Pet food and out-of-touch newspapers
By William M. Hartnett on Mar 31, 2007 in newspapers
The pet food story has been chugging along for a couple of weeks now, and Friday’s news that the recall has been extended to dry cat food finally prompted me to vent: If you are a newspaper editor who has not been playing every single one of these stories on your front page, you’ve been missing a massive opportunity to connect with your readers.
Attorney general? Not as important to your readers.
The latest calamity in Iraq? Not as important to your readers.
Australian Taliban? Not as important to your readers.
Even the Final Four: Not as important to your readers.
As others have pointed out, this is THE story that your readers are talking about. As I write this, “Pet food recall” is currently the second most searched-for term of the past 24 hours, and third of the past seven days, at NYTimes.com. (Not surprisingly, though a little bafflingly given the source, “sex” is the top search term.)
Short of the very air that we breathe turning toxic, no other story affects a greater number or range of people than news about our pets. The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association estimates that there are 90.5 million cats in 37.7 million U.S. households, and 73.9 million dogs in 43.5 million households.
Have I made my point?
