Media Fights Back

Those of us in the PR world who practice media relations deal with various media on a daily basis.
The evolution of social media and special interest programming over the last few years has prompted a lot of changes in how and where we get our news.
It’s even created a sub-industry of media that people gravitate toward to get the news they want to hear vs. an objective view of current events.
Lately, a couple of newspapers have begun promoting themselves.  In Tucson, the Arizona Daily Star has embarked on a new campaign with signage for newspaper boxes around town.  The signs state:
Quality journalism contributes to democracy.  Get the paper.
Quality journalism matters.  Get the paper.
Quality journalism never goes out of style.  Get the paper.
Mark Lolwing, director of circulation and consumer innovation for the Star, said, “I’ve been hearing from more subscribers recently, intent on cancelling their subscriptions because we printed something they don’t agree with.   I just wanted to put something simple out there that might give folks a little pause before making that decision.  Maybe spark a conversation.”
At the national level, during the recent Academy Awards show, we saw the New York Times got off the porch with a campaign calling attention to the truth vs. what is not true.  The spot states:
The truth is our nation is more divided than ever.
The truth is alternative facts are lies.
The visuals and the audio in the ad then speed up and offer a number of different versions of the “The truth is…”
It ends with:
The truth is hard.
The truth is more important now than ever.
I’m guessing the mainstream media will become even more aggressive in its efforts to differentiate from the media people turn to for the news they want to hear.