Ethics: Selling vs. Storytelling

I used to have a managing editor who would emphatically declare, “Let ‘em buy time!” whenever someone would pitch a story about a new product or service.

It’s common to be faced with the opportunity or desire to report on something somebody else is selling. It’s human nature to want to discuss the latest gadget, the coolest toy, the freshest new business idea. But as journalists, we’ve got to find a way to gauge its newsworthiness, lest we wind up simply becoming advertisers.

The iPhone is a great example.  It has so saturated our culture and conversation that we would be negligent if we didn’t report on its new developments.  But you’ll notice, plenty of problem reports are balancing the initial rollout excitement these days.

Also recently, Chevrolet announced new markets in which it will sell its new electric ride, the Volt.  As a newsroom, we discussed some interest in covering the coinciding press event, but in the end, decided to let the ads Chevy had purchased within our newscast breaks speak for themselves.

Another case study: A new business just popped up in our area, offering spray-tans in your home.  It’s grown in popularity among stay-at-home moms who don’t want to hire a babysitter just to go get bronzed at the spa.

One way to handle an assigned story like this is to examine the perspectives of the key players – the business owner, the mom who pays for the service, the child who gets to stay home and watch mommy get tan.  The story sounds pretty different, depending on which voice you use to tell it.

The business owner has a clear agenda – to sell her product. Tell it through her perspective and you’ll get an advertisement.

The mom might get you closer to the viewpoint of your audience members.  Telling the story through her eyes will likely be more objective.  She can talk about the pros and cons of the product – how well it works, how much it costs, etc.  And her perspective will speak more to the overall trend of this type of service, rather than the specific product in question.

Only the very brave and talented (or just plain silly, depending on who you ask) can tell the story from the kid’s viewpoint.  It takes a bit of out-of-the-box thinking and may shift your focus so far that you lose the point of the story altogether.  Tread these waters very carefully.

Here’s how the local story turned out…

Good choices?  Discuss…

If you pitch a story like this or have one assigned to you, there are lots of ways to balance your coverage.  Start by weighing the agendas at hand; try to view the product or service from a variety of different perspectives; and look to see if there are any competing products that you could include in your report.  It always helps, too, to have the input of your peers and managers as you’re crafting the report.

Now show us some examples!  Share links to your insightful and engaging reports on products or services.