Literary life preserver
By Bernardo Ajzenberg
June 15, 2003
Folha and the Rio daily O Globo last week resumed a policy adopted in the mid-90s to stimulate the sale of newspapers accompanied by free gifts, in this case a collection of 30 books at attractive prices.
Discussion about whether this initiative is right or wrong seems Byzantine to me. In the end, it is a legitimate business decision. Many criticisms came from readers, but so did praise.
Meriting reflection here are the possible causes and the pertinence and effectiveness of the initiative from an institutional viewpoint, aside from the way that it has interfered up to now in the journalistic production of the daily newspaper, strictly speaking.
Circulation of the main Brazilian newspapers with national circulation has been falling for nearly seven years after an artificial peak between 1994 and 1996 caused precisely by the policy of gifts (atlas, dictionaries, books, etc.). I touched on this topic last Feb. 23.
What has happened this year is that the situation has not improved. Furthermore, it is sad that the media, which are so agile and prodigious at providing negative news about other sectors, maintain a deafening silence about the topic of their own health (or lack of it).
In the first four months of this year, Folha sold on average 7.4 0.000000e+00ss than in the same period of 2002; O Estado de So Paulo was down 9.8%; and O Globo declined 5.6%. Compared with the yearly averages in 2002, the declines were 6%, 5.9%, and 3%.
It is estimated that between April and the beginning of June, from 70 to 100 journalists have been laid off in newsrooms at the nations large newspapers, including Folha.
Last Sunday, readers learned about the demise of TV Folha (partially compensated by the reissue of Ilustrada, the Sunday magazine) and today its the end for Folha Vale (the regional edition for the Paraba Valley of So Paulo state).
The situation is critical and demands action. But would the increase of circulation through gifts which relies on the qualitative merits of the Folha library be the best life preserver?
Its hard to respond, but, as an advocate for readers, I see the discomforts generated by the way the promotion has been managed up to now.
Confusion
There is a lot of confusion between normal journalistic stories and promotional materials in the collection that up to now has been detrimental to the former.
Last Sunday, the disposable outer cover which came with promotional material on one side had news copy (a column about goings-on at the presidential palace and a story) on the other. Its easy to assume that thousands of readers discarded the cover page and lost the news stories.
Additionally, the ample editorial space dedicated to the collection even a special section with bylined articles from the newsroom got the attention of some readers who believed it is obvious that such space should be dedicated to news and stories rather than self-promotion.
Consulted about this matter, the newspapers editors sent the following comment: The Folha library, due to the literary importance of the books it includes and quality of the translations, has an obvious cultural interest. Otherwise, Folha would have reported the initiative but probably would not have dedicated so much editorial space to it.
There was also an agreement between this newspaper and O Globo, for their respective promotions, that Folha readers in important regions (Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais states, including Belo Horizonte) do not get it and had to buy the rival to get the gift. A reader in Juiz da Fora, Minas Gerais commented that this way you become obligated to assume a position for six months (the promotion lasts until the end of the year) that works against this highly regarded newspaper.
The operational side of the campaign, by the way, was the object of a correction published by the newspaper on Wednesday in which it admitted having left out announcements (including the outer cover on Sunday) that the promotion did not reach those regions. It was a cause for e-mails from readers, mainly in Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, who were angry and indignant that they saw what they described in their own words as misleading advertising.
Well have to wait and see whether other states or regions get compensations for such immediate localized losses. In any hypothesis, the discontent of readers such as the one in Juiz da Fora makes a lot of sense.
The experience of the promotions of the past decade showed marginal retention of residual readers after the explosion of sales, as I already mentioned in the Feb. 23 column. Thats precisely because the attraction is trinkets rather than the newspaper. There is nothing to indicate that it will be any different this time.
A story in Folha on Wednesday showed that with the free distribution of Lolita, sales rose 140% last Sunday. It was hoped for.
One skeptical reader sent the following message: Its a sign that people bought the book and not the newspaper. Commercially, it was a success. But for the newspapers ego it was a disaster.
I see a little bit of exaggeration in this assertion, but in light of past experience, it is at least something to think about.
Subtle border
One reader felt perplexed and another spoke of disguised advertising. The criticisms were made about the item Liquidation 15″ in a column in the business section on Saturday, June 7.
The piece said: This weekend, those who call any Brazilian state using the Super 15 service by long-distance carrier Telefnica will pay a maximum of 6 centavos and a minimum of 2 centavos (between under a U.S. penny and 2 cents), without tax. The discount on international calls to any country in the world at any hour will be 50%. Curiously, a few pages earlier there was a half-page ad for the sale.
The editor of the column, Guilherme Barros, asserted that the objective was to offer a service and said that any other conclusion about the piece is wrong.
I believe that this service/ad conflict really does exist, in many cases. Where does service end and ads begin? the journalist asked.
When we report on a movie or book coming out or when we review a restaurant, we are performing a service, Barros asserted, but it does not stop being a type of ad.
Its necessary to make some distinctions.
There are fixed and specific sections in which the newspaper reports what happened in a city, with different choices of entertainment, movies, restaurants and events.
There are stories about debuts and premieres, with statements, interviews and critiques, as well as editions about construction, test drives in vehicles, etc.
There are also stories about indicative actions in sectors (airlines doing joint promotions, for example) or business solutions that become news because they are unprecedented.
Where does the story in question fit into this? Honestly, I dont see it as one of those cases.
