1. Question
Is journalism a distinct
occupation or is it growing closer
to marketing or even
advertising?
2. Background
• The ‘shelf-life’ of news has never been
shorter- for at least the last 60 years, media
watchers have been warning that society is
moving faster and faster than ever before
• Part leading and part responding to public
demand, media firms rely more and more on
our "nations most trusted instrument" for
satisfying social needs and wants: the market-
place
4. News as a Commodity
• The rules of journalism are the rules of public
service vs. news production as a business
• News has become a commodity; something
bought and sold
• For many media outlets, 60%-80% of their
total revenue stems from advertising
(Stromberg, 2004)
7. Marketing
• “Advertisers have no functional concern on
the meaning or consequences of mass
communication except insofar as it provides a
mechanism for the delivery of their messages
to prospective customers“
8. Journalism
• If news departments follow journalistic codes
of ethics, they pledge to give accurate, fair
accounts of significant current events and
issues in a context that gives them meaning
9. Moving Closer
• As a large amount of revenue is derived from
marketing/ advertising- the relationship
between journalism and marketing is brought
closer...
10. 2 Theories of News Production
• Market Theory
• Journalism Theory
11. Market Theory of how News are
Produced
The probability of an event/ issue becoming news
=
Inversely proportional to harm the information might
cause investors or sponsors
+
Inversely proportional to the cost of uncovering it
+
Inversely proportional to the cost of reporting it
+
Directly proportional to the expected breadth of appeal
of the story to audiences advertisers will pay to reach
12. Journalistic Theory of how News are
Produced
The probability of an event/ issue becoming
news
=
Proportional to the expected consequence of
the story
+
Proportional to the size of the audience for
whom it is important
13. Extreme Models
• Both the market and journalism models are
defined as extremes
• The profit levels of most print and broadcast
media firms are high enough to accommodate
greater journalistic integrity
• However, given the current news market, and the
nature of news as a commodity, maximizing
return often conflicts with maximizing public
understanding
14. The Problem
• Journalists do not like to classify news as a
commodity- it is against the nature of the field
• However, the reality is quite different - each
side is trying to get the maximum return for
the minimum investment
15. So, How can Society Benefit?
• McManus states that there are 4 conditions
that must be met if society is to benefit from
the relationship between journalism and the
market
16. One: Self-interest must be pursued
rationally
• However, media firms
have greater potential
for rationally pursuing
self-interest than
society does
• Firms have greater
resources for learning
about consumers than
consumers have for
learning about them
and their products
17. Two: Knowledge of both product
quality and market must exist
• However, consumers have
limited knowledge about
the quality of news
products
• Multiple new media often
report the same issue
uncritically from a self-
interested source
• Important news is often
misrepresented or
unreported until after key
decision points have passed
18. Three: Market Must Offer Competition
• At first glance, this condition is
met as consumers can freely
pick different media channels
• However, in order to maximize
profits oligopolistic
competitors act cooperatively,
following each other's product
and pricing standards
• As product mimic each other
consumers cannot make the
market work to their
advantage by patronizing the
better product
19. Four: The transaction mustn't
influence the quality of the journalism
• However, media firms seek to produce a mix of
news content, attracting the largest audience at
the least cost
20. What is wrong with Journalism
growing closer to Marketing?
• Breadth of appeal over depth
• Deterioration of quality
• News values
• Market driven journalism- less power to the
journalist, more power to the market
21. Danger: Media Bias Ahead!
• Because advertisers need a supportive environment for
their messages, news departments should avoid
turning up negative information about advertisers and
ignore/ downplay reporting on such information made
public by others.
• Positive info about advertisers, their industries and the
value of consumption should be developed and
reported (without becoming obvious enough to
damage the news departments credibility with
consumers, of course)
22. Not totally out of control!
• If bias toward advertisers became obvious, the
news department might lose both its integrity
and the attention of intelligent consumers-
making the chanel less valuable for advertisers
29. Fact: PR is on the rise- journalism is
decreasing
• 1980
– .45 PRO's/ 100.000 population
– .36 journalists/ 100.000 population
• 2008
– .90 PRO's/ 100.000 population
– .25 journalists/ 100.000 population
Ratio: 3:1 (better equipped, better financed)
(Sulivan, 2011)
30. Online paid for content
• I.e. The Times and Sunday Times from June 2010
• If we pay for content- will it be less biased?
Probably Not!
“At the moment, the only news producers
successfully charging for most of their content
online are those selling financial information to
elite audiences – the Financial Times is one, The
Wall Street Journal is another, Bloomberg is a
third – which means they are not a model that
will likely work for general interest news.”
The State of the News Media 2011
31. New Media
So,
what about New Media?
Surely, consumers must have an advantage here, as
there are so many alternative options available!
Advertisers have even greater opportunities online
where consumers can be narrowed down to
specific interests, hobbies, likes- and even their
area of residence!
32. What is a person to do in
this marketing run set-up?
