Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Real Life vs. Fiction. Journalism vs. Marketing.

In a fragmented media world, where everyone has a gazillion options for where to get information/entertainment/whatever, journalists are desperate to draw in an audience.

A local news anchor tweeted the note above, referencing Breaking Bad, the popular cable program that sometimes airs during the same time slot as her newscast.

Is her correlation to the fictional show in bad taste or smart marketing?

26 comments:

Margaret Keenan said...

This is an awful idea! Unless the show had some correlation to the 6 people who got shot then there is no reason why Breaking Bad should have been mentioned. It's almost as if she's making a joke or light of the situation by using the reference.

Kimberly Leung said...

I think it's a good idea to initially draw viewers in. Fans of Breaking Bad gravitate to the show title, but the way the tweet is executed is awful. I don't think referencing Breaking Bad has a purpose, other then being a television sensation. There is no relevance between the story and the show. Honestly, it just looks like a pathetic attempt of advertising.

Steven Bohnel said...

It's just really bad in taste. Right as the event is taking place, I feel journalists should be letting the story sell itself in most cases, not try and sell the story. Imagine all the families who were affected that find this tweet. They're not going to be too happy obviously! You can't interweave reality TV--although Breaking Bad is a great show--with real life events. A person being shot in a show and being shot in REAL LIFE are two completely different ideas.

Jordan Mayo said...

This tweet is way out of line. I believe she is being completely disrespectful towards the victims and the victims families. If a family member were to see this, they would be furious. Why can't we just let the news be news? Why must we try to sell or link the news to tv shows?

Unknown said...

Smart marketing...but marketing peeps are evil. It was poor taste, but from a marketing viewpoint, I would place top dollars that a lot of people tuned in that night as a result. Would like to see the ratings.

Anonymous said...

I believe this isn't the way to go when trying to get an audience. Journalist are supposed to have a conscience and broadcasting and connecting a real life shooting to a fictional TV show isn't they way to go. Think about the family of those victims. Would they want their loved one's situation to be seen in light as mindless entertainment or in a serious light?

-Artensa

Alexa White said...

I think it was smart marketing. I tweeted something about how I liked Sons of Anarchy and there are literally people who sit there searching Sons of Anarchy all day that they actually found my tweet and started following me. To me it was absolutely psychotic when I thought about these people just sitting on their computers searching "Sons of Anarchy", eating donuts in their pajamas and refreshing the page every seven minutes but thinking about that... how many people probably found that journalists tweet from doing the same thing with Breaking Bad? It was smart, she probably drew in a lot of people, however it did seem to make light of a murder which I found to be awkward, actually.

Meghan Rosko said...

I think this comment is in bad taste. There is no need to reference a popular show to gain attention of a serious event. The audience will watch the news if they want to know what is going on, not if they are persuaded to watch. Breaking Bad may be a popular show, but the shooting of six people should not be compared to "popular". Those six people were harmed and they should be respected, not mocked.

ambrose nzams said...

Both awful taste and completely foolish, as well as smart marketing. I saw this retweeted at least six times.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

This is a pathetic attempt to sell the news, especially a story about something as serious as violence. It's one reason why I've stopped watching Fox29. I have a very hard time taking them seriously. I love watching Mike & Sheinelle in the mornings for a light-hearted newscast because they're hilarious and fun and do crazy stuff, but I don't trust Fox with my news, and this is one example as to why.

Chris Abruzzo said...

Although I'm not in support of the tweet, I do think this was smart marketing. It seems like the anchor wanted to encourage people to watch the news that night and one way to hook the audience is to slightly "tease" them as to what you may be talking about. I do not like the comparison of the show to the deaths but I think the anchor was trying to persuade viewers and maybe maximize her audience, not disrespect anyone. It was about drawing viewers and maybe she did that.

Fletcher Jones said...

The business is no longer as concerned about the ACTUAL news as it should be, so at least Joyce Evans is being straightforward concerning her goal of getting viewers!

Lauren Brown said...

It is absolutely in bad taste to do what she did. If she wants bad publicity then she now has it. But then again, it is still publicity. In the end, it is in bad taste and now she doesn't look credible.

Paige Calter said...

There really is no way to make this seem like a positive thing, because it isn't. This journalist wrote this tweet in bad taste, and there is no way to go around that. Just because something is popular, does not mean it should be referenced in real life. The journalist should show compassion to the 6 victims, and not use their wounds as a way for her reference a popular show to get more viewers.

Amanda White said...

Yes, I agree this is a terrible tweet relating 6 people shot to a hit show. BUT, she got attention for the story... good or bad, people most likely tuned it. Her reputation may have been altered but she definitely made the story known by getting people to talk. Miley Cyrus comes to mind while typing this comment- some people think she is good others not so much, either way she is getting the attention. Sorry Joyce, but you probably lost a lot of fans over THAT one- but I'm sure your story had millions of views.

Greg Frank said...

This kind of comment really can't and shouldn't be used as a way of marketing the newscast and is in very poor taste. In big cities sometimes there are unsafe areas in which crime takes place and news outlets feel the need to report on it. That's fine and should be covered to help locals know what's going on and what areas to avoid. But this should not be used as a way of getting people to tune into a newscast. It's still a very sad story and should not be used as a way of encouraging people to watch the news.

Ta'lor Walker said...

What Joyce Evans did was completely unprofessional. Even if the newscast is struggling with views, this just reached an all time low. I think a news story as horrid as a shooting will naturally attract viewers so this tasteless marketing technique failed completely.

Unknown said...

I think this tweet was in very poor taste. I understand the want to relate news to pop culture, but when talking about such as serious matter as six people being shot, there is no need to joke. Celebs and pop culture are vastly different than hard news.

Don McDermott said...

This was in very bad taste. Six people were shot. This lady should have had some respect for the victims, instead of making a silly reference, complete with exclamation points. Even if it wasn't something so serious, though, I don't think that reference is very professional.

Unknown said...

I feel that the correlation to the fiction show is in bad taste. I see how the anchor was trying to draw viewers however she is almost making the 6 people who were shot dead in Philly to be no big deal. It is misleading and if I were the family of any of those 6 people who were shot, I would be angered and feel as though the anchor is not taking the deaths seriously.

Marianna Morris said...

Both. It was smart marketing in that it got people's attention and made them pay attention to her and tune in, but it also came back to bite her because it was a despicable thing to say and it brands her as a journalist who is just out there for the views, not the integrity of her position and role.

Andrew Vanech said...

It's great marketing. Breaking Bad was a great show connected people with one another people on so many levels. She kind of messed up with the whole shot thing making feel like it was good thing that happened. Personally I would have ended it with "See who's breakin' bad in SW Philly Tonite at Ten", its smart marketing, gains human interest and leaves it in good taste.

Suchi Parikh said...

In my opinion, its great marketing and a smart tool to use but it's evil and not okay at the same time. It is bad journalism and comparing a show to a shooting that killed people is not okay. But like I said, it was a smart move because that tweet would show up whenever someone searches "Breaking Bad" on twitter. Honestly, I agree with Andrew's statement that if she maybe just included the title and left out the 6 people shot part, it would've been even smarter!

Unknown said...

i don't have problem with the way she marketed her story, because it's all a marketing strategy. the thing that borders me is that she took a tragedy and basically turned it into a fictional thing. as journalists, we are supposed to have conscience. i don't thin she thought of that while tweeting this message because all she cared about was getting viewers. she really made a big mistake there.

Bryn Wassel said...

Bad taste! This was definitely not her best idea. Sure, it was catchy, but it is almost like she is making a joke of the situation. It just seems highly inappropriate for a situation that involves a shooting. It seems as though all she cares about is getting viewers - which I understand is part of her job. But, in reality, you're discussing a shooting, which is not something to be taken lightly.