I fell pretty good today. I talked to a couple of people who were previously whining about the economy and they offered up some good news about their business. In my own company one of my key people today said, "Things are already starting to turn around this week." Its funny... almost odd, but those two fragments of good news changed my overall state of mind. As I spoke to others I was less dower, more upbeat and was sharing some of the good news. I was also less negative and actually a little more open to investing in something I was down on the day before.
Two weeks ago I had two bad news calls. One was from a customer who was going out of business, another from one who was trying to sell me his business because things were so bad. It killed my mood. Suddenly I was worrying about my business and my income. It stayed with me for several days. I could not shake it.
Everyone I know has stopped spending. Some have had to, most don't have to. But they stopped because everyone fears that any money spent today won't be available when if need it when things get really bad. Yet in some cases these are some of the wealthiest people in America who can spend... but choose not to. Practical, yes but much of the problem lies in their fear.
The problems our new President face are huge and I cannot fathom the true complexity of the situation nor do I want to over simplify the gravity of this problem. However, I do believe we as an industry can move the needle and do our part to fix the economy.
When on the treadmill at the gym in the morning I can see (but not hear) three TV monitors. The words under the talking heads say things like " Worst Economy in History", "Economic Crisis", etc. It becomes obvious that bad news sells.
When President Obama phones for my advice I plan to tell him to meet individually with the owners of every network and cable news outlet, news-talk radio network, and newspaper to explain that their business will improve faster if the economy improves, and its up to them to change the spin from negative to positive. I'm not suggesting they lie or mislead, but instead of "Crisis" how about the focus be "Economy in Recovery." A little positive feel in the media would make recovery occur faster.
What's radio got to do with it? Your station is one of 12,000+ which reaches 94% of Americans every day. What if your station changes its spin? What if your people simply say twice an hour..."things are getting better" or "things are looking up" How would it impact your market and your local economy? It may not solve the problem but it might go a long way in helping. Radio is the master of mood. Listeners turn to radio for entertainment, escape, and good moods, in the case of some formats. Can we take it a step further? Can your station play a role? We won't know till you try.
Eric, It is so refreshing to hear somebody else echoing what seems to have been my mantra for the past few months. It drives me nuts to see national newscasts boohooing the North American car industry (for example) then segueing into a spot set featuring ads from two of the big three on the very station that just slammed them. We are doing simple things on our station, like our choice of language used to describe a down day on the stock market. Instead of a "plummet", the stock market simply "went down." So thank you for this positive viewpoint on the situation. By the way, I just heard today that analysts are saying this recession is going to be deep but blessedly short. The media needs to report this really good news.
Posted by: Steve Rae | January 22, 2009 at 05:20 PM
Amen Eric!
How the media doesn't understand that the economy is a "self fulfilling prophecy" is beyond me. If "we" think the economy is good, then it'll become better. If "we" think the economy is bad, then it'll get worse.
Hopefully, next Tuesday, the media will be "inspired" to finally help a President improve the economy.
I, for one, will be thrilled to see anything positive in the news...anything!
Posted by: Trey Morris | January 16, 2009 at 08:59 AM