Greetings from Madrid, where nobody seems to be starving and everyone is reasonably cheerful - on the surface, at least. Having said that, the sun is shining and I am staying in the posh Salamanca district, where the fashionable shop, eat and drink vermouth. Last night I was invited to dinner by Villanueva University, where I gave a speech about marketing and sustainability. One of the other guests was Gonzalo Brujó, chairman of Latin America and Iberia at Interbrand. He told me that one his goals is to convince the Spanish press to print more positive news. He doesn't exactly believe the media has talked us into a crisis, but he believes they could help us talk ourselves out of it.
"Newspapers seem to think their role is to be overwhelming negative", he told me, or words to that effect. It was hard not to agree with him. Journalists by their very nature are news junkies, and a lot of news is generated by scandal, hardship and disaster. Gonzalo and I agreed that standards of reporting had slipped, and that while we couldn't expect newspapers to print bright and optimistic stories, we would like to see more objectivity, analysis and wit. I must admit, the last time I was in England, I was shocked by how trashy The Times had become. The quest for readers has led to lower quality. It's time to stop obsessing about the numbers and concentrate on the words.
