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May 2003

The Bottom Line of Good Journalism: Better quality writing produces profits

By Jim Morrison

Call it a slump, a downturn, a re-cession. By any name, the end result is painfully obvious: the media business is hurting. And that means many of us are flinching as magazines and newspapers cut back space and slash pay for freelancers and book publishers reduce their offerings and cut advances.

But out of last month's annual meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) come several research reports that point out, once again, the value of investing in good journalism-and professional journalists.

While publishers see cutting staff and pay as a means to improve the bottom line and appeal to investors, de-cades of research show the opposite is true. "Thirty-five years of scholarly re-search confirms what many of you probably believed all along, that investment in quality content improves the bottom line," Esther Thorson, professor and associate dean for graduate studies of journalism at the University of Missouri at Columbia, told the editors.

Thorson and researchers from The University of North Carolina, The Poynter Institute and The Project for Ex-cellence in Journalism noted that more money for reporters and editors, as well as more space for news and features, laid the foundation for a better quality publication.

To that, I'd add better pay for freelancers at newspapers and magazines. I've heard reports recently of at least one metropolitan newspaper slashing pay to nothing for items like book and music reviews. That's right -- zero dollars. All the freelance reviewer gets is a copy of the book or the CD and byline "exposure." That's shameful. It's also extreme, but, more broadly, my point is that if publishers expect a quality product, they must be willing to pay more than enough for a free cup of water or a Happy Meal. I understand that times are tight and they can't afford filet mig-non pay. But the pain is being felt too deeply by writers.

And, as Thorson and others point out, ultimately sacrificing quality weakens a publisher's bottom line instead of improving it.

Rick Edmonds, a consultant at The Poynter Institute, pointed to findings that state newsrooms with higher ratios of staff to circulation produced better quality, and eventually higher profits. He cited the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, which has the highest staff-circulation ratio of any large daily. "They added more than 100 full-time employees," he said. "However, financial performance did not suffer. Profits actually increased 45 percent in five years."

"It is a single example, though I think a powerful one, of how an investment in news capacity can pay off," he added, according to a report in Editor & Publisher.

The reports from the ASNE meeting follow recent research out of North-western University showing that readers favor journalism that tells stories. And that study pointed out that readers wanted more stories about health, home, travel and food. In short, just the kinds of stories freelancers often write for newspapers. But they're also the areas newspapers have cut drastically, often relying on stale, colorless wire stories as filler.

The issue, of course, is not one-sided. Publishers need to understand that paying for quality is an investment in their bottom line that will be returned many times. But, as freelancers, we need to remember that investing in creating a professional quality story each time, no matter what the publication or pay, is a good investment in our bottom line.

That is a theme I've returned to often in nearly two years as president of ASJA. Being successful is not just about knowing our markets and finding the right ones. It also requires stepping back, critically eyeing our work, and improving it, rather than being satisfied.

To that end, I'll close with a reminder about ASJA's conference May 2-4 at the Grand Hyatt in New York. Conference-goers often check to see which editors will appear and, indeed, that weekend is a great chance to hear top editors and get inside information about what they need. But, the conference is about more than markets and marketing. It's about becoming better, whether by listening to The Poynter Institute's Roy Peter Clark sing about rhythm in your writing or by attending one of the specialized seminars on Sunday. Airfares are ridiculously cheap. And, thanks to Priceline.com, I know many writers who have reserved rooms at the Hyatt for as low as $75 a night. In short, it's a bargain investment in your future. I hope we see you there.