By William A.
Mindak
Do Newspaper Publishers Suffer
from “Marketing Myopia”?
Are newspapers as marketing
oriented as they might be?
The author suggests that their
future may depend more on
solving marketing problems
--circulation and advertising-
than production or labor ones.
The newspaper business is a paradox!
It is one of the most powerful mar-
keting tools ever devised for moving
products and ideas of others.
Yet in its own operations the news-
paper business often seems to be suf-
fering from what Ted Levitt calls “mar-
keting myopia.”l By this, Levitt means
that many companies (and industries
for that matter), become preoccupied
with production and immediate sales
and do not pay enough attention to
riiarketirig their products and services.
Caught up in a “self-deceiving cycle of
bountiful expansion and undetected de-
cay,” these companies often define their
business too narrowly and insist that
there is no competitive substitute for
their major product. Levitt analyzed ex-
periences of railroad, oil and automo-
bile companies and particularly those of
the motion picture industry:
The motion picture companies believed
that they were in the movie business
rather than the entertainment business.
They were organized and operated to
produce a specific kind of product-
’ Theodore Levitt, “Marketing Myopia,” Har-
turd Business Review, July-August, 1960.
Peter Drucker. Managing for Results (New
York: Harper & Row, 1964), p. 168.
full-length movies. They were not or-
ganized and operated to think in terms
of the entertainment and convenience
preferences of their customers. They
were product-oriented-not customer
oriented.
Drucker talks about the railroads’
failure to understand their marketing
role :
As late as 1950 the American railroads
refused to accept that the passenger au-
tomobile, truck and airplane were here
to stay. They considered it unthinkable
that railroads could be displaced as the
backbone of the country’s transportation
system.
He goes on to describe how once
railroads accepted new forms of compe-
tition they were able to concentrate on
things that they could do best-the
long-distance hauling of bulk commodi-
ties such as automobiles, grain, coal
and iron ore.
The trade press is full of case studies
of industries who are becoming in-
creasingly “marketing oriented.” The
computer industry found out almost too
late that executives did not want to buy
computers, but did want to store and
process information. Airlines, insurance
companies and utilities are becoming
more consumer-oriented, and more in-
terested in marketing products and serv-
ices rather than merely producing them.
F The author is associate professor of journal-
ism, in charge of the advertising sequence, at
the University of Minnesota. This article is
based on an address made to the International
Circulation Managers’ Association at St. Louis
in June 1965.
433
434 JO URNAL I S M
Despite this, many newspapers seem to
be “marching to a different drummer.”
The author is well aware of the haz-
ards and problems of generalizing about
so widespread and heterogenous group
as newspapers. It is difficult to compare
marketing problems for small town
“weeklies,” or “middle market” dailies,
or suburban and metropolitan news-
papers. Nevertheless, collectively these
different newspapers do constitute an in-
dustry producing a “product” for a mar-
ket which spends nearly $2 billion dol-
lars per year.
There are many factors that could
contribute to this “marketing myopia.”
1) Refusal of many publishers and
editors to consider their newspaper a
“product.” Although the newspaper
business depends on profit just as many
other services do, it is one of our most
important social institutions. Publishers
would find it hard to reconcile Thomas
Jefferson’s opinion of newspapers:
. . . were it left to me to decide wheth-
er we should have a government with-
out newspapers or newspapers without
a government, I should not hesitate a
moment to pr.efer the latter. . . . But I
should mean that every man should re-
ceive those papers and be capable of
reading them.3
with the business-like description of the
newspaper found in Peterson, Jensen
and Rivers:4
. . . The publisher became a dealer in
both a product and service. His product
as always was a newspaper . . . his ser-
vice was giving advertisers the opportu-
nity to reach a large . . . body of con-
sumers with their sales messages. . . .
Both in procuring their raw materials
and in marketing their products, news-
paper publishers exhibit the familiar
behavior of monopoly and oligopoly,
As buyers, they use the customary
pressures for keeping down costs; as
sellers they maintain rigid advertising
and circulation rates, discriminate by
rate differentials, and practice block
selling of space in morning and evening
newspapers in combination.
QUARTERLY
These conflicting views can lead to
management schizophrenia.
2 ) The greatest strength of the ncws-
paper-that of being a unique shapcr
and reflector of its local environment-
is often one of its potential weaknesses
in that it militates against publisher co-
operation and exchange of informa-
tion. Some of this is breaking down on
the production side of the newspaper
business and the ANPA Research Insti-
tute has been organized to help pub-
lishers find more efficient methods of
printing the newspaper. But according
to Harold A. Schwarz, assistant circu-
lntion manager of the Milwaukee Jour-
nal and Milwaukee Sentinel:
Although the newspaper industry is en-
gaged in extensive research activity, lit-
tle of it is concerned with character-
istics of the newspaper’s market. The
Communications Research Center of
Michigan State University stated that
only 1 3 % of all newspaper research is
in the area of marketing analysis.5
3) Although the newspaper repre-
sents increasingly huge investments in
capital, manpower and equipment, often
the men who run them-especially the
smaller newspapers-have had little for-
mal management or marketing training.
Even the business manager who is play-
ing an increasingly important role in
newspaper management is a far cry in
background and training from a brand
or product manager of a Procter and
Gamble or a General Mills.
The situation is further complicated
by !he newspaper actually serving two
markets: the advertiser and the reader.
And so while the brand manager is sole-
ly responsible for profit and revenue for
a company, this responsibility is split
Edwin Emery, The Press and America (Engle-
wood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1962). p.
167.
‘Theodore Peterson, Jay W. Jensen and Wil-
liam L. Rivers, The Mass Media and Modern So-
ciety (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
Inc., 1965). pp. 54, 67.
Harold A. Schwarz, “Applying Research Meth-
ods to the Solution of Circulation Problems.”
Address at the Journalism Institute of the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin, May 10, 1963.
 Newspapers and Marketing
between advertising and circulation
managers of newspapers. What happens
when the circulation manager is un-
sympathetic to the needs of advertising
and continues to increase circulation in
areas which are neither desirable nor
profitable to advertisers? Or when an
advertising manager attempts to increase
linage without necessarily thinking of
profit maximization (which is often the
case with local advertising)?
The reader may say that this is the
responsibility of the publisher or in
certain cases the general manager. But
what if the publisher has had printing
or production experience primarily (as
is the case with smaller newspapers)?
Or if the publisher came up through
the editorial ranks with little business
background and prides himself on not
knowing anything about such “practi-
cal” considerations as record keeping,
circulation, transportation, etc.? (As is
the case often with larger newspapers).
The newspaper business seems to be
emerging from what the Clark-Fisher
hypothesisfi would suggest is the second-
ary level of economic development cen-
tering upon mass production and at-
tempting to minimize unit costs to a
tertiary period, where more considera-
tion is allocated to optiniurn scales for
delivering services and where there is
need for more coordination, standardi-
zation of procedures and specialization
of talents. One of the talents which
needs injecting is marketing Orientation.
What is this marketing orientation?
It is basically the frame of reference
with which a company reacts and adapts
to its environment when it produces
products and services. It is more than
a business function representing all of
the processes between production and
consumption of a good. Truly market-
ing oriented companies focus on meet-
ing the needs of the consumer, not the
seller. This change in attitude--from
producer-oriented to consumer-oriented
‘Colin Clark, The Condifions of Economic
Progress, 3rd Ed. (London: MacMillan and Com-
pany, Ltd., 1957).
435
-is a profoundly “simple” but funda-
mental change in business today.
The marketing manager learns early
that there are many market forces over
which he has no control, such as social
and consumer behakior, competitors’ ac-
tivities, and economic and government
influences. To these he must adapt.
Hopefully he will try to anticipate these
changes but he realizes that in such a
dynamic world he can fail (A. C. Niel-
sen says that as many as 8 out of 10
new products fail either in test market
or do not survive the first two years.)
There will always be an Edsel! But as
the marketing manager grows more ex-
pert in marketing decision-making his
success ratio increases-and the same
company can bring out a Mustang seven
years later!
What characteristics distinguish a
genuine2y marketing oriented company?
We say genuinely because the concept
has become so fashionable in the last
few years that many companies pay lip
service to marketing, but continue to d o
business “at the same old stand.”
1 ) Marketing should be at the begin-
ning rather than the end of the produc-
tion line. The company adopts a can-
sumer point of view. By this is not
meant giving the customer only what
she wants-often the customer does not
really know, or is inarticulate or unim-
aginative or contradictory. It does mean
being sensitive to the changes in socie-
ty, to customers’ needs and wants, and
taking cues from the buyer so that the
product or service is a consequence of
the marketing effort.
2 ) Decisions and planning are based
on facts and research. Again this does
not mean that creative judgment and
imagination are eliminated but knowl-
edgeable managers do insist on some
means of “feedback” or research to lo-
cate problems and opportunities, to ex-
periment with different possible solu-
tions and to measure or test how effect-
ive these solutions might be.
3 ) Someone is responsible for over-
436 JOURNALISM
all planning and coordinating of the
factors that go into the marketing mix.
These factors, according to Borden,’
encompass product planning, pricing,
branding, personal selling, channels of
distribution, advertising, promotions,
packaging, display, servicing, physical
handling, fact finding and analysis. The
marketing manager would formulate
different mixes depending on the re-
sources at firm’s disposal and how he
feels the firm can best respond to the
external market forces.
Now how would newspapers rate on
these criteria of marketing orientation?
l o make this analysis more realistic let
us confine our attention to one kind of
“market”-circulation-and one kind
of newspaper-the typical metropolitan
daily.
The circulation “market” was chosen
purposely because too often it is over-
looked as a potential revenue and profit
contributor. Or put in another way, if
the circulation department could be
made more productive and costs re-
duced these could be passed on in form
of profits. As John R. Staley said:
You can’t cut prices, labor or mate-
rial, the only fat left in this business is
physical distribution.*
As products become more standard-
ized and research and development
more commonplace for all competitors,
a highly responsive, reliable distribution
system actually can become an import-
ant marketing tool. I n an increasing
cost industry, such as the newspaper, an
efficiently run circulation department
might provide margin for profit.
So let us apply the marketing-oriented
criteria to the circulation department.
1) What about marketing being at
the beginning and not a t the end of the
production line? What about consumer
orientation?
To a great extent many of the circu-
lation managers of papers today are
given the role of sales managers for
QUARTERLY
companies some 20 years ago or before
the marketing concept came into effect.
At that time sales managers were told,
using Ted Levitt’s words: “You get rid
of it-we’ll worry about the profits!” A
great deal of emphasis was put on sales
promotion, gimmickry, the seven “han-
dy-dandy” rules for clinching a sale,
etc. etc. Volume of sales often became
an end in itself rather than such con-
siderations as efficiency and profit.
Often there was little coordination be-
tween the production and the advertis-
ing and the sales departments.
Eventually this kind of sales man-
ager gave way to the marketing man-
ager or product manager who would:
a) furnish an intelligence center on all
aspects of the product line, includ-
ing technical information, market
situations;
b) create ideas for product improve-
ment, new product development and
promotion;
c) advise top management on market-
ing aspects of product during its
implementation through research
and development:
d ) prepare advertising and marketing
concepts; devise product strategy
and goals;
e) stimulate interest in and support for
product line among salesmen-dis-
tributors;
f ) prepare sales forecasts; provide lo-
gistic guidance for production-dis-
tribution;
g) assume responsibility for strategy,
campaigns, profit.9
The circulation manager of a news-
paper has evolved considerably from his
former preoccupation with the trans-
portation function of mailing, address-
ing and delivering newspapers to the
present state of knowing how to moti-
vate carrier boys, route men and dis-
Neil Borden, “Concept of the Marketing Mix,”
Journal of Advertising Research, June 1964, pp.
2-1.
8 John R. Staley. “19 ways to save time and
money in distribution.” Business Munagemenf,
Vol. 26 (Sept. 1964), p. 43-46.
QDavid J. Luck and Theodore Novak, “Prod-
uct Management-Vision Unfulfilled,” Hurvurd
Busfness Revfew, May-June 1965, pp. 143-S4.
 Newspapers and Marketing
tributors, as well as being promotion
man, trained accountant, engineer and
mechanic.
But although he is closest to readers
in understanding their wants and needs,
he is usually powerless to communicate
these to management. He may even find
himself delivering copies of newspapers
to areas when delivery may be actually
unprofitable. It is inconceivable that
circulation managers can become mar-
keting-oriented without some voice in
product development.
Note this is not to say that circula-
tion considerations would dictate edi-
torial policy. This would make for eco-
nomic suicide. All parties concerned-
editorial, advertising and circulation-
are looking for the best, most viable
and distinctive product. But no one
group has a monopoly on ideas or sug-
gestions. Unless there is more interac-
tion, it is hard to see how the circula-
tion department can become more mar-
keting oriented and in turn how the
newspaper itself can be more market-
ing oriented.
2) What about basing decisions and
planning on facts and research?
Here too often the circulation man-
ager finds himself operating in a re-
search vacuum. He needs some feed-
back mechanism which will alert him to
opportunities and problems surrounding
him brought about by changes in com-
petition, area makeup, emergence of
new highways, suburbs, etc. He needs
some mechanism for quality control to
see if he is operating as efficiently and
productively as possible. He needs somc
means of experimenting or testing new
techniques preferably before having to
introduce them on a wholesale basis. In
short, he needs research. But as Harold
Schwarz remarks, most of the research
conducted for newspapers is either pro-
duction oriented or primarily for the
‘OSchwarz, op. cit.
’*Ray Gilliland, “Thinking Out Loud.” Ad-
dress to Central States Circulation Managers Con-
ference, March 22, 1964.
43 7
advertiser. As a circulation manager he
asks:
How do we stand at the beginning of
this period of modernization? What
about our delivery techniques? Are we
doing anything to improve efficiency
and provide better service at lower cost?
What about our sales techniques? Are
we using the same scatter-gun methods
that American newspapers have used
for the last 25 years? What about our
price structure? Are we charging a fair
price for our product-a price that re-
flects to some extent, the cost of deliv-
ering the paper to the customer? Or are
we still playing a numbers game, cut-
ting our rates and charging less for pa-
pers shipped outside primary delivery
areas? How many of us have asked our-
selves if we can afford the customers we
have? Are we incurring needless ex-
pense for little sales gain in an effort to
distribute papers where we have no logi-
cal business circulation?lO
Ray Gilliland, former president of the
International Circulation Managers As-
sociation, has this to say about research:
If we can sell our publishers on
spending some real money in the next
few years on reader and circulation re-
search, the pay-off can be tremendous.
If we could just save one-third of a cent
per day by increasing the efficiency of
our departments it would increase the
newspaper industry’s profits by $60 mil-
lion per year.11
Research could be, and by certain
leading newspapers is, profitable if ap-
plied to various components of the mar-
keting mix:
The product. For many newspapers,
the pattern of success has been evolu-
tionary. They “just gowed”-getting
larger, thicker, adding more depart-
ments and features, and in effect trying
to be all things to all people. It well
might be that in a non-competitive situ-
ation in which many large metropolitan
newspapers find themselves, this is the
proper product to produce. But in light
of increased inter-rnedia competition
from radio, television and magazines,
and intru-media competition (suburban
43 8 JOURNALISM QUARTERLY

newspapers, “shoppers,” supplements) , per readers per 1000. He went on to

have newspapers really researched their predict further gains in circulation
product as well as they might? based on increased education in the
This does not mean a continuance of populace, broadcast media’s tendency
frequently sterile readership studies to “whet appetite for news,” and the
(although there are many newspapers activities of newspaper publishers who
that have not even done this). It does are currently investing over a hundred
mean more intensive reader reaction million dollars a year into moderniza-
and evaluation studies. These types of tion and plant expansion! l2
studies are not easy to do because often This may well be. But one might ask
one gets stereotypic answers (e.g., what newspapers are doing currently to
newspapers for news, television for en- make their product more attractive to
tertainment, etc., etc.) and because peo- such burgeoning markets as: young
ple’s attitudes toward a newspaper often people-a generation that has grown up
depend less on the characteristics of the with television. Half of the U.S. popu-
paper per se and more on their own lation is now 25 years of age or young-
personalities. But isn’t it possible to pre- er. Or what in today’s newspaper is of
test a newspaper either in concept, or interest to women who have more mon-
prototype or experimental editions? ey, discretionary buying power, educa-
A few newspapers have concerned tion and mobility? The late Pierre Mart-
themselves with “package research” ineau of the Chicago Tribune felt that
since to a great extent that is really the newspapers were slighting women in
function of a newspaper layout. The their attention other than presenting
management of the Minneapolis Star recipe columns and social news. The
and Tribune in choosing type faces for increasing importance of the Negroes in
its classified department experimented the large metropolitan areas-brought
with various type faces for legibility and on by Civil Rights legislation, economic
reading ease and comfort. In revamp- progress, plus Negro migration north
ing its morning edition-the Tribune- and into the cities and white migration
it reviewed its readership studies to to the suburbs-will offer a challenge to
maximize reader traffic throughout the newspapers to market their product
newspaper. more effectively.
But for a variety of reasons-tradi- There are other imminent changes:
tion, production orientation, lethargy- the increasing growth of leisure time,
newspapers have been reluctant to increased mobility of potential readers
change their make-up, especially front- (e.g., women today shop shopping cen-
page layout. Belatedly, some newspapers ters the way they did stores years ago),
are now revamping their front pages- the concentration of population into
the New York Herald Tribune, the inter-urbs, the development of new
Louisville Courier-Journal and the highways and expressways (which can
Christian Science Monitor have gone to change circulation and market areas
fewer and wider columns. How many overnight), etc. How many newspapers
others need “package testing”? have intelligence centers to alert them
to these changes?
b The market. In answering the ques- Channels of distribution. Today’s cir-
tion of “What’s Happening to the News- culation manager is often pre-occupied
paper Business,” Stanford Smith noted with carrier billing, bundle-tying equip-
circulation increases for daily newspa- ment, collecting money, scholarship pro-
pers of 22% from 1945 to 1963, 18% grams and renewal orders. With the
for Sunday newspapers, and an overall
I2 Stanford Smith, “What’s Happening to the
increase from 406 adult newspaper Newspaper Business.” Address at Syracuse Uni-
readers per 1000 to 436 adult newspa- versity, Dec. 1 1 , 1964.
 Newspapers and Marketing
switch to emphasis on subscription sales
rather than newsstand sales, the carrier
boy has become the keystone of the
newspaper circulation and delivery sys-
tem. Is he really the most efficient
means of distribution today?
Research from other industries indi-
cates that it may take from three to six
calls before a sale is actually made. The
Milwaukee Journal found that if it
could hold a subscriber for six months
he would tend to stay with the newspa-
per. Do carrier boys with their increased
independence and mobility and de-
creased financial need really provide the
sales talent needed for such long-range
selling? Some newspapers are currently
experimenting with adult salesmen via
personal and telephone contact. Isn’t
this a researchable problem?
Currently newspapers are being asked
to distribute samples of merchandise in
addition to delivering newspapers. Some
publishers and circulation managers are
reluctant to d o this business because it
would cheapen the “image” of the
newspaper and divide the loyalty of the
carrier. Others are in favor of it as a
means of securing additional revenue.
But where are the research data to sup-
port one stand or the other?
What about permitting subscribers to
pay in advance? Could subscription
cost be charged to local department
stores or banks? Could a bill be sent out
periodically as do utility and insurance
companies? How can collection costs be
minimized? Such questions lend well to
research and study.
Some newspapers are experimenting
with telephones, walkie-talkie radios,
airplanes, even sleds. Is there a way to
evaluate which technique is most effi-
cient? What about means of evaluating
and locating the most profitable dealers,
vendors, agencies and carriers? What
can research tell us about this?
Although the literature and meetings
of circulation managers are replete with
isolated examples and anecdotes of suc-
cess stories, there has been little re-
search done under controlled and pro-
439
jectible conditions. It well might be that
the circulation area for each newspaper
is different and that channels of distri-
bution must vary markedly, but there
must be certain marketing plans which
can be generalized to different news-
papers.
Sulcs promotion. Today’s newspaper
turns out a welter of promotional ma-
terial and advertising in an attempt to
increase circulation or to keep circula-
tion from falling. Newspapers use a va-
riety of sales promotion devices-sam-
pling, premiums, contests for subscrib-
ers and carrier boys, sales incentives,
reduced prices, etc.-yet very little is
known through research about effec-
tiveness. There are isolated examples of
studies done by individual newspapers.
The Milwaukee Journal, for example,
wanted to find out why contest sub-
scribers failed to renew their subscrip-
tions. It found that frequently this type
of subscriber took the paper merely to
help the carrier win a trip and that
there was very little thorough reading of
the newspaper. Other studies were de-
voted to finding out why total Sunday
newspaper circulation had not kept pace
with population growth in certain areas
and the degree of pass-along circulation
possessed by a morning newspaper.
More of these are needed.
It is interesting to observe that al-
though suburbs as markets vary greatly
in levels of education, age, community
spirit, temporal and spatial distance
from town center, etc., many newspa-
pers use the same promotional devices
throughout. Certainly this is in opposi-
tion to new marketing developments of
product and market segmentation.
A question which should be asked
frequently is how d o you measure the
effect of promotion? What would hap-
pen if we doubled the sales force or
canvassers or carrier boys and cut ad-
vertising in half? How can one relate
specific promotional activities to spe-
cific sales?
The circulation manager if he is to
become more marketing oriented must
440 JOURNALISM
have more information and data on his
product, his package, his market, his
channels o f distribution and his promo-
tional activities.
3 ) What about giving someone over-
all responsibility f o r the marketing mix?
It is probably the lack of this charac-
teristic which keeps the circulation de-
partment (and for that matter also the
advertising department) from becoming
marketing oriented. Very little can be
done if the principal decision maker-
be he publisher, general manager or
business manager-is not interested in
marketing.
Fortunately some of the leading
American newspapers are aware of this
need and are attempting to re-tool either
by introducing new personnel who are
marketing oriented or by setting up
marketing services which might aid the
present staff.
One of the most promising develop-
ments along this line is being made in
the United Kingdom by the Thomson
newspapers. The author was privileged
to serve as a marketing consultant with
the Thomson newspapers where he had
an opportunity to observe developments
first hand.
Faced with a problem of a hetero-
genous group of daily and weekly news-
papers throughout the United Kingdom
varying greatly in profitability, size and
growth potential, Lord Thomson of
Fleet hired Harry Henry, an advertis-
ing agency research man with little
newspaper experience but with a wealth
of advertising and marketing experi-
ence. Harry Henry, in turn, set up a
marketing division in London (see Fig-
ure 1) to service the various regional
newspapers. This marketing division
consisted of an account executive re-
sponsible for regional newspapers plus
a number of marketing services:
a) economic and market intelligence
-analyzed changes and develop-
ments in various markets and
QUARTERLY
noted their implications for each
of the newspapers;
field research-a group which
would do field surveys, and tests
for newspapers and accounts;
advertising services-supervised
all trade advertising so that it had
unity and a common “image”;
external relations - responsible
for public relations activities with
advertising agencies, vendors as
well as advertisers;
media interpretation unit-ana-
lyzed and interpreted media stud-
ies, both Thomson and competi-
tive, for presentations;
research presentation-supervised
and directed the presentation of
data via slide, film or print.
A marketing manager was appointed
for each of the regional newspapers.
His function and authority would de-
pend a great deal on the capability of
the local managing director (the British
term for our publisher). If the man-
aging director was quite business and
marketing oriented, the marketing man-
ager would serve more as an aide and
consultant; if the MD were not, the
marketing manager would frequently
make most of the marketing decisions
for the advertising, circulation and,
sometimes, the production departments.
The marketing managers in the re-
gional newspapers, as well as the head
of the marketing group in London,
would often come from industry or
from advertising agencies and get train-
ing in the newspaper business, or from
the circulation or advertising depart-
ments and would be given more mar-
keting training.
There were, and still are, many prob-
lems in introducing marketing in the
Thomson organization (as there will be
in all newspapers at the start).
1) Many of the editorial staff were
distrustful or wary about marketing.
Would it make more demands on what
went into the newspaper? Would edi-
torial integrity be jeopardized?
2) The marketing men were essen-
 Newspapers and Marketing 441
FIGURE 1
Dlagram of the Marketing Division of Thomson Newspapers, London
(Names of Individuals as of Summer 1964)

THE M A R K E T I N G DIVISION-THOMSON HOUSE

tially advisers and counsellors. Few had
direct control or were responsible for
profit and revenue. This authority with-
out responsibility often made opera-
tional plans difficult to implement.
3 ) Strangely enough, the advertising
department often did not work as co-
operatively as possible with the market-
ing representatives. Some felt that mar-
keting would replace advertising or that
the marketing men were some sort of
combined “efficiency expert and man-
agement spy.”
4) Lastly, of course, there was al-
ways the problem of dealing with shop
men and unions. It is one thing to sug-
gest a new technique for increasing ef-
ficiency (e.g., using a computer for
marketing data); it is quite another to
get some of the unions to permit this
change.
Nevertheless, marketing orientation
does make sense if it is given time and
management support.
This article was not intended to be a
jeremiad. Students of mass communi-
cation are fully aware of the different
roles that the various media play. They
442 JOURNALISM QUARTERLY

have noted the unnatural fears of media
in the past every time some new me-
dium came along: the predictions about
the demise of the book industry when
magazines came on the scene, or the
destruction of the movie industry or
radio when television came along, or
even those today who refer to the news-
paper as a “dying medium.” History
has proved most of these gloomy prog-
nosticators wrong IF (and this is a big
if) the media reacted intelligently and
quickly to their changing environment.
It may well be that the future of
newspapers depends on how well they
solve the problems of production and
labor. John Diebold underlined this
problem when he said:
I have never seen an industry that is
going to be more completely changed in
the next decade as a result of automa-
tion--or one which realizes it less.13
But it is the contention of this author
that the challenge of marketing will be
even more crucial. Prof. Fritz Machlup
estimated the “knowledge industry” in
the United States today to be worth
some $135 billion or nearly 30% of
total national effort. Will newspapers
get their proper “market share”?
1.x John Diebold, address to American Society of
Newspaper Editors, April 1963.

The Enemies of Advertising

,Look for a moment, not at the criticism of advertising, but at
the critics. Whatever the ostensible reasons they give for opposi-
tion to advertising and whatever apparently rational arguments
they adduce for controlling, reducing, or even doing away with
it altogether, these people d o not carry with them convictions of
the genuine critic.
Of course, an obtrusive and public activity like advertising is
wide open to criticism of detail, much of it justified. But the
source of the criticism and its motivation are almost as important
as its content. A responsible and respected critic brings affection
as well as knowledge to his subject, and his comments and ad-
vice, though often bitter to receive are seen to be constructive.
By this criterion the people I shall describe here are not critics
at all; they are enemies of advertising. . . .
A man who attacks advertising because he dislikes and fears
mass communications or disapproves of the profit motive will
have little or nothing in common with the man who accepts the
existence of mass communications and favors the profit motive.
A universe of discourse within the bounds of which debate can
be continued is almost entirely lacking. Hence the frustration and
irritation on both sides. The defence is based upon knowledge of
the techniques of advertising and on an acceptance of it as a nec-
essary function in our society; a substantial part of the attack
seems to stem from a wide and deep dislike of the way in which
our society works or even from the critic’s own inability to inte-
grate himself with it.-BRIAN COPLAND, in Spectator.