A couple of decades back, #journalists
were kind of independent when it came to reporting and they never had the
management breathing down their necks to get moolah for their organisations.
And even if they wanted the moolah, it was done discreetly. While the #journalist
concentrated on doing some fine reporting, the marketing guys concentrated on
getting the #advertisements for the organisation.
In my entire newspaper days, as a
journalist, I was never asked to talk to any company for securing
advertisements. But all that has changed. Today Editors pitch for
advertisements for their organisations.
Soon leading newspapers started
charging for the news space. Sponsored write ups and paid stuff started
appearing as reports.
In Part 6 of my write up, I
explained the difference between #B2B #autojournalist
and a #B2Cautojournalist. A B2B auto
journalist was at one time a simple bloke with a focus on writing and doing
some serious journalistic work. But #B2Bjournalists are also
getting savvy. In newspapers and television channels, they use their corporate
connections to take part in discussions and forums which generate a lot of
money for the organisation. Since they are not into driving and riding
vehicles, they solely focus on serious stuff. Serious stuff is now a
money-spinner for leading financial newspapers and magazines.
I was always a B2B auto journalist
and was quite happy with what I was doing.
Thus, when I started off as an
entrepreneur in 2010 with the launch of #MotownIndia magazine,
it was a #B2Bmagazine. I realised entrepreneurship was a
different ballgame. One, you need deep pockets, two, you need to be crafty,
three, you need to suck up to corporates and four, you can take your
self-respect and chuck it out of the window!
Since I failed on all four counts,
I had to face some bitter consequences.
A few years later I changed my
magazine to a B2C auto magazine. Learning the ropes of B2C journalism did not
take much time for me and I soon became confident. Since I could drive and ride
anything motorized on wheels, I at least had the basic qualification to become
a B2C correspondent, A few established B2C auto journalists taunted me and
tried to put me down. I simply ignored them.
Though I had my own marketing and
sales team, I had to step in several times to procure advertisements and advertorials
for my magazine. I experienced the working of several advertisement agencies
that bordered on ruthlessness, unfairness and at times, corruption. I was not
prepared for this shocking side of the business. Like I said earlier, you need
great talent to ingratiate yourself to the auto company top honchos. I was just
not prepared for this.
As I was struggling with my
magazine, the social media revolution came like a tsunami into my world.
Whatever little sanctity that was left in auto journalism was thrown out of the
window and new revolutionary norms came into force.
TO BE CONTINUED...