Beware the Friday news dump
Does it still work in the social media age?
It’s a time-honored tradition that politicians and businesses who have bad news to share do so on a Friday afternoon. It’s called the “Friday news dump.”
The online Political Dictionary says, “By releasing significant information on a Friday, individuals or organizations hope that the news will receive limited media coverage and public attention, allowing controversial or unfavorable news to go relatively unnoticed or fade quickly.”
I learned this lesson early in my reporting career when I was in TGIF mode looking forward to a relaxing weekend, only to have the governor’s office drop a big news story at 4:45 pm on a Friday. It meant staying late on a Friday night trying to report and write on an important story. Of course, it’s hard to reach news sources on a Friday night, so the stories I’d write in such situations would always be thinner than something done earlier in the week. And news audiences are lower on weekends because, well, people have real lives to live. And communications professionals understand that, hoping to bury bad news so fewer people will see it.
I’ve often seen the Iowa governor, whether a Democrat or Republican, veto a seemingly popular bill on the Friday afternoon before Memorial Day weekend.
Friday news dump on steroids
There’s a recent and important example of the Friday news dump in Iowa. Last Friday, Governor Kim Reynolds announced that Iowa would turn down federal dollars to feed low-income kids next summer. The pandemic-era federal program would give families $40 a month to buy groceries over the summer, when free and reduced-priced school lunches aren’t available. It would cost Iowa a measly $2.2 million dollars to bring in federal dollars easily ten times that amount, to feed hundreds of thousands of low-income Iowa kids.
The announcement last Friday could be called a “Friday news dump on steroids” because it wasn’t just any Friday. No, the state released the information late on Friday before the Christmas weekend. At a time when most Iowans were distracted from the news cycle because they wanted to spend Christmas with their kids, the state of Iowa chose to disclose that it was stiff-arming millions of federal dollars to feed those kids next summer. If you can gauge a politician’s level of embarrassment over a decision by when it’s announced, then this “pre-Christmas Friday news dump on steroids” is about as embarrassing as it gets.
Does it still work?
Is the Friday news dump still relevant in the internet age? There’s some recent evidence that it may not be as effective as it once was, because of social media.
There’s no question that regular news consumers are less plugged in to traditional media over the weekend. They’re playing golf, shopping, and going out to eat. The Des Moines Register doesn’t even print a Saturday edition anymore. So regular folks may not spend as much time reading the newspaper or watching TV news.
But does that mean they’re spending less time on social media? I don’t think so. If anything, people who are busy working Monday-Friday have MORE time to scroll through social media. And an announcement just before Christmas that turns down free food for low-income kids will get plenty of attention, and reaction on social media.
PR News Online wrote a story in October that the Friday news dump is counter-productive in the social media age. One example it cites is Northwestern University’s Friday release of an investigation into hazing in the football program. The school suspended the head coach for two games. The story says, “…social media was ablaze that Friday afternoon about the news, and in particular, the perceived light punishment for head coach Pat Fitzgerald. The news became centered, not buried.” By the time Monday morning rolled around, it was a huge story that ended in the coach being fired.
Outrage on social media can gain momentum over a weekend when people have more time to play with their phones and scroll through their feeds.
My guess is that we haven’t heard the last of the controversial decision to turn down federal funds to feed hungry kids. It just sounds bad. Iowans are going to be upset about it and I imagine we’ll see a number of letters to the editor about it. Once we get past the New Year’s weekend and start ramping up for the Iowa legislature to begin, I anticipate it will be the subject of more news stories, and more talking points for Iowa Democrats to question why this decision was made.
The bottom line for news consumers is you can’t ever let your guard down. Stay plugged in, even over the holidays. Because if a government official uses the Friday news dump, it’s probably something you’ll want to know about and that they’ll hoping you’ll be too distracted to notice.
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John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines
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Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines
Macey Shofroth: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk
Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
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Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
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I'm convinced this tactic doesn't work nearly as well in the social media age. As you probably saw, news of the Iowa governor's decision to deny food assistance to needy families went viral on many platforms.
Even in the time I've been writing about Iowa politics (just under 17 years), I've noticed that these slow news weekends are not as slow as they used to be. On the contrary: sometimes a story published right before a holiday weekend can actually do better, because there is less competing political news to take up people's attention. I think that dynamic explains why so many people (even some national websites) picked up the story about Kim Reynolds and food assistance last weekend.
$40 per month amounts to $1 for each breakfast or lunch students miss when school is not in session.
First Kim claims she is rejecting the funds because it is not a long term solution. So just what is her solution? Couldn't she accept the funds while she works on a long term plan? Reminds me of Trump and his "I will have a beautiful health care reform in just 2 weeks. "
Then she said she rejected funding because of childhood obesity. So- $2 more per day will make kids fat??
She touts parents' rights and that they know what is best for their children, but somehow does not trust parents to spend that $2 a day more responsibly.
She also said local groups are better set up to handle hunger issues than the state is. Open your eyes, Kim! Iowa is full of small, rural towns -37% of our population! Rural area often have no food banks, and no churches large enough to fund/operate such a program.
She is despicable.