He says "I will just provide three examples of the confusion in readers minds regarding
their expectations from the media.
1. Research shows unambiguously that most readers desire to read more international news. Yet, the international pages of a paper are the least read. International news may be good for the soul but it does nothing for circulation.
2. Readers insist that the price of their morning paper does not matter. It is such a vital part of their life that they would happily pay the extra rupee for it. Yet, as Mr Rupert Murdoch and Mr Samir Jain have demonstrated, print publications are extremely price sensitive. You can bleed the opposition by cover price cuts. The phrase "invitation price" terrifies rival publishers.
3. Readers will tell you that they want a single-section, compact morning paper. They don’t want sections and supplements dropping out. Yet the opposite is true. Papers with multi-sections prosper, others suffer."
He adds "We must lead readers, not be led by them. Really great journalism must do more than merely give people what they want. There has to be room for the unexpected, for stories the public has no idea it wants until it sees them. The reader is a paradox. He frequently complains about negative news being constantly reported. But for all his clamouring for positive news, surveys show that people are more interested in negative news, sensational news, news about crime, violence and corruption. The reader, ladies and gentlemen, is not king; actually he is a nice hypocrite. "
This remind me of another speech on international news. It talks about a survey being done about headlines and newspaper stories. Speaker is Alissa Miller speaking at TED convention at Monterey California. She says local news is given coverage because its cheap. So we hardly get any international news in magazines, TV and newspapers.
REFERENCES
Outlook India Magazine "What the reader wants"
url: http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20071219&fname=vinod+mehta&sid=1&pn=1
last accessed: 22 August 2008
TEDtalks
last accessed: 23 August 2008
