I bet many of those at today's annual conference of the Insurance Media Association wondered what Sam Friedman, an editor, was doing up at the podium. Not that long ago, I would have wondered the same thing, as editors tend to steer clear of any meeting involving ad sales, marketing and public relations experts–not only because they don't want to be pitched en masse, but also because they fear being “corrupted” by associating with the “dark side” of the business. But as I explained in my speech, that attitude won't wash anymore in today's media-savvy environment, and I proceeded to explain why.
The fact is that while National Underwriter maintains a strict separation between sales and editorial, that only extends to the fact that we won't allow advertisers to dictate content. We also would never agree to provide a flattering but ultimately empty profile of a company or its leader just because they advertise with us, or punish anyone who doesn't by ignoring them.
But as I learned during one very educational year as interim publisher here, there are plenty of opportunities for editorial and marketing to work together for the magazine's common good without violating editorial integrity, to the ulitmate benefit of our common customer, our readers.
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