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January 8, 2010
Losing the News
Alex Jones, who runs the Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy at the JFK School of Government at Harvard, has written a book called, Losing the News. In it he chronicles the shrinking of the “iron core” of authority news. He contends that 85% of authoritative content is published in newspapers, while local TV, radio and bloggers are generally “piggy-backing” onto the investigative or accountability news. He acknowledges that “part of the news crisis is finding a solution that will pay the significant costs of generating accountability news that is essential to our democracy and still allow an acceptable profit.”
Jones has very important views on public relations. In a phone call yesterday, Jones made the case for PR, but in its role as supporting excellence in journalism. “PR people should not try to circumvent the journalists; of all professions, PR has the most to gain from a vibrant media.” He writes, “Good and honorable PR people facilitate good reporting and the best ones know that their clients’ best interests lie in adherence to the truth.” He goes on to blast the video news release as a “stealth bomb of journalistic dishonesty…crafted to look like objective journalism….this is a subversion.”
He argues for “genuine objectivity” in which journalists arrive at a story with bias, but the bias must be tested, arriving at a “practical truth.” To the extent that PR people provide sources that make this process more complete, we are providing an important service.
I asked Jones about the notion that every company can be a media company. He acknowledged the value of a company contributing to the conversation based on its expertise (J&J on baby care as example). He noted the higher standard for content is required. “I would expect both good and bad to be presented in the material. I would demand third party sourcing. I would want a level of objectivity and professionalism in the writing.”
I was at USA Today yesterday with clients. The two reporters conducting the interview talked about how they were being compelled to change their game, to write shorter form content for the web, to append video and photo supporting material. For all of our bravado about how public relations is reinventing communications, let’s be clear-- we need the media to be the credible source of information. We need to play our part by helping reporters--challenged by headcount reductions and diminished travel budgets-- to deliver compelling stories that help to shape the public discussion.
Posted by Edelman at January 8, 2010 5:44 PM |
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