Book Review By M.R. Dua
STEPPING rather meteorically as today’s world is into the electronic era, have you any time envisioned what will it be like to be a print media journalist in the brave new world of the new age of information? And, will our daily newspaper continue to be an organic part of the ‘minimalistic journalism’ brought into the reader-friendly newspapering? Or, will the newspaper re-invent itself into some other form of market-place journalism, now being manufactured as just ‘another commodity’ in the market place?
While we debate the possible shape of the newspaper of the future, it’s ‘the information anxiety that is causing much dejection in the newsroom isn’t likely to abate.’ However, what can be forecast with some amount of certainty for reassuring the broadsheet ‘newspaper traditionalists’ is that a vast majority of newspaper companies will stubbornly continue ‘clinging’ to the traditional concept of the newspaper in print. But, again, one other most likely imminent phenomenon to occur for sure is: the content of today’s newspaper will undergo complete overhaul and a total revamp. The new “product will quite probably be the result of the ‘formula journalism’,” formatted by ‘market-oriented journalism’, produced by ‘customer-obsessed editors’, literally employing ‘marketing gimmicks,’ of the twenty-first century.
The author of this book, Dough Underwood, a former print media practitioner, and currently a Washington University journalism academic, warns that ‘the reader-friendly journalism is in danger of losing true spirit of journalistic mission,’ and ‘journalistic values. ’For, he rationalizes further, the current crop of MBAs will ‘rule the newsrooms to dominate the brave new world of market-place newspapering, to establish a market-place driven, profit-fuelled model of media corporate engineering.’ He also apprehends that such a product will be ‘in danger of losing its professional bearing and its journalistic soul.’ Because, he cautions, such MBA-ruled establishments will have ‘the potential to alter the nature of the news and fundamental traditions of the newspaper profession.’
So, as this book amply documents and firmly confirms, gone definitely are the days when journalism was considered to be a sacred mission and a cherished profession. No more! Now, we need to be down-to-earth, hard pragmatists, and confront the realities of the market place where the newspaper is just a product, a commodity, to be marketed by MBA professionals in a highly competitive market. This book in fact is an indepth study of marketing strategies now intensively at work, with a view to converting and equipping the modern newsroom with a ‘customer-driven approach to news.’ While it is said to ‘threaten the values that have guided generations of journalists’ all over the world, the author unveils the ‘reader-friendly journalism—and the marketing programmes, and management systems that support it— which are handcuffing journalists and turning the news into just another product in the great sellathon.’
Meanwhile, it would be pertinent to mention here that of late global newspapers’ circulation figures have consistently been showing a sharp downward trend. The sale of many outstanding and prestigious dailies are said to be declining rapidly as readers are increasingly ‘shifting from the printed medium to the free websites and mobile service… the electronic alternatives have become even more tempting as newspapers charge more for their print editions. For example in India, newspapers’ Sunday editions sell between Rs.5 and 8, daily issues are available between Rs.1.50 (Mumbai Mirror) and Rs.3 per copy, as in Delhi and elsewhere. The newspaper price rises have been an international phenomenon for the last four-five years. For instance, The New York Times daily issue, which sold for 75 cents over a year ago, now costs $2 and Sunday edition $6 a copy; same is the case of The Times of London and financial dailies such as The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, which costs one pound daily, and 2.5 pounds its Weekend issue. And similar is also the case of India’s Business Standard, HT Mint or The Hindu Businessline, The Financial Express, and many others.
One of the chief reasons for falling sale and mounting prices is newspaper managements’ attempt to employ ‘completely innovative, smart, and out-of-box marketing advertising and sales promotion techniques.’ All this believed to have been devised by IIM-trained MBA management graduates’ mounting tireless hot campaigns to kick up sales. Therefore, of late, ‘on virtually every front, the newspaper industry’s approach has been to get its members to adopt a corporate marketing and management solutions.’ A principal cause of this is said to be ‘management’s credo--finance over journalism.’ Thus, the newspaper ‘marketing philosophy has become ingrained into the newspaper structure… with marketing managers, design and graphic editors, survey researchers and financial consultants’ forming an integral part of the management teams in the newsroom.’ The reality is that ‘now it’s target marketing and target marketing and more marketing.’
Focusing on how the ‘plan-design-package-the- news philosophy’ is to be framed, implemented and propagated by the newspaper managements, Dough Underwood’s this book (split into three parts and 14 chapters), soundly and impressively highlights the role of marketers and managers in managing the newsrooms to produce market-oriented corporate newspapers, also imitating television commercials’ customer-enticing techniques, and with enhanced emphasis on customer-oriented journalism. Besides, the author also digs deep into some areas of maximum concern about the content, writing styles, i.e., packaging, branding, presenting, displaying the news and features on newspaper pages, their diverse supplements, varied pull-outs and innumerable editions.
In addition, the emphasis will be on ‘glitz graphics and three-inch stories;’ perhaps a sign of an attempt to ‘transition to telephone newspapers’ and by cutting coverage; softening news content; loss of depth; reduction in news staff. Therefore, it seems rather remarkable, as we notice prodigiously hidden and disguised suspicions that are enunciated by the newspaper owners which are used in reporting ‘pseudonews,’ ‘pseudoevents’, that will ultimately appear before the reader as the ‘pseudonews product,’ throwing to the winds the most cherished traditional journalistic values of editorial autonomy and community service—so very dearly prized by newspaper workers in the yore years.
However, the author’s main worry seems to be that in this rather intricate marketing-riddled and profit-grabbing process, ‘journalism as higher calling may be abandoned in the rush to embrace marketing principles.’ He distinctly underlines that this modern times ‘push toward market-thinking in newsroom is also creating serious stress within newspaper staff, especially in newsroom of chain newspapers where staffers are under particularly strong pressures to adopt to the market-oriented environment.’ Most of these new developments in newsrooms have led the modern times editors to define their jobs in terms of market place. Besides ‘managing’ editing, ‘editor’s job now is managing people, managing systems, and managing resources.’
Consequently, it has been widely perceived, quite markedly by many well known newspaper houses during the last two decades that it would be quite gainful to inculcate training to be newsroom managers, and learn modern business management skills. Thus, there is a need for newspapers ‘to develop unique solutions with the context of their own particular markets.’ The editors are being systematically encouraged to earn MBA degrees to ensure effective and efficient handling of newsroom operations.
Therefore, the author is also at pains to point out that print media, especially the daily newspaper, ‘needs to be re-invented in a time of slipping advertising revenues, financially troubled retailers, sagging circulations, and a continuing decline in readership rates.’ These factors are truly creating vital survival dilemmas. For, in the times to come, ‘newspapers aren’t going to be profitable as they were way back in 1970s and 1980s. Fewer adults read newspapers or magazines than ever before.’ Moreover, ‘we are dealing in a world of marketing, and it isn’t something that’s going to go away…The reality is that if you don’t give the readers what they want, they’ll find it somewhere else.’
Obviously, the choice for today’s daily newspaper is: “Change or be changed…develop the product, market the product, and write about the product in the news pages--as the entertainment, promot-ion, and news business blend into one.” And, if you want to stay as a crusading newspaper person, you have no future. As the author underlines: “Crusading is a rich man’s game…you lose advertis- ing, you lose circulation, you even lose prestige…. No one gives you a damn! The friends appreciate the service you have done for a few minutes, and then forget it immediately and completely. But the enemies you’ve made never forget.”
The author has indeed intimately realistically looked into various aspects of the profession and occupation of journalism as of today. While he concedes that the essential areas of newpapering are salesmanship, marketing and economic aspects, he also very aptly feels, ‘compromise’ is the name of the game. Community service, and purity of the profession truly may be the heart and soul of the profession, financial perspectives of the newspaper business cannot be easily overlooked. For, earning money is also of utmost significance in business, perhaps one of the most crucial factors that will make the newspaper organization survive.
But, the test of acceptable and true journalism therefore lies in striking ‘a happy balance in profits and public service,’ as the author very discerningly counsels: ‘If the newspaper owners can adjust to profit levels that don’t necessarily put them at the top of the list of the industry, they can put out a product that will continue to merit the protections that our forefathers believed were indispensable to proper functioning of the republic.’ The best thing about what he has said is that a fairly large majority of newspaper establishments (in India) as elsewhere are just following these cannons, and quite discretely and successfully too.
However, the fact remains that the future of the print journalism is hanging in balance. And, all those who diligently and smartly strike this balance, quickly and happily are bound have the last word on the subject. But, honestly and frankly, it’s easier said than done. For, everyone in today’s world wants and aims at making money, and still more money. How can then the newspaper managements be left behind? Well, only the time will tell as to how these challenges will be met by the parties involved in the business of newspapering. Whatever may happen to the newspaper industry in the years to come, one thing is but certain: the printed word will stay afloat and flourish as long as the hunger and the curiosity for the news lives, and the human race survives.
Of course, it’s hard to foretell what is in store in the womb of time for the print journalism. But it would be safe to prophecy, as the author opines, ‘newspaper journalists should take heart in the fact that none of those who gaze into newspapering’s future are predicting the near-term demise of the newspaper in print. Technology so far has been unable to match the efficient way the eye can scan the newspaper page or the way newspaper can be read over coffee on Sunday morning.’ And, as a well-known American newspaper group, Knight-Ridder editor Gerry Baker has predicted: ‘There are things about a newspaper that are attuned to the human spirit, and it’ll be there for ever.’
Finally, it would be appropriate to point out that as this book has been written in the backdrop of the American newspaper scene, quite a few of the author’s conclusions don’t exactly presently apply on the current Indian, or many other nations’ print media scenario. Nonetheless, the fact remains that majority of the author’s analyses do have prodigious relevance to India, as also several other developing countries where print journalism’s all areas are on the threshold of a plethora of programmes of reorganization, expansion, diversification and realignments.
WHEN MBAs RULE THE NEWSROOM—How the Marketers
and Managers are Reshaping Today’s Media
by Doug Underwood
Columbia University Press, New York,
Pages 259
Price $ 29.95
(Professor M.R. Dua, is former professor and head of journalism department, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi)
