What media leaders, staff must know about media business now

Lekan Otufodunrin writes on some of the thoughts shared at the Media Leaders Summit organised by Journalism Clinic held at TCC Resort and Conference Centre, Ogun State, September 16-17, 2019 

I wasn’t at the first Media Leaders’ summit held by Journalism Clinic headed by Mr Taiwo Obe, but in my usual way of not missing out of even media training I am unable to attend, I followed snippets shared online from some sessions.

Special appreciation to Pelu Awofeso who shared insightful and thought-provoking quotes by the Keynote speaker, Juan Senor (Innovation Media Consulting) and Obe

The quotes are below with my thoughts on the assertions. Will be glad to know what you think too in the comment section.

Juan Senor: “Let other people break/tell the news. You explain the news, and you have a business forever.”

If you can be the first to break and tell the news, please do as it matters who breaks the news first. But if for any reason, you are unable to, still know that beyond breaking the news, there is a need for an explanation of what the news is all about long after the news is published. There is a lot of profit from explaining the issues and implications of major news items.

“Specialisation is everything in journalism.” – Juan Senor

• More than ever before, reporters have to be specialists in what they are reporting. They need to know their beat so well to explain and interpret what they are reporting beyond reporting He said, He added, She also said…

Juan Senor: “Your job is not to sell information: your job is to sell intelligence.”

• I’m trying to understand this, but I guess the point is that beyond common information which is easily available and may not be worth much, the audience will be more willing to pay for intelligence. See definitions of Information and Intelligence to appreciate the point Senor is trying to make.
• Information: facts provided or learned about something or someone.
• Intelligence has been defined in many ways, including the capacity for logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving.Wikipedia

Juan Senor: If your media is just reportorial, you have no business. You’re not adding any value to your audience. 

• Again, journalism has moved beyond just reporting. There is a need for additional value beyond just the facts which can easily be sourced from various platforms nowadays. The audience needs to know that you know more than them based on the efforts that you take to add value to the content you are offering

Juan Senor: Don’t spend money on syndication, create your own content.

• So many contents are offered to media organisations for free and sometimes at a fee. Instead of being contented with syndicated content available to others, it will be better to create your own content unique to you. It could cost you more money, but it will make you stand out.

“It is possible,” TO says in his usual ‘robust’ fashion. “The problem with the media in Nigeria is planning–we don’t plan. That needs to change.”

• I think we plan, but we definitely don’t plan as much as we should. We are not as strategic and thorough as we should. The evidence is all over our content which shows lack of diligent planning and preparation. We miss out it providing in-depth coverage and exploring financially rewarding partnerships due to getting too busy with random coverage than thinking through what we are serving our audience.

Juan Senor: “Print revenues are falling. Protect them all you want, they will never come up. As media owners, you should be looking at increasing reader revenues”

• Print revenue is at an all-time low and still going down. Without increased revenue, readers cannot buy newspapers. The task of increasing readers revenue in whatever way which includes making a better case of good governance, improve the standard of living, buoyant economy and more, have to be taken more seriously by media owners.  

Juan Senor: Advertising is moving away from demographics to psychographics.

• Demographics is about the total number, psychographics about unique attributes. See more detailed definition below. It’s no longer about how many copies you are circulating, it’s about who you are reaching and if they are the target of the advertiser.
• Demographics: statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it.- Wikipedia
• Psychographic information might be your buyer’s habits, hobbies, spending habits and values. Demographics explain “who” your buyer is, while psychographics explain “why” they buy. … You can only effectively reach your target audience when you understand both their demographics and psychographics …hobspot.com

“Practice like a pro. Go beyond texts. Be visual. Be aural. Be graphical. Be visible. ” — Taiwo Obe

In other words, think #multimedia journalism

• Text is no longer enough. They are boring to the multi-media age audience. There is a need for imaginative visualization, audio, video any other ways to catch their attention

Senor: “If you cannot publish without fear or favour, then you have no business.”

• You can actually have a media business with fear and favour like some media organisations owned by various interests, what is certain is that the business cannot grow as much as it should. If an organization does not strike a good balance between who they fear and favour and the expectations of their audience who have options to patronize, it will be a matter of time before they close business.

Senor: “You pay [dozens of] people to come to your #newsroom to make a paper when all Nigerians are on digital?.. There is a disconnect.

• All Nigerians are not on digital, but most of the people who need the content the media provides are on digital. The paper may still be needed for some time to come, but there is a need to scale up the digital arm of the media business. The paper should now be one of the various platforms to reach the audience considering the available revenue from the digital platforms however low they may still be for now.

At the end of the day, “only journalism will save journalism,” Senor says. “[And] good journalism is good business.”

Juan Senor: “In the history of the media, no media has ever killed another medium. What has died is the medium of distribution…

“Radio has evolved into #podcasting [my broadcaster-friends, please TAKE NOTE].

“Digital has moved into the space of the print. Magazines into the space of books…And print has moved online.”

• Nothing to add. Journalists should not worry about journalism dying, they should be more concerned about being able to provide content on whatever medium comes up for dissemination of information.