issue for one of my clients.

For one thing, I was researching who’s still there. I was researching who writes what (very important after the constant layoffs at newspapers). I was also looking at what they’ve written recently, so I could sound educated when I contacted them. I was looking at their bosses…Editors, Managing Editors, and so on. And I was also studying the general tone of the papers’ recent coverage, to discern their priorities, and those of their readers.

And then it hit me. Are we going to be able to do that next year? Next month?

What happens if newspapers – and magazines – actually do start charging for online content, instead of just talking about charging for online content? I haven’t read anything, yet, about how this will affect public relations practitioners. But it seems to me the effect could be like a tsunami.

I’m particularly concerned with independent practitioners, who are becoming an ever-more vital part of the PR workforce. These people may not have the resources to subscribe to comprehensive media databases (which may or may not provide all the information I’m able to gather by simply going to a paper’s website). And they may not have the resources to pay for online subscriptions to hundreds of newspapers and magazines.

On a larger scale, however, all the talk about (and possible movement toward) pay-for-content models affects all of us in this industry, from the solo practitioner to the large agency, as well as corporate PR departments. It’s already tough enough to connect with many journalists, because they’re now doing the jobs of two – and sometimes three – people. Putting another wall between us will only make the job harder.

Let’s remember, too, that this is hardly a one-way street. Many journalists – often, because they are doing the jobs of two people – depend on PR pros for a lot of their ideas. By inserting a barrier between PR pros and journalists, pay-for-content will only make the journalist’s job even harder than it’s already become – because it may shut them off from some good sources of ideas.

Look, no one’s saying that the current media models shouldn’t change. They must change, because they’re obviously unsustainable the way they are now. What I am saying, however, is that those of us in this industry had better start tossing around some ideas as to how this is all going to play out. And how we’re going to be able to perform some aspects of our jobs when it does change.

I’ve been reading a lot of talk about whether people will be able to – or want to – pay to subscribe to their newspapers or magazines online. But I haven’t read anything about how PR people are going to afford to pay if pay-for-content becomes standard.

And it’s something I think we should be talking about - before it happens.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com

THE DEATH OF SERIOUS JOURNALISM

In a democracy, the media are – ideally – supposed to be reporters of the news – not creators of it.

There doesn’t seem to be much genuine (and unbiased) reporting of “news” anymore – because, these days, “news” seems to be defined by the political stance of the organization that’s reporting it. Broadcast “journalism” – especially on cable - is becoming just another forum in which self-righteous “reporters” create their own news from their own viewpoints, and then push it on their audiences…who are tuning in precisely because that particular station is reporting only the “news” they want to hear.

I see television stations becoming shills for whatever political party - and political positions - their corporate owners favor. (I mean, really, folks, no matter what your political leanings, should the word "News" really be used after the word "Fox"???) I see local TV anchors and reporters becoming "personalities" rather than serious journalists. And I see an unending procession of beautiful people - who are not necessarily serious journalists - parading across my screen during just about any news program I watch. And self-proclaimed journalists – actually shills for one party or another – have actually become media stars.

Popular tastes being what they are in this country, the few broadcast media that are still objective – such as CNN - are experiencing pressure to become more opinionated, more “showtime,” more hip.

As for the print media, I see more and more reporters becoming, basically, "local" reporters, or "consumer" reporters...as "local" and "consumer" have become a mantra that's repeated ad nauseum by newspapers trying clumsily to adapt to a new world. I see journalists, who may have been correspondents or investigative reporters previously, now going "local"...or, often, becoming social network stars with huge online followings.

I'm one of those people who believes that a dearth of serious journalism - and journalists - is a grave threat to democracy. I just want to hear the news. I just want straight, objective, unbiased reporting of the news. Then I’ll make up my own mind as to where I stand on an issue. I don’t need to be shouted at.

Obviously, many of the news “models” in our country are changing; and based on the fact that many of their structures are unsustainable in this new world, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But I just hope that we don’t change into news models that are based purely on political agendas. Because that is the antithesis of those in a democracy.

THE DEATH THROES OF THE NEWSPAPER?

The Rocky Mountain News was the first newspaper to run its own obituary. And I fear it was only the first of many.

My first two jobs were as a newspaper reporter, first in Hartford, CT, and then in West Palm Beach, FL. I vividly remember those 3 a.m. phone calls from the city desk about a tornado or a fire or a robbery (or an alligator attack), and driving what seemed to be the only car on the darkened streets fifteen minutes later.

I fear that real journalism is becoming a thing of the past in our country. And that, in a few years, there may be only a couple of (super-large) papers left, each with the same stories on the outside and specific "Local" sections on the inside. I call it the "McDonaldization" of journalism, in which every product will eventually fit into - and come from - the same mold. And I fear that the soul of genuine independent journalism will have died in the country that first gave it birth.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com