Customers aren't always right, plus conference culture shock

A weekly newsletter on money, politics and life in Texas. [San Antonio Express-News - Header Logo]( [View in browser]( Only 25¢! Get Access to Your Trusted Source for Local News. [Subscribe Today.]( [Don’t always give the customer what they want.]( Journalism is one of the few businesses where our professional integrity requires that we don’t pander to our consumers. Sometimes honesty can hurt revenues at what’s supposed to be a for-profit enterprise. The Dallas Morning News learned the hard way in the 1920s. When the Ku Klux Klan rose to public and political prominence, [the News denounced the movement as anti-democratic and led the fight against them](. The Klan organized boycotts, both by advertisers and subscribers. The financial losses were so significant the News had to sell its sister newspaper, The Galveston Daily News, to stay afloat. But a century later, the paper’s courage to report the truth about the KKK remains one of its greatest moments. On election night 2020, Fox News’ courage lasted about an hour after it correctly predicted President Joe Biden would win Arizona. Fox viewers, including President Donald Trump, did not appreciate the honest journalism and railed against the network. Fox executives, editors and talent collapsed under the pressure to appease their conservative viewers, according to [documents recently released in Dominion Voting System’s defamation lawsuit](. Fox journalists began [telling their customers what they wanted to hear, not what they needed to hear](. Meanwhile, Fox star Tucker Carlson wrote longingly for the day he would never again interview Trump, a man he “passionately hates.” I understand. News organizations face more competition than ever. Advertising revenue is slipping, and building a loyal audience is critical to creating sustainable revenue streams. Every Hearst Newspapers journalist has access to analytics that show us how many people are reading our articles in real-time. We also see how long they read, a key performance indicator for reader engagement. I am pleased to report that based on what I see in the numbers, newspaper subscribers want real news — oh, and animal stories. It’s a balancing act, and sometimes the truth doesn’t sit well with readers. Occasionally, a reader writes to say they are canceling their subscription because of something I wrote. They often say Texas newspapers should not publish someone who does not support fossil fuels or Trump. But I will not say one thing in my columns and another in text messages to friends, as Fox hosts did. Journalists must think about their customers and meet their needs; we try very hard. But my goal is to inform, entertain and occasionally provoke. I aim never to mislead, propagandize or pander. When news organizations do the latter, they betray their customers and face $1.6 billion lawsuits. [Chris Tomlinson Headshot] Chris Tomlinson Business Columnist What Else I'm Writing [Story photo for Big Oil playing catch up on cleaner energy]( Photo: Michael Wyke, Contributor [Big Oil playing catch up on cleaner energy]( Big Oil’s leaders rejected strategies to speed the transition in a way that could hurt their shareholders. Many insisted the world is coming around to embracing fossil fuels. [Story photo for Texas grid plans couldn't be more different]( Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff Photographer [Texas grid plans couldn't be more different]( Texas electricity generators and big consumers face off over very different plans for ERCOT grid. The fate of residential customers lies in the balance. What I'm Reading Must Read: Texas secession bill filed by Republican TEXIT? Really? We fought the Civil War over this. ([Houston Chronicle]( and [San Antonio Express-News]() Should Read: Austin investor embroiled in FBI investigation of AG Ken Paxton faces 10 days in jail ([Houston Chronicle]( and [San Antonio Express-News]() Interesting Read: [As Oil Companies Stay Lean, Workers Move to Renewable Energy]( Searching for a sustainable future. (New York Times) Technical Read: [Democracy, Inequality, and Antitrust]( Preventing corporations from forming monopolies is good for democratic societies. (Yale University) Fun Read: [A Botanical Guide To Texas Wildflowers]( ’Tis the season. (Texas Highways) Question of the Week Do you think news organizations should cater to readers’ views? Reply directly to this email and tell me your thoughts. Mailbag Last Week’s Question: How much more in taxes are you willing to pay for better water systems? “Not much. But I would pay a higher water usage fee. A graduated fee based on consumption will promote conservation. No use improving water-related assets when there isn't enough water to flow through them. In the long term, the current rate of water consumption is not sustainable.” –John Singleton, Houston "I fear your question presents false, or at least, misleading alternatives. It won’t be done in a year, but with surpluses and wiser spending, we can at least make a dent in it. Most importantly, quit wasting money on Greg Abbot’s presidential/reelection campaign. His latest request for Operation Lone Star is almost $2 billion, and who knows how much we are spending on voter suppression, anti-transgender and abortion laws. Let’s also stop wasting money protecting Ken Paxton and filing nuisance lawsuits against the federal government." –David Knox, Houston “You missed the entire point of how and why public water systems are devoid of innovation, capacity, reinvestment, and alternative forms of public-private partnerships - using public health and public safety as an excuse. … It's not that the funding isn’t there – it’s the model is based on an 18th-century delivery system that has become protected by ‘every inefficiency has a constituency.’" –Richard Seline, Houston The Takeaway Today I leave [Houston’s CERAWeek](, one of the world’s most important energy conferences, for the [SXSW Conference and Festivals in Austin](, a cornucopia of business, film and music. The culture shock is mind-bending every year as I leave the world of $10,000 suits for the metaverse of $1,000 hoodies. The Houston and Austin convention centers may only be 185 miles apart, but the worldviews could not be more different. The executives and engineers working in the oil and gas industry roll their eyes at the pretentiousness of the tech industry's disruptors and futurists. But frankly, Houston folks do themselves no favors with their self-important arrogance and peeved dismissiveness toward the dreamers with a proven track record of changing the world. SXSW attendees would do well to remember the oil industry made the jet fuel that makes their conference possible, while every petroleum engineer’s life would be a lot harder without advanced software. In recent years, though, I’ve noticed the two sides converging. S&P Global has added a tech conference to CERAWeek called Agora. SXSW hosts extensive panels on energy and climate tech. And I’ve noticed more people making the same journey I make every March, which is probably the most optimistic thing I’ve seen at either conference. Share With Your Friends Do you know someone who would like Tomlinson's Take? For the Houston edition, [send them here to sign up](; for the San Antonio edition, [send them here](. Express Briefing All the news you need to start your day in San Antonio [SIGN UP](             [San Antonio Express-News]   ONLY 25¢! Get Access to Your Trusted Source for Local News Unlimited Digital Access [Act Now]( No Commitment | Cancel Anytime [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( [TikTok]( [Unsubscribe](list_name=SAEN_TomlinsonsTake&list_display_name=Tomlinson%27s%20Take&b=sa_saen) | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Notice]( [San Antonio Express-News - Footer Logo] San Antonio Express-News PO Box 2171, San Antonio, TX 78297 © 2023 Hearst Communications