Viacom Africa sent a so-called "social media influencer" from South Africa to the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2019 this past Saturday in Los Angeles instead of any actual real journalist and days afterwards, the clock is still ticking on when all the supposed coverage will appear to justify sending the person to attend the orange carpet awards ceremony.
With absolutely nothing on YouTube, just 4 selfies on Twitter, and one video and two photos on the Insta from the actual orange carpet after a quick perusal of the egotastic funtime content feeds of the wannabe Instagram model, the big question I have is where all the actual coverage is from this supposed social media influencer that Viacom Africa chose to send to actual "cover" the awards show?
What is a so-called "social media influencer" or Instagram model worth if a person that you've never even heard of, just attend something, or is at some event but doesn't actually do anything, or do little besides self-centered "selfies" and isn't even attuned to, aged in line with, or have a basic prior working knowledge of a brand?
Of course there isn't really any actual real or originally produced coverage of the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2019 in the South African press of this past weekend's awards show of Nickelodeon (DStv 305) because there weren't actual real media from South Africa there or included in the exercise of sending people from South Africa there.
And the social media influencer could apparently not be bothered, or doesn't know how or what is actually expected when selected to go represent and "cover" an awards show ceremony and its red (or in this case orange) event.
If Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) chose some half-decent actual entertainment journalist, there presumably would have been some kind of coverage at least in at least some publication or across some newspaper or print group's titles in terms of at least one or two stories even if just copy and pasting a press release, but there wasn't any as far as I had seen.
It's tragic, really, and yet another lost opportunity to really involve and build and support South Africa's entertainment reporting media and the press who actually tries, instead of pandering to "social media influencers" who don't and never will replace real journalism - even what passes for "entertainment reporting" these days.
Why are so-called social media influencers sent and given opportunities for trips to things where their output don't nearly seem to live up to expectations or presumably promises? Or do they go with no prior agreement to do anything? Who knows.
Earlier this month during a leisurely Sunday lunch in Cape Town I got talking to a veteran political journalist, now news and weekend editor, who briefly recently worked for a while within PR and marketing for a local hotel group.
The person bemoaned how terrible it was to suddenly deal with "social media influencers" and how it taught her a newfound respect for "real journalists".
The person spoke about how demanding and egotistical a rising breed of social media influencers are, how they "must" according to new media lore be incorporated into PR and marketing strategies and budgets, how much they want to be paid, are often paid upfront, and how some don't keep to their end of the bargain and contracts in terms of content posts.
The person revealed how some of the so-called social media influencers the person has had to deal with are offered and take free trips (which are paid for so that they can "review" or "cover" accommodation and activities) but then also on top of that, would then say that they want to be paid in addition to receiving what essentially amounts to a free holiday.
Who knows how TV channels, broadcasters and video streaming services from M-Net to Netflix South Africa, and the Africa divisions of BBC Studios, FOX, Disney, NBCUniversal, Discovery, Viacom and others are nowadays making their choices as to whom they choose to invite to cover events or fly overseas on expensive junkets and who and why they select people for media access to shows and press events.
How exactly are "social media influencers" upending or impacting that process when there's only one or limited sp(l)aces?
Should it go to proven press who will cover it and where you know what they'll do based on a history of work, or influencers who will likely cover it from a me-first selfie-perspective and not as in-depth and comprehensive as would be possible?
With so few opportunities that exist already to make what one person can experience but can possibly translate, share and report to many more, it seems crazy and misguided to choose social media influencers who don't seem to have the proper skill, know-how or deep-seated and real inclination of really "representing" those hundreds or thousands or millions or readers, listeners or viewers they are supposed to.
But perhaps that is what TV channels, shows, broadcasters and award shows want these days - fluff (and a little bit of it) instead of actual broad reporting and coverage.
While many so-called "entertainment journalists" and media covering television are bad and don't do what they're supposed to - or to the extent that they're supposed to - it seems that "influencers" trying to cover the wonderful world of TV land are even worse and even more just in it for themselves.
Is any real consideration given to making the money being spent and invested on giving access to people actually count?
Hopefully TV executives, PR companies, publicists and marketers in South Africa start to realise that fact sooner rather than later, and somehow start to better measure exactly what they are really getting from whom for what.
