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Lesson#23
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MEDIA MANAGEMENT
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MEDIA MANAGEMENT
The issue of media management was the next once newspapers and
magazines became a known
entity in the society.
In the initial phase of print communication, publications were
not very regular not only in the sense of on
time the next day, or on a particular day in case of
periodicals, but also in the sense of their layouts, design,
number of pages and the content.
The media continued in this fashion by the end of 18th
century. But in the meantime the world of
advertising and some modernization in the printing process had
been introduced. The 19th
century saw the
print media getting into a great discipline as dailies started
fashioning themselves in the sense of contents,
regularity in publishing and observing the time of appearance in
the market.
The media management means to make sure that a publication meets
its deadlines, keeps contents, generate
revenue and maintains its technical wing to be there in the
hands of end-readers well in time.
To manage print media is a hard task. Colleges and universities
run special courses on media management
and specialists are engaged to seek advice on matters to manage
and maintain a publication.
Division
Any publication has three clear areas to manage:
• Editorial
• Business
• Technical
Editorial
The most important area of a daily is its editorial section. A
large circulation daily has to follow a
service structure to make sure that the people working in the
editorial department are in a well defined
hierarchy.
The staff is generally divided into two categories:
• Field staff
• Newsroom and
editorial
The field staff comprises reports who are assigned beats (areas)
like crime, politics, business, environment,
sports or some are assigned with special reports on different
subjects.
The other part of the editorial staff is supposed to mange the
newsroom where ultimately every matter is
taken care of that is to appear the next day. The part of the
staff is supposed to write daily editorials,
articles, comments etc. All the staff is headed by an editor who
is responsible for what report or comment
has appeared in the paper.
Writing for a newspaper is not an easy task. The writer has to
take into account the policy of the paper, laws
and regulations and the ethics which are generally observed in a
society. Many a time writers face severe
reaction on their write-ups and have to go behind bars. The
publications have to see closure for adhering to
their policy if it is against the government.
Business section
Every publication needs management of its finances. The revenue
it generates and the money it
spends. For revenue generation advertising and circulation
departments are established. The advertising
department keeps making campaign to generate revenue. It fixes
rates of different type and size of
advertisements appearing on the regular pages or special
supplements.
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Two color ads and multicolor ads are charged differently.
Likewise if an advertiser wants ad of its product
appear at a particular place and page, it is supposed to pay
more. In big newspapers cost difference between
an ordinary ad and the one at a particular spot is very high –
to the extent of 400 per cent.
Ad which appear brief and usually in one column are called
classified while others are noted as display ads.
Normally newspapers charge ad cost in advance. But in case of
advertising agencies newspapers allow a
credit for 90 days, though this period varies from publication
to publication.
The circulation department also meant to undertake exercises to
increase the circulation of the publication.
It not only helps generate finances but also goes to create a
mark of the daily in the market. It is always a
pride for a publication to note its high circulation.
The accounts department in the business section is supposed to
be taking care of disbursement of salaries
to the staff, purchase of components of machines, paper, ink and
the transport. This department also helps
the company to maintain its audit reports.
Press
The printing side of a newspaper or a periodical inside the
office is referred to as press in the sense
of printing press. All matters pertaining to printing press are
referred to as press matters.
The foremost task of this department is ensure that the
newspaper would be printed at the desired time
(deadline) and available for distribution the next morning.
It is the press department which tells the directors (owners)
about the newsprint (paper) requirement. The
newsprint comes in the form of huge roles and its consumption
depends on the size and volume – number
of pages – printed every day. The newsprint has to be bought in
enough quantity well in advance. The next
task is to keep camera for filming the copies pasted with news
and ads and which are handed over to it by
the editorial department. And from filming to plate making and
the inks used to print the final plates.
It sounds little technical but then this is how the whole
process of the printing press is managed for a
regular publication. This department usually operates in the
night no matter it is cold, hot or raining. Any
small mistake here may ruin the whole work performed by other
departments in the day.
The management of print media is done more efficiently if the
managers are fully acquainted with the
working of all the three major sections of the publication.
Normally newspapers hold regular training
sessions for the people who are to be assigned with the task of
managing the publication. |
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