By Michael Crutcher
Controversy can be good for business.
Just look at rugby league – it has one juicy story after another but that just keeps everyone talking about it.
You get the feeling that rugby union would kill for a sliver of that scandal.
Yes, some controversy should be avoided at all costs but a little spice here and there is good for business.
And it’s been good for the media business since early last year.
The media – like hygiene companies, mask suppliers and toilet paper-makers – did well out of COVID-19. The pandemic came from nowhere and had us following news outlets like never before, armed with smartphones keeping us a fingerprint away from the latest.
Then there was a US presidential election in which everyone took a side. The fate of Donald Trump had people clicking and watching.
But now, with Trump gone and COVID becoming a familiar house guest, it’s all gone a bit quiet on the news front.
And that’s not good for the media business.
Reports in the US have broken down the impact of the “boring news cycle”, making particular reference to “partisan media” feeling the pinch of life without Trump.
Axios used research to show that, the further away from the political centre a news outlet was positioned, the more that Trump’s departure had hurt their digital traffic. That trend was the same along the right and left wings of the political spectrum.
Those considered more mainstream such as Reuters, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and New York Post, also fell but their average decline in traffic of 18 per cent was less than the more extreme outlets.
The figures were tabulated on data from August 2020 to January 2021 compared with February to May 2021.
There’s a good chance that those trends are being felt in Australia.
Only problem is we have no way to really know.
Australia’s accepted digital traffic assessor last reported media stats in December 2020 and hasn’t come back since.
The Nielsen rankings have been iced while a new measurement system is adopted as privacy regulations and third-party cookie changes spark debate about consistent measurement.
One of the main advertising industry bodies has said it will no longer recognise the Nielsen rankings because it’s unsatisfied with the measuring system.
The disputes are no surprise – publishers are always trying to look their best in a media landscape that continues to change at frantic pace.
And there’s an easy solution: just start a new system.
It’s happened in recent years in Australian media and it will keep happening in these times of great change.
So, let’s wait and see what happens with metrics in our national media landscape.
In the meantime, big news stories will be welcomed at all times.