Are Product Reviews Still Relevant?
Prior to the arrival of mass blogging platforms, such as WordPress, Tumblr & Blogger, product reviews were the bread and butter of a new or updated product’s world debut. PR pros would enlist key reviewers from the most influential publications to honor an embargo, and in return, receive shiny new hardware or a snazzy software […]
Digital Reporting Continues to Change the Face of Journalism
On Monday, the New York Times ran an interesting article on a recent presentation at SXSW called, “Process Journalism: Getting it First While Getting it Right.” The panel included reporters Robert Mackey from the New York Times, Monica Guzman of SeattlePI.com, blogger Jesus Diaz with Gizmodo.com, Will Sullivan from Journerdism.com and Moka Pantages of the […]
Should Your School Be Using Social Media?
I serve on the Board of Trustees for Villa Academy, a private independent school in Seattle educating children in kindergarten through the eighth grade. In the past several months, I have been thinking about how Facebook could be used by Villa and other elementary and middle schools to help them achieve their top objectives. I […]
Google Unveils New Approach to Presenting News
The media landscape has changed dramatically over the past couple of years. During a time when many print publications and newspapers are experiencing tremendous challenges, Google announced it will offer publishers a new approach to presenting news online – through one single URL. The project, which is called Living Stories, was developed in partnership with […]
Facebook & Public Relations
I was reading the New York Times and came across an article entitled, “How to Market Your Business with Facebook.” As we work to help our clients reach the right audiences, we are increasingly thinking about Facebook with its audience of more than 300 million active users. As PR practitioners, we are not so interested […]
Public Relations Lessons From Silicon Valley
A recent article on PR and start-ups in the Silicon Valley by Claire Cain Miller of the New York Times, reminds PR professionals that the media landscape continues to evolve and the role PR plays is crucial to helping clients navigate these new waters. Cain Miller recounts a recent brainstorming session she attended with publicist […]
Personal Branding for Journalists
Just as companies build brand awareness for products and services, journalists are now building brand awareness for their name. For journalists, creating a name is critical as they work to establish an area of expertise and build credibility among readers. This is especially important for freelance journalists who contribute to a variety of news outlets […]
Are Online Games the Next Generation of Journalism?
At the 2009 Games for Change Festival, New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Nicholas Kristof delivered a surprising keynote address saying that online games can be a powerful reporting platform for educating people about global issues such as the environment, poverty and human rights. His epiphany came during a chance encounter with online game, “Darfur is […]
Reader’s Digest Searches for Niche Audience
For the past 87 years, Reader’s Digest has been a prominent general-interest family magazine intended to appeal to the broad American public. In an effort to revamp and reorganize its image and survive the changing media landscape, Reader’s Digest announced it will shift to a more conservative focus and will increase its coverage of inspiring […]
Netbooks and the Future of Media
“Information wants to be free.” According to Simon Dumenco with Advertising Age, this statement is a truism that is destroying traditional media models. He opines not only does information want to be free, technology itself – computers and software – also want to be free. There is still a lot of discussion about the future […]