Steve Yelvington’s media weblog
Veteran editor and website developer Steve Yelvington bemoans the “Chinese wall” that divides the newsroom from the advertising department at most media organizations. “I have learned that while ad salespeople may be an avaricious bunch of back-patting expense-account lunchers (and I mean that in the nicest way), they also care about what they sell,” he writes on his blog.
Yelvington urges journalists to know their newsroom’s budget, business plan, and digital strategy. Be able to solve this equation:
N = digital revenues/newsroom budget * 100. Where is your N?
And engage the ad sales staff in planning for projects and special sections. (He also encourages those avaricious lunchers in the advertising department to rely on the editorial staff’s expertise about design and content.)
