US ROA magazine editor offers insight at
CIOR Media Workshop
By Lt. Col. Ann Peru Knabe
Eric Minton, editor of The Officer magazine, shared his unique insights on balancing organizational objectives with objective journalism. A writer and editor with more than 30 years experience in journalism, Mr. Minton narrowed his message down to several key points.
“Respect for the audience is the greatest virtue in journalism,” he said. “This does not mean pandering to them. Just as you respect your troops, you should respect your audience. At the basic level, this could be the words you use.”
Mr. Minton used the example of spelling out all acronyms on first reference. He said he can’t assume all his magazine readers understand what he is talking about.
“The Officer magazine audience comes from seven different uniformed services,” he explained. “And we need to make sure they all understand.”
Mr. Minton said the easy definition of an “audience” is the people who read a publication, and that audience’s needs should remain the priority.
He said sometimes writers fall into the trap of writing for commanders, senior leaders and bosses.
“Your audience dictates what you should write about, and what you don’t need to write about,” he said. “I’ve had to use the creed of respecting the audience many times,” he said. “You need to be an advocate for both your organization and audience, because only then, can you put the organization in the eyes of your audience. And if you don’t tell the truth, you are not respecting your audience.”
One of the practical ideas he offered was to conduct a readership survey to better understand audience demographics, interests, and the audience’s likes and dislikes of the publication. He also recommended creating and using a vision statement. He personally wrote a vision statement for The Officer magazine, and has found it a very useful tool when there are questions of what to cover and how.
Throughout his speech, Mr. Minton used lively examples in his message to the media specialists.
Captain Mark Giles, Canadian Army, said it was a very frank and forthright presentation.
“You hit it right on the head,” he told Mr. Minton. “This was very much needed for our (military) audiences. Nine times out of 10, the audience becomes the boss or chain of command, and we lose our credibility and become propaganda machines with our publication when that’s what we focus on. And then our readers start to skim through our publications or only look at photos.”
As for the link between roller coasters and the military?
Mr. Minton previously wrote for the amusement industry, and has found the tenets of credible journalism apply across the range of magazines, including military and Reserve publications.
“In all cases, you are advocating for the reader,” he said. “And the audience is your ultimate bill-payer.”