Media Mission Statements

What are some interesting mission statements or values statements of some of the companies in your industry? What do their statements reveal about them?

A mission statement is a formal document that states the objectives of a company or organization. Within the media industry many companies have interesting mission statements.

Walt Disney’s mission statement is, “to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.” Walt Disney has definitely held up to their reputation of wanting to be the “world’s largest producers of entertainment and information.” Whenever I think of movies I think of Disney. Just last night I watched Tangled, a new Disney animation.

The McGraw-Hill Companies also in the media industry has an interesting mission statement. “We are dedicated to creating a workplace that respects and values people from diverse backgrounds and enables all employees to do their best work. It is an inclusive environment where the unique combination of talents, experiences, and perspectives of each employee makes our business success possible. Respecting the individual means ensuring that the workplace is free of discrimination and harassment. Our commitment to equal employment and diversity is a global one as we serve customers and employ people around the world. We see it as a business imperative that is essential to thriving in a competitive global marketplace.” I think McGraw-Hill’s mission statement is a great mission statement, because it doesn’t care if they are number one in the industry, they care more about their employees.

Netflix representing the movie portion of the media industry has a short and sweet mission statement. “Our appeal and success are built on providing the most expansive selection of DVDs; an easy way to choose movies; and fast, free delivery.” I own a Netflix account and don’t know what I did before without one. It is very convenient to not have to go outside my house to get a movie that I want to watch. I can either pull it up on the instant queue, or I can order it and have it come in the mail. Netflix’s mission statement mimics Walt Disney’s. They want to be the best in their industry and believe they are.

Lastly, I will focus on the radio part of media with SIRIUS Satellite Radio. “SIRIUS is changing the way America listens to music, sports, news, and entertainment.” SIRIUS mimics that of Netflix with a short and sweet mission statement, but it also mimics that of McGraw-Hill. Although it doesn’t have to do much with its employees, it has more to do with the customers, which is where media is headed these days. Pleasing the customer is the most important for any business who want to rule the media world. SIRIUS Satellite Radio is playing it smart by coming up with a mission statement that targets consumers of their product.

Scandal of the Year

The media industry has a long history of ethics scandals over the years. This article from the Economist talks about the highly covered hacking scandal in England by News International’s tabloid, News of the World. While tabloids have always been known for using questionable methods to gather information and come up with good headlines, News of the World took this way too far. In possibly the worst ethics scandal of the year, News of the World was revealed to have hacked the phones of possibly thousands of victims. While it had already confessed to hacking a number of celebrities and politicians, when it was revealed that they hacked into the phone of a teenage murder victim, it sparked public outcry. The scandal was not limited to the hacking of phones and also included the bribery of police officers for information and was accused of possible interference in the police investigation after they deleted messages from the dead girl’s phone. It also became known that they had also been hacking into the phones of soldiers deployed in Afghanistan and victims of terrorist attacks as well.

This scandal would lead to the end of News of the World, despite it being one of the top selling tabloids in the country. It would also harm the reputation of Rupurt Murdoch, one of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the world. He owns many news corporation worldwide, including Fox, the Wall Street Journal, and NewsCorp, which the FBI is investigating.

Netflix, Are You Serious!?

Perhaps no other company in the media industry is receiving for attention at this moment than Netflix. 2 months ago, Netflix announced that they would be changing their price, resulting in outrage among numerous customers. Fast-forward two months and the price change has resulted in the loss of many subscribers. Just when current customers thought they couldn’t get any angrier, things got a lot worse. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings recently sent out an overnight email to the company’s 23 million subscribers, notifying them of Netflix’s plan to separate its movie services.

Hastings plans to rename the DVD business from Netflix to Qwikster. Qwikster will have its own billing system, website, and list of movies. Current customers are infuriated by this move. Stating how now they will not only have to play a lot more, but they will also have to access to different sources. Angry customers are even threatening to cancel their Netflix subscriptions, arguing that the selection of titles available for streaming is very limited compared to the DVDs.

In my opinion, things are not looking so great for Netflix’s future. Not only are their fans becoming infuriated, but there is also an increasing amount of movies and videos becoming available throughout the Internet. Netflix’s shares have already dropped 7.3% on Monday according to the Nasdaq Stock Market. Hastings says he is willing to endure through the downfall because his long-term belief is that people will become less dependable on DVDs and eventually streaming will take over and make DVDs obsolete. While Hastings remains confident and envisions a successful future, I for one would not recommend investing in Netflix for a while.

-Nayef Halloun

Ethical Issues in Media

The media industry with its various branching industries faces a good chunk of ethical issues. The advertising industry itself brings most of these issues. And then we have the social media companies such as Facebook which are also the most controversial. Other sub-industries of media raise some ethical issues but are not as influential. In my opinion, the publishing industries are the least controversial if not at all.

One of the most controversial ethical issues in the advertisement industry is the use of sexual imagery in some ads –a term referred to as “sex sells”. Many people consider this tactic unethical and misleading. For example, Apple –one of the most successful/popular company selling electronic products– uses a shadow of a naked woman and a playboy-bunny earpiece wire as a marketing strategy to attract more customers to buy their products. This may be considered offensive to parents who are concerned about their child seeing such images.

Another method advertisement companies often use carry discriminatory messages and may cause prejudice for some people. For example, many consider Fair & Lovely –a company selling skin clarity products – TV commercials racist. This is due to the fact that they assume that women are happier with lighter skin.

Operators of TV broadcasting sometimes display pornographic images or reality TV shows that portray a message that is supposed to be directed only for a certain audience of certain age. No parent would want their child watching 18+ rated movies for the sexual and psychological implications it causes. They would want to make sure that their child is having a healthy childhood. Reality shows mess with people’s minds the most. Since viewers think they’re “real”, their message is going to be the most influential. Therefore, reality show producers should be very careful when choosing their theme point –in which unfortunately they’re not. Shows like the Bachelor influence what people think of relationships and how men treat women and so on.

With social media comes a whole stack of issues related to ethics; from hacking to abusing to privacy concerns. Many facebook users deactivated their accounts due to other people stalking their profiles which gave them a sense of insecurity. You might think social media networks are harmless, but they cause levels of harm from simple such as losing your privacy to criminal such as child abuse, rape and murder. To illustrate, there’s a story that Oprah thought was of major importance where a 14-year-old child called Kristin was raped by a 27-yer-old man and then committed suicide all resulting from social networking dangers.

Most newspapers carry only ethical messages and are of highest ethical standards amongst other forms of

media. In fact, their only relation to ethical issues is discussing them and raising more awareness to prevent and/or reduce them.

It's (Still) Elmo's World!

In Medias Res readers are wondering: "Which companies in the industry stand out in regards to their view and actions in CSR?"

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) entails of being mindful about the community, the environment, and the world. However, in the media industry, it also includes actively promoting these ideals. The products of the media industry are such that they portray the values or lack of values of society, and many expect to see movies, websites, shows, newspapers and books to be in abundance of their own moral fiber. If the consumer does not agree with the products on that simple level, there is less of a chance that they will be interested in them. Granted, there are people who will pay attention to something like a TV show whether or not it's educational- I hate to tell this to you, writers of “Mad Men,” but no one I know watches the show for an in-depth look at businesses in the 60’s. It’s because of all the drama and intrigue that Don Draper’s (Jon Hamm) love life provides. But having that moral fiber helps, and it is in the media industry's favor to hold on to it. So motivation for promoting CSR is there. The question is... which companies actually care?

You can't walk into a bookstore without seeing a romance novel. And television and movies are riddled with "Rated R" programs. Clearly, some publishers and producers don't need to appeal to the public on the CSR level. On the other hand, private nonprofit names like PBS and NPR are dedicated to stimulating creativity and media literacy as well as upholding ideals like conservation and environmentalism. In PBS’s mission statement,they underline the importance of reaching out to children.

PBS online and PBSkids has churned out interactive and educational programs that are accessible to children of all ages. And it stands out for its innovation. Look at Sesame Street: That show adapts itself to the changing social climate with guest stars like Norah Jones and Katy Perry, while also teaching kids basic things about asking questions, learning to read, counting, etc. And let's face it: Elmo is "da bomb!"

It makes sense that companies with a target audience made up of children should have positive messages. Seven years ago, Nickelodeon had the "VERB" campaign, about getting active and being outside. More recently Disney Channel went green, promoting environmentalism in a huge campaign that involved stars like Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers.

Disney works in different mediums of media-just like PBS. From Online games, to IMAX Movies, like “Planet Earth” and “African Cats,” to music releases and TV shows, Disney promotes the environment in a good way and sponsors contests for its viewers. By engaging its young viewers to get involved in projects to save the planet (recycling, community compost, etc.) Disney is making itself a big leader in the media industry as far as CSR goes.

More companies should take note of what PBS and Disney are doing. By actively reinforcing the moral fiber of society, its viewership is growing and people are paying attention because they are being made to care.

Social Media Use In Small Businesses

Keeping up with current events, social media is making starting up a new business easier than ever. An article in the Miami Herald shows that while most leading companies have already become accessible through social media, small businesses are just now seeing the potential. The most prominent new frontier opened up to small businesses with social media is advertising. Businesses can keep people up to date with upcoming promotional events and sales. Advertising in newspapers and on TV is extremely expensive, especially for small businesses. As a business gathers friends and followers on media sites, it becomes very efficient for businesses to advertise to this group of people. While most ads in other places would be useless for a majority of the people exposed, advertising to your followers saves money and targets people who would be most likely to respond.

With the use of social media sites by ordinary consumers constantly increasing, new and small businesses are given instant access to more views than ever before than if they had not gone to sites such as Facebook or Twitter.

Supply and Demand in the Media Market

In Medias Res was asked to discuss the supply and demand in the industry.

Dow Jones Industry Tracker - Media

Supply and Demand

Media is a big part of our daily lives. My family watches the daily news every morning and evening, as well as listening to music, using organizations such as Facebook and Twitter. But, we as a society also use media every second of every day. Almost everyone has a smart phone, where media can be stored and accessed twenty-four seven.

Media is a tricky industry to follow. It can have a good month or a bad one depending on the products sold. The graph above shows the Dow Jones Industry Tracker for Media for one year. Since October, the stock for media has been steadily rising. However, as you can see, mid-July and early August shows that there was a significant drop in the media industry. What caused this drop?

Media is a quick changing industry. In the words of Heidi Klum, “One day you’re in. The next day you’re out.” This quote holds true to any industry, media especially. Demand for media is getting higher and higher. And supply is as well. The producers are listening to customer input as well as predicting what the customers want in the future. Smart phones weren’t a huge demand. Yet, the producers still made the phones. Now, some people can’t live without their smart phones for more than one minute.

Society is now demanding more online or on-the-go products some of which include e-books, applications for smart phones, and new gaming systems. There is also quite a demand for music these days. i-Tunes isn’t the only cite you can download from. There are illegal ways to download as well as cites like Pandora where you can create your own play list, YouTube and Grooveshark are other examples as well. As long as media is ever changing, the supply and demand for media will be forever changing as well.

Let's Make Some Money

What are the basic economics of the industry? How do companies make money? What are their costs?

When it comes to media, revenue and costs come about in many different ways. In the constant quest for view counts, different media companies are constantly competing with each other to see who can attract the most viewers. Danny Brown, co-founder of Bonsai Marketing, explains it best in his article, "The Real Cost of Social Media." Companies in the media industry tend to make their revenue in several different ways. One method is through the application of user fees and subscriptions. Usually if you want access to the media, you will have to offer up some sort of payment. From newspapers, to magazines, to cable, to the Internet, viewers will have to pay an access fee. Another way companies involved in the media make money is through advertisements and sponsorships. Companies want people to know about their product/service and are willing to pay media outlets in order to achieve this. Now when it comes to costs, media companies are constantly going through high production costs. For companies involved in television, a major cost is paying for airtime. If they want to receive revenue, they need viewers, and it promotions can cost a hefty sum.

Lion King 3-D

Let's talk about some current developments: it's been a very busy and lucrative time in the media industry.

An article in the WSJ states that the 1994 movie, the Lion King was re-released in 3-D in movie theatres this week. Up until now, it had grossed 29.3 million dollars topping all other movies in the U.S. Box Office. This is a record in history as it added to the film’s lifetime gross on top of the $40.9 million it made on its opening weekend in 1994, the $765 million earning world-wide and the $19.4 million large-format reissue in 2002.

The idea of transforming a classical movie into 3-D was genius. The statistics in the article prove so as “92% of the weekend's gross came from 3-D ticket sales”. So we can see here, that the marketing media has a huge and evident effect on business.

The movie also had an effect on social media as it gave people something to talk about. According to twitcritics.com, 4140 tweeters mentioned the Lion King 3-D till 06:20 pm September 18, 2011.

It must have affected the publishing industry as well. The WSJ newspaper is writing about it and many other newspapers have it mentioned in their movie theatres page. Each newspaper company must have asked for some amount of money in exchange for a space in their paper. This further expands the flow of money.

Other than newspapers, operators of broadcasting and owners of television stations had to display the movie trailer. This means that they also got paid in exchange for the time period they spent showing the trailer as a form of advertising. The same applies to radio stations.

The movie’s tremendous success did not only affect Walt Disney Co. by earning a huge gross/profit, but it also affected the competing movie production companies by beating them on the box office and by affecting their revenue as well. If some had one opportunity to go to the movies for the weekend, they might choose to watch Lion King 3-D (a number one rated movie) instead of the Smurfs which ranked 15 on the box office.

Not to forget to mention that the movie itself “is largely a promotion for the debut of "The Lion King" in 3-D on Blu-ray disc next month” as mentioned in the article which means that the revenue will not stop here.

All About the Buzz

In Medias Res staff was asked: "What drives revenue growth in this industry (i.e. more units sold, expanding geographic reach, lower costs for manufacturing, etc.)?"

It’s hard to chart revenue growth in the media industry when only some of the money comes from units sold (i.e. ticket sales, DVD-s, Blu-Rays, CD-s, books merchandise). According to RevenueRecognition.com, “newspapers get their lion’s share of revenue from advertisers.” The same goes for magazines and other periodicals, as well as cable TV broadcasting. A lot of the revenue growth comes from marketing the products on television and the internet and sharing ad-space for other products and industries. The more that the public pays attention, the more they are exposed to advertising. And so, the media industry grows.

But it’s not as easy as just having some well-placed ads. Back in the times of Charlie Chaplin, all you needed to sell out your show or newspaper was a cute, scrappy kid standing on a soap-box, calling all the ladies and gents to attention.

To draw a crowd in this industry you need to create a buzz. Today, many people are very vocal about their preferences- if only because to express views today, all you have to do is click the “Like” option on Facebook. Well, it is this sort of online acceptance that is giving branches of the media industry credit where it’s due.

On Paid Content, a poll is displayed (complements of Trendrr, a social measurement company) showing howoften companies are being mentioned on blogs or on Twitter. They compiled a tidy list of 50 popular companies and brands and how often they have been mentioned in the blogs of hipsters and Tweets of tweens.

This representation of “popularity,” while very non-traditional, seems to be pretty indicative of what’s on people’s minds. Of course, the data doesn’t show whether the comments on blogs and Twitter were positive or negative- which is ok, considering that, in this business especially, all publicity is good publicity! It’s buzz like this that brings in revenue to an industry that relies so heavily on advertisement.