Fishburn Hedges

25.05.2010

I wonder if Woodward and Bernstein, facing another late night in the office hard at work bringing down the Nixon administration, ever thought, "to hell with it, let's just do a rip off of that weather story on PA instead".Is the news exclusive a luxury from an era before newsroom cuts limited the intrepid reporter's investigative time and their editor's patience? An anachronism of a pre-Twitter age, before union bosses leaked out all the juicy details in real-time?In fact, reading all the well-worn weather headlines in today's papers ('Sunday Roast', thanks Daily Mirror), it makes you wonder whether today's modern multimedia platform (that's newspaper group to you and me) needs exclusive news to stand out and survive. The Lord Triesman and Sarah Ferguson stings, show the modus operandi of many a tabloid 'exclusive' still going strong. The videos associated with these stings, are great fodder for readers on the web and are further helping to drive (albeit non-paying) online readership.On the broadsheet side, my impression is that whilst some papers are still gunning for the big scoops (the Telegraph's MP's expenses story), others are willing to let these go. The Independent, for instance, going for an alternative, but not generally exclusive-driven take on the day's news - think Robert Fisk on the Middle East.Clearly the holy grail here is whether the exclusive is still capable of driving sales in today's multi-media environment. The Telegraph's expenses coverage boosted sales by around 100,000 copies according to MediaGuardian, apparently equivalent to a DVD giveaway.And that to me sums up the dilemma - wall posters and 2-for-1 dinner vouchers may well do as much, if not more, to boost your sales as a news exclusive. And you can offer these promotions without a fully staffed newsroom weighing down your cost budget.  Budding reporters beware.Posted by Clare Moore-Bridger