w0rdsmiths

ARGUMENT #12 The following is a memorandum issued by the publisher of a newsmagazine, Newsbeat, in the country of Dinn.

“Our poorest-selling magazine issues over the past three years were those that featured international news stories on their front covers. Over the same period, competing news-magazines have significantly decreased the number of cover stories that they devote to international news. Moreover, the cost of maintaining our foreign bureaus to report on international news is increasing. Therefore, we should decrease our emphasis on international news and refrain from displaying such stories on our magazine covers.”

In an attempt to decrease the international news coverage of the newsmagazine Newsbeat, the publisher sites the generally-poor sales history of the magazines with international news on their front cover, as well as the increasing cost of maintaining foreign bureaus. While these reasons should be considered in regard to the future of Newsbeat’s international news coverage, a different interpretation of the sales history and a different approach to covering such stories renders the argument less than sound.

While the poorest-selling magazines issued over the past three years have been those with international news stories on their front covers, Newsbeat should not necessarily fall in line with the other news-magazines decreasing their amount of international coverage. The publisher interprets and implies that this is a sign of poor-sales, and that Newsbeat should do the same. But instead of interpreting this decrease merely as being caused by poor sales performance, the publisher should consider the possibility that the news-magazine market is saturated with international news stories. By this interpretation, then, the other news-magazine’s decreased coverage of these kinds of stories should be seen as having a positive outcome for Newsbeat.

The publisher also cites the rising cost of maintaining foreign bureaus as a reason to decrease the emphasis on international news. Maintaining foreign bureaus, however, is not the only way a news-magazine can obtain stories from all over the world. Huge news-media conglomerates, such as the Associated Press, Reuters, and Breitbart, are in the business of covering international affairs. Instead of researching and reporting their own international news stories – indeed a highly-expensive task – Newsbeat should consider syndicating the articles put forth by already-established foreign news services.

While sales of magazines with front covers about international news have been among the poorest-selling, Newsbeat would be better served considering the interpretation and ideas of many people, rather than acting on the publishers advice to decrease coverage and refrain from displaying such stories on their magazine covers.