Over the last few years, however, the rate at which we receive the news has been accelerating and, believe it or not, promises to become even more immediate. Some news organizations are applying extreme and sometimes controversial business practices to keep up with this increasing pace and to survive in the highly competitive online news space.

With more pressure to deliver content to their followers, organizations like Politico and Gawker are helping to ratchet up the intensity to an even higher level when it comes to reporting the news. Pre-dawn start times at agencies along with bonuses tied to the number of pageviews a reporter’s story garners are adding to the sense of urgency in which a story is posted online. Tracking how many people view articles online is becoming a higher priority not only at new media, but old media as well – creating an environment to see who can post the most exclusive stories the fastest.

As a result, when a major national story is in the midst of breaking news, the rules of engagement sometimes become a bit blurred, with more outlets favoring “cut and paste reporting” over actual journalism. Last month Rolling Stone magazine was about to post the General McChrystal story in which he and his aids were critical of the White House – first sending an advanced copy of the story to the Associated Press (customary for magazines trying to promote a story) with some restrictions. But before Rolling Stone had a chance to publish the story on their website, on their scheduled date, two major websites (Politico and Times.com) decided to post a PDF of the entire story to their respective sites.  

Although it was seen by some as a breach of copyright and professional best practices, both companies explained that they posted the story as it was unfolding. Since Rolling Stone didn’t immediately post the article itself they decided to move forward on their own.  Eric Bates, executive editor of Rolling Stone, didn’t see it that way. Voicing his concern not only from his magazine’s perspective but from an industry perspective, he called it a “transitional moment,” adding, “What these two media organizations did was off the charts. They took something that was in pre-published form, sent to other media organizations with specific restrictions, and just put it up.”

However, the exhausting pace of online news isn’t just taking its toll on the media organizations themselves. It is also coming at a price to the individuals supplying the content. The longer hours and added pressure to constantly come up with exclusive stories has contributed to an increased turnover of staff at online news organizations with more journalists facing burnout at a younger age. A dozen reporters recently left Politico in the first half of this year and it’s very common for an editor to leave Gawker after just one year.

While some may debate the future of the media, one thing is certain: The online media race is on.  I’m just not sure if slow and steady wins this one.

Do you think that the media and their audiences, are biting off more news than they can chew?  As a public relations professional, what do you think about news organizations bending the rules of engagement to keep up with today’s frenetic pace of news and how does this impact the way you conduct media relations? If you’re a journalist or blogger, how are you handling the added pressure of constantly having to deliver? Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

Speakers for the panel “The Future of Public Relations: Seizing the Opportunity” consisted of:

• Aedhmar Hynes, CEO of Text 100
• Matt Harrington, president and CEO of Edelman U.S.
• Peter Land, SVP, communications, at PepsiCo Beverages Americas
• Martin Murtland, VP, solutions for corporate communications for Dow Jones Inc.

I’ve listed some of the key points that I heard in the podcast. (NOTE: Unfortunately since there was only audio and no video, I was unable to keep track of exactly who was speaking at some times – so my apologies, in advance, to the panel if I’ve not credited you with your quotes.)

Hynes talked about marketing, advertising, public relations, etc. all being separate departments with separate budgets, as this is the business model that’s served well in the past. However, in reality, the future of the industry is about communicating the brand of the organization. What are the goals as a whole and what are the skill sets that match those strategic goals? This is the time for organizations to think about the fundamental concept of moving away from managing information or news to shaping and directing conversation.

Companies must influence the influencers. The concept of third-party advocacy has never been more important than it is now.

As in any discussion of PR these days, the conversation moved to changes in ROI and measurement and analytics. We all know we should get away from ad value equivalency, but what do we use in its place (aside from media value)?  How do you know your campaign is a success?  There are many tools out there that measure “online buzz.” Yet what does that really mean?  It goes back to where you start – when you set your goals, they must be measurable. Measurable goals will drive your reporting and allow you to determine which strategies were successful.   

So, what does the future look like for public relations?

• PR now has more opportunity and voice as it relates to corporate strategy. In other words, PR professionals are gaining more access to the C-suite.
• The future (of PR) is about confidence and being nimble. According to Land, we must be able to move incredibly fast and confident to walk into our CEO’s office and make suggestions.
• The move away from “agency of record” was briefly discussed because corporations have multiple needs (e.g., advertising, digital, creative, B2B, direct to consumer, etc.)  
• The next decade in public relations is predicted to be the most exciting in history thus far. It may seem like it’s “back to the future,” as some have lost sight of fundamental best practices, but we must now come back to this strategic consulting in shaping views, per Hynes.

What would you add? What does the future of PR look like in your mind’s eye? If you attended the conference virtually, what are some of the points you took away from it. Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

***

At the end of last month, the BurrellesLuce team invited me to attend the Bulldog Reporter’s Media Relations Summit. Being a young PR professional, who had just attended my first PRSA event at the beginning of June, I was eager to partake in the day’s activities. With a lot of great companies being represented at the summit, I knew that I wouldn’t be disappointed in this amazing learning experience.

While there were very informative “Meet the Editors” roundtables, I had the pleasure of listening to four panels that all mirrored the same message throughout regarding growing industry trends. Some of the key messages conveyed were:

• Keep your skill set up-to-date
• Participating on the Internet is no longer an option

During the first panel, the skills every public relations professional needs were discussed and writing was stressed to be the biggest skill. Like any PR professional knows, writing is essential to their everyday tasks and the panel talked about how being able to tell stories requires writing skills. These writing skills need to have a visual image and content, which helps to develop the full picture of what is impacting areas.

Moving more towards the social media aspect, during the other three panels I listened to, the need for more incorporation of the Internet into PR was a strong topic. In today’s PR world, there really isn’t an excuse to not be on social media and engaging with your and your clients’ audiences. Steve Momorella from TEKgroup International presented the statistics that:

• 90 percent of social media users follow/monitor news and information daily
• 75 percent of social media users visit corporate websites after a story
• 73 percent of social media users believe social media sources with news is more timely

In the second presentation, Tina Brown from The Daily Beast still thinks that as PR professionals we are still retro and need validation through print or TV. She went on to say how we can help shape the response of stories on the Internet by participating and also assisting to make the story go viral.

By being part of the conversation, we as PR professionals can help to position the story in a positive light. However, if there is no presence, anything can happen. As social media is continuing to grow, Bev Yehuda from Products MultiVu stated that “social media is the start of a transition away from ‘push,’ one-way communications to a world full of interactivity between PR professionals and the media.”

Being a young PR professional, what do you foresee as some future trends in the industry? How are you getting your company and/or clients into social media?

Flickr Image: B.K. Dewey

Monday morning, as I sat down on the train headed to the Bulldog Reporter 2010 Media Relations Summit, I had trouble getting past the front page of The New York Times. No, it wasn’t the story about “online bullies” or the “G20 agreement to halve budget deficits,” but a part of its masthead: “All the news that’s fit to print.”  

I am bothered by the fact that the motto remains tied to a particular format, when in fact The New York Times Digital ranked 13^th on the newly released comScore report of top 50 web properties. I enjoy reading The New York Times online via my BlackBerry, following @nytimes on Twitter and receiving its RSS feeds in my reader. I listen to NYtimes.com podcasts and watch NY Times videos. The various formats and channels each offer a unique purpose and different advantage in storytelling.

When I arrived at the conference I paid particular attention to how other media organizations were evolving. During the first roundtable I moderated, Glenn Coleman, managing director, Crain’s New York Business, discussed the different methods of outreach and subscription types available to readers. Alongside the original print edition, there is a digital edition, several premium specialized newsletters, as well as free email alerts consisting of daily, weekly, industry and company email alerts delivering the day’s breaking business news.

Likewise, at my second roundtable, Joe Ciarallo, editor of PRNewser and manager of PR initiatives for mediabistro.com, noted that the MediaBistro community receives content and information from a wide array of platforms. In addition to its original blog, MediaBistro reaches its audience using targeted blogs such as PR Newser, TV Newser, and Agency Spy, premium content, and opportunities for members,  live events and an active social media presence.

So what is the new standard of newsworthiness – the new goal of media organizations striving to be that essential trusted source of news?  During the conference Rand Morrison, executive producer, CBS News Sunday Morning, wisely remarked that, “Long is shorter than it used to be.” Perhaps an updated motto for The New York Times would be “All the news that’s fit to tweet.” But seriously, the motto should no longer focus on one particular format, but rather on consumption, discussion, or sharing. I’ll put it to you, the BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas community. What do you think would be a more appropriate motto for today’s New York Times?

For those of you who attended last year’s PRSA International conference and heard Arianna Huffington open the keynote address with, “The press release is dead…” or those who read Tom Forenski’s rant a few years ago, “Die! Press Release! Die! Die! Die!,” may be surprised to learn the press release, like traditional media, is NOT dead.  Falkow told us the news has changed, but journalists still want information.  The way that journalists work is evolving so we need to provide this information in different ways.

Lieb quoted some statistics on how journalists work today:

• 91 percent of journalists search Google to do their job (“expert” is a common search term)
• 89 percent use blogs
• 64 percent are using social networks

In addition, Lieb went on to say that over 75 percent of reporters view blogs as helpful in providing story ideas, story angles and insight into the tone of an issue. And, almost half of reporters say they are “lurkers” on social networking sites.

So, what do journalists really want and need from PR?  

• They want the news in easy-to-identify, digestible sections.
• They are looking for images, quotes, video, backgrounders, fact sheets.
• Tag the information so it’s easily found. 
• Give them the full embed code for multimedia.
• Put your news in a feed.
• Make it available on social sites.
• Aggregate your news/social content in one place.

She says, “Deconstruct the press release into special sections and tag the information. By using news tags, a newspaper or news site could pull together larger numbers of news stories and the PR industry would be helping news publishers to gather the facts and present them in a near-publishable format.”

Bottom line: if you aren’t telling your story, then someone’s telling it for you. If the media can’t find the information they need from you, they will find it elsewhere – and you may not like what they find!  

The media in general is expected to provide more than just a print story, or just a video clip – it’s also on the web. What is your organization doing to feed the media’s hunger for content? 

Want more tips and best practices for working with the media and giving journalists what they want and need? Visit the BurrellesLuce Resource Center which provides FREE white papers, tip sheets, and more. And be sure to sign-up for this month’s newsletter, “When Press Releases Go Bad” or view an archive of last month’s newsletter, “Staying Ahead of the Media Relations Curve.”

In ancient China, soldiers would warn against impending attacks by sending smoke signals from tower to tower up to 300 miles away within just a few hours; In 1775, Paul Revere used his vocal chords and a horse on his “midnight ride” to warn of the British invasion and in the 1800’s Samuel Morse used a type of character encoding system to send 20 words per minute via radio.

Today, in just a few typed lines and a few clicks, stories are being spread around the world through social networking sites circling the globe in a matter of seconds. And the vivid details from personal accounts through citizen journalism and the proliferation of camera phones are adding more truth and authenticity to these stories. In some cases the immediacy and extra scrutiny can lead to positive things (e.g., shedding light on last summer’s Iranian protests). In others, it can be

devastating for the main character or brand – causing irreparable harm to their reputations. The BP oil spill in the Gulf, the English goalies blunder against the U.S. team in the opening round of this year’s  World Cup, or any Lindsey Lohan story these days are just a few stories that go against the old PR adage, “Any publicity is good publicity as long as you spell my name right.”   

Celebrities have been putting up with this type of scrutiny, to some degree, for years with paparazzi constantly photographing unsuspecting beach goers wearing unflattering bathing suits or in compromising positions. But when it happens to our politicians, business leaders, corporations, athletes or just everyday people, how does one cope with the instant barrage of viral videos, bloggers, or tweeters, and the repercussions that follow? At least bad weather would force the ancient smoke signalers to take a break every now and then. Barring a colossal Internet crash, today’s perpetual flow of information continues to tarnish reputations worldwide (and many times rightfully so).

 Today crisis communications is becoming increasingly difficult with public relations and marketing people scrambling to keep up with today’s technology.  One lesson that Southwest Airlines taught the PR community back in February is to always keep a close eye on what the media, especially social media, is saying about your company. When movie director Kevin Smith was kicked off a Southwest Flight on Feb 18, 2010, essentially for being too fat, he tweeted about the episode and the next day the story was all over the Internet. However, Southwest wasted no time and offered an apology to Smith via Twitter and posted an explanation of their policy on its own blog before the story started to trend.

Maybe there should be an island for all the victims of negative social media fall out, where they can live in solitude and where there are no computers, web access, or mobile devices until their names are mercifully pushed down the search engine results list.  Even then, it probably wouldn’t take long before helicopters were swirling overhead taking video and instantly downloading the footage online.  A more practical approach would be to prevent the crisis from spreading further by paying close attention to what is being said in all forms of media and to who’s saying it.

The “who are you with attitude?” is old school now. So how are you preparing your clients and executives for “the every one is a reporter mentality?” Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

In the field of public relations, as within any other industry, “stars” emerge. Those who offer value and receive exposure gain attention. And while in the field of PR it is usually our clients who take center stage, Christine’s presentation highlighted tastemakers such as fashion PR maven Kelly Cutrone and social media experts such as Brian Solis who have become influencers in their own right. She encouraged those seeking to become influencers to share; write a book, offer quotes for a book, blog and tweet. Christine also cautioned that while sharing and participating in social media is essential, equally important is the need to offer value. Consider everything you put out there especially in writing, and what value it offers to others.

Following the session, Christine shared a few thoughts with me for young PR practitioners who seek to become influencers.

So here is my question to BurrellesLuce readers: What are your thoughts on PR experts as influencers? Is it the role of the PR practitioner to stay behind the brand, or do those PR influencers who are able to emerge as veritable tastemakers offer an added value to both clients and their community?

Image Courtesy of DC Comics

It would be hard to imagine the fictional newspaper men (and women) of the past like Perry White of the “Daily Planet” (Superman) hollering for their first quarter numbers of “unique visitors per month” or boasting about their ranking for “most-linked-to-news-outlets” or even deliberating about putting their content behind a “pay-wall.” Today these are just some of the relatively new terms being used to describe the various metrics and business models newspapers are exploring during this transitional period in which the entire industry finds itself. 

For the last several years the forecasts for news organizations have been filled with doom and gloom. However the news about the news industry has been much rosier as of late. For starters, newspaper website’s traffic continues to grow. As highlighted in this Media Post article, online newspaper operations from the top 25 media outlets reached 83.7 million unique visitors in April, up 10 percent from March, 12 percent from February and 15 percent from January of this year, according to comscore figures released by the Newspaper National Network. And according to Nielsen, 74.4 million unique visitors per month in the first quarter of 2010 were a record – up from 72 million from the first quarter of 2009. These increases were actually higher than competitors like CNN and The Huffington post who came in at 43.4 million (flat) and 22.2 million (a 3 percent drop) respectively.

(For a list of the top 100 daily newspapers, 25 consumer magazines, 25 blogs, and the 20 social networks in the U.S., check out the updated 2010 Top Media List from BurrellesLuce.)

It is obvious from these figures that, as Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt was recently quoted as saying, “Newspapers don’t have a demand problem they have a business model problem.”

As various business models continue to be tested, measured and debated within the industry, a silver bullet has yet to emerge. So far, it appears that several viable solutions are taking shape and depending on who you ask you’ll get a justification for each of them. According to this article on CNN.com, “Last year Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of The Wall Street Journal’s parent company News Corp., said ‘The current free access business model favored by most content providers was flawed and contributed to a fall in newspapers’ revenues.’” The WSJ is currently behind a pay-wall and “he also claimed the Wall Street Journal had proved that charging for content could be made to work pointing out that 360,000 people had downloaded an iPhone WSJ application in three weeks and that users would soon be made to pay “handsomely” for accessing WSJ content.”

Alternatively, The New Times plans to use a metered system (EZ Pass approach) starting January 2011, where a certain number of articles would be free before demanding payment (similar to what Financial Times is currently using). This may solve their monetization challenge, but it will no doubt affect their “most-linked-to-news-outlets” rank, a measure used to track the amount of people who actually clicked-through to the original news organizations website via a blog or third party source. This could significantly impact results, with 99 percent of the stories bloggers include as links coming from traditional mainstream media sources. Interestingly enough, 80 percent of the stories linked to in online and social media come from only four news outlets: The New York Times (20 percent), BBC news (23 percent), CNN.com (21 percent), and the Washington Post (16 percent). The Wall Street Journal has twice the print circulation as the New York Times, but  is not on this short list. 

Some pay-wall advocates would argue that the majority of these visitors are merely “drive by users” who come in once through an aggregator and don’t really engage with the product. The counter argument claims more traffic directed to a newspaper’s online site would ultimately translate into higher advertising dollars.

If the numbers prove the demand for news content is there, let’s hope for the news industry’s sake the revenue will follow. In my opinion credible news journalism still trumps all. As long as it’s being distributed through the device of choice, engaged by the readers, and monetized in a way that generates revenue without isolating readers – it doesn’t matter whether it’s done through pay-walls, online advertising, or possibly something we haven’t thought of yet. (After all necessity is the mother of all inventions.) A tall order for the news industry for sure, but the future suddenly looks a whole lot brighter. There’s no doubt the identity of the news industry will change, but a reinvented news organization is still better than none at all.

Image: Collider.com

On a recent trip to Colombia (South America), after a long day of sightseeing, I thought I’d switch on the TV with the hope of maybe catching an American baseball game … Instead, I found an episode of MTV Network’s “Jersey Shore.” As if it wasn’t surprising enough that this show recently became a television phenomenon in the states, I found out it was also number one on pay television in Colombia amongst 18-24 year olds, as well as in Mexico.

American television companies are penetrating international markets at a rapid pace and are leveraging multiple platforms, turning their creations into global brands or “multi platform franchises.” “Transmedia storytelling,” where multiple platforms are used to create varying entry points to the story while sticking to the main narrative, is a huge contributing factor in expanding these franchises. Additional revenue, created by linking video and computer games, mobile devices, and websites to the show, in turn helps entertainment companies offset high production costs. “Once people fall in love with a brand they want to interact with it in all sorts of ways,” says Tony Cohen, the head of Fremantle Media.

Transmedia storytelling is nothing new to entertainment – movie studios have used it for years making Spider-Man and Harry Potter as recognizable worldwide as Coke or McDonald’s. Avatar, Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster hit of 2009, grossed $747 million in the states and a whopping $2.7 billion worldwide, surpassing Titanic’s overseas box office record.

McDonald’s created Internet- based games and a sweepstakes around Avatar that included a private screening of the film among other prizes. “They’re realizing that the demographic they’re targeting isn’t using traditional media as much as they used to,” said Jeff Farmer, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in Boston.

As the Vice President of media and entertainment at BurrellesLuce I follow the television and movie industries very closely. A little break while traveling abroad would be nice, however, “Hollywood” seems to be everywhere these days.

What do you think? Is Hollywood and U.S. television over saturating the digital space? Are you using “transmedia” to engage and connect with your audience? What industry beyond entertainment do you think has crossed over with an effective use of transmedia public relations, marketing or advertising?

I received an email from my cousin Maureen last week requesting a favor.  Her girls, my first cousins once removed and who happen to be triplets, are working on a Girl Scout project related to public relations. Maureen, the leader of the troop, asked if I could provide some information to them about my job at BurrellesLuce and public relations in general. Any information I could provide would be a starting point for them to understand the industry.  Then, on their own, they would do further research in order to complete the project, such as obtaining

Flickr Image: HckySo

press releases, creating a press kit, role-playing how to handle bad publicity, creating a sales pitch, being a spokesperson for a non-profit, using technology, etc.

Naturally I thought this was great! My 13 year old cousins are learning about the PR industry, a field many adults don’t even grasp. David Mullen addressed this in his blog “How Do You Explain PR to People?” He states:

“I help companies communicate with people – customers, employees, legislators. And with you! If you’ve read a story in a newspaper or on CNN.com on a new product, a PR pro shared that with the reporter and lined up the interviews. If you see a business leader delivering a speech, a PR pro probably wrote it. If you happen across a really cool event in Bryant Park, a PR pro likely played a major part in the idea behind it. We work with executives to figure out the smartest, most effective ways to engage with people, let them know what’s going on with the company, and get their thoughts and feedback.”  

A great explanation from David, but my cousins had more questions… As I began to answer the list they sent me, I also reflected on my own career.  How I got into it, what I love about it, and how much experience I have gained over the years. I have included a few samples of the questions (and my answers) which I really enjoyed thinking about.

1.  What is your favorite part of your job? My favorite part is helping my clients do their job better. Also, attending social events is fun, too, and I have even met a few famous journalists. I attended a luncheon with Katie Couric! I also belong to professional organizations such as New York Women in Communications, The Public Relations Society of America, and The Publicity Club of New York.

2.  What type of training and experience did you need?  Since I work with clients in the public relations industry, I need to have an understanding of media and journalism. I was also trained on how my company monitors the media – for print and online news and magazine articles, social media, video and blogs, and more. 

3.  Do you still learn on the job?  Yes, especially now since media is changing and incorporating both traditional print media and online media.

4.  What type of companies does your company work for? Describe your customers. My company works with anyone or any company who needs to know where and when they are mentioned in the media. I specifically work with public relations agencies. These are firms who do PR for clients who hire them. They often specialize in a certain industry like fashion, beauty, toys or travel. My specific clients are located in New York City and New Jersey.

5.  What is the most interesting thing that you’ve learned or done in your job? There are so many interesting things I have done and learned during my career. I have been able to travel to meet clients, attend networking functions (one I went to was on board the U.S.S. Intrepid in San Diego!) It has also been rewarding to manage, train, and mentor others on all I have learned throughout my career. I enjoy the fact that I work with smaller clients, as well as  with big name clients and can build personal relationships with both. 

6.  How do you use technology in your job?  I think the coolest technology we use is this system that scans thousands of newspapers and magazines to find client product names or keywords. However, we still use humans to make sure the keyword is really what the client is looking for. We also use technology to deliver results to our clients.

7.  What are you most proud of in your career?  The loyal, strong relationships I have made with my clients.  

How would you answer these questions about your career? 

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*Bio: Colleen Flood has been a sales consultant with BurrellesLuce for over 12 years and is eager to become a more integrated part of the social-public relations community. She primarily handles agency relations in the New York and New Jersey metro-area. She is not only passionate about work, but also about family, friends, and the Jersey Shore. Twitter: @cgflood LinkedIn: Colleen Flood Facebook: BurrellesLuce

What do Tina Fey, Gayle King, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Sheryl Crow, Susan Chira, Ina Garten, Anne Keating and Marissa Mayer have in common? They all proved, at the 40^th annual New York Women in Communications Matrix Awards, that it’s not just a “boys club” anymore! From the television industry to the White House, the Matrix Awards celebrated women who have made a difference in the communications industry.

As Doris Kearns Goodwin pointed out, she was only one of two female White House interns for Linden B. Johnson out of a total of fifteen, while Tina Fey entered comedy at a time when funny women were the minority among men. Now, we celebrate women who dared to dream big, work hard, start a family and never let anything or anyone stand in their way.

The Matrix Awards was held at the Waldorf Astoria in the infamous ballroom that once witnessed many a New Year’s Eve before Times Square became the place to be. The room was sold out and roared with laughter as Oprah joked with Gayle King about how they settle editorial disputes at O Magazine: “Do you see a G on the cover, Gayle?” And you could hear a pin drop as Doris Kearns Goodwin talked of her time assisting Lynden B. Johnson with his memoirs in his final years and Ina Garten inspired everyone to do what they love when she shared her husband’s advice before writing the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks: “If you love what you do, you’ll be great at it.” 

While the honorees and their presenters (including Jill Abramson, Mariska Hargitay, Seth Meyers, Anna Quindlen, Lesley Stahl, Katie Couric, Oprah Winfrey and Maria Bartiromo) told fascinating and inspiring stories about their time in their respected industries, a common theme became clear – Many of these women were scrutinized for raising a family and continuing to be successful in their career.

It is a double standard that still exists, even in 2010, that a woman who works and raises a family is more likely to be asked “How do you do it all?” than a man who has the same responsibilities. Tina Fey noted that she was posed this question many times at a press junket with Steve Carell (who also works and raises a family). She continued to explain that Steve was never asked that question, which seemed to have a scrutinizing undertone almost insinuating “You’re really screwing this up, aren’t you?” But what the Matrix Awards and the New York Women in Communications organization proves is that you (man or woman) can be successful both professionally and personally.

Did you attend the New York Women in Communications Matrix Awards? What stood out to you about the event? Please share your thoughts with me and the other readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

***

*Bio: Soon after graduating from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, in 2006 with a B.A. in communication and a B.S. in business/marketing, I joined the BurrellesLuce client services team. In 2008, I completed my master’s degree in corporate and organizational communications and now work as the supervisor of BurrellesLuce Express client services. I am passionate about researching and understanding the role of email in shaping relationships from a client relation/service standpoint as well as how miscommunication occurs within email, which was the topic of my thesis. Through my posts on Fresh Ideas, I hope to educate and stimulate thoughtful discussions about corporate communications and client relations, further my own knowledge on this subject area, as well as continue to hone my skills as a communicator. Twitter: @_LaurenShapiro_ LinkedIn: laurenrshapiro Facebook: BurrellesLuce

Razzle.com

We all rely on mainstream media to tell us what is going on in the world. We trust the credibility of traditional news as an authority and we expect that at least 95 percent of what they report is the truth. It’s also no secret that the bulk of social media relies on traditional media as the source of its content as well. (Citizen journalism, in the form of breaking world events, is the exception not the rule, but even that often overlaps with traditional media.) I have to admit that I use social media during the day to get a quick glimpse of headlines from the traditional media outlets that I follow – and I am sure that I am not alone.

So, why are more traditional media outlets getting their “news” from social media lately? Social Media is fast and cuts to the chase (only 140 characters), but most of the time we have to wonder if what we are reading is even true (assuming we’re reading what we’re about to tweet or repost in the first place). And with the media landscape changing, it is understandable that mainstream media would want to remain the go-to source. But at what price?

Last Thursday was everyone’s favorite holiday, the one day that you can call your parents and tell them you got married in Vegas, “Aprils Fool’s Day.” We saw many large, well-known organizations joining in with their own pranks, such as Google, changing its name to Topeka, and McDonald’s, going along with a post by Grist, an environmental news website…

Grist announced that McDonald’s would no longer continue its worldwide composting initiatives after a University of California-Berkeley scientist discovered that none of the items on the menu would compost – complete with a photo seemingly depicting a year old “Happy Meal” still relatively fresh. What makes this story interesting is that the news began to spread across social media as if it was legitimate. All of this began with a blog post on March 3^rd by Joann Bruso, wishing her “Happy Meal” a “Happy Birthday” and that lead to Grist’s April Fool’s prank. The question is how or why did a New York Times writer tweet the story?  (Check out a recent Fast Company article to see how the story plays out.)

In an effort to keep up with the ever-changing media landscape, do you think traditional media outlets are cutting corners and not checking their facts? Or are they just trying to stay hip – proving they’re in on the joke? It is funny how six months ago studies showed that people tweeting and updating in social media were using content from mainstream media sources and I still find that true. But are we all becoming so gullible and wrapped up in the “I want it now” lifestyle that we are making short-cuts in order to be the first to report?

I am sure you all remember the breaking news last July that actor Jeff Goldblum was dead. Many popular news organizations actually printed, and ran with the story for a couple of hours even though they found it online and the reports weren’t confirmed. I place a lot of trust in traditional media, as I am sure most of you do, and I always will; accidents happen and people post without understanding the repercussions and without scrutinizing the facts. No matter if we are a major news journalist or a back office tweeter, can we ever know that something on the Internet or printed in the paper is completely true? Not unless we are willing to get the hard-facts, do the research, and spend hours verifying every source.

As major news organizations, journalist, and mainstream bloggers they are trusted by their publics and their credibility depends on “getting the facts right” and producing quality stories. And as news consumer don’t we have an obligation to educate ourselves and help ensure accuracy before passing the information along? Shouldn’t the media and its audiences work together to create a certain standard of news and then hold each other accountable when it isn’t met? Then again, perhaps, “quick and easy” and “check the facts later” are the acceptable standards.

So, do you think mainstream media is trying to keep up with the fast-paced world of Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media by using content they find on the web?  Do you rely on traditional news outlets for the truth? Share your thoughts with the readers with BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

*Bio: After graduating from East Carolina University with a Marketing degree in 2005, Crystal DeGoede moved to New Jersey. In her four years as a member of the BurrellesLuce marketing team and through her interaction with peers and clients she has learned what is important or what it takes to develop a career when you are just starting out. She is passionate about continuing to learn about the industry in which we serve and about her career path. By engaging readers on Fresh Ideas Crystal hopes to further develop her social media skills and inspire other “millennials” who are just out of college and/or working in the field of marketing and public relations. Twitter: @cldegoede LinkedIn: Crystal DeGoede Facebook: BurrellesLuce

In that spirit, we are looking to replace the BurrellesLuce blogroll – which is compiled by our contributors – with content driven by you, our readers and fans.

So, tell us:

• What are your go-to online media sources?
• Which industry-related blogs top your RSS feed?
• What online media can’t you wait to dig-into first thing in the morning?

We’ll tally up your responses and feature the top resources in a new section called, “Peer Media.”

Perhaps you prefer the online edition of the New York Times. Maybe it is the Huffington Post. Whatever your preferences, we want to know. Leave a comment below or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter. And be sure to look for an update soon, revealing what your peers had to say.

The FCC’s justification for its plan is reminiscent of an argument raised back in the 1950’s by our late president Dwight D. Eisenhower. He argued that we needed an interstate highway system for the purpose of national defense. “In the event of an invasion by a foreign power, the military would need good roads to be able to quickly transport troops around the country.” The only troops I can remember being transported quickly was when my parents loaded up the family truckster and drove my sister, brother, and I down U.S. 95 from New Jersey to Florida to see Mickey Mouse. The highway system did, however, open up the country; it motivated more Americans to hit the road on vacation, and allowed for goods to be transported faster and to more destinations.

For the last four years, as the vice president of Media and Entertainment at BurrellesLuce, I’ve closely followed the challenges media companies have been faced with in trying to keep up with the evolution of technology and at the same time protect their content and profits. With the type of speed and reach proposed in the National Broadband plan, media will surely once again evolve into something unfathomable to us at the present time. As highlighted in this article, Google is already getting involved, reportedly working with Intel and Sony Corp to develop a new class of Internet–enabled televisions and set-top boxes.

Whether the availability of a faster Internet in twice the number of households makes us a more competitive country remains to be seen.  But with that kind of speed and access the already growing number of people getting their entertainment and media from the Internet is sure to explode in the coming years. Like the interstate system did for domestic travel, raising the speed limit on the information superhighway (please excuse the 90’s terminology) will allow more people to travel further and faster throughout the media and entertainment world.

The facts may be free, but getting them collected, edited, checked, and delivered to you online or otherwise still costs money. Like almost every else you do in this life, you do get what you pay for. The old joke of “hiring’em young while they still got all the answers” may work fine for opining in the blogosphere, but may not cut it in the “knock three times and tell’em Dan sent you” world of investigative journalism.

Then there is this little issue of legality. At the recent OnCopyright 2010 conference put together by the Copyright Clearance Center in New York City, a self-proclaimed investigative blogger lamented the chilling effect of the many defensive lawsuits filed against him. While we may be prejudiced against the larger media organizations at times, they can stand up to this type of intimidation. To preempt the criticism they vet their sources and data prior to publishing and if that’s not enough they have financial resources to support their position.

Back to free; the cry is that everything should be free on the Internet . . . Well it never has been and never will be. The content and information you get every day on the web is being paid for by somebody, usually advertisers. For lots of reasons we can look at later, this subsidy is just not cutting it.

So if we want reliable, vetted information we have to support its creation. In other words, we have to pay for it. The organizations that are creating vetted content are searching for a way to do this. There are a number of models being tried currently.

1. The pay-wall which is in place at a number of sites and variations are being implemented by the Financial Times and the New York Times.
2. The pay-by-article model for which you pay only for what you read á la iTunes.
3. A central subscription service for many participating providers.

I believe all of these are doomed to fail. However, I do believe there is a fourth solution that could prove viable and consumer-friendly. It would be a hybrid of the pay-by-article model and the aggregated subscription combined with some as of yet unreleased technology.

Over the coming weeks, I look forward to examining more closely some of these monetization options and having a bit of discourse on the topic. In the interim, I strongly recommend that anyone whose livelihood, especially journalists and public relations professionals, is tied to media read the Pew Report. And share their thoughts with myself and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

McCormick began with the “Three E’s Bringing Change.”

• Economy – budgets are down and value propositions are up, making it more difficult to succeed in the marketplace.
• Environment – trust is down, number of messages is down, and audiences now expect to provide input.
• Effects Strengthened Through PR/Partnerships – public relations understands how to build and sustain beneficial relationships; transference of credibility moves the messages faster and feedback is more immediate and helps facilitate needed change.

McCormick cited a number of statistics and studies to prove his point that current changes are good for PR. For example, according to CareerCast.com, PR tops other communication disciplines, such as advertising and journalism, in the listing of top 200 jobs. The annual Veronis Suhler Stevenson study predicts a consolidated aggregated growth rate for public relations as nearly 10 percent for the years 2008-2012.  Even in a downturned economy, spending on PR in the U.S. grew by more than 4 percent in 2008 and nearly 3 percent in 2009 – to $3.7 billion.  And, finally, the rise of the Internet and social media has given PR a big boost.

Why else does McCormick think the future of PR is bright? Things like: advances in technology, changing role of traditional media, reduced trust in business, 24/7 immediate/global news cycle, segmentation of messages and authentication of sources, the ongoing turf war on owning social media, and the fact that organizations will no longer own messages/messaging and that actions will define reputation are all benefits influencing the landscape of public relations.

Finally, he made the following suggestions for preparing for the future:

1. Focus on strategy, not tactics
2. Include all the tools available
3. Integrate and innovate
4. Embrace the new normal
5. Deliver more listening points than talking points
6. Maintain your individual brand ethics

What do you think? Are you beginning to see an upturn in business? How are the current media and economic environments affecting the way you do public relations? Share your thoughts with me and the readers of Fresh Ideas.

Was this name change a smart move? 25 years ago, my father and his colleagues at Manning, Selvage and Lee  surveyed the financial community about what kind of corporate names attracted investors and whether a name affected people’s decisions to buy or sell stocks. Nearly two-thirds of the securities analysts, portfolio managers and investment advisors surveyed said that a corporation’s name had a direct effect on whether a customer buys a stock. In fact, brokers and analysts shared that they had even turned down the recommendations of their own research departments when they did not like a name! Takeaways from the survey include:

• Be wary of a name change and be prepared for a name change to take time (years and even decades) before it achieves the previous level of familiarity. At the time of the survey (1985), respondents derided the decision made by Tampa Electric to change to TECO Energy. While the new name did eventually take hold, it took years to build up the level of recognition Tampa Electric once had. While companies often change their names as a result of acquisitions and divestitures, because the focus of the business has changed, or to create an association with a trend, the survey indicated that many companies would be well served to think twice.
• A name should be easy to pronounce and remember.  “Keep it simple and short,” my dad advised and pointed to the frustration of one investment advisor whose suggestion of “Harnischfeger” rarely resulted in more than a puzzled look.
• Good names are recognizable, easily understood, highly identifiable, and give a clear impression of the business.  Although names like Exxon and Google can certainly work, give serious consideration to a name that describes your companies business. Personal and brand names are popular for these reasons. Survey participants responded well to names like National Semiconductor or Staples.  Likewise, start ups should avoid using initials. While initials are fine for a well established company as IBM, potential investors are more likely to be attracted to a product they can easily recognize.

While there are a variety of other factors to consider when determining a name today (e.g. optimizaiton of the name in search engines, the availability of the website domain and/or username availability for social networking and bookmarking sites, among others), many of the insights from 25 years ago remain compelling.

How important do you think a name is to the success of a brand? What do you think of Xfinity? Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

In the wake of my last post, search engine giant Google and the Associated Press (AP) reached an agreement allowing Google to return to hosting AP content.  Did the floodgates then open to overwhelm my inbox with those “author:  Samantha Critchell” Google News Alerts which I had previously set? 

Not exactly. 

During the full calendar week of February 14^th – 20^th, I received 18 separate alerts containing a total of 27 links. This was a slight improvement over the reporting of 16 alerts and 20 links for the previous period of January 19^th – February 2^nd. When broken down by source the pattern remains the same:

• ABC News led with 14 links linking back to AP material hosted on their parent site.
• Newspaper sites accounted for 10 more.
• While the remaining three were either foreign or with no hard-copy editions.

The print to web ratio for the prior period, as I found, was evenly matched this week. 

• Five of the ten Google alerted newspaper articles had a corresponding print presence. 
• The remaining articles were web exclusives.

One might have expected to see a greater surge of articles since this most recent “experiment” coincided with New York Fashion Week and Ms. Critchell is the AP’s fashion maven.  Her subjects ranged from Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen, and Luca Luca to Naomi Campbell’s Fashion benefit for Haitian relief.  (During the previous period, topics ranged from the Golden Globes to Vera Wang’s designs at previous Winter Olympics.)

A similar Yahoo! News search supplies only six newspaper stories along with a smattering of local TV sites, a couple of which overlapped with the Google Alerts coverage.

To date, our BurrellesLuce readers have located over 80 articles published during that week attributed to Samantha Critchell (this includes the five mentioned earlier). And, these are only the ones relating purely to Fashion Week coverage.  There are an additional 100+ older articles which saw print in newspapers.

While there may well be a number of underlying factors at work here – ranging from other individual licensing agreements to spidering blocks – the raw totals are telling.

This week, we find an 8:1 disparity in Fashion Week coverage, or an 18:1 disparity in subject coverage for this print to web experiment. 

For my purposes, this was but a simple experiment. But would you be willing to subject your client to such uncertainties knowing these possible results?

*Bio: A native of Mesa, Arizona, I graduated from the University of Arizona with a major in Near Eastern Studies. I began my career with BurrellesLuce in 1997 as a reader. As with most readers, I developed a special relationship with my assigned papers – those small town dailies and weeklies of the same flavor that my family had been employed in for two generations. Currently, I hold the position of quality assurance specialist, troubleshooting daily production issues. Outside interests include woodworking, and keeping my wife and dog happy. Twitter: BurrellesLuce; Facebook: BurrellesLuce

Flickr Image: ClickyKBD

To follow up on my previous post regarding Google’s (non)-coverage of Associated Press content, I opted to take a more controlled approach for this submission.

In other words, I let other people do the leg work for me.

A Google Alert was set up with the specific instructions: “author: Samantha Critchell.”  This would, of course, only return articles attributed to that name.  Why Samantha Critchell?  She’s a leading AP writer covering topics relevant to the cosmetics and fashion industry.  And, as we know, with the AP’s arching distribution of content, brand placement in her work would reach a very wide and diverse potential consumer readership.

Internally, we set up an order to monitor U.S. papers for Associated Press articles penned by Samantha Critchell, which I would monitor.

During a two week period (Jan. 19 – Feb. 2), Google alerted my email inbox 16 times with a total of 20 article links.  In this window, Ms. Critchell penned nine major articles ranging from a Golden Globes fashion round-up and a primer on facial mask products, to a feature on Vera Wang’s figure skating designs for previous Winter Olympic events.

The Alerts broke down as follows:

• Four of the articles were from ABC News.com, which fell outside of my print coverage experiment
• Three more were from the Canadian press, which also fell outside of parameters of the U.S. press.
• Of the remaining 13 domestic newspapers, our readers located the same articles from 11 of their print editions.
• Regarding that missing duo, one was from a paper which we have simply not yet received as of this time.  While the other, seems to not have published the article in its print edition.  Point goes to Google.

Last week, Yahoo and the Associated Press announced their own licensing agreement to allow the stream of AP content to Yahoo’s sites.  So, to add some additional gist to the topic, I ran a search through Yahoo News with the same subject and date parameters. 

The resulting hits were from eight newspapers and a single website.  Those are fewer results than the totals from Google.

• Surprisingly, none of the Yahoo! News results corresponded to those of Google News.
• Four of the eight newspapers articles were found in the print editions by BurrellesLuce readers.
• Three of the articles did not appear in the print editions of the publications and another article originates from an edition which we have not yet received. Points again to Yahoo.

On the other side of the coin, our BurrellesLuce readers located articles credited to Ms. Critchell in an additional 114 papers published during the same two week period. 

That’s a ten to one loss in coverage for Google. Perhaps this can chiefly be attributed to the search giant’s ongoing wrangling with the Associated Press over compensation, (never mind that it doesn’t cover paid or subscription based sources). Even with the agreement between Yahoo News and the AP, how can the discrepancy in sources and numbers be explained?  And in either case, how might such a potential loss affect your clients in the interim?

*Bio: A native of Mesa, Arizona, I graduated from the University of Arizona with a major in Near Eastern Studies. I began my career with BurrellesLuce in 1997 as a reader. As with most readers, I developed a special relationship with my assigned papers – those small town dailies and weeklies of the same flavor that my family had been employed in for two generations. Currently, I hold the position of quality assurance specialist, troubleshooting daily production issues. Outside interests include woodworking, and keeping my wife and dog happy. Twitter: BurrellesLuce; Facebook: BurrellesLuce

The Super Bowl telecast is considered the top advertising opportunity of the year, fetching as much as $3 million for a 30 second spot. So why would Pepsi’s executive team elect to forego advertising during the big game for the first time in 23 years, launching a social media ad campaign instead? Pepsi recently launched their “Pepsi Refresh” campaign where consumers are encouraged to submit and vote on ideas throughout the year that will have a positive impact on their communities, and have pledged to fund these ideas through grants from $5000 – $250,000. They’ve opted to use Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to encourage consumers to participate and cast their votes.

“This is such a fundamental change from anything we’ve done in the past,” says Lauren Hobart, chief marketing officer for Pepsi Cola North American Beverages. “We explored different launch plans, and the Super Bowl just wasn’t the right venue, because we’re really trying to spark a full year movement from the ground up. The plan is to have much more two-way dialogue with our customers.” Pepsi however will run television ads for the “Refresh” campaign and also made it clear they are not abandoning future Super Bowl advertising.

“This is exactly where Pepsi needs to be,” says Sophie Ann Terrisse, founder and CEO of STC Associates, a brand-consulting firm. “These days, brands need to become a movement instead of just relying on good reviews for their Super Bowl commercials.”

There is no doubt media and marketing has changed dramatically over the last two or three years. We at BurrellesLuce recognize this shift in marketing mediums and recently launched a dedicated service to monitor and measure social media activity.

But despite an increasingly fragmented media world, the rise of viral marketing through social media, and the growing popularity of watching video online and on handheld devices, 106.5 million people sat in front of their TV’s for three hours on Sunday to watch the Super Bowl.

I’m sure Pepsi will generate quite a following for their “Refresh” campaign in the social media world and as they have already created quite a buzz by actually not having a 2010 Super Bowl ad. But it still must be difficult for the executives at Pepsi to hear the words “Super Bowl 2010, the most watched TV program ever.”