The Laughing Wolf

How To Hurt The Old Media

This was a post I had planned for later, after a few more background media posts, but Tim over at CPT Patti has up this interesting post asking for ways to hurt the Old Media. If you really want to hurt them, to either force change or to send them away, it will take some work. It will take work on par with what was recently done for Spirit of America.

The business of any media, new or old, is not to inform, educate, or any other thing. The business of any professional media is business. It is to make money, though it may inform, educate, or entertain in the process. Within the Old Media, there are three major sources of revenue: advertising, subscriptions, and resale rights.

Advertising is the prime source of revenue for any media outlet. Somewhere between 25 percent and 75 percent of any publication or broadcast is devoted to advertising. Advertising brings in money based on demographics, readership/viewership, and time of day. The higher the readership/viewership, the higher the cost to advertise. If the outlet has demographics that are desired, it costs more still. If you want it in a prime location or time, it costs yet more.

In almost every Old Media establishment, there is what is called a “wall” between advertising and news/editorial. This wall was put in place to prevent advertisers from influencing the news in any way, and to allow the news/editorial side to pursue any story where it may lead, even unto a crucial advertiser. This wall is supposed to be inviolate, but there are times and places where it is breached, such as when there is a massive drop-off in advertising.

Subscriptions are an interesting topic. Originally, the subscription fee covered all of the production and shipping costs, plus some profit, but that has changed. A subscription fee, be it an actual subscription or the newsstand price, now may not even cover such costs, but advertising revenues now not only pay for the cost of production in most cases, they also provide the profit. This deserves a full column on its own, because with the New Media, subscriptions are starting to once again play a major role in media economics.

Resale rights have become increasingly important to publications. This is the money they get for allowing others to use their photographs, articles, etc. It is much more than gravy to some publications, and rights are a bitter argument between independent writers and media outlets.

Now, there is one additional source of revenue that does not go directly to Old Media organizations, but funds them just the same. That source are entertainment programs produced by different divisions of the parent companies of the Old Media outlets.

I touch on these because to have any effect on the Old Media, you are going to have to work against all of these at once. What you are going to have to do to get their attention is:

Phase one is to cancel subscriptions and stop watching traditional outlets. It will not simply be enough to do so quietly, you have to let them know and you also need to let monitoring organizations know as well. The latter are companies such as Nielsen or Arbitron that monitor viewers/listeners/readers/etc.

Send them a nice written letter sent via mail. E-mail can be and will be ignored, but letters are harder to hide. Keep it polite, stick to the facts, and resist the temptation to fully vent. Cite specifics and provide some documentation of same. Let them know why you think they are biased, how they are biased, and why you are no longer using their services. Let them know that you will no longer support their advertisers. Send carbon copies of the letter to the monitoring companies, and to local advertising companies/agencies. Nor should you just send it to the editor, make sure a copy goes directly to the publisher and the business manager.

Phase two will also take time and cost postage, but is where you will truly start to get results. What you need to do is select the major advertisers and let them know that you are no longer watching/reading/etc. Send them a copy of the letter you sent to the station. In your letter to them, let them know that you will no longer be using products or services that support said outlet via advertising or any other means. That you will only support those products or services that, like you, support the troops and the War on Terror and unbiased media outlets. Even more importantly, let them know what media outlets you will be supporting. This means letting them know the name and address of those you will support, including those on the WWW and in the New Media – including blogs. It also does not hurt to mention companies such as BlogAds in this context.

Phase three is to let the outlets you do support know that they should not use any re-sale items from the outlets you are boycotting. Be nice, and encourage them to find alternate sources of information – not everything has to come from Al-AP, Al-UPI, Al-Reuters, etc. Encourage them to pick up stories and photos from new sources, including the New Media and other elements of the Blogosphere.

Phase four will require a coordinated effort headed up by someone. If you really want to have an impact on the Old Media, hit their entertainment divisions. My suggestion would be to pick one target, then focus on one to three shows in particular. If enough people join in and boycott, with full publicity, it will be felt and the wall will not be impervious.

Phase five is the most important part of the process: offer something constructive in place of what you are attacking. Boycotts are great, but unless you provide a viable alternative to the product or service under attack, the effort will fail. You need to hold something up as an example, something people can purchase/read/view/listen to/etc. Give them a clear alternative. Give the advertisers a clear alternative. Strongly support those advertisers who follow the lead and advertise on blogs or other acceptable choices. You have to have the carrot as well as the stick to make a real and lasting difference. This is where most efforts fail.

If you really want to hurt the Old Media, it will take work. It will cost you time and some money. The only question now is, how serious are you? Are you willing to do what it takes, to avoid the easy outs and habits of convenience?

-30-

UPDATE: I have been referred to this good post that has a similar approach, and a lot of good food for thought. Go check it out.

UPDATE II: There is more to say, here and I hope one and all will join me in spreading the Shady Lady/NYT meme discussed here