From tunnel to overview
Column: Integrated communication is in demand everywhere. But without new ways of thinking and working, we’ll remain stuck with a rigid focus on a single idea.
Column Integrated communication is required everywhere. But without new ways of thinking and working, the focus remains fixed on a fixed idea. The buzzwords multimedia, cross-media and integrated communication are on everyone's lips. However, if you look at the projects that are presented under these labels, the claim is rarely consistently fulfilled. In most cases, one medium dominates and the others are only used as garnish. The reason for this is the need for simplicity. One of these fixed ideas is that newspapers have no future. At a recent conference in Zurich, Irishman Gavin O'Reilly, President of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), warned the media industry not to talk print itself to death. O'Reilly is seeing growth in his internationally active media company and is observing numerous new launches worldwide.
In fact, both newspaper fans and digital freaks in the media houses are dominated by an idea of media in which the other genres are neglected: Convinced newspaper makers use the Internet as a secondary exploitation dump. Blogger fans don't care about elementary journalistic rules such as transparency, fairness and credibility. Cross-media advertising acrobats sell everything that makes money until there is nothing left of the editorial team. Editors have to fill agency reports into the respective platforms on a piecework basis at the newsdesk. And in the excitement of multimedia, traditional brands are watered down beyond recognition or brand management is forgotten altogether.
The industry is risking huge damage to the image of its media products with this behavior. It is therefore high time to get out of the tunnels and start by gaining an overview from a summit. Of course, this requires some agility, concentration and perseverance.
This outlook first conveys the insight that the individual media forms have special features that are invaluable. The Internet provides up-to-the-minute information practically in real time and enables infinite links and connections. Radio has always been an instant medium. Technically uncomplicated for listeners, it has been providing access to information and music anytime and anywhere for decades. Television, on the other hand, is more cumbersome. Until recently, it required a presence in a room and a spellbound gaze. Now the only question is how small a moving image can be in order to remain of interest. In the case of newspapers, publishers spare no effort in production and distribution to ensure that they are on subscribers' desks early in the morning or on sale at newsstands.
In addition to the material characteristics, there are the communicative ones. The media experience is very different when reading a newspaper than when surfing the net, listening to the radio or watching television. The task of media professionals is to recognize what media can do best and to focus on this. Thanks to a finely tuned aggregation of special features, both editorial and commercial content gains a quality that is more than the sum of its individual parts. This provides the audience with an information and entertainment offering that respects different needs and sensitivities. With consistent multimedia user and brand management, the established media can integrate their offerings on the various platforms. Credibility and trust are key factors here.
It's easy to lose your self-confidence in the tunnel. On the way to the heights, it is also important to recognize your own strengths and communicate them proudly. Only a newspaper brand can do that!
Josefa Haas is head of the Media Institute.
In fact, both newspaper fans and digital freaks in the media houses are dominated by an idea of media in which the other genres are neglected: Convinced newspaper makers use the Internet as a secondary exploitation dump. Blogger fans don't care about elementary journalistic rules such as transparency, fairness and credibility. Cross-media advertising acrobats sell everything that makes money until there is nothing left of the editorial team. Editors have to fill agency reports into the respective platforms on a piecework basis at the newsdesk. And in the excitement of multimedia, traditional brands are watered down beyond recognition or brand management is forgotten altogether.
The industry is risking huge damage to the image of its media products with this behavior. It is therefore high time to get out of the tunnels and start by gaining an overview from a summit. Of course, this requires some agility, concentration and perseverance.
This outlook first conveys the insight that the individual media forms have special features that are invaluable. The Internet provides up-to-the-minute information practically in real time and enables infinite links and connections. Radio has always been an instant medium. Technically uncomplicated for listeners, it has been providing access to information and music anytime and anywhere for decades. Television, on the other hand, is more cumbersome. Until recently, it required a presence in a room and a spellbound gaze. Now the only question is how small a moving image can be in order to remain of interest. In the case of newspapers, publishers spare no effort in production and distribution to ensure that they are on subscribers' desks early in the morning or on sale at newsstands.
In addition to the material characteristics, there are the communicative ones. The media experience is very different when reading a newspaper than when surfing the net, listening to the radio or watching television. The task of media professionals is to recognize what media can do best and to focus on this. Thanks to a finely tuned aggregation of special features, both editorial and commercial content gains a quality that is more than the sum of its individual parts. This provides the audience with an information and entertainment offering that respects different needs and sensitivities. With consistent multimedia user and brand management, the established media can integrate their offerings on the various platforms. Credibility and trust are key factors here.
It's easy to lose your self-confidence in the tunnel. On the way to the heights, it is also important to recognize your own strengths and communicate them proudly. Only a newspaper brand can do that!
Josefa Haas is head of the Media Institute.
