From the CEO: Some Mike and The Mechanics wisdom to begin 2022
In the first #MEAExpress of 2022, MEA CEO Peter McDonald links Mike and The Mechanics 'Word of Mouth' to the sensationalisation of the media.
Hello readers. Welcome back to MEA Express for a new year. A new year means a new playlist, but I’ll get back to that in a bit.
I’d be remiss to not address the elephant in the room. COVID and its management remains an issue for society and by default our sector. 2021 may have ended, but when we woke up on January 1 we did so with all of the pleasures and pains we went to bed with on 31 December. A pandemic knows no human bounds such as a calendar. It just ‘be’s’. There’s road to travel yet so for those willing and able please consider getting vaccinated if you haven’t begun the process, or continuing with the program if you have.
The more years of age one accumulates, the more life they get to experience. Having done my share of age accumulating, I’ve borne witness to how much hype couples a new year and how so much psych accompanies it. New resolutions and perceived ‘chapter’ closures on the sole basis of a time measure are highly irrational to me. What day it is and what year that day is in are not logical bases for how good or bad it will be. Every day will give us the return for what we invest in it, and the attitude with which we approach it.
A new year does allow a line to be drawn in the sand though and given the survival challenge COVID has presented to our mental health, there is certainly psychological benefit to be gained from being able to group some circumstances as collective past. So, in that sense its good to be able to say: “Hello 2022. It is wonderful to see you. And see ya 2021. Tell your story walking.”
I’d like to start the year on the front foot with a challenge to the media – and I’m not talking only events sector trade media: keep storytelling to the facts we need to know, and make sure your prioritisation of stories would pass a pub test. I watched the NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s press conference on 7 January when he announced the re-introduction of restrictions for the state as Omicron took hold. What has stuck with me still some 10 days down the road was that the first question asked of him by a journalist was whether he got it wrong by opening the state up on 15 December. Straight to the negative. In my opinion it was plainly and simply a stupid, sensationalist question from which no benefit could be gained. Even if he had answered yes – which any intelligent person knows he wouldn’t have – what problem was that going to fix?
Likewise yesterday (I’m writing this Monday) a volcanic eruption in Tonga with potential global repercussion got second billing on last night’s and this morning’s news bulletins to Novak Djokovic’s visa cancellation. Where’s the perspective here? In what reality is a tournament of tennis for one man more important than a potential life and death situation for thousands of people? I’m not a tennis fan and I’ve never met Novak Djokovic. He may be a lovely man, and mine is not a view formed towards him personally. But at the end of the day playing tennis is his job. It’s a job he gets paid a lot of money for and enjoys a lot of privilege as a result of. I dare say he works very hard to receive those rewards. But at the end of the day, its his job. Its how he contributes to society and how he provides for his own existence. Every person’s job is important because it’s a piece in the world puzzle. Special treatment on employment basis should not come to anyone. I’m sure if you or I misrepresented our circumstances on a visa application not only would we not get special treatment, we wouldn’t even make the news let alone be the main story above a volcanic eruption and possible tsunami. The perspective of it all got lost for me in the interests of TV ratings. And it wasn’t just one network. They were all the same. That’s not responsible journalism. What it is is a questionable industry culture. I’m not saying don’t report it because obviously the Australian Open is a major international sporting event, and he is the game’s Number 1 ranked male player. I’m saying just keep reporting to the facts and the story priority in the context of other happenings of the day.
Mike and The Mechanics released a song ‘Word of Mouth’ back in 1991. Its lyrics include the following:
From the west side to the east side
From the north side to the south
You'll never get bad information
If you believe in the word of mouth
You don't believe the information
You don't believe it when it's denied
So when you're reading explanations
You have to read between the lines
The greater song can be interpreted to be that whatever someone – anyone – says has to be considered in terms of what their agenda is. Sadly news reporting has evolved from being a fact based discipline to drama founded tabloidism. No longer are consumers being left to decipher their personal views in the context of the truth and their conscience only. They are having these skewed to the journalist’s, producer’s or editor’s view because news has become about emotion drawing and storytelling objectives. I may not be a rocket scientist, but I’m no fool either. I don’t need embellishment in my news feed. I just need to know plain and simple what happened. I can take it from there. I’m sure most other people can too.
I’m a busy man. I could benefit from less time needing to read between the lines. I expect many readers are and could too. So media friends, your returning to your job function fundamentals will be an action very gratefully received.
Some may view this piece as negative and by default me a hypocrite by calling out negativity with said perceived negativity. I’ve got sufficient EQ to be cognisant of that potential and that people like optimism at the start of anything new – including a new year. I’ve been up front that I’m neither a glass half empty nor half full kind of guy. I’m an ‘it’s a half a glass’ guy. I say it for what it is – no more, no less.
I do think good times for the sector are on the horizon. What concerns me is that the emergence of these, and of optimism and of consumer confidence – two major things on which our sector relies – will be stifled by less than responsible press coverage of the issues that influence them. This article’s moral? If you want 2022 to be all that it can be – and let’s face it, we’re due a good one – don’t engage in or tolerate sensationalism. Call it out, because unless you do there’s no reason for its perpetrators to reconsider their behaviour.
Make wise choices about who you listen to. And if you want to drive change, make sure your own messaging is founded on reliable sources. Good information can spread virally (pardon the analogy) the same way bad information does. Reputations can be built or broken by word of mouth. Create trust in what you say by keeping it simple and leaving emotion aside. If the sector collectively sings the same song, the tune will catch on.
Source:
Song – “Word of Mouth”
Album – “Word of Mouth”
