Last Updated: May 26, 1999
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What would you do?
Planting the seed of advertiser discontent
Walking the fine line between good journalism and
good advertising can be tricky, especially with special sections
By Kathy Silverberg
Here’s the problem
The advertising director learns that the features department is planning
to lead the annual lawn and garden section with a story about the popularity
of mail-order seed catalogs. The advertising director asks you, the editor,
to kill the story saying local nurseries who are supporting the section
will be enraged.
As commercial enterprises, newspapers are in the business to make money.
Since the largest part of most newspapers’ revenue is generated by advertising,
there is a considerable interest in keeping customers happy. That goal
has been known to come into conflict with decisions made in the news department.
The substance and presentation of the news can, at times, be seen by
one or more advertisers as unfavorable bringing complaints to their sales
representatives, the advertising director and sometimes the publisher.
What should an editor do in these situations? Are there strategies editors
can adopt to help others at the newspaper better understand the news mission?
Here is what two editors think. Judy Christie is executive editor of
Florida Today, Melbourne, Fla., and Marcia McQuern is editor and publisher
of The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.
Judy P. Christie
I would not kill the story. (Thankfully, my ad director would not make
such a request.)
However, if I learned we were planning to run a story on mail-order
seed catalogs as a section lead, I would check with my features editor
to make sure the story was locally written and contained needed local angles.
Does it talk about local people and what they order? How do you make
certain what you order works in your region? Are the same products available
locally? Are there tips on how to order from a garden catalog and things
to avoid?
Marcia McQuern
Editors cannot let advertising directors’ fears of what advertisers
might object to influence their news judgments.
Assuming I believed this oft-told story worth leading a once-a-year
section, I would tell the advertising director that I could not kill the
story, but, of course, it will have the appropriate context, including
what local seed and seedling sellers have to say.
I would point out that it is in his and our advertisers’ interests that
the paper’s news content have credibility. Killing the story would undermine
that credibility because outsiders are likely to learn of the reason for
the action and come to believe other news decisions are made in light of
our commercial interests. Such cynicism about our paper’s content benefits
none of us.
I should be prepared to hear next from the publisher because, if the
ad director feels free to try to get a story killed for such a reason,
my real problem may be a publisher who does not believe in commercial-free
news judgments. Even if the publisher backs me, I should be prepared for
the ad director being right about his advertisers and not getting advertising
support for this section in the future.
Silverberg is executive editor of The TimesDaily, Florence, Ala.
Mail your quandary to P.O. Box 797, Florence, AL 35631 or e-mail it to
timesdly@timesdaily.com.
