Following is a roundup of 10 interesting PR- and media-related stories found online last week:

The Media's Poor Coverage of Occupy Wall Street: Todd Gitlin, a Columbia University journalism and sociology professor, says the media are using the same tactics they employed during the anti-war protests of the 1960s. He points to three flaws of the media's coverage of the movement: 1) focusing on protestors who look and labeling the movement as "incoherent"; 2) treating protests as crime stories, framing them as disruptions to the norm, and not paying much attention until violence or arrests occur; 3) making generalizations about the movement without deepening their coverage. "Gitlin said he thinks Occupy Wall Street coverage has improved in the past week and expects it will continue to get better. As movements evolve, so does journalists’ coverage of them." (Poynter)

Is Traditional PR Still Relevant?: The emergence of social media, blogging, online networking, etc., has given brands the ability to make direct contact with the people they want to do business with -- for free. In light of this digital revolution, is traditional PR still relevant? This post discusses the merits of arguments for and against the relevance and necessity of PR today. Bottom line: "Traditional or digital, PR is still relevant to any business." (Boomerang PR Blog)

Word Clouds Are Harmful: Jacob Harris, senior software architect at The New York Times, dislikes word clouds, to put it kindly. He shares how at his publication, "we strongly believe that visualization is reporting, with many of the same elements that would make a traditional story effective: a narrative that pares away extraneous information to find a story in the data; context to help the reader understand the basics of the subject; interviewing the data to find its flaws and be sure of our conclusions." Word clouds disregard all of these principles: they offer crude and misleading analysis of text, they're often applied to situations where textual analysis isn't appropriate, they leave readers to figure out the context of the data on their own, and they lack narrative. (Nieman Journalism Lab)

Social Media Is Dangerous for PR: While social media is great for PR, it puts individuals and companies on thin ice. Social media offers huge exposure, which also means it can amplify mistakes, like the ones made my Skittles, Nestle and Ragu. Among the lessons to take away from those mistakes are to stay up to date with all the changes to social media sites, be professional and correct problems quickly. (Better Communication Results)

Newspapers Should Let Readers Inside the Wall: The Guardian announced last week that it will make its daily schedule of stories it deems worth covering public. This shows that an understanding of an important principle: "If you allow your readers to be part of the news-creation process, they will be more engaged." The publication's national news editor says the paper expects this move to improve the quality of its reporting and help it focus on stories that will be of most interest and value. "What the Guardian is doing is quite simple: it is letting its readers behind the wall, pulling back the curtain to show them some of the machinery involved in producing the news, and offering them the chance to help -- a smart approach that other media outlets could and should emulate." (GigaOM)

Hitting 'Reply All': Nine Takeaways for Communication Professionals: By now, you're probably familiar with the unpleasant run-in Jenny Lawson (aka The Blogess) recently had with a PR "professional." (If not, it makes for an interesting and educational PG-13 read.) This blunder, as with all mistakes, offers some valuable lessons. Among the nine takeaways from this particular gaffe are to know your audience, spell check and reread your emails before sending them, and don't threaten people you're pitching to. (Spin Sucks)

Eleven Tips for Crafting a Pitch That Journalists Will Notice: Effective pitching is important because of the work environments journalists have to deal with. Not only are they being asked to do more with less, but they're also being bombarded by a constant stream of pitches via phone, fax, email and social media. In order to cut through the noise and grab the attention of journalists you pitch to, follow these 11 tips. For example, don't send attachments, come up with a good subject line and don't pester them with too many follow-up emails. (MarketingProfs)

Ten Tips for Becoming a Travel Journalist: With a surplus of willing writers and a shortage of willing employers, breaking into travel journalism is a difficult task. Among the 10 tips gleaned from a recent online Q&A session hosted by the Guardian for aspiring travel journalists are: show off your writing skills and expertise on a personal blog, be a journalist in addition to a traveler, and contact travel-guide publishers. (IJNet)

Five Things to Prepare for When Transitioning From Journalist to Publicist: The move from journalist to publicist is a dramatic one. Speaking from firsthand experience, this senior vice president of media strategy at MSLGroup discusses five areas of PR life that a transitioning journalist should prepare for: 1) client service, 2) billable time, 3) agency culture, 4) project work and 5) new business development. (Mediabistro's PRNewser)

How to Congratulate Journalists Without Brownnosing: For PR professionals, congratulating a favorite journalist on a promotion, new job, award, etc., is big part of building that relationship. But how do you do it without brownnosing? This post offers seven ideas for how to express your congratulations (e.g., send a handwritten note, write a LinkedIn recommendation or send a short voice mail message). The post also lists things you shouldn't do (e.g., send flowers, send gifts or invite them to a paid-for lunch). (Business 2 Community)