bleeding-pen

The Death of Journalism – As We Used To Know It

bleeding-penWhen I was studying journalism at university, we were taught to write all news stories with impartiality and objectivity. At the time, impartiality was viewed as the cornerstone of high quality, credible journalism.

Our job was to deliver comprehensive coverage of news and current affairs without colouring the story with our own personal prejudices or biases. It was important; we were told, to report a wide range of options and perspectives fairly and accurately, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions.

Today, the value of an impartial or objective approach in contemporary journalism is increasingly being questioned.

New York University academic Jay Rosen is critical of impartial journalism, describing it as the “view from nowhere”.  Rosen said: “If in doing the serious work of journalism–digging, reporting, verification, mastering a beat–you develop a view, expressing that view does not diminish your authority. It may even add to it.” 1

Transparency, it seems, is the new ‘black’. Silicon Valley CEO and academic at Berkley Journalism School Alan Mutter argues impartiality should be replaced with “a realistic and credible standard of transparency that requires journalists to forthrightly declare their personal predilections, financial entanglements and political allegiances so the public can evaluate the quality of the information it is getting”. 2

Others question if impartiality is even achievable. In his paper, Delivering Trust: Impartiality and Objectivity in the Digital Age, Cardiff University’s Professor of Journalism, Richard Sambook asks: “Does a neutral voice hold the same value today as it did a century ago? Is the emphasis on impartiality in news actually an impediment to a free market in ideas? And with technological convergence is?”

So is the decreasing relevance of impartiality in journalism purely an academic debate? Taking a look at recent newspapers headlines, it seems that the proof is in the pudding. We are continually bombarded with newspaper headlines that are proudly free of objectivity. One recent example is The Courier Mail’s coverage of the Gerard Baden-Murder trial in Queensland. The newspaper published a series of headlines objecting to Baden Clay’s successful appeal for his murder charge to be downgraded. One headline proclaimed: The Law is An Ass.

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The Daily News in the United States has also taken a strong stance against the pro-gun lobby. Following a number of mass shooting in California, it has printed controversial and now infamous headlines such as Blood on Your Hands; Same Gun, Different Slay; Shame on U.S. and God Isn’t Fixing This.

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Given the declining circulation of newspapers3 and the need to produce eye-catching and ultimately saleable headlines on a regular basis, it seems likely that impartiality in journalism will take a back seat for a while.

Navigating this new era of journalism will be tricky. Writing high-quality articles that deliver transparency over impartiality will require finesse; they will need to be built on a strong foundation of solid journalism. Facts will still need to be sourced, attributed and double-checked for accuracy. News articles featuring strong viewpoints may be the future of journalism – whether good or bad – but let’s avoid the trap of creating click-bait style headlines that are controversial for controversy’s sake.

 

  1. http://pressthink.org/2010/11/the-view-from-nowhere-questions-and-answers/
  2. http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/12/objective-journalism-is-over-lets-move.html.
  3. http://mumbrella.com.au/paywalls-circulation-print-fairfax-smh-275807

Building Your Brand’s Infinite Publicity Loop

Ben Ready is Managing Director of RG Communications. He has been a journalist and communications professional for nearly 20 years.
Ben Ready is Managing Director of RG Communications. He has been a journalist and communications professional for nearly 20 years.

In the late noughties people and businesses began to grasp the power of content and its ability to drive brand awareness, customer engagement and sales.

The proliferation of mobile technology combined with the power of search engines and the reach of social media meant marketers had to fundamentally re-think everything they knew about engaging with their customers. The changes presented both challenges and opportunities for brands prepared to throw time and resources towards content.

Many of those who embraced content are now enjoying the benefits as their digital footprint grows, along with their audience and influence. These brands have discovered the benefits of the infinite publicity loop.

What is the infinite publicity loop?

For many smaller organisations, growing their brand reach (in a cost effective manner) is the greatest marketing challenge they have. Compared to paid media, using content to build reach is one of the most affordable and effective strategies available.

The infinite publicity loop is the holy grail of content marketing. It is when your content (even a single piece of content) delivers you an ongoing stream of value long after you have made the investment. Regardless of how you define ‘value’ it is the time aspect of the loop that is important.

The loop is all about creating content that delivers engagement, enquiry and sales well into the future. It is now feasible for a piece of content that you invest in today, to still be delivering value in five years with almosy immeasurable ROI.

The loop starts with great content which you distribute across multiple channels.If it is good enough, this content is consumed and shared by your audience, this consuming and sharing enhances its search value, which attracts new users who consume and share, improving its value for search.. and so on and so on, in an infinite loop of growing reach.

 

A New Publicity Model[1]
It all starts with valuable content

Creating great content that engages your audience and encourages social sharing is the starting point. Once you have done this it is important to work your distribution channels.

  • Earned media – make sure you have a solid PR campaign that is distributing content consistently to a broad range of media. Make sure you are sharing this content across your own social media platforms to maximise its reach and search-ability.
  • Owned media – publish your stories on your own platforms. If you don’t have a social and search friendly platform, get one (like WordPress). Make sure your content is SEO-friendly and is underpinned with high levels of sharing.
  • Influencer media – engage with your industry’s influencers and make sure they are using and sharing your content.

The loop only prospers when you feed it so regularly producing content and distributing it across your channels is fundamental to getting the loop spinning.

A little encouragement goes a long way

Sometimes the loop may need a little encouragement before it becomes self sustaining. There are a couple of ways you can give your content a little kick start.

  • Manufacture reach – SEO relies heavily on content usage so manufacturing a bit of usage to get the ball rolling is a good idea. One of the best ways to do this is ensure in your staff are sharing your content across their own social networks. Hit your family and friends up as well.
  • Pay for reach – if your content is gaining some traction it can be worth giving it a ‘boost’ with some paid promotion across Google AdWords or on social media.

The goal should be to have the content to develop an entirely organic process of reach as quickly as possible.

Thanks for reading and good luck with your publicity loop.

Ben