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

The Perfect News Tweet Is Boring: Researchers from UCLA and Hewlett-Packard's HP Labs have created an algorithm to predict the popularity (i.e., "spreadability") of news articles in the social realm. "The researchers have developed a tool that allows people -- and, in particular, news organizations -- to calibrate their content in advance of their posting and tweeting, creating stuff that's optimized for maximum attention and impact." The tool has an 84 percent accuracy and has significant implications for articles and tweets. Apparently, emotion and hyperbole don't seem to move the needle much when it comes to a tweet's effectiveness. (The Atlantic)

Wal-Mart's Latest PR Trouble, Courtesy of Its PR Firm: An employee of Mercury Public Affairs, a public affairs and lobbying PR firm hired by Wal-Mart to help bring the company into Chinatown in Los Angeles, was caught gaining access to a news conference by posing as a student reporter. A spokeswoman for Warehouse Workers United spotted "Zoe Mitchell" at a news conference focusing on a demonstration opposing Wal-Mart's Chinatown store. Regardless of whether "Zoe" acted on her own or followed orders from Mercury, this is unethical and illegal. (Los Angeles Times, Spin Sucks)

How PR Professionals Can Make Social Media a Friend Instead of an Enemy: PR professionals have no excuse for lazy pitches in the age of social media. All it takes is a few minutes of due diligence via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn on someone who will be receiving a pitch. If a PR pro sends a pitch that shows a flagrant lack of this kind of effort, social media can be the weapon used to ridicule a bad pitch to death. To avoid this kind of wrath, PR pros should: 1) do their social search homework, 2) consider a social pitch before an email pitch, and 3) do away with the "Dear [journalist]" form letters and mass emails. (Fast Company)

The Perfect Press Kit: This travel writer discusses press kits, a "common gripe" for those in his profession. In theory, they're filled with useful information; in reality, they're full of clothing and brochures that don't include much more than pretty pictures and marketing copy. The perfect press kit should include content specifically for journalists, divided by themes; offer strong story angles; be put into an organized document that can be uploaded to an e-reader; and be easy to find on the media section of the company's website. (Grumpy Traveller)

The Traditional Media Should Fear Twitter: Twitter has been taking small steps into the media business for a while now. It's already a source of real-time news for many people, and the launch of curated hashtag pages, like the one launched for a recent NASCAR event and featured in its first official TV ad, hints at Twitter becoming a legitimate editorial operation. "It may not be hiring investigative reporters, but the areas of overlap between what it does and what media companies do is growing, and so is its attractiveness to the advertisers that media entities desperately need to hang onto." Twitter is improving its targeting and curation of topics and content, which is something traditional media outlets struggle with. Like Facebook, Twitter is starting to look more and more like a competitor rather than a partner for news organizations. (GigaOM)

Delta Air Lines Does One Thing Right, Another Thing Wrong: Delta Air Lines deserves credit for being brave enough to create and maintain a corporate blog. However, the company comes off as a bit cold when it ignores all of their readers' comments and questions. "Why allow comments at all if you’re not going to respond to/engage with these individuals?" There are ways to deal with good, bad and ugly comments. (aimClear Blog)

'Google Journalism' Is Killing Credibility: This senior editor and journalism instructor isn't surprised when Gen Y-ers aren't impressed with his stories of going to a public library to do research with books in his first job as a newspaper reporter. Today, Google and Wikipedia are easier sources of information, but this isn't reporting or journalism. "At best, it’s simply laziness. At worst, it’s plagiarism." This isn't to say Google doesn’t have its place in reporting -- it can be a way to find sources and background information. But true reporting requires you to go out, mingle with people and become an expert on what you're writing about. (FolioMag.com)

The Top Five Qualities to Look for When Hiring PR Talent: The founder and CEO of a boutique public relations and communications firm shares five qualities she looks for to ensure that a new potential public relations colleague will be a great fit: 1) kindness, 2) creativity, 3) passion, 4) hustle and 5) smarts. "Bottom line is, you need to find people who love what they do and bring that excitement and energy to work every day of the week." (PR News)

Reddit Bans Publications for Spammy Article Sharing: "Getting journalists to share the content they produce is a high priority for companies like Facebook and Twitter. Reddit sees it more as a nuisance." Reddit recently started banning what it calls "high-quality domains" whose articles are shared on its site in spam-like ways. The initial list includes Businessweek.com and TheAtlantic.com. (Forbes)

A Better Definition of Curation in Journalism: Curators in journalism have become closely linked with the concept of aggregation, which involves "collecting information from various sources and piecing it together into a (hopefully, more or less) coherent whole." However, the better curators of news go further and place all the collecting information in a broader context. "Curation" that doesn't take this next step is, more accurately, plain aggregation, which isn't a bad thing. "News organizations who are really good at curation (vs. aggregation) will be those who create such thoughtful collections of information and then take care to ensure that they are updated and maintained." (Adam Schweigert)

ProfNet, a service of PR Newswire, has helped journalists and experts connect since 1992. Writers can search the ProfNet Connect database of more than 50,000 profiles; send a ProfNet query by email to thousands of subscribers around the globe; or get timely experts and story ideas by email.

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)

ProfNet, a service of PR Newswire, has helped journalists and experts connect since 1992. Writers can search the ProfNet Connect database of more than 50,000 profiles; send a ProfNet query by email to thousands of subscribers around the globe; or get timely experts and story ideas by email.

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

Philanthropy: Print Journalism's Only Hope: The Ford Foundation awarded a two-year grant of $1.04 million to the Los Angeles Times to enable the newspaper to hire more reporters to cover specific issues and staff a bureau in Brazil. While the foundation has supported journalism for a long time, this grant is noteworthy because it's in support of a newspaper currently in bankruptcy. The director of communications for the Ford Foundation said the grant is in line with its mission and objectives, which focus on content. Other newspapers mired in financial troubles could see similar grants coming their way. "The Ford grant, even at a million dollars, is a small contribution to editorial excellence, but if it turns out to be part of a larger trend toward supporting newspapers as they move increasingly towards digital delivery, then the prospects for traditional news could take a turn for the better." (The Atlantic)

PR Slang, Defined: PR professionals already have an interesting time explaining what they do for a living to their friends and family. Industry-specific lingo presents further complications. Here's a look at some PR slang words and what they mean. The list includes "hits" (media coverage), "traction" (interest/coverage), "open the kimono" (reveal more details) and "prezo" (a PowerPoint presentation). (PerkettPRsuasion)

Six Rules for Courting the Media: Building relationships with the press is a lot like dating. Here are six rules for publicists, PR firms, internal specialists and solo practitioners to follow: 1) be monogamous (target your story to the right reporter); 2) woo them personally (do your research); 3) flirt online (follow your contacts on Twitter); 4) build connections (align yourself with recognizable partners); 5) get past "hello" (craft messages to immediately attract your contact); and 6) develop mutual commitment (follow up with timely, relevant stories). (Inc.com)

Most Major Newspaper Organizations Are Experimenting With Pay Walls: Gannett, Media General, McClatchy and Tribune Co. are among the major newspaper chains that are using pay walls at one or more sites. News industry analyst Ken Doctor expects about 20 percent of the approximately 1,400 daily newspapers in the U.S. to charge for online access by year's end. (Poynter)

The Obama Administration's Smart PR Move on 'Jeopardy!': Vice President Joe Biden made an appearance in Jeopardy!'s 2012 Teen Tournament. Biden presented all the questions in the "Cars in America" category, including this "pitch": "The Chevy Coach dates from around the time this became the world’s largest car company; with cars like my favorite, the Corvette…it held that position until 2008, then filed for bankruptcy, but now it’s back on top." PR pros should admire and learn from this strong PR play. (Spin Sucks)

Tweet Buttons Account for About 20 Percent of Tweets to News Organizations: News sites are riddled with those social sharing buttons, including tweet buttons. But do these buttons even work? After analyzing 37 news sites and the 1,000 most recent tweets for each, about 1 in 5 of Twitter link mentions for news organizations come from these tweet buttons. (Nieman Journalism Lab)

Why Journalism Professionals Should Listen to Criticism From Journalism Professors: Should journalism professionals heed the feedback and criticism of journalism professors? This journalism professor says yes, and he offers five reasons why: 1) it's the age of the professor-professional; 2) no one knows how things will turn out; 3) college newsrooms offer real, valuable experiences; 4) journalism professors are just as trusted as professionals; and 5) journalism isn't a profession -- it's a love. (College Media Matters)

College Graduates Must Know How to Write: What can students do to help their chances of landing a PR job after they graduate? Three things: write, write and write. One way to improve writing skills is to get a feel for how news is actually written, beyond tweets. "The professional practice of PR is, at its heart, about communicating through the written word. It always has been and always will be." (PRWeek US)

AOL's Patch Illustrates the Fatal Flaw of the Hyperlocal Business Model: A group of investors recently published a dark critique of AOL, specifically regarding its heavy investment in Patch, AOL's network of 863 locally staffed community news sites. AOL isn't the only company having trouble with local news sites, as other large news organizations have had to pull back investments in these projects or shutter them completely. A major part of the problem is the lack of interest in display advertising at the local level. Another dilemma is the infrequent need or desire for hyperlocal news sites. One media consultant and journalism professor says the inherent flaw of the hyperlocal business model is that "it requires an expensive salesforce to convince small businesses with meager marketing budgets to buy ads on sites with limited consumer appeal." (Businessweek)

Social Media Makes Google Less Important for PR Pros: Thanks to the rise of social media, Google is becoming less relevant. Public relations professionals should care about this shift for eight reasons. Among them are that curation becomes more valuable, staying ahead of the social media curve is critical, and new analytical tools and social media measurement are more important. Despite this changing landscape, PR pros shouldn't give up on Google. (The PR Coach)

ProfNet, a service of PR Newswire, has helped journalists and experts connect since 1992. Writers can search the ProfNet Connect database of more than 50,000 profiles; send a ProfNet query by email to thousands of subscribers around the globe; or get timely experts and story ideas by email.

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

What a Blogger Really Wants: What PR professionals want from bloggers is clear enough: relationships, brand ambassadors and positive content about clients. But what do bloggers want from PR pros? Among the things bloggers want from PR pros and brands are important details in the initial pitch, compensation (not always money) and promotion of their work. (PRBreakfastClub)

Magazine Covers Start Debate and Conversation: Online news sites don't have fixed front covers, and the content on their home pages aren't necessarily what pulls in audiences. Virility on social media seems to have usurped front pages and covers as the factor determining the news agenda. While this is true for daily newspapers, the recent covers of Time magazine Newsweek magazine have proven that front covers are still capable of driving conversation and debate. (Editors Weblog)

Guidelines for Aggregation: Though "aggregation" has become a dirty word today, it has a "long, proud and ethical history in journalism." It's an area where journalism practices and standards are evolving -- improving in most cases. There are three major areas to keep in mind: ethical matters, adding value and verification. (The Buttry Diary)

What to Consider if You're Not Getting Media Coverage: An editor for a regional publication shares how she is often pitched and sent things they would never publish. Public relations isn't about brands, businesses or messages -- it's about helping journalists and bloggers get their work done. If you're not finding success pitching to the media, check to see if you're sending information in a timely manner (be aware of editorial calendars), sending information they can use (be mindful of the publication's demographic, geography and mission) and making it easy for the journalist/blogger (don't fill your release with jargon, and keep things to the five W's and one H). (FreelanceSwitch)

Content Creators: Think Like Fiction Writers: Reality television shows can actually teach content creators a few things. Here are three lessons to learn: 1) be clear about the conversation and be a ruthless editor of your own work; 2) don't shy away from tension -- tell both sides of the argument; 3) don't underestimate your readers by shying away from complex themes. (Spin Sucks)

Twitter and Reddit: Crowdsourced Fact-Checking Engines: Twitter and Reddit are criticized for being the source of rumors and false news reports that efficiently spread through the Web, but they're also debunking engines that have fact-checking roles to play in the future of digital journalism. Open-source advocates say the more eyes there are looking at code, the smaller the chance is for bugs. This principle holds true for real-time journalism. This practice of "news as a process" might not be pretty, but it tends to produce facts more quickly. (GigaOM)

Five Ways to Measure ROI for Blogger Outreach: Linking ROI to blogger outreach isn't simple, but it's not impossible. "Blogger outreach is in many ways the same, and perhaps even easier, to track, than traditional public relations." Here are five ways to measure ROI for blogger outreach: 1) set goals, 2) measure online activity, 3) compare blogger outreach numbers with advertising, 4) track coupons and 5) use affiliate programs for bloggers. (Social Media Explorer)

Warren Buffett Buys 63 Newspapers: Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is leading his company in a $142 million purchase of 63 daily and weekly Media General Inc. newspapers. The papers would be combined with the Omaha World-Herald Co. into a new Berkshire Hathaway Inc. division called BH Media Group. Then deal is expected to close June 25, pending a Federal Trade Commission review. Buffett is a former paperboy. (Los Angeles Times, Omaha.com)

Krug Gets Burned by Burning Man PR Stunt: Krug, the champagne producer, organized a PR stunt at Burning Man 2011, with the help of a New York City-based creative-events agency. The problem is that Krug made two big mistakes in the process: it commercialized a noncommercial event and left without cleaning up its mess. This has been bad news for Krug's brand. There are many lessons here, the most important of which is: "If you don’t do your homework, you’re going to get schooled." (Laughing Squid, Bret Bernhoft)

Five Tips on How to Get TV Coverage: If you're a PR professional who is trying to get TV coverage, here are five things to get right: 1) know the show (its topics, format and time slots); 2) know the show's competitors and don't pitch their stories; 3) know the producer's shift; 4) know the contact's name; and 5) don't pitch via Facebook. (InkHouse)

ProfNet, a service of PR Newswire, has helped journalists and experts connect since 1992. Writers can search the ProfNet Connect database of more than 50,000 profiles; send a ProfNet query by email to thousands of subscribers around the globe; or get timely experts and story ideas by email.

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

Journalistic Objectivity Is a Trap: Ben Huh, CEO of Cheezburger (a network that includes sites like I Can Has Cheezburger and FAIL Blog), might not be the first person you'd turn to when looking for a serious take on journalism. But with a degree in that field and a covert startup aiming to solve some of the problems in journalism, his perspective might warrant some consideration. His take is that journalistic objectivity is outdated. "Creating a singular measure of credibility is a slippery slope to censorship," Huh said in a recent interview. He also said journalism has become sterile and is in need of more emotion. (GigaOM)

A Plea for Aggregation Standards: Twitter feeds, blogs and newsletters that aggregate important links and add valuable commentary to them are appreciated. "But sometimes a writer (or website) goes too far, hiving off huge chunks of someone else’s work and presenting them with minimal added insight, most egregiously without a nod to the original source." There are efforts being taken to respond to these forms of over-aggregation. The Council on Ethical Blogging and aggregation has been formed, and the use of "Curator's Code" symbols in the text of aggregation-based posts taking readers back to original sources has been proposed. (Columbia Journalism Review)

A PR Professional's Confession: Here's the confession of a PR pro: "I've pitched utter, complete crap that no one with a news hole the size of the front page would cover." She goes on to discuss possible reasons why PR practitioners pitch low-quality stuff, and sums up the PR pro's dilemma: Where do you draw the line when your responsibility is to pitch a client as the "greatest in the world" even when it's not? (Ragan.com)

How Reporters Drive Communicators Crazy: A lot has been written about things communicators do that annoy the media, but what about the other side? Here are 16 things reporters do that drive communicators nuts. Included in the list are blowing off scheduled interviews, failing to acknowledge pitches and leaving out the name of the client from whom a story idea is received. (PR Daily)

Why Pessimism Is an Asset in Public Relations: Pessimism isn't always a bad thing, and in the world of public relations, it can be an "undervalued asset and a valuable tool." It can help develop: pragmatism when executives dream big, strong defenses in case of a crisis and balance in the midst of optimistic excitement. (PRBreakfastClub)

Beyonce Wins a Journalism Award, Criticism Ensues: Beyonce can add a writing award to her rack of Grammys. The New York Association of Black Journalists is set to honor Beyonce with an award for her cover story titled "Eat, Play, Love" for Essence magazine. This is drawing criticism from various angles, including from some who wonder whether Beyonce actually wrote the piece herself. (NYTimes.com, Chicago Now)

Ten Traditional Media Outlets Using Social Media in Innovative Ways: Traditional media outlets are criticized for not embracing social media other organizations have, but there are a few shining examples that stand out from the crowd. Among the 10 highlighted in this post are: The Wall Street Journal asking its Instagram followers to share photos of how they start their mornings; The New York Times taking advantage of Facebook Timeline with big photos; and USA Today's Pinterest page for fashion, style and trend news. (AdamVincenzini.com)

How Journalists and Newsrooms Can Use Pinterest: Pinterest's value to journalists and news organizations is growing. Here are some ways they can utilize the blossoming social network: contests, community information, weddings and engagements, and fun local pinboards. "Some of your efforts will generate strong engagement and some will fall flat. But when people are spending as much time with a social tool as they do with Pinterest, you should seek to have them spend some of that time with you." (The Buttry Diary)

How PR Can Use Pinterest: Pinterest isn't a strategy -- it should be part of a larger marketing or communication strategy. This post includes a list of 16 ways PR can use Pinterest. Among the tips are: provide visual customer stories, pin interesting things happening in your industry, pin stories from journalists in your industry and measure Pinterest efforts. (Spin Sucks)

What Does a PR Professional Do?: If you're interested in breaking into the PR/communications industry but aren't sure what a job in the field entails, here's a rundown of nine things a PR pro does: 1) tell the story of a brand/company; 2) shape the debate and manage crisis situations; 3) know the target market and do research; 4) write; 5) plan events; 6) talk to the media; 7) find advocates; 8) tell the truth; and 9) educate themselves. (Firebrand Ideas Ignition)

ProfNet, a service of PR Newswire, has helped journalists and experts connect since 1992. Writers can search the ProfNet Connect database of more than 50,000 profiles; send a ProfNet query by email to thousands of subscribers around the globe; or get timely experts and story ideas by email.