Contractually published
26/04/06 19:06 Coffee machine moments
Interesting debate happening over at the Freelance
mailing list, run by
Mousetrap
Media.
Specifically someone is asking whether contract
publishing is actually journalism.
Contract publishing, for people not in the know, is when a company gets an independent publisher to put out a magazine on its behalf - so Sky's listing magazine would be an example, as would Microsoft Magazine of years gone by, of which I was pleased to be sacked as editor after a single issue.
My answer, after some deliberation, is that it's not journalism at all. Far from it. Journalism is supposed to cut through vested interests and present an unbiased view of whatever it's writing about. By definition, if someone with vested interests is calling the shots - and never mind that they'll tell you they want 'independent', they damned well don't - it's marketing. Where I part company with some journalists is that I see nothing wrong in marketing as long as it's clear what the reader is getting. Others seem to see journalism as some sort of religion or lifestyle choice, and condemn the other stuff out of hand.
I've never understood that attitude personally. But I'm not struck on the idea that contract publishing's not a form of marketing. Or else, why would a client pay for it?
Contract publishing, for people not in the know, is when a company gets an independent publisher to put out a magazine on its behalf - so Sky's listing magazine would be an example, as would Microsoft Magazine of years gone by, of which I was pleased to be sacked as editor after a single issue.
My answer, after some deliberation, is that it's not journalism at all. Far from it. Journalism is supposed to cut through vested interests and present an unbiased view of whatever it's writing about. By definition, if someone with vested interests is calling the shots - and never mind that they'll tell you they want 'independent', they damned well don't - it's marketing. Where I part company with some journalists is that I see nothing wrong in marketing as long as it's clear what the reader is getting. Others seem to see journalism as some sort of religion or lifestyle choice, and condemn the other stuff out of hand.
I've never understood that attitude personally. But I'm not struck on the idea that contract publishing's not a form of marketing. Or else, why would a client pay for it?
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