Making the connection

The problem that I see with the media's new "obsession" with soft news is that consumers want the soft news. Honestly, some journalists and some media-consumers are concerned with hard news, the investigative pieces, but for the most part the general population has no connection with an article titled "10 Are Killed in Bombings at Embassy in Yemen." Why? Because they can't relate to this information. It is too obscure for the mass public to care about. Should they care? Maybe the question isn't should the public care, but more WHY would the public care? Journalists, if they feel that hard news should be more prominent in the mass public's mind maybe need to find a way to make that connection with their audience. It's straight up marketing. You have your product/service- the news, the issues, the stories. You have your target markets- news consumers, which vary depending on the medium you use. Your message (and here's the beauty of it) you can change. You can make your product important to consumers by telling them WHY they need it or why it's important to you. You wouldn't try to sell denture cleaner to teenagers. Why? Because it's not something they need or can connect with. So why would you try to force news consumers who are craving soft news to read hard news unless it's something they need or can connect with.

Has the agenda been set?

One of the NY Times front page articles, Palin's Pipeline Is Years From Being a Reality, definitely plays in to my previous post about agenda-setting in the media. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that the NY Times is a liberal publication, and if you didn't know, well then you probably don't read the times very often. Once again, the media has chosen to highlight and perhaps criticize Palin and her actions. I believe that the media has not only a right, but a duty to report the real issues that will affect citizens when a figure is nominated for public office. However, Palin isn't even in a national position yet and she is being critisized for her actions. What choice do news consumers have but to form an opinion based off of what the news tell us?

Agenda-setting

McCombs' agenda-setting theory quotes I believe are an accurate or at least valid description of the current agenda-setting landscape of journalism today. The public puts their trust into the media and news editors and directors have massive amounts of power. The choices they make can greatly affect the public's perception of issues and therefore can create bias easily. The public must be very well informed, check other sources and follow stories carefully in order to ensure they are getting the complete story. This can prove to be much more work than your average news-consumer is willing to provide. Most news-consumers have no problem just flipping to Fox News or skimming the headlines of cnn.com to get their daily dose of news. In these cases, the public is really who is losing out because they may not be fully understanding the real issues or getting a different perspective.

State of the News Today

After considering our discussion in class about what issues are covered by the media in what form, one would believe unless you're interested in covering war stories or politics there is little hope for aspiring journalists. Part of this doubtful future for journalism lies in the weakening of the newspaper as the essential source for news. I do believe that the future for journalists who are looking to "broaden their horizons" by writing about *gasp* more than just war and politics is grim. Open a newspaper. The majority of the news section is devoted to these issues. However, what about opinion, lifestyle, science, business, technology, entertainment, etc? If the newspaper dies (which, sadly, looks like a definite), these writers will most likely have to write for online or magazine, which can mean a complete change in writing style and spirit. The death of the newspaper will only affect journalists but business, as well. As a marketing student, the death of newspaper means an ENTIRE MEDIUM is gone. For advertisers, that will be a sad day.

News News News

With the conclusion of one class- Audience Research- comes the beginning of another, hence, the change of name and purpose of this blog. I will no longer be posting about my reactions to social networking and its impact on media and marketers, but rather on national and international news. Now aren't you excited?