My younger daughter took me by surprise a few days ago when she asked me: “Why do we need so much of news on TV and in the papers?” I had little to say except for the customary, “You should be abreast of all the happenings around you,” to which she said she knows what’s important in her life!
I guess this is reality and media firms need to prepare for more and more dramatic teenage views like this in years to come. What is news that is relevant to the future, how much will the audience absorb and is there space for 24/7 news or will the entire scenario change?
Maybe the consolidation we are witnessing now in TV will also herald a new era of information that is needed versus information that is dished out by default. Weekly reviews would probably hold pride of place since 80 per cent of all news will no longer be topical in interest and a quick look at the week will give you the entire scenario.
Portability and quick read is already a part of the print media and hence news pages will give way to more visual appeal to combat the soaps on TV!
I imagine sensible print media companies would start rationalising on their page levels to increase their bottom lines and also to keep in line with the ever increasing chase against time for the audience. I do not see this impacting readership either, since people are more focused on the number of news items, rather than the length of each. If at all, it would be a small section of the audience who will spend the rare 20-25 minutes reading the paper. Advertisers want relevant content and hence page levels are a thing of the past. Ratios are anyways skewed to advertising in a good market and this is business reality.
The long and short of it is that content aggregation will rule the roost more than pure generation of news as we now see in the online industry. Weekend formats will be heavier on pages/time and also aggregate the market activity for advertising in all growing media markets, be it TV or Print.
Probably my daughter made sense. Why do we need so much of news after all?
Q: I just read the PR industry white paper on your website. I am a student of PR in a Pune institute. Is the industry really in bad shape? Should I change tack?
I honestly don’t think it’s very different from what most industries have been facing over the past few years. Indeed, the PR industry, unfortunately, got reduced to being measured by the amount of editorial space it could get for its clients, but that is a market reality. I think there is a need to look at it again from a more futuristic perspective. For instance, how the PR industry can help firms generate tangible revenues with a given timeline, rather than just image-building. How the industry can play mentor to a new breed of young professionals, who then branch out into other facets of marketing and sales. Hence, if you look at it differently, the industry has enough to offer. Just be different, think different and work towards looking at PR as a revenue responsibility.
Q: Everyone in my family is into advertising sales. However, having seen the way in which clients and agencies treat ad sales professionals, I don’t want to get into it, even though I know I am good in sales. Can you convince me to get into ad sales?
Why do you feel that ad sales professionals are treated badly? In fact, most CEOs and COOs in the media and entertainment industry have come from an ad sales background. The excitement is huge, the results are in black and white and growth is super-good for the performer. Remember, every new client is a challenge and the adrenalin is on overdrive. It’s not about selling space or time, it’s about marketing your audience and how well you can interpret your audience’s strength to the client’s needs. Go for it, tiger! It’s high pressure, loads of fun, great people and highly innovative if you think different!
Q: I just heard about Dear MxM and it’s an excellent utility. Why is it that individual media organisations do not really do any counselling and human resources development? Most of the ones which exist are glorified personnel and admin departments or at most handle salaries and leaves?
Simply because mentors are vanishing. I wonder if it’s the lack of time or inclination, but the truth is that we see loads of leaders, but none of them become good mentors. In fact, DearMxM took birth on this premise, since we decided to be different and give back to the industry and its future constituents. There are companies that do focus on this, but unfortunately the number is coming down, since it’s so people-related. It is a collective responsibility; hence each of us in the industry must commit time to building faith, being there as a shoulder and spend time mentoring. Try taking time off to involve yourself within your company in this role. I am sure it will make a difference to a lot of people.
Q: Many organisations insist on graduation as eligibility – even for journalists. Why, despite knowing that the Indian education system is so flawed?
You need some common base and hence graduation or PG, as the case maybe. It’s not about what a graduation can do and it is related more to having some basic academics at the point of entry. Yes, the education system needs to improve, but it also depends on what we eventually do with our learning. How many of us work on adding to this learning or even read to update ourselves on an ongoing basis? Once people land jobs, learning is their last priority and hence this is more the concern, according to me, be it in content, marketing or any other function.
Take care and be good, folks, and we will be back next week!
If you have any more questions for us, write in at dearmxm@mxmindia.com. Or post your question using the form alongside. We will be back next week…