8/13/2019 Editorial: Business before editorial?
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TRINITY NEWSEst 1953
towards some revival of the collegiate spirit,which modern
conditions tend to discourage
t
HEAD TO HEAD: THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT
It is a means of empowering anduniting those who feel let
down
RACHEL GREGG
KATE OLIVER
BUSINESS BEFORE
EDITORIAL ?THE original Occupy Wall Street movementhas a
powerful emotional resonance: the dispar-ity in wealth in the US is
staggering, and mostare not aware of the scale of the disparity or
itsdestructive potential. If Occupy achieves noth-ing else, it will
at least have drawn attention toa societal problem that is not
being addressedin US politics. If sufcient awareness is raised,this
will in itself provide a stimulus for change,and so it matters less
if the movement itself isresponsible for the changes: it will be
enough ithas spurred others to take action.
Yet Occupy Dame Street cannot be judged sofavourably. The
problems facing Ireland are rad-ically different from those which
plague Ameri-ca. The catchphrase of t he Celtic Tiger years,
Arising tide lifts all boats, has been proven false.Economic
inequality needs to be addressed, al-though the gap in incomes is
smaller than in theUS. In contrast, we have a social welfare
systemwhich, whilst far from perfect, provides a plat-form to build
on. The idea that society shouldshoulder the nancial burden of
supporting theless fortunate is anathema in America, but iscommonly
accepted in Europe. Hence OccupyDame Street is not making as much
of a con-tribution to public discourse when it calls forwealth to
be redistributed.
We are also highly aware of the problemsthat our economy is
facing. Did nancial insti-tutions take irresponsible risks? Was
govern-ment regulation strict enough? Will paying backthe IMF be a
long and costly process? Stop thepress! The nation is
hypersensitive about the
economy right now: everyone has something togripe about, whether
it is job creation or e migra-tion. People may not be gifted with a
sensitiveand nuanced understanding of economics, butthat is not
what Occupy Dame Street is settingout to provide: it is simply more
of what we al-
ready have people complaining the economyis ruined. Raising
awareness is not a sufcientgoal, as everyone is already conscious
of the dif-culties Ireland faces.
Rather than helping the country, OccupyDame Street and all the
other pundits who liketo decry the bankers are muddying the
watersand preventing us from exploring the underly-ing causes of
our current difculties. It is easyto blame the banks; a more
sophisticated analy-sis allots a share of the blame to former
govern-ments; but few are willing to accept that it wasthe people
who put these politicians in power.It is easy to say that they
betrayed the trust weplaced in them, yet it is much harder to
acknowl-edge that they were doing what they thoughtwould secure
their re-election they tried tofulll what they thought to be their
mandate.
Instead of taking to the streets to shout whatis essentially
rhetoric, we need to engage con-structively with public policy
making. Whatis the alternative? If we know what we want more jobs,
lower taxes, better services what isthe best way to achieve it? We
should acknowl-edge that it is easier to pitch a tent outside
theCentral Bank on Dame Street and live there fora month or two
than it is to come up with smart,comprehensive policies and then
dedicate yourlife and career to politics and the implementa-tion of
those policies. To be clear, I do not meanwe should be in awe of
our noble, self-sacricingpoliticians my god, have you seen the
Haely-Raes? If you see the problems that have besetIreland and want
to do something about them,
then you should do something that has a chanceof creating a
meaningful solution to those prob-lems, rather than going camping
in the citycentre.
Protests can serve a valuable purpose; thisparticular one does
not.
IT IS impossible to ignore. The Occupy Move-ment has spread like
wildre across the globe.Its origins stem from the Madrid protests
inMay when 50,000 indignados crammed intoPeurta del Sol Square in a
demonstrationagainst crippling welfare cuts, corrupt bank-ers and
the inefciency of the current politicalsystem that brought the
country to its knees.Inspired by these events, protestors took to
thestreets in New York under the banner of the Oc-cupy Wall Street
movement, igniting protestsfrom Australia to Taiwan. Whilst each
countryhas its own specic agenda, the universal mes-sage is a
radical rethinking of how nancialmarkets should operate.The
movement has gained unprecedented sup-port. People have quit their
jobs to camp outsidecity nancial centres. Writers worldwide
in-cluding Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood andNoam Chomsky have
joined the Occupy Writ-ers movement online to show their
support.Prominent members of the Church of Englandhave resigned
over the eviction of protestorsat St Pauls Cathedral. Spanish
protestors arepreventing those from being turned out of theirhomes
by the authorities for failing to pay theirrent. What is it about
this protest that is strikingsuch a chord?
US writer Francine Prose said: In ZuccottiPark [the Wall Street
camp] I felt a kind of light-ening of a weight, a lessening of the
awful isola-tion and powerlessness of knowing were beinglied to and
robbed on a daily basis and that eve-ryone knows it and keeps quiet
and endures it.The movement provides a release; a means ofuniting
and empowering people who feel frus-trated and let down by their
governments.
The power of the movement lies in its or-ganisation. Unlike the
summer riots in London,characterised by frenzied, mob-like
violence,protestors are channelling their anger intohighly
organised and non-violent demonstra-tions, Ghandi-style. They are
inspired by theachievements of the Arab Spring that have led
to serious change.The movement boasts a democratic decision-
making process. The Occupy London StockExchange Movement
organised into a workingcommunity, complete with a nancial team,
le-gal advisors, and its own newspaper. Decisionsare made as a
group during General Assem- blies. It represents people of all
ages, religions,races and sexuality, united in their desire to
beheard.
This contrasts with a nancial system notruled by democratic
government, but a selectgroup of bankers and who squander millions
inspeculative investments, leaving the taxpayer topay for their
mistakes while retaining their six-gure bonuses.
Yet it is the heterogeneity of the movementand plurality of
opinions voiced at the assem- blies that is a main source of
criticism. Demandsvary from attacking multinational companies toa
complete overthrow of capitalism. In generalthey want more of a say
in what is done withtheir money and an end to favouring
corporateinterests over the individual.
But they need to act now and act efciently ifthey want to see
anything come out of the move-ment except for a loss of sales in St
Pauls giftshop. They have an opportunity here for real re-form. The
banners are out, the tents are pitched,and the gloves are off. They
have our attention.Where do they go from here?
Whilst I am not about to pitch a tent in DameStreet, I
understand the protestors for show-ing us something that we have
forgotten. Whengovernments have got us this far into debt,
andunemployment rates are rocketing, we have thepower to stand up
and say that somethin g must be done about it. The level of support
is t esta-ment to the frustration that is rife throughoutthe world.
A radical change in our capitalistsystem may seem idealistic and
impossible, butwhen governments are discussing trillion-euro
bailouts to save the Eurozone,then anything ispossible.
18 EDITORIAL
TRINITY NEWS
Occupy Dame Street ignores theunderlying cause of our
difculties
IT IS easy to forget that a newspaper is at heart a business
particularly from the perspective of its journalists
andreaders.
For a reporter, the primary motive in print may be toconvey an
opinion, serve the public interest, or even exposeiniquity. It is
unlikely that a tabloid journalist writing theirsplash, or a
broadsheet reporter publishing the result ofmonths of
investigation, have the intention of maximisingtheir publishers
prots in the forefront of their minds.
Readers, too, tend to be motivated more by the contentwithin a
newspaper than the price on its cover. This isproven by the fact
that newspaper circulation in Irelandand Britain does not correlate
with cost price. The bestselling broadsheet in the Republic the
Irish Independ-ent sells over 30,000 more copies than its rival
paper the Irish Times , despite maintaining a similar (or even
higher,for weekend editions) cost on the news stands. The Daily
Mail remains triumphant among the UK tabloids almosttripling the
circulation of the Daily Express despite a 500%mark up on its
price.
Furthermore, promotional material in the form ofadvertorials and
newspaper-endorsed merchandise tendsto provoke the ire of its
readers over anything else. Afterall, the Guardian reader did not
buy his weekendsupplement to purchase a pair of marked-up
espadrillesfrom the online shop, any more than the Daily Star
readerpicked up their copy to procure a discount from Georgia
Salpas bikini range or one should hope.Yet it is these marketing
ploys from the publishersview, at least which help bring success to
the newspaperas a business. Sales, advertising, promotions all
theseequate to the success and longevity of any printed media.
Therefore the key to a successful publication, which
istraditionally thought to depend on quality of content,
liesprimarily with the business-focused outlook of thepublisher.
This might be unpalatable to editors, who have become increasingly
distanced from the commercial aspectof publishing as the scale of
printed media has grown.
Indeed, editorial and advertising, while both equallycrucial to
a publications success, are two outlooks thatrarely converge. Take
the brand of any well-knownnational newspaper, be it centrist,
left-wing or right-wing.To an editor, its ethos might embody a
political and cul-tural outlook but to a publisher, this is simply
a matterof appealing to a target audience. There are no
readersaccording to this commercially-driven perspective
onlyconsumers.
But this does not mean that a publisher should ignoreeditorial
considerations when promoting their brand. Eventhe most successful
businessperson must take apublications history and culture into
account, otherwisetheir readers will be alienated. This was a hard
lessonlearned by business mogul Mohamed Al Fayed in hisrelaunch of
Britains Punch magazine, which had areadership of 175,000 in the
mid-twentieth century. TheHarrods owner took on the publication to
nd that a pushfor commercialisation Punch was packed with
glossyupmarket advertisements had led its loyal fan base todwindle
to 6,000 by 2002.
Editors are equally responsible. Articles making adesperate push
to grab the readers attention particularlywhen dishonestly sourced
are counterproductive toproducing sales. The drop in circulation
for survivingNews International publications to prewar
levelsillustrates the dangers in this respect.
The editorial staff must be mindful of the interests oftheir
advertisers. This newspaper, for instance, has beenasked to abstain
from reviewing certain products or busi-nesses in the interests of
keeping an advertiser on board.
What newspapers need in todays climate is anafnity between the
quantitative perspective of thepublisher and a commitment to
relevant editorial. Readerswill not be fooled by false advertorials
and compromisedcontent.
Well-directed marketing in the form of relevant adver-tisements,
paired with ethical and relevant content, shouldsecure the medias
solvency.
