Testimonials are an invaluable tool for convincing farmers. It’s also a favoured medium in the press for sharing information. But where do you draw the line between a press testimonial and a commercial testimonial? From definition to approach, we tell you everything.
Are informing or communicating the same thing? If I type “communicate” into my favourite synonym tool, it suggests “inform”. So why wonder about the supposed boundary between two synonyms? Let’s start at the beginning with the definition of each word.
Informing or communicating, a fine but very real nuance
According to our precious Larousse dictionary, to inform is to let someone know something, to bring it to their attention, to teach them about it. In other words, to make someone aware of something. To communicate, on the other hand, is to convey something, to transmit something else. So there is a difference between informing and communicating. It’s almost philosophical, but in practice it’s very real. The former aims to provide factual information:
The Gaec* produces 50,000 litres of milk a year
Thanks to its new feed, the Gaec produces 50,000 litres of quality milk a year, while improving the health of its herd.
The second testimonial brings a plus with a target
The data provided is the same (50,000 litres of milk per year), but it is provided with a bias (the feed) that changes the way it is processed by the person receiving it.
Journalists and communicators, two different professions
There is a similar difference between journalists and communicators. The former’s mission is to research, verify and disseminate information, making it comprehensible and accessible to a variety of audiences. They provide information in compliance with strict ethical rules (in principle) and, above all, independently and objectively. The communicator, on the other hand, is neither neutral nor objective in principle, since he is paid by his client to produce content about his product or service. Their objective is to convince.
Respecting the witness’s word
However, this does not mean that the communicator is talking nonsense in his or her testimony as a farmer. At Appaloosa, for example, we respect the word of the interviewees and always ask them to validate our articles. Our client is naturally careful to find a witness who is already convinced by the product or service on offer.
On the other hand, although it is also a journalist’s job to respect the word of witnesses, there is no obligation for a journalist to have an article approved by the person in question before publication (and that’s all to the good, because it’s also a guarantee of his or her independence).
Advertorials: a non-neutral form of communication
Newspapers use a frame to indicate the nature of the content to the reader or listener. In the case of advertising, an “advertorial” mark indicates that the content has a commercial purpose. It is not neutral but promotes a product or service. According to Le Robert, an advertorial is an advertisement in a magazine in the form of a report. It is an advertisement in editorial format. Like advertisements, advertorials are pages sold to companies.
When the line between communication and information becomes blurred
The limit is reached when the farmer no longer knows whether the content is information or communication. The web in particular offers deceptively free information, since it is the advertising on the site that keeps it going. These adverts can be the source of partnerships that are not clearly advertised and that lead to “information” articles. To survive in a context of financial difficulties, paper magazines are using the same partnership method. They propose a commercial offer with an advertisement and an article: the journalist is then subject to a client!
And here we blur the boundary between information and communication. The journalist gives the figures that seem relevant and puts them into perspective, or even compares them with competitors. The communicator specifically chooses the data that will highlight the product or service with an argument that is committed to the cause. When the journalist is forced by the sale of advertising to highlight the customer, he or she drifts towards the communicator. As we said, these are 2 different professions, serving different purposes. So the question of ethics arises.
*In France, the agricultural group for joint farming, commonly known as GAEC (Groupement Agricole d’Exploitation en Commun) is a specific type of partnership in the agricultural civil society.