Media to survive, media to thrive

Media to survive, Media to thrive
Every business owner and organization is aware –or at least ought to be– that their relation to, and usage of, the media can have a great impact on their potential for success. It is this point that is argued by Robert McCall in the article “Family Services and The Mass Media.” In it, McCall discusses how to take advantage of all the facets of mass communication for the sake of advertising, specifically with regard to small service agencies who are trying to publicize their research and/or preventative advice. His good intentions focus on training uninformed business owners to exploit the branches of the all powerful mass media tree for the sake of community well-being. Rather than a ferocious beast to be feared, he explains how media might be tamed, turning a potential threat into not just a benefit, but an indispensible tool for success.
This can prove especially so in the not-for-profit sector, where traditional means of advertising are less of an option. An example presented by McCall is adolescent abuse awareness, which, he explains, is far more prevalent than most people know. Such causes ought to take advantage of media exposure at every opportunity, such as hosting media-attracting events, encouraging public service announcements, etc. In the case of such causes, McCall explains that “some agencies are forever on the precipice of financial disaster, and community awareness of their services and accomplishments can be an important method of creating an image that the agency is contributing to the community and worthy of support” (McCall 1983).
A perfect illustration of this concept has just recently unfolded in the national media. The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Cory Booker, began a series of programs to improve Newark’s standard of living through such means as city-sponsored health-care vouchers. Late night television host Conan O’Brien made light of the program, saying the vouchers amounted to bus tickets out of Newark. The crowd laughs, the show goes on.
A less savvy politician may have let the matter drop, or, perhaps much worse, taken offense and fired back less than diplomatically. Instead, Mayor Booker posted two youtube.com video outlining his plan in further detail while mock-lambasting the Late Night host. Using the initial jab as a springboard for publicity, Mayor Booker’s use of humor and viral media allowed him to inform his community –and the nation– of his plan. Robert McCall’s first observation, that “services are not terribly useful unless individuals in the community who need them know that they exist,” was therefore solved by the mayor’s positive response to television media (McCall, 1983). To date the videos have received over 300,000 views, tens of thousands more than the total population of Newark, New Jersey itself.
So effective were the viral media videos that the “feud” culminated with an appearance of by the mayor on O’Brien’s California-based program, an unprecedented accomplishment for a mayor (the last politician to appear on the program was G.O.P. presidential candidate and senator John McCain). Again, Booker was given the opportunity to outline his agenda to a national audience, this time through more traditional media of major network television rather than viral internet media. The mayor came off brilliantly in the interview and millions of people were made aware of his plans for the city of Newark. In addition to this exposure, Conan O’Brien presented the mayor with a check for $100,000 towards Mayor Booker’s city civic programs.
Even without the aforementioned donation, one must conclude that the publicity garnered from this exposure will only bolster support for Booker’s plans. McCall explains that “[c]reating awareness is probably the thing mass communications does best. It has been said that the mass media tell people less what to think than what to think about. Moreover, it has been shown that the media suggest to people how much importance they should attach to one issue or another” (McCombs & Shaw 1977).
In the case of Mayor Booker’s reforms, it is logical to assume that the citizens of Newark were impressed that their city was receiving national attention, encouraging a belief that his plans were important and beneficial. “While the media are not likely to change the minds of people who already have strong opinions about a subject,” this openness to exposure and skill in shaping it informed a great many people about services being offered by the city of Newark (McQuail 1969). The benefits from this exposure could be an increased usage and support of said services, investment in the city, as well as the increased profile of Mayor Cory Booker’s image.
With this same concept extended towards other organizations or small businesses, one can see the opportunity that can be taken advantage of –or lost– depending on how well one chooses to interact with both traditional and cutting-edge forms of media. Like the person who fears social exclusion as a result of not adhering to the rules of the dominant world of meaning, organizations and businesses will experience alienation and stagnation if they cannot remain on the cutting edge of communication.


Works Cited
McCall, Robert B. “Family Services and the Mass Media.” Family Relations Vol. 32 No. 3 (1983): 315-322
Shaw, Donald L. & McCombs, Maxwell E. “The Agenda-Setting Function of the Press.” The Emergence of American Political Issues (1977): 211
McQuail, Denis. “Sociology of Mass Communication.” Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 11 (1969): 94.