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(Re)Evaluating Event Business Structure

Why situating events in a business operation may betray readers

Agnes Varnum

30 May 2024 — 5 min read

Recently, I reposted a job opportunity for a director of events at a large media organization on LinkedIn, noting that the position was situated within the marketing department, which I editorialized as “not my favorite” without context. I didn’t think about it until I was reading Civil Eats’ series on the Walton family, specifically, Walmart Heirs Bet Big on Journalism by Bill Lascher. The article caught my attention because The Texas Tribune Festival was sponsored by the Walton family and Walmart for several years. I have no concerns about the Walton family's lack of editorial influence on TribFest, but taking these two thoughts together, I’m prompted to suggest that as you plan your event strategy to (re)consider the implications of having journalism events situated within a business operation.

✅ Dissecting the org chart

The [Texas] Tribune accepts corporate sponsorships, underwriting and, within permissible limits, advertising that does not compromise its editorial integrity. All such support, including “sponsor content” — the digital equivalent of “advertorials” in newspapers and magazines — must be clearly and obviously distinguished from editorial content. Any sponsor or advertiser messages that contain false or unlawful content, or that the Tribune believes undermines its integrity, mission or brand, may be removed at the Tribune’s discretion. All corporate support will be solicited by the Tribune’s business staff, and no sponsored content will be produced by Texas Tribune employees. Present and past corporate sponsors are listed by amount and by year here. — The Texas Tribune Ethics

When I served as director of events for the Tribune, the division between editorial and business operations was clear yet collaborative. I reported to the editor in chief and the events were programmed by the editorial team, but I also worked closely with fundraisers to ensure we were delivering value to funders. The key to collaboration was cross-departmental conversations; everyone understanding that it was our fundraising efforts that paid our salaries and kept the lights on, so our task was to “make it work” in the inimitable words of Tim Gunn.

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But the idea of “church and state” separated by a firewall was there. Sponsors were prohibited from influencing content, with rules against sponsor representatives taking part in panels, sharing questions, putting logos on-stage, or giving away registrant information. Communication to sponsors about what was allowed and what wasn’t was framed as part of the value of working with our team — our audience trusted us to uphold journalistic integrity.

🧾 Transparency and ethical sponsorship

The Texas Tribune model emphasizes radical transparency. They disclose all funding sources on stories, maintain a detailed donor list, and ensure that their audience knows sponsors had no editorial influence. This transparency has given the organization talking points to navigate sponsorships ethically. But events without clear guidelines and situated within marketing, could blur these lines, making it challenging to prioritize integrity over revenue.

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🤷🏾‍♀️ Who is the client?

The business operation is about making money to support the journalism. Sales teams leverage the organization's products and audience to promote corporate messaging and products to readers, and media organizations have bent over backwards to develop brand marketing, sponsored content and native advertising to serve client goals of influencing readers by seeming editorial. The state of the news business means many are willing to play ball:

Reuters Events also offered to help corporations hone their “climate narrative” at COP28, via opportunities to secure “exclusive interviews,” seats at high-level roundtables, coverage on the Reuters website, exclusive dinner invites, and a Reuters presence in corporate pavilions at the Dubai expo center where negotiations are held. —Reuters, New York Times Top List of Fossil Fuel Industry’s Favorite Media Partners by Amy Westervelt and Matthew Green

This sort of pay-to-play was never part of our event planning. But if the role of advertising and sponsorship sales is obvious and avoidable, the role of marketers may be a little murkier.

The term “marketing” is about sales, but we often use it interchangeably for promotion, lead generation or “top of the funnel” activities, meant to introduce our work to new audiences with the hope that they will become members, subscribers, ticket buyers, or continue to follow us so we can eventually convert them into financial supporters. Marketing is about selling an organization to potential buyers and why many organizations situate their events within this job function, which is usually situated within the larger sales operation.

We want new readers, we want them to pay for journalism and there’s nothing inherently unethical about having our marketing team produce events, especially if we have guidelines in place that guide understanding by all—readers, sponsors, advertisers, grantors as well as staff in all departments. So what’s my point?

💡Programming: editorial vs. marketing

The event program is where the rubber meets the road. Who is deciding what events we will produce? Who is deciding what topics will be covered? Who is deciding what speakers will be invited to the stage? I sat in a client meeting with a head of marketing who told me that the topics the editorial team wanted to cover were too boring. They were looking for big names, catchy topics and attention-grabbing headlines.

While marketers may gravitate towards attention-grabbing topics and big names for revenue purposes, journalists understand what is genuinely important and relevant to their readership segments. An event about local school board happenings may not grab broad attention, but for the engaged community, it could be precisely the kind of conversation that attracts new readers to that coverage area.

The editorial team's expertise and community relationships should drive the core event programming decisions, from their deep connections to the stories, potential speakers, and target audiences across different beats, they are positioned to curate events that truly resonate with communities being served. The role of marketing, in my view, is to support and amplify the newsroom's event vision, from helping with formats, production management, promotion, follow-up to convert attendees, and facilitating aligned sponsorships and partnerships.

With some experience, newsrooms can leverage events to attract new readers by tapping into their frontline pulse on relevant speakers/issues, aligning content and community with support, both financial and promotional, with the aim of delivering value to readers—the true client.

🕊️ A word on co-existence

There is a place for events driven by marketing—think awards shows, “Best of,” tradeshows, fun runs, golf tournaments, and any other number of ways your organization might show up in the community and be a part of bringing people together with an eye toward brand-building. The editorial team may have little input into this type of event as it’s not their highest and best use to weigh in.

I suggest that attendees of those marketing events still need to find value in the organization's journalism content if they are going to become engaged readers or subscribers. How will you deepen their engagement? What plan do you have to tap into their interests and connect them with your organization’s core work? Developing a strategy for taking advantage of those types of marketing events means that each team is working to serve readers, not just to make money.