Writing for Michelle

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    As a voracious reader of trade publications, I took note of a recent post by Joe Romenesko, a blogger who — in his own words — writes about “media and other things I’m interested in.”
    One of his tipsters forwarded a memo and photo of a cardboard cutout from a South Carolina television station, advising the staff that “Michelle” — a lady pictured in the cutout with two squeaky-clean kids —should be their target audience.

    The memo stated, in part, that “Michelle is who you want watching your newscasts, your stories … She will be in every editorial meeting with us and in the newsroom during the day … When you pitch, pitch to her. When you write, write to her … Even if you think a story doesn’t directly impact Michelle find a way to write it to her.”
    (We tried to reproduce the cardboard “family” for this column, but it didn’t come out well. A Google search brings it up easily, however.)
    Once the memo and photo hit social media, things hit the fan, so to speak.
    One of the first jabs came from someone in the TV station’s market who noted that nearly 50 percent of the population was African-American. So if they were “writing for Michelle,” they were ignoring half their potential audience.
    Personally, I found the article — as Yogi Berra once said — “like déjà vu all over again.”
    The first newspaper I worked for was owned by a conservative, hands-on publisher who could be brutally honest at times. Some of the staff would cringe at his post-publication memos, but I accepted them as part of the job.
    I went through a rough period where everything I seemed to do was counterproductive. Issues with stunning photos and exclusive articles weren’t selling while ho-hum editions were flying off the shelves. So I asked the publisher why.
    His response was simple. “We have hundreds of readers who never went to college, work eight hours a day in a shoe factory, play bingo at the Legion on Friday night, listen to country music and go ice fishing on weekends,” he told me. “You’re not reaching them.”
    At first I was shocked, but the more I thought about it, the more his criticism made sense. I concentrated heavily on town government, school boards and business news.
    With the exception of milestone anniversaries and birthdays, I didn’t write many human interest articles. So while the paper may have looked like an award-winner in my eyes, it wasn’t reaching a sizeable chunk of our audience.
    So I understand the “Michelle” concept, although the idea of having a cardboard cutout in the newsroom is pretty creepy. I’d probably be tempted to draw a moustache on her with a Sharpie.
    Nowadays, I try not to write for a specific audience or demographic. Somehow, I need to reach everyone from elementary school kids to nursing home residents.
    What I may think is a blockbuster story could turn out to be a yawner for a big chunk of our readership.
    And yes, I need to write for “Michelle” once in a while, the soccer mom with a station wagon and two youngsters with toothpaste-commercial smiles.
    She may not play bingo once a week or listen to Q-106.5, but she still picks up a newspaper at the supermarket every Wednesday.
    And she better find something in it that she likes.
Mike Lange is a staff writer with the Piscataquis Observer. His opinions are his own and don’t necessarily reflect those of this newspaper.