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The Crazy World Of Beauty Journalists Before And After Corona

My column about beauty journalists is something for insiders. For my female colleagues, because there are only a handful of men in our industry who have experienced the same thing as me. The rest of the readers will smile at my experiences. The more sardonic among them will say they always knew that journalists are a spoiled bunch who get everything shoved in front and behind them just so they can write a positive (lie) story. It serves them right that the wind has changed after Corona, they will say.

We beauty journalists – I have to admit -have actually been a very pampered people (by the beauty industry) over the many fat years. After all, a good placement in the respective magazine with positive coverage paid off for the companies in hard cash. Even back then, it was questionable whether it was justifiable for a handful of journalists to be flown to the desert for an afternoon just to attend the unveiling of a new perfume. Simply decadent. And not just in terms of the CO2 footprint, which nobody was talking about at the time.

Beauty Journalists jet to Paris for a single lipstick

I also remember a press trip to Paris with one laughing and one crying eye. The whole thing took place – in an illustrious setting, of course – to launch a single new lipstick. A colleague from a national German daily newspaper wrote a very smug story about how stupid it was to fly to Paris just for a lipstick. I had a great time reading her article, because it really was as far-fetched as she described.tte.

But the colleague was also privileged in one way: she could afford it because, although she accepted the invitation, (a) her publisher paid the expenses and (b) the inviting party did not place any advertisements in her newspaper. The rest of us were only allowed to write nice things because the organizer was, after all, an advertising customer of all our magazines. One bad word and each of us would have had our notice on the table the same day.

These two outstanding episodes happened more than 15 years ago. But even in the 2010s, there were still plenty of paid trips near and far for journalists to attend product launches. One more thing needs to be said: If the cosmetics manufacturers were already doing it badly, the car companies topped it off with their excessive events and guest gifts.

Corona has put an end to it

Things have changed a lot since corona also for us beauty journalists. The long lockdown made face-to-face meetings impossible anyway. Presentations took place online, and that worked just as well, but with much less effort. This has shown most companies that they can save a lot of money on press trips and invitations if they can cater to us journalists digitally. Today, invitations, especially when it comes to travel, only go to the most important media – and then usually to the editor-in-chief. Young female colleagues in editorial offices today are often not even allowed to attend an appointment in their own city because they are categorically understaffed.

Normally you would have to say that this is a good development. Unfortunately, the quality of information has also suffered as a result. In the past, there used to be at least one expert present at press events who could be asked questions or even interviewed individually. Of course, this benefited the article that had to/should result from this appointment. Nowadays, experts are at best connected online, shaking their test tubes in some laboratory on another continent. They then provide more or – usually – less information on a large screen. I usually don’t learn anything that I can’t read in the press releases.

No idea, but a lot of it

In the past, our contacts at the press agency were real experts, but today it feels like we are only dealing with trainees. If you ask them a question at the now rare face-to-face events that isn’t already answered by the information material, the standard response is almost always: “I’ll have to do some research first. I’ll send you the answer by email…”. Great!

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want the “good old days” back. I think it’s right to put an end to these exaggerated events, where you often had the feeling that companies were trying to outdo each other with superlatives. You can also inform the press more cheaply and less expensively – with the same positive result if you do it right.

Beauty journalists in the online era

However, what is being neglected in the online age are personal contacts, meetings and exchanges with colleagues. How often have new ideas for stories and productions emerged at press meetings or over a meal together? You could get a lot of inspiration at meetings abroad. Especially in a communications business like ours, this is of fundamental importance. Not only professionally, but also on a personal level. Making friends in the industry outside the newsroom is becoming increasingly difficult for the next generation not only of beauty journalist but of all journalists. Working from home promotes isolation even more.

Even if everything is completely different today and also has its advantages. When we meet up with colleagues of the same age, we like to reminisce about those “old” days. We say: “Do you remember what it was like in the desert back then, when we were flown in for just a few hours and a dinner under the stars…”

beauty journalist, press trip

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