Last weekend I joined my girls for a movie date, which was of course, The Devil Wears Prada 2, a sequel of the 2006 blockbuster featuring more or less the same cast of Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, and Stanely Tucci. The movie, like the one released 20 years ago, was still about the high fashion industry, although this time an older me found the part about the struggles of traditional media like magazines quite relatable.
The movie was basically about the cost of success and following your passion, while looking fabulous of course. But a newspaper-person like me enjoyed how they portrayed the struggles of traditional media in the era of social media. A community newspaper like the Visayan DAILY STAR may not be as glamorous as the fictional Runway Magazine, but as someone who has been around the industry during those same 20 years when the industry was forced to reckon with a rapidly and vastly changing landscape, we basically had to confront the same challenges.
There was one scene (spoiler alert) when the top honchos of the magazine had to ride in economy class, which was unthinkable for people who spent their lives dressed in couture, being chauffeured around town in S-class chedengs, and had never stepped into the cafeteria of their building, but that was the stark reality of going from being spoiled rotten to just trying to survive, especially after the organization or cause loses an important benefactor or supporter.
Coincidentally, I was watching the movie just right after the DAILY STAR had come to the painful decision to reduce the days when printed copies are produced by 50 percent, as a survival mechanism. In case some of our readers haven’t noticed, we have actual newspapers only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays now. We still distribute a digital edition on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but you can’t use that to wrap dried fish. The days of using a newspaper to kill a cockroach ended many years ago, when newspapers became too thin to deliver a fatal blow, even when rolled up.
As someone who has been involved in the operations of a publication, albeit just a community newspaper that had been struggling during those same 20 years between The Devil Wears Prada 1 and 2, the movie/fantasy part for me was not their easy access to luxury, but the easy availability (another spoiler alert) of a patron or champion to save the day and allow the protagonists to do what they love and are passionate about.
The mythical creature in the movie would be the patrons who are willing to support the publication, giving the editorial board the trust and independence to do their job with excellence, so they can serve their audience in the best way they know how. In the case of the fictional Runway Magazine, it is to champion beauty and excellence.
In the case of community newspapers that are struggling to survive these days, such patrons would allow us to do our job properly, without constantly having to look over our shoulders, wondering if we can make payroll or rent. We don’t need high couture, fancy rides, or first class accommodations. All we need are people who still believe in the value of journalism in society, and are willing to support it. Because without such people, all that the struggling newspapers and magazines will get to ‘save’ them are corporations or powerful people whose goals are not in advancing journalism or truth telling, but in making money, buying influence, protecting their interests, or consolidating power.
Without such patrons and champions, all we get are mediocre publications whose ideals and standards for excellence in telling the stories that matter are bent out of shape, to follow the will of their corporate or political overlords.
If you come to think of it, there is still hope for some sort of fairytale ending for the projects and publications that we would like to see survive, and maybe even thrive. The key word in a community newspaper is the community, and that means its patrons and champions must come from there. If enough people from the community would only support and patronize their publications and media outfits, by subscribing, advertising, or paying for the services being provided, there would be no need for a patron or angel investor for outfits like the DAILY STAR to continue serving. We don’t even need a fairytale ending. In our case, we just get to continue what was started 44 years ago by Ninfa R. Leonardia, the DAILY STAR’s real-life Miranda Priestly.
I bet she would love to see her project being carried on by the patrons and champions of quality journalism in our community.*
