Following is a roundup of 10 interesting PR- and media-related stories found online last week:
Five Business Schools to Launch Pilot Project to Hone MBA Students' PR Skills: The Public Relations Society of America is partnering with five business schools in a pilot project aimed at improving the PR skills of MBA students. A new PR course will be implemented into the 2012-13 academic year MBA programs at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Quinnipiac University’s School of Business and University of Texas at El Paso’s College of Business Administration. (U.S. News University Directory)
Newspapers Cut Back Printing Schedules, a Risky Bet: In the past few weeks, newspapers owned by Advance Publication (including The Times-Picayune in New Orleans) cut their print schedule down to just three days a week, while Postmedia cut Sunday editions from three of its papers. Other newspapers could soon follow suit. However, cutting back on print publishing is a risky bet by newspaper executives, who are trying to shift readers and advertisers off of their daily newspaper habit and toward websites. "Some industry analysts warn that readers raised on a daily newspaper appearing at their door will lose a sense of loyalty if it arrives only a few days a week. It is like having CBS and NBC going dark on nights when they do not sell much advertising." (NYTimes.com)
Investigative Journalism Is at Risk: It's been 40 years since Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein covered the Watergate scandal. Though investigative journalism is as essential today as it was back then, the digital landscape and the consequential reconstruction of American journalism has made it more difficult to fuel this resource-intensive form of reporting. Nonprofit, Web-based investigative reporting organizations are trying to fill the void, but some of them are struggling to survive. (The Washington Post)
What Happened to GOOD?: GOOD used to be a media darling, but it recently turned itself into "the media' s latest jerk" after laying off much of its editorial staff -- the day after the magazine's launch party for its 27th issue. Then the magazine distastefully included some of its fired editors in a "thank you" video for its 200,000 Facebook fans. The magazine's higher-ups have been silent on the matter and it's unclear how it will proceed with just three remaining editors. Some of the fired GOOD staffers are going to launch a publication called Tomorrow. (The Atlantic Wire, The Wrap)
In the End, Journalists and PR Pros Really Need Each Other: This journalism veteran-turned-PR pro has a guess at why PR pros and journalists don't get along: neither side has sufficient respect for the job done by the other. "And therefore unnecessary conflict arises over the simple issue of control and the natural resentments borne out of that perception by both sides." Instead of focusing on who's in charge, the win-win nature of the PR-media relationship should be highlighted. (CommPRO.biz)
How Not to Manage a Brand's Social Media Presence: Chris Brogan shares his poor experience with his now-former credit union. After his account was unexpectedly closed, Brogan reached out to the credit union via email, then followed up on its Facebook page. He got what appeared to be an automatically generated response. "If you are going to address a frustrated customer via a social channel, you might consider doing better than responding with what amounts to a pat reply." There were many other ways this could have been handled. (ChrisBrogan.com)
Online Advertising Sales for Newspapers Are Down: According to the Newspaper Association of America, in the first quarter of 2012, digital advertising revenue at newspapers increased just 1 percent from a year ago, marking the fifth consecutive quarter that growth has slowed. Excess advertising space, the emergence of electronic ad exchanges that sell ads at lower prices and the weak U.S. economy are to blame. The New York Times Co. and The Washington Post Co. saw their first-quarter ad revenues decline. This is a bad sign for an industry that needs online ad revenue to survive. (Reuters)
How the Rise of Mobile Will Affect Public Relations: What does the emergence of a "mobile-first" world mean for those in the business of communicating? For one thing, they should always be mindful of how easy it is for people to consume, share and engage with content on mobile devices. Also, PR professionals should consider how mobile tools and resources can be applied to traditional aspects of their jobs, like launches, events and media trips. (The Holmes Report)
The Netherland's Dichtbij Is a Hyperlocal News Platform Making It Work: There are some hyperlocal news sites in the U.S. that have achieved sustainability, but replicating them across a larger scale has proven difficult. Dichtbij, a hyperlocal news platform in The Netherlands, is generating real revenue despite its smaller scale. One of the keys to Dichtbij's success has been journalists seeing themselves as "community organizers," which helps to develop a symbiotic relationship with the audience. Another has been closer relationships between journalists and salespeople. (Nieman Journalism Lab)
Five Ways Journalists Can Cultivate Sources: "Sources who trust and respect you will come to you first when they hear news on the down-low. But it takes time to earn that trust and respect." Here are five ways journalists can do a better job of cultivating sources: 1) schmooze; 2) check in with them regularly, even when there's no interview needed; 3) keep your word about going "off the record"; 4) ask for other sources; and 5) don't get too friendly. (Poynter)
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