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173.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."
This argument is likely to be credible under certain circumstance, however, the arguer, the one who make decisions, seems to develop superficial thinking on what consists a good magazine. When assessing the magazine’s sale, the arguer simply draw a reasoning line among magazine’s cover, international news on the cover, and competing news-magazine’s measures without taking account of many other important elements and rational comparison. And then the decision-maker would answer for the fateful consequence to his magazine.
The decision-maker first needs to clarify that how much a magazine’s cover affects its sale. Admittedly, a good-designed cover containing major information in the magazine does attract readers at the first time, however, a general review of the magazine’s capacity of information, contents editing, level of price, market share and its major group of readers matters much more important in assessing its sale. Alsothe arguer fails to make it known that how critical the international news on the cover affect its impression to readers. It is highly possible that readers would see its pictorial elements like people’s photos, colors at first instead of the literal information. Meanwhile, the competing-news magazine’s decreasing in international news on its cover proves no relationship between them since we are not informed any specific statistic about its sale before and after this change. So, before the arguer enforces this step he should rethink what essentially make a magazine sells well, and then to judge how international news serve to that.
Even presumes the reasoning line above, it is necessary for the decision-maker to know that news, in itself, has certain length of limitation period. If there were not many crucial news of international society or if news in other fields were more interesting, then editing former on covers might make important information be overlooked. However, no one can predict what may happen in the future, if Newsbeat decreases international news on covers or contents; it would face much more detriments on both sales and market share when any great occurrence happens at that time. Another, assessment about whether a news magazine’s information attracts readers depends on social occurrence and changes as well as magazines’ first-time response to them. Newsbeat’s competitor significantly decreased its covers’ international news could be probably regarded as its excellent ability of effectively response to any social changes. Rather, in the same period Newsbeat did not carry out any actual steps, through which we might find a potential lack of this ability on it. If so, then possibility appears that Newsbeat would also fall behind its competitor when news happens. All of these possibilities will bring Newsbeat’s sale detriments but no benefits, unless its decision-maker realizes his real needs—replacing attention on what should be put on covers with an innovation on what make his team and mechanism more effective.
Finally, the arguer fails to provide adequate comparison between earning and costs. Though these certain issues of Newsbeat sold not well while costs on foreign bureaus increased, there was no statistic to indicate Newsbeat did not earn a profit. There might be a recession in the past three years so that people would spend less on magazines and other consumers than before. In this case, what Newsbeat’s decision-maker should do is not only to focus on covers, but to decrease self-cost and, in doing so, low its price to attract readers.
This argument is possible to be helpful when international news on covers is not important or compelling enough and occupy layout space for information which are really critical. Nevertheless, whether for seeking a solution about immediate problems or making progress with Newsbeat, both contribute to the better magazine and considerable profits, the decision-maker should take many other factors seriously besides its covers and news on them. Failure of considering one or two of them will not merely stay Newsbeat the same, but make it from bad to worse.
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