 The Q&A session which followed the three speakers’ presentations could have lasted much longer but time, unfortunately, ran out.
The three speakers were Chris Barry, James Wilson and Michael Taylor, respectively business editor of the MEN, northern correspondent of the FT and editor Insider magazine.
The focus of the event was the changing face of communication with the business press and how to effectively engage their collective interest.
Chris Barry was the first speaker and joked that he hoped the session wouldn’t turn into ‘Editors’ Rivals’ and if so he was wondering who might be fired first…
Barry discussed how his team of three produce 28 pages a week of business news and provide content for Channel M – MEN Media’s broadcast station for Manchester.
The MEN, he said, had to respond to the changing environment and with (paid for) circulation in steady decline over a number of years, the launch of the free edition in the city centre had proved a great success. Over 180,000 copies a day are now distributed, something which would have been unbelievable to consider just a couple of years as sales consistently continued to fall.
He was optimistic for the future as the paper was now settled in “fantastic” new offices and the multimedia news hub incorporating print, digital and broadcast media was exciting to be a part of. For example, MEN online was recently voted the UK’s best newspaper web site, ahead of the times.co.uk and guardian unlimited.
 Wilson
His territory covers the north and the breadth of his patch is challenging. His remit also covered more than just business. He was as likely to write about Muslim issues in Blackburn as he was about a Liverpool plc’s results or a private equity deal in Leeds.
He added that people often come to him selling a story saying this is a “first for the region” and his reply is “that may be the case but has it happened in Birmingham before, let alone London or Paris?”
The capital he reminded the audience is simply so important internationally that it is understandable there is such a London focus to the paper, however much this occasionally frustrates regional readers.
 Taylor
He told the audience how his world had changed since he was a lad and how the publications he’d read over the years had helped shape and define his path through life – from the Beano to the NME and most recently Monocle.
His first job as a journalist had been in Australia but it was back in London when when working for the now defunct IBM System User, that he realised the enormous power the press can wield over its readers – if it gets it right.
“At Insider”, he said, “we’re not interested in stuffy national issues, we try to fill the gaps editorially and through our events that the nationals don’t address. We seek to be the broker of intelligent conversation.”
After the three presentations a Q&A session took place.
In response to a question about how the panel preferred to be contacted for a story, the answer was three emails and two phone calls – in case you need to know.
Responding to the value of PRs (aka Hack v Flack), Barry said “PR was both our biggest friend and worst enemy. After the fifth phone call from a PR asking if we’d received their press release, we really do turn off.”
Wilson said his experiences of PRs were mixed. In Columbia he’d been surprised by the virtual lack of any lobbying whereas when he returned to the UK, he’d forgotten just “how in your face” the approach often was from so many PRs.
In reply to a question about local stories breaking elsewhere, Barry said this “only usually happened when a London PR firm was involved and it normally related to Sunday newspapers. “That pisses us off and in those cases, we‘re highly unlikely to cover the story and will usually let our feelings be known to the client company concerned.”
A question from a director of Macclesfield’s Learning Zone asked the panel how the public sector could more effectively engage the business press.
Taylor replied that Insider is a magazine for the private sector and its readers - however inaccurate their assumption might be – typically share a general conception that the public sector is inefficient and full of people with non jobs. A challenging starting point for the lady from Macclesfield.
Wilson added that the public sector was not a core audience of the FT.
Barry said all his experience of dealing with the public sector had left him with an overall impression of “cumbersome and slow communication, almost as it was dialogue by committee.”
A final question asked the panel how the press could better attract the attention of younger people given the relatively low status business has in the media.
Taylor replied that he thought the contrary: business was today getting much better press and indeed coverage than it had had for many a year. And as for Insider and the others, he felt writing “aspirational copy” would go a long way to stimulating interest in business.
The event was hosted by law firm Cobbetts, which acts for a number of media and creative clients and recently advised Peel Holdings in its successful negotiations with the BBC and ‘Project North’ aka mediacity:uk.
This was the first in a proposed series of How-Do events covering marketing, creative and media issues. Further events will be staged in the autumn.
How-Do would like to express its thanks to Chris Barry, James Wilson and Michael Taylor for their valuable and entertaining contributions.
www.ft.com
www.newsco.com
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk www.cobbetts.co.uk Something to add? Then leave a comment below or email us now.
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