These days, with journalists narrowly trailing lawyers on the list of revered and respected members of our society, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would make journalism their career.
Okay, it’s obviously not that implausible, or I, as a journalist, wouldn t be writing this. It’s even harder to figure out what would drive anyone to establish a media outlet.
Look at the facts: the Ottawa Citizen, once one of the gems in Southam’s crown, is, according to all reports, running in the red. Quebecor’s purchase of the Sun Media empire may have stabilized the Ottawa Sun, but for how long? And yet, in recent history, Ottawa has seen a dramatic upsurge in the local media market.
Newspapers and magazines and television, oh my.
In this age of niche marketing and consumer-specific products, have we finally reached the point of media saturation? Is there any room left?
Last year, the Ottawa Business Journal started Metro, a tabloid weekly covering the arts and entertainment scene, along with issues not covered by the mainstream press, and intended to compete directly with the X Press, a similar weekly aimed at the young and the left. Then, Toronto’s NOW Magazine started yet another Ottawa weekly. Metro folded after just three issues, claiming it wasn’t prepared to lose money for years competing for the same advertising dollars as everyone else.
Aye, there’s the rub. Niche marketing is fine, as long as the niche you’re exploiting has the cash to cover your investment. And what if it doesn’t?
Advertising dollars are the key. Despite the fact that you may fork out your hard-earned dollars for a subscription (most of the weeklies are free), it’s the folks who need to tell the public about their products who pay the bills. When two or more outlets are attempting to squeeze money out of the same niche, the results can be disastrous. Witness the fate of Metro.
In Ottawa, we have the Citizen and the Sun competing with the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and in some cases, the Toronto Star for the daily market. There’s Ottawa Life, whose financial troubles have been the subject of more than a few articles in both Frank and the Citizen, competing with Ottawa City, from the same folks who bring you Toronto Life. Then there’s the X Press, Capital Xtra!, Capital City, the Business Journal, and the new Urban Male Magazine, to mention a few.
Not to mention countless hordes of trade magazines, weeklies and bi-weeklies targeted at specific communities, like Centretown News. And with the now-revitalized CHRO under the control of Citytv, there’s more local TV stations than you can shake a young, blond videographer at.
Now I know why all the ad reps I’ve ever seen look like they have ulcers.
But the real losers are the consumers. Advertising translates directly into the number of pages available for each issue; more ads, more pages, and thus more stories. Large chains can absorb a loss — for a while — but the smaller outlets can’t.
The diversity of opinions we cherish as a guaranteed right may fall victim to the pressures of our capitalist society. Because, in the end, getting the news to you is all about making money, isn’t it?
Isn’t it?