Rant about the media and travel consumer issues
By Darren Cronian on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

Last week I was annoyed at the amount of newspaper, television and radio attention that a low cost airline was receiving when they are real life travel consumer issues that should be brought to the public’s attention by the media.

Rant about the media and travel consumer issues

Time to get priorities right

An individual in the airline industry mentions that they are looking into charging for passengers to use their toilets – the media jump on it, gives the airline tons of free publicity and in the meantime this individual is having a laugh at the media’s expense.

Meanwhile.

A disabled traveller who relies on a wheelchair is stuck in an airport in Madrid for four hours because some irresponsible airport member of staff does not do their job properly. Or, a traveller misses her flight to visit ill father in Switzerland because her connecting train was cancelled.

Add a ton of other travel consumer issues here that I’ve ranted about.

Hidden real consumer issues

I understand the need to write controversial articles to attract visitors but when these types of articles are written because of stupid PR stunts and hide real travel consumer issues I get annoyed. In fact, I feel more frustration right now, that consumers voices are not being heard by the media.

Now I have got that off my chest I am interested to read your opinion.

Update:

Further proof that the media have nothing better to do. Read this on the Times website. The earlier article by the Times seems to have been removed. I cannot believe that they’re so gullible.

Whilst the airline has a reputation of bad mouthing it would have been business suicide to have come out with the abusive and derogatory statements online. I think this proves my point in this post that the general media are no longer interested in highlighting real travel consumer issues.


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12 responses to “Rant about the media and travel consumer issues”

Andrea Wren | 4 March, 2009 at 4:52 pm

Completely and totally agree. Leary plays the media totally to his own tune.

I think part of the reason that the real consumer issues don’t get a look in is because they bear no impact on the consumer wallet. While people moan on about the extortionate charges of Ryanair, they still are lured by the prospect of ‘cheap’ (even if it doesn’t end up as being so in the end), which is why they pay so much attention to such PR stunts and which is why these stories end up in the press.

The media wouldn’t be able to do it if there wasn’t an interest, so we as consumers are also responsible in terms of what we demand to read. I have had so many ‘real issue’ stories turned down by editors just because it isn’t exciting or ‘sexy’ enough (I do so hate that phrase) for the reader. Sometimes, real issues just don’t sell papers.

The situation of the disabled traveller stuck in Madrid likely falls in this line, but who is to blame for that? The media, or the people who buy the papers? Both to some extent.

It’s a real issue and it requires attention, but the sad fact is that no one wants to hear about it unless it bears some relation to them (whereas being charged to use the loo on a flight they hoped they’d be getting for peanuts does…).

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Darren Cronian | 4 March, 2009 at 5:27 pm

@ Andrea

Thanks for the comment and some good points raised. I feel better now I have got it off my chest. I know these appear as small individual issues, but, if they wrote about some of these issues I am sure you’d find that its a bigger issue than they think.

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Kevin May | 4 March, 2009 at 10:22 pm

Are you talking about the mainstream media or the trade media?

From a MSM perspective, the reality is that running a story about an airline which many people claim to hate is going to have a far higher interest level than the one about the disabled traveller stuck in Madrid, which a handful of people will be mildly outraged over and the majority simply of the shrugging shoulder variety.

Right or wrong, that’s the way mass media works – appealing much of the time to the lowest common denominator.

And, therefore, that is why there forums and blogs exist, so niche issues can be aired and, like you illustrated above, people can get things off their chests – and, inevitably and unfortunately, be ignored by practically everyone.

The trade press’s kowtowing is less forgivable in some respects (our most recent post on Ryanair served only to illustrate the capabilities of Ryanair in terms of its PR machine, rather than simply ‘report’ the bogus pay-to-pee story), as it should be disseminating what information it finds and making it relevant to the audience.

[The post – http://www.travolution.co.uk/blog/2009/02/this-is-why-ryanair-is-a-geniu.php

At least two of the trade media newswires ran with the pay-to-pee ‘story’, but didn’t bother to ask any questions? How is Ryanair going to introduce and enforce such a bizarre scheme?

A useful thing from a trade media perspective would’ve been to ask how, ironically here, how will passengers with special toiletry needs, for example, be treated.

So you are absolutely right with your rant, but little will be done about it I fear.

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Darren Cronian | 4 March, 2009 at 10:39 pm

@ Kevin

My rant was mainstream media rather than trade. I understand your points, and agree, that little will be done. I even understand why they write the stories that they do, but it still is frustrating for someone like me who wants to raise these consumer issues but none of the media want to listen. I sent an email to four national newspapers with a link through to the disability post, which I think is very important, and not an uncommon issue, but not one bothered to even acknowledge my email.

Right now it feels quite frustrating highlighting these issues but no one seems to give a stuff about them. With regard to the ‘pay-to-pee story’ I was actually going to write a post about passengers with special toiletry needs but the thought about mentioning that airline and giving them more publicity put me off writing it. Now thats not good because these are the types of issues that I should be writing about.

A frustrated travel consumer blogger :)

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Roxanne | 4 March, 2009 at 11:34 pm

Darren
You should write to the London Paper re this issue ( i think thats what its called) It one of the free ones given out at night.
They have a column each day where a reader can write in about any issue they feel they want to write about. Its worth a try..

The column is next to their letters page

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Craig McGinty | 5 March, 2009 at 7:52 am

I think most MSM see it as a cheap and easy route to getting page impressions, remember most are ripping advertisers off with pricey CPM ad deals.

Personally, I think individual stories about the poor experience of travellers will be better directed at the local newspaper of the person, this could have more impact.

Might be a little harder to get a result when the problem is an airport overseas, but it may be something the newspaper is keen to pursue.

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Kevin May | 5 March, 2009 at 8:43 am

@Roxanne – love the irony there. Blogger raises issue > Gets published in print >

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JB | 5 March, 2009 at 4:48 pm

I stopped buying that toilet paper a long time ago. Darren, it is all about advertising revenue. Without these controversial fairytales you will find that the media would not exist.

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Murray Harrold | 5 March, 2009 at 11:06 pm

Quite right, Darren. Fully agree. I am b-o-r-e-d sh one t less listening to these media ramblings re: Rancour Air. There are many, many more important issues than pandering sheep-like to every rabid outburst from an outfit with a clever, though rather tenous grasp on reality. Actually, it could well back-fire. We shall see. Trouble is, the media are soooooo easy to wind up and many of them don’t even realise they are being wound up!

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Kevin May | 6 March, 2009 at 7:18 am

@murray – you’re quite right, the media in general is very easy to “wind up”, but equally so is the trade – and thus why the traditional travel trade media invariably go Ryanair-crazeee over pay-to-pee et al (although these are essentially consumer stories, not ones which affect the industry) because their readers love having a good ol’l Ryanair bashing.

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Murray Harrold | 8 March, 2009 at 10:54 pm

… one wonders if the travel trade media ever considered that the travel trade may consider that the antics of Rancour Air may only warrant a couple of lines on page 338, if at all and that frankly, the travel trade could not give a rancid roadkilled rodent what they do….

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Payam Minoofar | 11 March, 2009 at 5:22 pm

Sounds like the British news media has become as obsessed with sensationalism as the American “news” media.

Perhaps you can turn this blog into a bona fide news source. What resources do you have?

I’m definitely up for helping any resource that focuses on useful information instead of sensationalist crap.

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