Entries for month: February 2012
Creating news: the new world order in journalism?
29 February 2012 · By Anne Wong
Firstly, I need to get something off my chest. During the past month, at the South China Morning Post, we’ve been dogged by lies and rumour-spreading by a few local newspapers that we’ve gone “red,” just to make for scandalous reading. This practice of competitive mud-slinging must surely be unique to the Hong Kong news industry.
The basis of their arguments is laughable — namely the emergence of a year-old photo of our CEO pictured with a Chinese official, and last month’s hiring of a Chinese national (who’s been with us for 16 years), as our editor-in-chief. This amounts to conjecture and racism, and I openly condemn the accusations as untrue.
Truth be told, these local newspapers — who I won’t deign to mention by name — regularly enjoy spreading a few lies and scandals at the expense of the city’s most upstanding and trusted newspaper. But, guys, enough is enough. We don’t do it to you, so don’t do it to us. Especially when said articles are being picked up by international newspapers, who mistake them for fact. That really ruins my weekend.
Are we really in such an unhealthy industry that fellow newsmakers feel the need to concoct stories about their competition to win readers? In essence, that’s an offence worse than phone hacking; at least with phone hacking there is less fabrication to go with the immorality.
There are so many more ways to grab readers attention than sinking this low. If we’re going to create news, let’s make it fact-based and do it for the intellectual benefit of our readers, rather than to start damaging rumours.
...[more]How the Times of India moved from silent observer to opinion mobiliser
15 February 2012 · By Rahul Kansal
Conventionally, newspapers have seen themselves as objective reporters of news and, at most, presenters of opinion — albeit in a separate section of the newspaper earmarked for this purpose. They have generally shied away from actively participating in the events that shape news. The caution is justified, because objectivity and balance are cornerstones of a newspaper's role as society's conscience keeper.
But it's possible for newspapers to play a far larger role in the life of their readers, without losing their carefully built values of balance and fair-mindedness. It's possible — indeed desirable, to my mind — for newspapers to grow from being mere presenters of opinion to mobilisers of opinion toward important and socially desirable goals that resonate with their readers.
Around the world, people are increasingly losing faith in their political leadership. The reasons could be many — from a general disillusionment caused by the ongoing economic crisis to specific anger caused by corruption, oppression, or abuse of civil rights. The Internet has further fomented this disillusionment by allowing a better flow of information and freer exchange of ideas. Newspapers have, by and large, been content to report the emerging dynamics between people and the state, rather than take part in actively steering the conversation.
At The Times of India, we feel newspapers can play a strong role in filling the leadership vacuum. In the absence of credible public leaders and a reliable state machinery, we have a natural opportunity to step in and take up causes important to readers. We have tested this belief for ourselves over a four- to five-year journey, which began with our taking up city-level causes — from a fund-raising campaign seeking the redevelopment of Kolkata's central park to petitioning the Prime Minister for a better fiscal deal for Mumbai (in the wake of a series of mishaps, including a flood), to campaigning for better public transport in Bangalore.
Interactive marketing requires different culture and practices
02 February 2012 · By Scott Stines
With 35 cents of every ad dollar projected to be spent on interactive marketing by 2016, (Forrester Research, U.S. Interactive Marketing Forecast 2011 to 2016), newspapers must quickly change their culture, capabilities, and practices if they are to maintain and grow local ad share. Can the newspaper business, focused for decades on one-way, mass audience delivery, successfully transition to two-way, niche, and one-to-one, permission-based audience delivery? What kind of culture and capabilities are required to capture a share of future interactive marketing budgets, and what barriers to change and success do newspapers face?
Sandy MacLeod, Vice President for Consumer Marketing and Strategy with the Toronto Star, pointed out in his recent Ideas Magazine article, (First step to culture change is setting strategic direction), that “(o)rganizational culture is an interesting beast, and one that is not easy to tame.” Newspaper organisations around the world are dealing with their respective “beasts” (organisational cultures), as they attempt to successfully transition — and transform — their businesses so they not only survive, but thrive in the future.
Faced with the realisation that there are “no more costs to cut” in the print organisation, several newspaper organisations are pursuing “digital first” business strategies, creating new organisations that focus on acquiring digital revenue at a pace that will offset print revenue declines and generate overall business revenue growth. Adam Burnham, Senior Vice President for Local Digital Sales with Digital First Media, shared in his recent post on the INMA Innovative Advertising Solutions blog, (Mapping out the crossover point for digital vs. print), that “(if) print continues to decline at a rate of say 10%, digital growth needs to be in the triple digits to cover that loss.”
