Observations, insights and analysis from around the world on a medley SP TLIGHT of topics. n 2011, jill abramson became called Native Advertising, which the first female Executive Editor closely mimics the content of the I of The New York Times, making Abramson online site. I am critical of it, and her arguably the highest-ranking didn’t want to dive into it at the female editor in US newspaper on the Times when I was executive edi- history. No woman has ever topped tor, because it isn’t always clear to the editors’ ranks at America’s two the reader what’s advertising and other newspaper giants, The Wall what’s news. Street Journal and The Washington After starting out as entertain- Post. Three years into that job, Ms. VALUE OF NEWS ment sites, BuzzFeed and Vice be- Abramson was fired for pushing gan building serious newsrooms, back against efforts she perceived as and they discovered that it is very blurring the line between news and Abramson shared her thoughts and The reason I focused on BuzzFeed expensive to do investigative jour- advertising. She set out then to insights about the industry with us and Vice is that during my last nalism, watchdog journalism, en- write a book about upheaval in the at Brunswick’s New York office. months at The Times, The Times terprise journalism, international news business, focusing on two produced an innovation report journalism. That was fine when stalwarts, The New York Times and As you wrote Merchants of that was kind of dripping with BuzzFeed and Vice were in go-go The Washington Post, and two Truth, the prospects of the envy for those two sites. They were growth mode, adding millions of up-starts, BuzzFeed and Vice. organizations you researched getting so big and they had so readers and viewers. But then that The result is Merchants of Truth, shifted significantly. That must much money from ads. They were growth slowed. Digital advertis- ILLUSTRATION: SERGE BLOCH SERGE ILLUSTRATION: published this February. Ms. have required you to scramble. pioneers in a type of advertising ing became competitive, and brunswick review · issue 18 · 2019 7 SPOTLIGHT Facebook and Google gobble up which are so interested in docu- But on some days of heavy so much of it that everybody else mentary style stories? Trump developments, the news No Longer Live Aid ETHIOPIA is left to scramble for new sources pages, particularly the headlines, of revenue. Now, BuzzFeed is Could the newspaper industry bear an unmistakably anti- A terrible plane crash highlights a nation’s progress. having to turn itself inside out have foreseen and better Trump coloring. because their original model was prepared for the disruption What intensifies that is, because n march 24, 2019, the world woke up to the unusual situation all advertising supported. Both caused by the internet? Facebook has disaggregated of hundreds of Africans seeming to agree with Donald Trump. BuzzFeed and Vice announced The tragedy is that a lot of people everybody’s news reports, it’s A CNN headline about Ethiopian Airlines caused an explosion of cuts of 250 people each just a few in the news business did recognize made the branding of individual OAfrican Twitterati sharing the US President’s view that the news months ago. that the digital transition was reporters more important. broadcaster is “fake news.” Meanwhile, following Trump’s happening and happening quickly. Something like a dozen of the The headline? “Ethiopian Airlines was a world-class brand with a great election, suddenly it was the old, But because of their internal Washington reporters for The safety record until the flight ET302 crash put its reputation in jeopardy.” reliable newspaper companies, corporate cultures and the culture Times have cable TV contracts The kickback was swift. People saw CNN blaming Ethiopian pilots which had forced themselves to of their newsrooms, which were on MSNBC and CNN. They go rather than Boeing, the plane’s US manufacturer. One particular pushback become “digital first” operations formed according to the rhythms on these panels with partisans received over 10,000 likes. The story itself was, in fact, a reasonably positive but still had very high-quality of the printing press once a night, and former prosecutors. And piece on the growth of Ethiopian Airlines from a third-tier joint venture news reports, that started to do they just didn’t act fast enough. though The Times and Post with TWA to a significant global airline with 111 planes—for context, Air much better and become stronger, They thought that the newspa- reporters on these shows may be France’s fleet is 201 planes; Emirates’ is 268. thanks to subscription revenue. per version of their news reports careful and measured in what they Ethiopian Airlines is a budget carrier, yet it has developed a reputation And the new all-digital news would stay dominant for longer say, it’s the lead-in questions and as the best commercially run African airline and increasingly a major re- players were facing life-threaten- than it did, so that the urgency of the rest of it that leads viewers to gional hub player. Recently, Addis Ababa and Ethiopian Airlines overtook ing challenges. becoming digital first, and think- question their objectivity. Dubai and Emirates as the premier long-haul transit into Africa. ing of publishing online first, took Since I started writing a politi- CNN has invested heavily in producing positive stories about the One reviewer of your book forever. And in that gap a lot of cal column for The Guardian, it’s continent, but had apparently failed to appreciate that people might see asked a scary question: “Is time and money was lost. gotten harder for me to find lingering bias and a patronizing attitude toward the continent in this the world. But it is now not even among the 20 poorest. Ethiopia’s extraor- there any hope left for an Republicans who will even talk particular story. Ethiopia itself is no longer Live Aid Ethiopia, but has had dinary political and economic trajectory over the past 15 years is a clear independent Fourth Estate?” Are you concerned about the to me. I’m trying to present both one of the most remarkable political and economic transformations of success story. Ironically, by bringing attention to the country, the scrutiny For society it is vital. The New “IT WOULD widespread belief that the sides. But they say, “No, I don’t modern times. over the Ethiopian Airlines crash may have simply drawn more attention York Times and The Washington BE FUNNY IF, news just can’t be trusted? think I want to be identified in Poverty declined from 45.5 percent in 2000 to 23.5 percent in 2016. to Ethiopia’s success. Post are going to survive. The I am so concerned about that. Res- your column.” I guess it suggests GDP per capita has doubled since 2010 while per capita income has in- Ethiopia is facing some headwinds in consolidating its political and Wall Street Journal is going to FOR 2020, toration of trust is vital, and one treason for them to be talking creased threefold. It is on track for middle-income status by 2025. economic transformation, but if those prove as resilient as its reputation survive. But to survive, you have disappointment I had in my book with Jill Abramson, the former CNN and many other newspapers had been somewhat objective about has become, it may indeed become Africa’s powerhouse in the next 20-30 to be big—national or global in I WENT BACK is that I was not able to come up executive editor of the “failing the potential cause of the crash, especially given that the tragedy pitted the years. Forecasts are that Ethiopia will eradicate poverty by 2029, with less reach. You have to have coverage TO WORKING IN A with new solutions for a lot of the New York Times.” reliability and reputation of one of the world’s most powerful companies than 3 percent of the population expected to be below the poverty line. u that people are not finding problems that bedevil journalism. against a country that 15 years ago was among the five poorest countries in Itumeleng Mahabane is a Brunswick Partner in Johannesburg, South Africa. anywhere else. When you have CAMPAIGN, I do think that because attacks Would you, given the way that at high quality, readers will from Fox News and Sinclair and events have unfolded, have pay for it. Now that Trump is WHICH ISN’T the Trump administration are so chosen a different career? company listed on the S&P 500 fell Nikkei Asian Review, turnover for president, The New York Times COMPLETELY OUT loud, news organizations have to Right after college I worked on a from almost 60 years in the 1950s to the Tokyo Stock Exchange stands at has 4 million subscribers. become much louder in defending couple of campaigns, and toggled less than 20 years today. By another approximately 89 years, in contrast But my optimism does not OF THE the importance and integrity of between becoming a journalist or measure, American economist with 15 years for the New York apply to smaller newspapers that QUESTION.” what we do every day. I rather like full-time political activist. Mark J. Perry found that only 53 Stock Exchange and nine years for have been in a cutting mode or The Post’s slogan, “Democracy Now, for the first time since companies from the 1955 edition of the London Stock Exchange. Turn- have been acquired by vulture dies in darkness.” then, I’ve found myself wondering the Fortune 500 were still on the list over represents the average number capital funds and stripped down What we do is no less impor- whether you do more good trying in 2018.