In Support of the “Paywall”

Posted on 01. May, 2012 by

Grumble… grumble. I am hearing a lot of this lately as more and more daily and weekly papers are putting paywalls  in place. In fact, my local daily paper will be introducing a “new subscription model” in the very near future. I get it. Why pay for it when you have had free access for so long to YOUR news? But, it seems that people are actually ok with paying to access their news. AdAge reports today that paywalls are helping to slow the decline and hold steady newspaper circulation.

Newspapers’ weekday circulation edged up 0.7% in numbers released Tuesday, while Sunday circulation leapt 5%.

Consider this:

  • If Facebook started to charge for access, would you pay it to access your friends news?
  • As more people consume their news digitally, would you be willing to give up getting news from trusted sources?
  • Do you give to public radio? How is that different?
  • Should advertisers be expected to support the media outlet 100%?
  • If  advertisers are the only ones supporting a media outlet, then there is a chance that the editorial can be influenced by ad revenue opposed to good journalism.

[Gasp!] Dare I say it… paywalls are socially responsible.

  • You are paying for something that you find value in (if you are accessing the information, you must be finding some value, right?).
  • You are supporting journalists by helping the media outlets to monetize – which helps them keep AND create jobs.

Let’s be realistic here – there are ways around most paywalls, like accessing articles through social channels like Twitter and Facebook. So, if you are not a frequent consumer of one outlet’s content, you can get continue to “get milk for free”.

Personally, I am happy to pay for quality journalism… and support businesses that are responsible to their bottom lines – after all that is the third leg of a triple-bottom line, socially responsible philosophy.

Photo Credit

Pitching 101

Posted on 22. Feb, 2012 by

I had the privilege of lecturing at Champlain College today in Nancy Kerr’s Writing for Public Relations class. Below are my slides from the discussion. We talked about how to write pitches – and over all how to pitch your story to the media. Thanks to all the students who attended. I had a great time!

Elements of a Pitch

View more presentations from PMG Public Relations.

 

Rooney-isms

Posted on 02. Oct, 2011 by

Tonight, newsman and TV icon Andy Rooney will sign off of his 60-Minutes segment “A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney” on CBS for the final time.

I have enjoyed Mr. Rooney’s work for most of my life, watching him every Sunday evening at home with my parents for as long as I can remember. My Dad and I often would debate discuss his commentaries. As someone who works with the press on an almost daily basis, I admire Mr. Rooney for his journalistic skills (early on) and as a commentator on life.

If you are not familiar with his segments, saying that Rooney is a curmudgeon sums up his on-camera persona. That said, he is a guy that most people would like to spend time with. He has seen a lot in his 92 years, and has been a reporter for much of that time. So, why retire at 92? Well, it is not a full retirement. He is merely giving up his regular segment on the Sunday evening show, leaving room for him to participate on the show and in the CBS newsroom in other capacities. On his 91st birthday he was interviewed by USA Today and started the interview off by saying this:

Ask Andy Rooney about retiring, and he responds with his own question: “Retire? From what? Life?”

I can recall many of my favorite Rooney moments on 60-Minutes, one being when he reviewed a bunch of pitches and press releases sent by a few publicists. He is not someone that I would think to pitch as a PR person. But, Rooney made light of this, and actually gave those flacks some great press – but talking about the products and press releases they sent to him. There is another clip where he wonders why a watch is called a watch. Then, there is this classic…

Congratulations, Mr. Rooney, on a truly awesome career. I’ll be watching your final appearance with my Dad this evening. Thanks for all of the memories and for all of the sparks that you provided to start some discussions at my house.

PR Bag of Tricks: Muck Rack

Posted on 23. May, 2011 by

It’s sometimes hard to be a publicist. First you have to deal with people who don’t always get what you do and see you as a nuisance.  Then, you have to find a way to make your client, the company, and their product relevant and newsworthy. All this while the news-cycle is busy covering things like the president, weather occurrences, and our impending doom (aka The Rapture).

There are hundreds of thousands of media outlets. How do you find out what is important to journalists today? I get a daily digest from Muck Rack that gives me some insight on what journalists are talking about, care about today, and what they are thinking about for tomorrow.  This helps me think about the timing of my pitch, the relevance to the news-cycle, and a good snap shot of the news.

In addition to the daily e-newsletters, their website is very handy. There you can view journalist twitter feeds by media outlet and beat. I especially like the bar on the right of what’s trending for journalists at that moment.

Overall, this is one great tool for any flack, like me.

The Art of the Press Conference

Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by

Over the past two weeks there have been several press conferences that have drawn national, and in some cases international, attention.  Though there seem to be fewer press conferences called by companies than when I first started in PR, they still do exist.

Typically sensationalized or tragic news bring in larger audiences for media – so with that comes more questions and interest from media outlets to the parties involved.  The easiest way to disseminate information to the press? Gather them in one spot and talk to them.

In most cases, the talking heads of companies have been formally coached by their publicists to stay on message, communicate the prepared remarks clearly, and manage the questions/audience. For those who do not have to speak publicly or at press conferences often, this can be daunting.

I watched the SeaWorld press conference today with great interest.  Here is a really unfortunate situation that happened and now a well-respected company has to jump into crisis pr mode.  At the top of the conference, the press is told what the flow will be, how to obtain the written information and who will be available for one-to-one interviews post event.

And then Dan Brown, CEO of SeaWorld began to speak.  He made a brief statement and read prepared remarks from the victim’s family, and then opened it up to questions. Questions from the press ranged from soft balls (when would various attractions re-open?), to very pointed questions that were asked repeatedly in a variety of ways (is this same whale has apparently killed three other people?). Brown managed the questions well.  He answered each question, and for those that he was unable to discuss he stated that he would not comment on until after an investigation was complete.  His message was consistent and clear.

Of course, there are others in the media and the general public that think this event was a disaster.  But, purely from a pr perspective, it was a success: 1.  SeaWorld communicated their message clearly and, 2.  They have now set the stage for communicating out their findings after the investigation.

Kudos to SeaWorld and their PR team for handling a tough situation with grace and professionalism.