The media, the media…where did it go?
To a life-long journalist like me, it seems that everyone likes to pick on “the media.” Any bad news is the messenger’s fault, people seem to believe. And if the messenger should mess up the news, even more’s the shame. Wouldn’t we all be better off without the pesky media reporting on the world we live in?
Well, maybe not. For proof, look to a recent story in Ad Age about how studios are worried that movie attendance for some films is declining because there aren’t as many big-city newspaper movie critics as there once were to review them and let potential movie goers know if they’re worth seeing or not.
A spat of formerly big-name critics have left papers in cities such as Chicago, New York, San Diego, Atlanta and elsewhere. Without critics they trust, moviegoers are passing up movies that might be called specialized, or perhaps more artsy than the masses tend to see.
Careful what you wish for, is my first reaction to that. More thoughtfully, the situation also should serve as a reminder to marketers that the media plays a central role in any consumer-facing, and in some business-facing, campaigns so don’t scoff so quickly the next time you have a tough go-round with a reporter. And, on a personal note, please stop talking about the media like we were all part of a giant collective, something akin to the Borg. It’s old, tired and beyond cliché, you’re capable of better.
