Spreading the News

I was struck by the sound reasoning of Paul McDonnold in his recent commentary in the Christian Science Monitor: “While things in the economy truly are bad, this is not simply about reporting the truth; it’s about representing that truth in the most responsible way. A media that is too much in love with stories that bleed is capable of making the recession worse than it has to be.”

We need to take these words to heart and remember that we have a great deal of influence over the thinking of the business people in our markets.

That influence comes in two forms: first, as a powerful news medium, our choice of stories and wording contributes to a climate of hope or despair (which is McDonnold’s point).

But equally important is the more subtle effect of the hundreds of personal interactions between our sales people and our clients that take place every week. As the saying goes, a sale is always made; either we buy into the clients’ fears or they buy into our optimism.

But for our people to make the “sale” of hope—which often will lead to the sale of radio advertising—we need to be absolutely positive in our thought, speech and action. . .and be vigilant against negativity among our people.

Which leads us right back to the whole cutback thing: part of the art of prudent pruning is preserving the spirit of our people.