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

'KONY 2012': What Worked and What Didn't Work: The "KONY 2012" video has obviously made an impression on the online world. Here's a look at why the video worked (celebrity endorsement, good message, strong calls-to-action, sense of urgency) and why it didn't work (lack of facts, unclear cause, wrong call-to-action, hazy money trail). "Before you go off and try to make the next KONY 2012 film, make sure you put as much effort into your cause as you do your video or you might end up in your birthday suit 'running back and forth on a street corner and yelling incoherently about the devil.'" (Spin Sucks)

How Editors Can Motivate Journalists: Daily news meetings should be "dynamic, brimming with original ideas and angles, inclusive and agenda-setting." Staff members should look forward to these meetings and attend with enthusiasm. Here are 10 tips for editors on how they can motivate their journalists, make sure they're alert and keep news meetings moving along. Among them are to instill confidence, make sure journalists look for stories in the news they consume and show them genuine appreciation. (Media Helping Media)

Trayvon Martin's Death Is a 'Killing' or 'Shooting,' Not a 'Murder': The death of Trayvon Martin has been called many things, including a "fatal shooting," "shooting" or "murder." While "murder" has been used in headlines, the word should be replaced to avoid the "judicial dimensions" involved. "Was it murder? Manslaughter? Self-defense? Those are thorny legal questions for prosecutors and ultimately a jury to decide," said Dan Abrams, legal analyst for ABC News. (Poynter)

Journalists Taking Money to Give Speeches to Wall Street: The issue of journalists being paid by Wall Street to give speeches is like determining the precise meaning of "off the record" -- everybody has different standards. On one end of the spectrum is The Wall Street Journal, which outright prohibits its journalists from accepting speaking fees. Then there's The New York Times, which has a more nuanced approach to speaking fees. Other publications, like the Financial Times, allow their journalists to accept such fees. To make things even murkier, there's the question of whether policies for full-time employees and freelancers should be different. The bottom line: "If you’re not proud to be giving a paid speech, and happy to be open about that fact, then it seems to me you shouldn’t be doing it. And that applies whether you’re self-employed or not." (Reuters)

The Top 100 PR Experts to Follow on Twitter in March: Here's a list of the top 100 public relations experts/organizations to follow on Twitter in March, according to Evan Carmichael, an entrepreneur who helps brands connect with entrepreneurs. The top five on the list are: @BPGlobalPR, @GirlPRPublicity, @GirlPRNYC, @MLB_PR and @AKRPR. (EvanCarmichael.com)

How to Create Useful Twitter Directories for Newsrooms: Since Twitter lists aren't embeddable or easily found, many news organizations put together their own staff directories guiding readers to staff members on social media. "But beyond being useful for the readers, it can actually provide incentive for those in the newsroom who aren’t actively using Twitter when they see a public-facing list and see their colleagues getting more followers from that list." When creating these directories, newsrooms should break up individuals into sections, only include Twitter handles for people who actually tweet well and regularly, and show more than just name and handles (e.g., avatars, descriptions and follower counts). For inspiration, take a look at what publications like MuckRack, Chicago Tribune and CNN are doing. (Mediabistro's 10,000 Words)

What Journalists Can Learn About Collaboration From the Art of Improv: "Did you hear the one about the journalist who used improv skills to do her job better?" This journalist offers some insights into how journalists can be better collaborators, using lessons she's learned from performing improve comedy since 2004: 1) Say "Yes, and…"; 2) learn how to listen and do it more often; and 3) don't be intimidated. (PBS MediaShift)

BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski Does Serious Journalism: BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski, a 22-year-old college student, is mining the Internet and finding content that is stirring things up this election season. For example, Kaczynski dug up an op-ed Mitt Romney wrote back in July 2009, where Romney endorses the Massachusetts health care plan as a model for President Obama, which refutes one of the political candidate's campaign claims. Kaczynski's doing things that news organizations miss, to a certain extent. "They don’t have as much time to research things like this, it’s not high on their priority list," he said. (Columbia Journalism Review, Poynter)

How PR Pros Can Recharge Their Creativity: Creativity is a rare and unpredictable thing to come by. Some tips for PR professionals to keep their creativity juices flowing are to get out into the field, host a contest, meet people over food, watch TV and keep an idea book. "The way that I stay creative is by always looking for what’s new and fresh -- something that will pique my interest and make me think," says one PR pro. (PRBreakfastClub)

Uncommon Advice for Your First PR Interview: There are some obvious tips for people preparing for their first PR interview -- research the company, know the dress code, etc. But there are some tips that aren't as common, including: be conversational with the receptionist or administrative assistant, ask your own questions about the interviewer, and write a post for the company's blog. (Communications Conversations)

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:

Seven Tips for Writing Headlines That Pop in a Journalist's Inbox: Headlines help journalists determine what they want to read or think they should read, and what they can safely ignore. And since they sift through hundreds of press releases, media alerts and pitches each day, "it's so important that your press materials start with compelling, informative headlines (or, in the case of e-mail pitches, subject lines)." Among the seven tips for writing headlines that stand out are to be concise, don't overpromise and place your client's name in the headline. (PR News)

Why Studying Journalism Is Still a Good Idea: "Journalism majors are still alive and well, but not immune to the cries of the death of newspapers." So is getting a journalism degree still worth it? Yes, because the skills are still valuable. (Mediabistro's 10,000 Words)

Goldman Sachs' PR Response Missed a Golden Opportunity: A scathing resignation letter from a Goldman Sachs executive got plenty of attention last week. "Unfortunately, how Goldman Sachs responded to this op-ed maybe one of the PR missteps of the year." Instead of killing the crisis with kindness, the company added fuel to the fire by being defensive. (Bulldog Reporter)

Do Journalists Inform the Internet or Their Editors When They Have Breaking News?: "#BREAKING:" has become a well-known sight for veterans of Twitter. "But whom should journalists inform first when they have a big story -- their editors or the Internet? As reporters begin to grow more comfortable with social media, the question is being raised in newsrooms around the world." There are two schools of thought: one that requires tweets to pass through an editorial checkpoint before being sent out, and another that allows reporters to freely break news via Twitter. (American Journalism Review)

How Not to Use Pinterest: "Pinterest is a place for nice things." But the Record Journal in Ohio used Pinterest in a different way. The paper used the visual-based sharing site to broadcast updates and stories about the high-school shooting in the state on Feb. 27. It feels a bit off. (BuzzFeed FWD)

The New York Times Might Look Outside Journalism for Its Next Social Media Editor: The New York Times lost its social media editor, Liz Heron, to The Wall Street Journal. To replace Heron, The New York Times has a challenging task on its hands, since not many journalists have the right social media skills. The news organization's editor of interactive news won't count out the possibility of hiring a replacement from a "nontraditional source." (Poynter)

How to Get My Attention for Your Pitch: This journalist says that a "startlingly large proportion of the PR emails I receive are grossly incompetent — a waste of my time and inbox space. This has become so irritating that I periodically respond to individual emails with exasperated hectoring." Now he's making his advice public. He offers eight tips for PR professionals who are doing it wrong. Among them are to always include a link, talk to him like an adult, don't call him and make it easy for him to opt out of future communications. (Grist)

Homeless Hotspots: PR Crisis at SXSW: Homeless Hotspots was the big story from this year's SXSW Interactive Festival, and it might be one of the biggest PR disasters of the year. The program equipped homeless people in Austin, Texas, with devices that turned them into wireless hot spots. Users pay what they wanted to use the Wi-Fi connection and the homeless men and women kept the money. The media took offense to this and the backlash was heavy. (PR Daily)

'This American Life' Retracts Story on Apple's Factory in China: "This American Life" was forced to retract a segment from January about the working conditions in Chinese factories producing Apple products. The segment was found to have "significant fabrications." The creator of the piece said this in a statement: "I stand by my work. My show is a theatrical piece whose goal is to create a human connection between our gorgeous devices and the brutal circumstances from which they emerge. It uses a combination of fact, memoir, and dramatic license to tell its story, and I believe it does so with integrity." (Mediaite)

Journalism Opportunities Are Changing, Not Disappearing: The "traditional" career paths for journalists have all but disappeared, but that doesn't mean there aren't opportunities. In fact, according to a journalist and game designer who works in public relations, "there's never been a better time to be a journalist." However, two questions need to be answered: 1) What makes people share content? 2) How do people find content? "The media industry is in a state of flux, but many of the things that make a good journalist haven't really changed -- the power and the responsibility have just shifted to the journalists themselves." (Techdirt)

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:

Pinterest for PR: You Should Know by Now: Pinterest is all the rage these days, which makes it necessary for PR professionals to ask themselves how they can leverage the site for their purposes. Thankfully, there are plenty of answers to that question. The emergence of Pinterest is also a reminder that while PR pros don't need to be experts on every emerging technology, they need to be aware of the technology that will impact their clients' businesses. (Understanding Marketing, PRBreakfastClub)

BuzzFeed's FWD: A New Spin on Tech News: BuzzFeed, the social website best known for its viral content, has taken a step closer toward serious social journalism with its new tech vertical, FWD. What sets FWD apart from all the other tech news websites out there is its upfront goal of being social. "FWD is trying to turn the tech news niche into something personal and personable, and perhaps most importantly, social." FWD will attempt to change the way people talk about technology, aligning it closer to the way we talk about films, music, art and pop culture. (Adweek, Mediabistro's 10,000 Words)

Four Survival Strategies for Struggling Newspapers: Newspapers are struggling, according to a new study released by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. But there is hope. Included in the report are four strategies newspapers can use to turn things around: 1) ride the boom, 2) diversify digital ads, 3) get creative and 4) end newsroom culture wars. "The study suggests that a newspaper with strong digital revenue growth is a newspaper that has peacefully ended its culture war and gotten staff retrained and carrying out a new strategy." (NPR, GigaOM)

How to Quote Email, Tweets, Etc.: How you treat words conveyed via email, Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc., isn't just a matter of style -- it's a matter of impact, too. While there aren't many comprehensive, cut-and-dry rules in style guides about these matters, here's a look at some guidelines that can be found and inferred. For instance, undoing a hashtag is fine by the editor of the AP Stylebook, so long as the content of the tweet isn't altered. (Columbia Journalism Review)

How a Reporter Covered a Conference With an iPhone and iPad: This reporter, author and associate professor took to the Mobile World Congress without his laptop or camera. Instead, he decided to cover the conference with just his iPad 2, Logitech keyboard and iPhone 4S. While he considered the venture "very impressive," the main stumbling block was integrating photos with his copy. (PBS MediaShift)

In Defense of Instagram for News Photography: Nick Stern sparked heated debate in the photojournalism world with his article titled "Why Instagram photos cheat the viewer." In his article, Stern argues against the use of cellphone apps to create news images. However, Slate's photo editor disagrees with his premise: "Instagram is not a threat to photojournalism. The real threat is that photojournalism professionals are refusing to engage with the platform. If they spent a bit more time with it, they’d see that Instagram is about much more than these faux-vintage-filters. It’s a community of millions of photo addicts, eager to embrace their work, journalistic standards and all." (Slate)

Fixing Newspapers' Wrong Approach to Digital Ad Dollars: If online news publishers don't start grasping digital advertising and advertising technology better, they deserve to go out of business. Too many newspaper ad reps are still stuck on above-the-fold display ads, despite the fact that response rates have declined over the years. New forms of advertising, including "InView," offer better ways to advertise to readers. "You can advertise to these consumers, because they're still reading the news -- but first, you have to know how." (Fast Company)

The Anatomy of the 'Perfect Pitch': While there's no such thing as the "perfect pitch" (one that secured every single story it was aiming for), there are terrible pitches, mediocre pitches and very good pitches. To form a near-perfect pitch, keep these seven elements in mind: 1) a succinct subject line, 2) honesty, 3) research-based, 4) clarity, 5) no attachments, 6) correct spelling, and 7) a polite beginning and end. (Waxing UnLyrical)

Five Ways Journalists Can Use Facebook's Interest Lists: Facebook recently introduced Interest Lists, a feature that enables users to organize the social network into a "personalized newspaper" with tailored sections or feeds. Interest Lists are already being used by journalists in interesting ways. Here are five possible ways to use them (along with examples): 1) list your staff, 2) cover a beat, 3) compile lists of experts, 4) engage with readers and 5) track what competitors are doing. (Mediabistro's 10,000 Words)

Tips on How to Avoid a Bad Pitch, From a Tech Blogger's Perspective: This tech writer receives about 200 different pitches a day, most of which are terrible. "They’re filled with babble and jargon that the sender believes will paint them in a better light, but they’re ineffective at the very best." However, he offers nine tips on how to send better pitches. To start, "Just be a person." (The Next Web)

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:

Three Lessons From #Linsanity: Sports Illustrated's recent cover featuring New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin and the hashtag "#SILinsanity" caught the eye of Sree Sreenivasan. He shares three lessons from the craze surrounding Lin: 1) "If you're doing something big and interesting in real life, people will look for you on Twitter and Facebook." 2) "More propel are going to get in trouble for their responses to Lin." 3) "Fans show their digital love of Lin in unusual ways." (CNET News)

Matter's Kickstarter Campaign Matters: Matter is a new journalism project that was launched on Kickstarter. It's aiming to be home to long-form investigative narrative journalism about science and technology. Just 48 hours after the campaign was launched, Matter exceeded its $50,000 funding goal. "We have tapped into frustration with the way the internet has promoted quick and cheap journalism and bashed longer-quality stuff, or at least undermined the business model that used to support that sort of thing," said co-founder Jim Giles. (Wired.com)

Four Ways to Innovate PR Best Practices: If technology has taught us anything, it's that relying on “the way it's always been done” is a surefire way to get left in the dust. Four opportunities to innovate PR best practices are: 1) research, 2) relationships, 3) measurement and 4) writing. “Shake things up. Disrupt the status quo. Innovate best practices. You might be amazed at what you create.” (prTini)

Seven (More) PR Myths: Though public relations has changed, grown and become more specialized in recent years, myths and stereotypes continue to linger. Seven of them are: 1) any press is good press; 2) PR is all about contacts; 3) startups shouldn't hire PR consultants; 4) journalists hate PR; 5) the best PR people are former journalists; 6) a good story sells itself; and 7) PR is about controlling the message. (Crenshaw Communications)

The Lack of Male Students in PR Classes: Why are PR classes so popular among women but not among men? One professor points to the perception that women are more sensitive, more approachable and better at listening as reasons why more women are enrolled in PR classes. However, it seems a glass ceiling still exists, as males continue to dominate the higher ranks of the industry. (PR Daily)

Five Tips to Develop Your PR Career: A recent survey revealed the lack of internal training and mentoring for PR professionals. Here are five low-cost ways for PR pros to continue their education and grow in their careers: 1) fully utilize professional memberships, 2) find a mentor in your office, 3) build up your RSS feed, 4) attend events and 5) attend webinars. (Cision Blog)

Are Aggregation and Curation Journalism?: In the battle over aggregation (or curation) brings up the question of what qualifies as journalism -- but it's a red herring. "The reality is that aggregation and curation are part of the new media ecosystem, and they can add a lot of value whether we like them or not." The real question of consequence is whether or not the "journalism" in question serves the reader. (GigaOM)

The Five W's of Digital PR: Who, what, when, where and why -- these are the five W's we're familiar with, but they take on a new form when applied to digital PR. Finding all this out requires listening, which means more than just monitoring brand mentions. (Business 2 Community)

The Associated Press Reveals Its New Logo: The Associated Press revealed its new logo last week, its first in 30 years. Among the notable changes are black letters that stand on the same baseline, an "A" that doesn't lean on the "P" and a red bar underneath the letters. (Poynter)

A Two-Step Process for Great Web Journalism: There have been some encouraging signs lately regarding long-form journalism on the Web. But what stages do news organizations have to go through in order to find success with longer reads online? The Christian Science Monitor is an example of a publication that aggressively eschewed the old in favor of the new, deploying online-friendly tactics to drastically boost the number of its page views. But what comes after that? How do you leverage an established Web-savvy brand into success with high-quality long-form journalism? The key is learning how to walk before you can run, and expecting lots of pivots along the way. (The Changing Newsroom)

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 Characteristics of a Successful PR Professional: "In order to be successful in the modern world of PR, there are certain essential characteristics that one must possess to fight adversity, capitalize on opportunities, maintain a positive image, encourage word of mouth, and build strategy." Here are the top five: 1) thick skin, 2) resiliency, 3) attention to detail, 4) creativity and 5) building strong relationships. (PRBreakfastClub)

The Risks Journalists Take: "The recent death of New York Times correspondent Anthony Shadid in Syria is another reminder of the risks journalists take to get the story." The danger of the profession comes in several forms, including the lack of emergency medical care. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 46 journalists were killed last year as a direct result of their work, many in the Middle East. Local journalists are at the forefront of the risk-taking. (WNYC)

Why That Reporter Isn't Calling You Back: Why isn't that reporter calling you back? Here are five possible reasons: 1) your pitch isn't engaging or newsworthy; 2) you're pitching the wrong person; 3) you're from out of town; 4) your pitch doesn't have a local angle; or 5) you have a bad track record. (PR Daily)

Is Any PR Good PR?: A self-described "customer experience, social media and community guy" wrote a blog post about getting good and bad attention. He disagrees with the statement "Any PR is good PR." "Again, while negative tactics and negative interactions may work in the short term, if an enterprise is interested in developing relationships with its customers, instead of merely short-term transactions, bad P.R. will eventually cause an organization to lose those customers." He also offers some tips for small businesses that get bad PR. (NYTimes.com)

Seven Tips for Writing a Great Press Release: Though we live in a world where social media and the Internet disseminate news quicker than a pen, press releases are still important. However, getting earned media through a press release is difficult. Among the seven tips offered here are to write an attention-grabbing title, make sense and focus on content quality (not depth of words). (Business 2 Community)

Six Lessons About Journalism From Social Media Week: Two panels from Social Media Week in Washington, D.C., yielded some ideas and exchanges worth remembering: 1) why Twitter matters, 2) candidates watch the watchdogs, 3) Google+ Hangouts are a work tool, 4) is Twitter really a "social" network, 5) promoted trends cost $120,000 a day, and 6) U.S. Congress is very social. (Poynter)

Journalism Teachers Should Give Format-Agnostic Assignments: "It has become a truism -- if one not repeated often enough -- that those of us teaching journalism are now preparing our students for jobs that didn't exist when we started our careers." Educators need to pay heed to the subtle ways today's journalists tell stories. This executive editor and medical journalism instructor has responded by making all of his assignments platform-agnostic. (PBS MediaShift)

Five Key Trends Supercharging Digital PR: Social media is moving from growth to saturation, which means digital public relations is rapidly changing. Here's what social media saturation and mobile growth mean for PR in 2012: 1) 24 hours' worth of screens per day; 2) think like PR, measure like "Mad Men"; 3) find your peeps (the new influencers); 4) the rise of "fanwomen"; and 5) more powerful small teams. (Mashable)

IRS Seeks PR Help: The Internal Revenue Service is willing to pay up to $15 million for some PR help, according to a 49-page solicitation sent to 12 agencies. "The IRS is currently evaluating pitches made last week from communications agencies to help publicize programs like the earned-income tax credit and small business retirement plans." While the IRS is known by almost all of America, a rebranding might be necessary. (WSJ.com)

DKNY PR Girl Reveals Herself: Aliza Licht revealed herself to the world as the woman behind DKNY PR Girl. She is the senior vice president for global communications at Donna Karan International. "Unlike the new breed of baby-faced social media editors, Ms. Licht took a more circuitous path to Twitter stardom." Here's a look at Licht's past, present and future. (NYTimes.com)

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.