What The Media Shows

            In class on Tuesday, we spent some time examining the importance of the awards ceremony we held on Thursday.

            The conversation centered on what parties will benefit from it, and the purpose of holding the ceremony in general. Initial sentiments, at least from my group but also that seemed to be shared by the rest of the class, were that it provided a sort of closure and celebration both for our efforts and for the organizations. It seemed that just giving the money away without a sort of celebration of it would undermine the semester’s worth of work we’d done. We also addressed the benefits of publicity for the organizations, the benefits of publicity for the University, and the benefits of coverage for the media.

            I spend a lot of my time working on Pipe Dream, and am frequently figuring out what to cover for our newspaper. Generally, we want to weigh importance with interest. Stories that are covered are both relevant, but also ones that will be relevant to students. When I look at Pipe Dream, I personally see a product that packages primarily the interesting aspects of a Binghamton student experience.

            So, on the one hand, we act in self-interest. The media looks for stories that will improve its popularity. But on the other hand, we also operate with an understanding of our clientele. The media, in looking for stories that will improve its popularity, again keeps its consumers in mind.

            Many people criticize publicity in philanthropic efforts, and I this while not misguided, arguments frequently miss the point. In this article, (http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/) Forbes tackles the issue of whether or not charity is just a publicity stunt. But I think that regardless of whether it is or isn’t, there is a larger benefit to the publicity in general.

            Popularity of media and publicity’s success depends on public interest. Something cannot garner attention if people are not inclined to read it in the first place. I think that the presence of media at events like these makes a statement about the surrounding community, or at least the outlet’s viewers/readership. Since a media source is a business, they do aim to be successful and popular with what they do. That means our content not only has to interest them personally, but the people that they provide a service for.