Following is a roundup of 10 interesting PR- and media-related stories found online last week:
How to Recapture the Joy and Excitement of Journalism: An editor recently lamented the lost joy and excitement she once felt as a journalist. The emergence of the digital world has made her job much busier, leaving her to wonder: "What happens when you’re constantly reminded that you’re never doing enough, and you can’t seem to get out of your own way? What happens when you are saddled with people who simply refuse to budge?" This post offers advice to the editor and other journalists struggling with the same issues, along with some advice for newsroom leaders and news executives. (The Buttry Diary)
Scheduling Social Media Interactions vs. Authentic Human Interaction: If a man scheduling automated text messages to be sent to their partner sounds disingenuous, what about scheduled tweets and social media posts? While these scheduled social media interactions are justifiable for business purposes, they must be blended with authentic, live interactions on those social media channels. (Transition Marketing)
Public Relations Ethics: Disclosing Client Relationships on Twitter: Disclosing client relationships when tweeting isn’t all that difficult: all you have to do is use the hashtag "#client." One major agency, however, keeps on tweeting about their clients without any sort of disclosure. Though no one will be sent to jail over it, this is a serious issue. Failing to disclose client relationships in tweets that relate to those clients makes an agency and its employees look unprofessional, or even unethical and deceptive. The FCC and PRSA have clear guidelines about this. (Fletcher Prince)
Journalism and Other 'Useless' Majors Are Worth It: A list of the "13 most useless majors" was recently posted on The Daily Beast. This journalism graduate disagrees with journalism's inclusion in that list. Though she works in digital marketing, she relies on her journalism skills to do her job. Her advice: Study and learn what you really love because no career is guaranteed, and you never know what unexpected obstacles and opportunities will arise. (PR Daily)
It's Time for PR to Push the Innovation Envelope: Technology is enabling public relations professionals to connect with target audiences in new ways. With so many realms (media relations, videography, copywriting, research, etc.) converging, it's not enough just to be a doer -- you have to be a doer and a creator. PR pros need to push themselves to not just study trends, but to design them as well. (Weber Shandwick Seattle)
The Newsonomics of 99-Cent Media: Newspapers, TV shows, music and magazines all offer a "patchwork of buying (or not buying) choices." As content moves from being free to wanting a fee, it's apparent that we've shifted into the "newsonomics of 99-cent media." The 99-cent price point lands somewhere between free and too much. For publishers, there are some important things to keep in mind, including that 99 cents is a beginning and not an end, 99 cents can be a price of admission, and media is media. (Nieman Journalism Lab)
Edelman Introduces Its New Business + Social Purpose Practice: Edelman has unveiled its new Business + Social Purpose practice, which will combine the PR agency's offerings in areas like corporate social responsibility and sustainability. This is a response to increasing calls by consumers for transparency from companies. Edelman isn't the only agency dedicating more time and attention to purpose-driven marketing. (NYTimes.com)
How Entrepreneurial Journalists Can Successfully Pitch Their Projects: Pitching a new journalism project you're passionate about often requires you to pack a message into a few brief moments. "To persuade people to invest, collaborate, or even just try out a site requires a special kind of compact communication." Here's a discussion of three approaches for pitching such a project: 1) illustrate the impact of your project with evergreen media; 2) make the most of spontaneous opportunities to pitch your idea; and 3) look beyond PowerPoint to tools like Jux, Prezi and SlideRocket. (Poynter)
Three Arts Journalism Ideas Get Funding: The decline of the newspaper industry has disproportionately impacted arts journalism. "In comparison with the one in four newsroom jobs that have been lost in the last decade, approximately half of all arts writing staff positions and beats have disappeared, according to estimates by Arts Journal editor Douglas McLennan." In response, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Knight Foundation are rewarding three winners of the Community Arts Journalism Challenge with $80,000 each to launch their ideas. (NPR)
How Not to Pitch a Blogger: Here's an email that exemplifies how not to pitch bloggers. It includes a message header and opening line that don't jibe, an open look at who else was copied in on the email, irrelevance and an unfinished website. Instead, the approach should have ignored mass email, used relevant examples and been ready for inspection. (Danny Brown)
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