Steps to success

Circulation up, sales up and profits up: few media organisations can lay claim to such laudable statistics. One that can, is a personal favourite of mine: The Economist. Roy Greenslade’s blog, carried a piece last week on his thoughts on the success of the weekly newspaper (as it refers to itself). He attributed it to the Economist’s commitment to “sober analysis, occasionally leavened…by the odd example of wit and its trademark front covers.”

In a world of overblown, overhyped trivia that abounds across a plethora of media outlets – online, print, broadcast all included – there are those of us who, for want of time and inclination, refuse to dredge through bunkum stories to find out what’s going on in the world. The Economist’s stance is firmly free market and it argues a liberal standpoint on all issues from government bureaucracy, economic implementation and social and moral areas such as terrorism and civil partnerships.

It also remains generally aloof of the workings of the PR industry. My own experience of previous sadly bears this out and while it remains a career ambition to see one of our clients quoted in an article, I remain quite proud that it refuses to kowtow to the all-pervasive PR industry. Very much like someone continually rejecting your numerous attempts to woo them (not something I have ever experienced!?!) it simply means you place them on a higher pedestal – and makes you all the more hungry for it.

But what does the Economist’s success teach us about the changing face of media and the symbiotic relationship that PRs and journalists have? Well, I think it’s been clear for a while that each of us is finding our own niches of media insight that best suits our own agendas and requirements. The generalist is losing out to the specific and those media that are unable to capitalise on that are struggling. Broadcast organisations are targeting more specific audiences than ever before – the rise of BBC4 and the recent launch of Dave (both personal favourites) are delivering programming for a narrowly defined audience. It is therefore paramount that as PRs we are able to find those outlets that best target the audiences of our clients and engage with their journalists and producers most often.

As newspapers continue to shed staff many of them are becoming specialist freelance journalists – themselves more tricky to reach than the traditional newsdesk – and it is upon us in PR to ensure we engage with those targeted to our clients’ industries to continue building their reputation.

May the Economist’s success be a lesson to us all.