Does
the news media reflect the world as is – or does it dictate and shape what it
wants people to believe should be the news.
It would seem it's both once you sit through a new Broadway revival, Front Page.
This
play stars some big names – Nathan Lane, John Goodman, and Roger Sterling to
name a few. It takes place in a bygone
era where every town in America had competing newspapers, each putting
out multiple editions daily, and when the newspaper was powerful in driving the
discussion of the day – before T.V. or the Internet even existed. That would’ve been the time period I would
have thrived best in.
The
play is a comedy and in between the laughter, you realize just how the media is
influenced and corrupted by those it covers and how those it covers are
manipulated by and influenced by media coverage. It seems they each blackmail one another for
greater career gains or financial payoffs.
The media may appear to search for the truth, but it also writes a
truth that it believes will sell papers and get ad revenue up. The politicians that it covers will do
whatever it takes to cover their dirty tracks and seek to use the media to
their advantage whenever possible.
Maybe
not much has changed since the early 20th century.
One
of the interesting side stories to the play was the character of
journalist-turning-ad man, played by Mad
Men’s Roger Sterling. He plans to
leave the low-paying newspaper business for a high-paying advertising job. But he gets sucked into pursuing one final
scoop that could change his career trajectory.
This story line shows the heart and drive of a writer and journalist,
but it easily shows how the same skills can be applied not to uncover and share
a truth but in the case of advertising, to promote an alternate truth and to
persuade others to act in contradiction to other facts.
Book
marketers are like the news media in certain respects. Each seeks to put forth a version of the
truth that’s bought by the public. Each
uses words to manipulate the mindset and emotional framework of others. Both look to get others to believe in their
message, as if each has cornered the market on truth.
Book
promoters need to think like the media – and to appeal to their values, views,
needs, and desires. Feed them stories
they agree with. Show them why something
deserves their attention. Report the
facts in a way that tells a story they can believe in and support. Ad men, marketers, and promoters are very
much like the journalist who wants to write about the world and reshape it in
the process.
The Front Page could make
headlines on Broadway. It also can
reveal valuable insights into how things become news.
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2016 ©.
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