Avoid Advertiser Pressure that Compromises Content

By Vandana Sinha
October 27, 2004 10:55 AM

Forget about spouses. Whoever wrote that you can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em may have been talking about newspaper advertisers.

We reporters should thank them for their contribution to our paychecks. But more often than not, we distrust them for using those dollars to try to direct our coverage.

That suspicion is not always unwarranted, especially at smaller papers that rely more on fewer advertisers. Staffers focused on producing a top-notch business section often struggle to ignore subtle nudges -- or fierce shoves -- from advertisers focused on boosting their bottom lines.

So what are editors and reporters to do? First of all, remain ignorant. OK, that sounds bizarre, but with the sacred church-state-like separation between news and advertising, we should never know too much about our top advertisers. Secondly, put your emphasis on turning out that top-notch section.

The newspaper industry began centuries ago to impart the news accurately, immediately and interestingly. Publications performing that mission well collect tens of thousands of loyal readers. And as a result of that, advertisers buy into that publication for maximum exposure. We too often forget a newspaper's foundation is its content. If that cracks, each brick laid upon it collapses.

Another point to keep in mind is that advertising is not a one-way street. If newspapers need the bucks, then advertisers need the business. If your newspaper is the community's primary source of print information, you have the upper hand. Advertisers may retort with some short-term retribution, but before too long, they'll likely come back, pleased that they taught you a "lesson."

Of course, that's easier said than done. These companies can still potentially pull thousands of dollars in revenue with a single story. In other words, your courage will be required.

"There is much to be gained in the reputation of being a publication that shows no fear or favor," says Doug Underwood, a University of Washington associate journalism professor who penned the book, "When MBAs Rule the Newsroom." "The credibility gained with readers by a press organization in tough and honest coverage of advertisers will more than make up for any problems."

Instead, he says, a newspaper that sports the double-sided tag of aggressive and fair "could only make an advertiser look bad if it tried to pressure the newspaper to hold back or modify its coverage."

Newspapers also need to be straight with advertisers from the beginning -- draw that line deep into the ground before either side starts staking any of it.

Henry Dubroff, editor and publisher of Pacific Coast Business Times, says when he founded the journal, he told his advertisers he would adopt a different strategy than that of his failed predecessors. They'd sell an ad, then shortly thereafter, write a coincidentally complimentary piece on that company.

"We let our readership drive the marketplace," Dubroff says. "That's an important lesson."

When it comes to a negative story, keep that same communication in mind. Clearly spell out the story's premise to those companies, then go out of your way to get a comment. Companies see they're neither blindsided nor defenseless, and hopefully, that silences later criticism.

If that communication line must trace directly to the publisher's desk phone, then so be it, says Dubroff, who describes one job duty as "shock absorber." A buzz from the publisher can go a long way in corporate relations, he says.

In fact, clue in the top boss from the beginning, before he or she gets that angry advertiser call and decides to direct that fury to the business desk.

The toughest step, though, begins before the first PR call and before the first word makes it into print. And that's to get the story right.

Nothing railroads a controversial story more than inaccuracy. In that case, the advertiser is no stubborn bully when it jerks its ads -- in that case, it's correct.

Newspapers need to build a reputation for precision. Advertisers can barely sputter complaints if the reporter's track record is solid and the business desk has the faith and respect of its community.

But if an advertiser's financial troubles are inevitable, well, then it's not the business stories disturbing those balance sheets.

"Then the decision is easy," Dubroff says. "If they're not going to be around, then they're not going to be buying ads. You might as well write the story and get the glory."

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Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism