Don’t Forget The Basics

Why strong ethical practices are essential to publishing success

Frank Alkyer, Maher Publications

The Ethical Crisis

• Journalism’s ethical crisis has reached a critical point in B-to-B

• The double whammy of rapid technological change and recession helped create the challenge

• But the basics still rule…readers demand good journalism. Advertising goes where the readers go

Honey, I shrunkthe Ad Budgets

• Good journalism requires investment

• Print still provides the bulk of sales for most publications

• Online sales are paltry by comparison (But Improving

• Advertisers want the tracking power of online, the cost of online, but the effectiveness, or staying power, of print

What’s This Got To Do With Ethics?

• In this environment, it’s easy for everyone from top execs to the janitor to bend rules, especially online

• We cannot let this happen

• Let’s discuss some real-world examples—and why they damage brands

List Abuse

• A magazine is a list

• Good editorial, design and even advertising help the list develop and keep it strong

• Abusing the list is abusing your readers, and killing off business in the long-term

List Abuse

• Posting too often

• If you have nothing important to say, say nothing

List Abuse

List Abuse

Press Release Abuse

• Press releases, posted exactly as they are received, have no business being on an editorial website

• A great website is a filter for the news, not an extension of its advertisers websites

• Posting every release is abdicating journalistic responsibility

Citizen Journalist Abuse

• People who write for free will give you exactly what you pay for in the long run

• Counting these people who go to your site to post articles as visitors is fake readership

• It’s a scam

Citizen Journalist Abuse

Fair Use Abuse

• Apply the same rules for “Fair Use” that you would use in your print product

• Do not simply lift photos and copy from other sites, unless you have proper permission

Aggregation Woes

• Easy to do, but also easy to overdo

• Ethical issues come from not using links to create context for something you, as a journalist, are trying to say

Aggregation Woes

Finding Ethical Solutions

Finding Solutions

• Creating a strong online ethics policy is a long-term process, not an event

• Include everyone in the discussion

• Keep the focus on the reader

• Listen, but be prepared with well-researched thought on why strong ethics delivers long-term success

Finding Solutions

• Make ethics guidelines clear, simple and achievable

• Create a list of “dos” and “don’ts”

• Tattoo your guidelines on everyone in the shop

Making Sense of Ethics at Maher Pubs

• We’re not perfect...by a long shot, but here’s what we do in trying to make good ethical decisions and make money, too

Making Sense of Ethics at Maher Pubs

• Everyone at the company is a potential news source

• Everyone is respected for their industry knowledge — from sales to circulation to editorial and design

Making Sense of Ethics at Maher Pubs

• Editorial makes the final call on lineups

• Editorial presents those lineups to sales and management

• Sales then aggressively sells very inch of ad space possible

Making Sense of Ethics at Maher Pubs

• We don’t just post press releases

• Our non-editorial staffers are encouraged to deliver any news they hear about in their daily rounds. Some of our best tips come from them

• We work together, but understand our value is selecting the most interesting news, not all the news

Questions and comments

• Please feel free to e-mail me with any thoughts on the issue.

• franka@musicincmag.com