The Buffalo Blog

Sarkrazy

Never before has the UK media’s celebrity obsessed nature been as apparent as today. For on this momentous, though rather bleak weather-wise, Wednesday, Britain heralds the arrival of, not a leading European President on important international business, but of Lady Sarkozy and all the supposed interest she brings. While thankfully some of the nationals decided people might be interested in reading about why the President was in the UK, most thought the fact that Carla, his lovely wife, once posed naked was the core issue and obviously warranted lengthy discussion (and of course the relevant photo, ooh la la!).

I can only salute the quality of today’s reporting both in print and broadcast whilst waving a melancholy bon voyage to any hope of working out exactly why Monsieur Sarkozy is actually here.

While part of the British media retains the quality, hard-hitting journalistic integrity for which it is famed; others, it seems, have regrettably lost something along the way…ah for the good ol’ days…

A sign of the times?

I read an unsettling piece in the Media Guardian on Monday on Gawker’s ‘pay-per-page view’ system of remunerating journalists.

If you didn’t read it here’s a summary: Nick Denton, founder of Gizmodo and other US-based blogs, has developed a system where journalists are paid advances for a set number of page hits. Failure to make the grade leaves the hapless hack out on his ear.

While it sounds logical enough, for why shouldn’t journos be paid on their results, this insidious scheme has some profound implications for both journalism and PR.

The main problem conveyed in the article is the creation of a sensational, dirt digging, muck-raking culture, that results from the system. Rather than go after stories on merit or interest, journalists are locked in an endless fight over the story most likely to get page views. What’s left is a sensationalist junk-news machine where nothing decent gets a look in.

What the article fails to latch on to is the company’s crass assumption that this system gives readers what they want. Surely readers have to read something before they know if they want to read it? This is a chicken-egg scenario leading to a spiralling decline in quality content. The hacks will continue to dole out sensationalist crud while readers happily addle their brains by reading the most ‘shocking’ or ‘scandalous’ story on the site.

God forbid this type of remuneration gain any foothold in the UK or we could also see a major change in PR payment metrics. What if remuneration was tied not only to getting coverage but to obtaining a certain number of page views regardless of the quality of readers?

This would inevitably drive the sort of sloppy, dangerous and downright deceitful kind of PR practice which perpetually tars the industry. Dodgy research, over-egging of results, sensationalist pitches would all be exacerbated.

What can be done about this – well the power is in your fingers…