Re: Advertising doesn't buy favor
Broadway
6/1/2012 2:40:33 PM
@PredictableChaos, you are right. Just last night, I was watching my local PBS station and saw basically a full-length Honda commercial, the same one I would see watching NBC, ABC, CBS, etc.
@Noreen, you have the old-timey reporter's attitude dead-on. I know of some newspaper reporters, too, who won't accept any freebies, especially from companies they are covering for their writing. I also know of publishers who demand that editorial coverage of their advertisers at least be toned down, if not spun with a happy face. The firewall between sales and editorial has eroded over the years in all media outlets -- TV, print, B2B...
As usual, Marvin, you nailed it. Public broadcasting needs a stable source of funding that is outside of politics. I have a modest proposal: Let's tax the Tisch family and use the money for public radio and TV. That way they can atone for the mess that the late Larry Tisch made of CBS.
So I'm not sold on the fact that fairness is related to lack of advertising.
I'm with Noreen on this one. And Altira is a shining example that makes the point - advertising doesn't buy any special favors. For decades, cigarette advertisers spent more on print advertising than almost any other segment.
During and after that, how did newspapers and magazines treat them? Not with any special favor that I saw. Almost the opposite - it was a race to see who could be the strongest anti-smoking advocate on the opinion pages and in the reporting.
Plus, NPR basically has advertisements anyway. Should we just drop the pretense and make it a commercial network?
"the reason they ask for viewer support is so that Altria doesn't sponsor the investigative piece on the cigarette industry."
I've always wondered why people were so convinced that the integrity of a journalist could be compromised by a sponsor, or even through gifts or freebies. My experience has been just the opposite--most reporters I have known would gladly take your free gifts or your sponsorship and then treat you with as much disdain and distrust as everyone else. And in fairness, when I worked at newspapers, there was never any pressure to tone down a story for the sake of an advertiser.
In fact, a team of reporters at my old paper won a Pulitzer for an expose of shady transplant practices at a leading medical facility -- the same facility that spent a lot of money advertising its services in our paper.
So I'm not sold on the fact that fairness is related to lack of advertising.
Re: Kitman's Law
Broadway
5/31/2012 7:38:17 AM
I've heard stories about our local PBS affiliate about bloated salaries ... essentially trying to live like paid-for TV stars. I believe in public media and I believe in government funds for it because for-profit media is far more corrupt. But I agree that they need to change their business model and end the once-a-month fundraising.
Re: Pleadge drive efficiency
Fred Goodman
5/31/2012 12:18:57 AM
Does it not even enter into your thinking @impactnow that perhaps they have no money because they have no value?
Or perhaps, if you think they have value does it even cross your mind that advertisers might also think so and they could release the taxpayers $90 million and work for a living?
Pleadge drive efficiency
impactnow
5/30/2012 11:05:24 PM
I agree lets be very honest the pledge drives are irritating and in this day and age there are more efficient ways to get donors to donate, trying recurring donation plans with benefits, email campaigns and mobile campaigns could be some of the ways to try and get donations throughout the year.
Re: Kitman's Law
Phoenix
5/30/2012 7:51:07 PM
@predictable chaos You brought up a good point. If they are having a difficult time with funding and has to pledge for it so agressively there must be something wrong. May be times have changed. It might be time to change their business model and do a bit of advertising.
@Scott
Bringing up Bob Vila reminded me of how well the National Public Media works the system. The following is from an article in People Magazine around the time of the Vila firing for what was called his transgressions.
I think the following paragraphs give all the reasons we need to stop supporting public broadcasting.
Still, some of the show's own foundations have now begun looking shaky to critics of its ethics. The most ominous charge: The lure of free materials from manufacturers has subtly altered its how-to-build format into one of how to buy, giving the appearance, at least, that the spirit of commercial-free broadcasting is being compromised.
By the time the army of carpenters showed up at the Dromgoole house in July 1987, the program staff no longer demonstrated how to repair an old sink at minimum cost. Instead, they laid in state-of-the-art fixtures and brought in a decorating team from Country Home magazine. To "pay" for the donated products, brand names were dutifully touted and lingered on by cameras until Morash calculated that he had settled the account. His self-admitted call to the cameramen-"Hey, have we paid these guys off yet?"-became a commercial tocsin to the Old House crew. "This isn't cutting-edge technology being showcased," grouses one employee of WGBH-TV, the Boston flagship station that produces the show. "It's cutting-edge advertising."
Morash, for his part, denies pushing product names in front of the cameras but says the show's annual budget-about $1 million-makes accepting those products a necessity. And if a company is generous enough to supply wood or wiring, "we have a responsibility to show it or mention it. I think it's only fair."
Maybe PBS should retain on a call option on the future income of stars it develops, and they could get some of our taxpayer money back.
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