Byline Festival Takeaway: Keep an Open Mind

I spent the holiday weekend at The Byline Festival listening to panel sessions and interviews amp160The topics includedamp160the influence that dark money and misusing individualsamp8217 social media data has had on recent elections and referendumsamp160and the issues caused by a lack of regulation around political advertising and indeed social media in generalamp160amp160Speakers ranged from high profile figures like Carole Cadwalladr Misha Glenny Kirsty Laing Peter Jukes Peter York Luke Harding and Gina Miller through to UK correspondents from Die Welt the Greek TV network Hellenic BC and Le MondeThere was nobody on stage from the commercial side of the media business understandably perhaps nor shamefully from managementAs I listened to various speakers I thought back to the days of The Sunday Times under Harry Evans and the support he received from his sales director when the Insight team ran investigative campaigns that upset some of the paperamp8217s advertisersamp160 Would todayamp8217s sales heads behave in the same way I doubt itWhat I wondered would it take for the agencies today to think a little about issues other than the numbersamp160amp160I know the arguments that we should only be about reaching an audience more ads on Pornhub then and up to a point I support them but should it not be part of our role to consider in the round the media that carry our advertisersamp8217 messagesI learned a lot at Bylineamp160 I did not know that there are now more people employed in PR than there are journalists nor was I aware that UK newspapers are the least trusted in Europeamp160 I was broadly aware of the pressure journalists are under but not to the extent that their lack of numbers means that many are reduced to recycling press releases generating clicks or being monstered or blackballed for not swallowing whole the latest spin from whichever politicianIt was also clear that journalists simply donamp8217t understand why it is that political advertising in this country is not subject to the same creative rules that apply to other forms of advertisingThey have a pointamp160 We seem stuck in our own little bubbleamp160 Within the media end of the ad business weamp8217ve become so locked into the detail the smaller issues the gross numbers and the meaningless online metrics that we have lost sight of the bigger pictureHow do people use the media amp160How does the media itself influence opinion and behaviours amp160How important is editorial integrity and if it is what canamp160or should the ad industry do about supporting and promoting itamp160amp160How should newspapers be funded in the era of Facebook Google and the restamp160 Can we truly have a free press when politicians and leaders simply bark amp8220fake newsamp8221 at anything that displeases them and be believed by their supportersThese are complicated issuesamp160 We should all want to be part of the debate and to discuss whether our industry can play any role in driving changeBest done with an open mindDisclosure amp160BJampampA works with Byline Times sister to the Byline Festival mentioned in this postClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Byline Festival Takeaway: Keep an Open Mind

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Brian Jacobs

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