Vying for the public’s attention, but what about their feedback? - Journalists vs the Blogosphere

Yesterday, I checked my Google Reader after, well NOT doing so for days and it had 976 new items. Holy blog-activity, Batman! One might automatically assume that I subscribe to too many blogs that don’t hold my attention enough to be a regular reader. This, in all honesty, is probably half-true. I’m a pretty busy person and I like to subscribe to random blogs. Some of them really are entirely hopeless in the thought that every single post will be read by my eyes: Amazon Daily, Mashable, NPR’S Bryant Park Project all put out several blogs a day, but I keep them because I find fun little gems like this. So on a day like today, I usually get flustered by all the posts and start scanning through them, just to chip away at that number of “unread items.”

On this morning, though, I scrolled across a nice post in one of the “biggies” that usually clog my reader: the MediaGuardian from the UK’s “The Guardian”. This piece by blogger Roy Greenslade discussed (and is so titled) “Why journalists must learn the values of the blogging revolution” and why their understanding of the concept and the activity is so vital to media. More than anything he stressed how journalists are used to bringing up the topics and moving on, not waiting for a conversation to happen. Blogging has, according to Greenslade, turned that orthodox on its head. And contrary to popular journalistic-veteran belief, it does not threaten “the established order of journalism.” Journalists must, according to this post, open themselves up to a new thought process away from “us and them” and toward a more integrated way of doing things.

This was a nice post for me, fresh out of Journalism school and wondering how to reconcile “get the information to the people” stuff I learned with this new (well “new” by comparison) wave of reciprocal information going out.

As with all emerging facets of media, the content and its validity must be of the utmost importance. in a 2005 post in Poynter Online, Rick Edmonds warned that blogging and “citizen journalism”, though it [was] the next big thing in new media, must be checked - with all the conversation, “where is the news?”

I’m not sure there are many journalists out there who don’t understand this blogging explosion, but rather, there are probably journalists of traditional media who see it as something that takes up time that could be spent reading and digesting actual news and current events. It could also be that blogging is, essentially a way to have the same power and outreach as traditional media, without the credentials and hard work to get there. But isn’t that just how it goes nowadays? Isn’t it time to bury the hatchet and, as Roy Greenslade suggested, integrate?

On my part, consider it buried.

Image courtesy of: muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Reporter_Kermit

Schizophrenic 2.0

Like The West Wing and Subway sandwich punch-cards, so many good things in life come to an end: In my case, college. In the midst of finishing final projects, studying for finals and saying goodbye to life as a student, I have been eagerly and frantically looking for housing as I relocate to the Bay Area. I’m already anticipating the repercussions of this huge change: distance from friends and family, a busier, fast-paced lifestyle, a much more steady income, less sleep, more reading, less homework, more client work.

There is one aspect of this situation that I hadn’t considered prior to reading Todd Defren’s post entitled “The Secret Life of Runners.” In this post he brings up an important issue: talking about client work on company or personal blogs. As far as my blog goes, I’ve never held much back. It’s been a log of my PR experience and discoveries as well as a personal manifesto as to my intentions for PR (to treat it like a lady, of course).

This blog has been a very successful resource for finding ways to not only join the conversation, but also to ask questions and get them answered by PRos. To say that this blog has been merely instrumental in where I am headed as a recent graduate and practitioner-on-the-verge would be a gross understatement so - I hardly intend to abandon it and the further lessons that could be gleaned from continuing to maintain it.

My question is, where’s the line?  Can I afford to discuss my work in an anonymous way in a Web 2.0 world where to have such join the conversation is to, essentially, have a strong web presence and thus have your job, your work, your personal profile easily accessible? Do I refrain from discussing whatever career/life lessons I learn on this blog? Do I sacrifice my transparency by being secretive about my work? Does it benefit my client at all from any discussion I might have on them?

Any insight would help here, I’m having trouble with this one.

Stuff PR People Like

Piggy-backing one of my favorite blogs, these are some observations of a Pre-PRo and should be taken as such. However, I have to say, these are some things I’ve noticed as I’ve hung out with more of “you people” and when I ponder these and look at my future in PR, I’m good with it. Here’s why:

Stuff PR People Like (in no particular order):

• Blogs, Blogging, the Blogosphere: We like being part of it all. We like the reciprocity. We give, you give back.
• Business-Casual: We clean up pretty good. But we sure like to pair our heals or loafers with a nice pair of Seven jeans and a sweater rather than your usual pant-suite. It lets us not only show our personal style and trendiness, but it’s also damn comfortable.
• San Francisco/Boston/New York City: Everywhere I applied had an office in one of these cities. I can explain SF and Boston - close enough to the news making action (NYC, Silicon Valley), but far enough away to deny association if necessary. New York? Meh - it is what it is. EVERY facet of the business world is there. Helloooo.
• Happy Hour: I have never been invited out for Happy Hour more than when I’m with PR people. Not that my social agenda is limited in any way. ButHappy Hour does serve as a good place and time to not only wind down and enjoy some well deserved brews and bar food, but it also offers great networking opportunities.
• New Technology: Want a virtually free platform to spread your message in fun ways to finely-tuned target audiences? Why, yes. Thank you.
• Apple/Macs: PR people love something that works well and is aesthetically pleasing. And we love Silicon Valley. And iTunes. And Steve Jobs.
• Ethics: Since PR is such a developing industry, ethics come in all shades of gray. This presents a challenge or a game for PR people to see what kinds of tactics can be implemented while respecting ethical boundaries and yet pushing that line just enough to be noticed. As if this weren’t enough, we like to talk about, rehash and find new definitions for ethics.
• Green: Being “green” and eco-friendly is such a successful PR campaign. It was something that used to grate on the nerves of corporate and even mainstream America. But through ingenious product placement (Urban Outfitters) and celebrity endorsement (Leonardo DiCaprio), being “green” isn’t a chore anymore: It’s hot.
• Barack Obama: Even if we’re not going to vote for him, we tend to at least appreciate his image and reputation management. Talk about brilliance: getting Will.I.Am to produce not just one but TWO videos on your behalf and a consistent and engaged presence on Twitter. If nothing else, it gets our attention in a big way. (Speaking of which…)
• Twitter: Thank god for it, really. For me, it serves for networking, blog promotion, research tool and journal. And that’s just for my own personal use. I imagine the possibilities for PRos and businesses are endless. Plus, it’s pretty addictive in that it takes some skill to know how to craft updates and choose links that’ll get you noticed.

On the other hand, here is a compilation of stuff PR people don’t (really) like:

• PR people: PR is an industry in which, to become a PR professional, you can have studied anything but PR. People have been wary of me, time and again, in interviews and classes because I’m a Journalism major with a focus in PR. It’s one of the most irritating things I’ve ever encountered: English students who will probably end up practicing PR who judge me because while they have seminar classes on Olde English and Whitman, I have seminar classes on PR research methods.
• PC’s: Even as I write this post from a PC, I’m thinking about how limited I am in that my processor is slow and susceptible to viruses and that to the world, my computer looks like that bumbling guy on the Mac commercials.
• Liars: We work so hard to communicate the truth (even if we’re a little creative about it sometimes, that it just pisses us off when others aren’t truthful. Or at least it does me.
• Advertising: We do basically the same thing as far as branding goes, only for less money. We also, though, handle reputation management, networking, investor relations, community relations, media relations, etc. The list goes on. Sometimes, I think I’m better than them. Even though I revere Weiden+Kennedy sometimes for their Nike and Smirnoff ads.
• The words “publicity” and “promotion”: Oh, PLEASE. Don’t limit us to publicity and promotion. We’re so much more than that. We are democratizing, media-attention-grabbing, conversation-joining, image-consulting,  brand-positioning, product/start-up launching bad-asses who will DO WORK for you.

Feel free to add, subtract or even correct via comment. I was feeling pretty audacious today. I guess.

Cinematic Savvy: Cool Hand Luke

Thought I’d get your attention with Mr. Paul Newman.

“What we got here is a failure to communicate.”

This observation from the road crew captain in the film brings to mind several instances where this very truth has caused havoc in my personal and professional (or pre-professional) life. Whether it’s laziness, disdain or sheer ignorance that’s ruptured the flow of healthy verbal relations, it always means another failure is in store.

Relationships - duh. Oprah and a host of highly-qualified psychological professionals say we need communication for our relationships and if it isn’t there, relationships sink.

But in the professional environment, maybe you don’t get emotionally wounded, but lack of communication means your team, and ultimately your client, takes it right in the gut.

I’ve experienced this on both sides. There was an instructor who failed to clearly communicate expectations, due dates and functions of each task assigned and remained unapproachable. This led to a lot of struggling and eventual dissent from the class members who left the class confused about what was assigned, much of it very important to our careers. The one lesson I’ve taken from this example is that you can’t always trust the people you work under to lay it all out for you. I guess.

On the other hand, in leaving town on a planned trip one week, I left my team high and dry without knowing it and accidentally skipped out on a huge deadline because we failed to properly communicate under the urgent circumstances. Luckily, the client was still provided with information they needed in a timely fashion and no bridges were burned.

Now, it would be easy for me to say: this is what happens when there is a failure to communicate. But it can get much worse. When communication is sacrificed, other things are tossed out too: trust of team members and clients, reputation among colleagues and networks and most importantly, the ability to hold yourself to a standard of having decent respect for those you work with and the things you work for. These are big losses.

I hope my examples illustrated that it isn’t always a lack of timely or dependable communication that’s the problem- when I’d gone out of town, my team had attempted to reach me by e-mail rather than phone - but sometimes it’s the quality of what’s communicated that causes a problem. Sincerity, consideration, and professionalism are always appreciated.

Honesty will also score high.

The Cinematic Savvy series is designed to explore themes and ideas from certain films. Inspiration can be drawn from characters, their quotes, their circumstances, historical approaches depicted - it’s my blog, I’ll take it where I get it. I love film and I love PR. Let’s see how they influence me.

*Image courtesy of /www.johnmariani.com

Cinematic Savvy: True Grit

The Cinematic Savvy series is designed to explore themes and ideas from certain films. Inspiration can be drawn from characters, their quotes, their circumstances, historical approaches depicted - it’s my blog, I’ll take it where I get it. I love film and I love PR. Let’s see how they influence me.

True Grit in blogging/social media, to be specific. Looking through some of my posts, I’ve noticed a distinct timidity. This reluctance to firmly and boldly speak my mind results from a decided lack of professional experience and affirmation. Until I go through the symbolic ritual of graduating and land myself a job, much of my opinions seem speculative.

The John Wayne flick that inspired this post depicts a girl out to avenge her father’s death who hires “a man with grit.”

He’s wise to the ways of the world and has got toughened determination that can only come with time and experience. I do think, though, that there is something to be said for being young and full of gumption.

At some point I hope to be assigned to an account because I’ve shown grit and determination in my work and have proved that I weather challenging situations. I suppose that time is now. As a recent recruitment to a PR agency, I can honestly say I was hired because of my grit. That’s right, I said it.

I’m not a pro, but these are some things that worked for me:

Keep blogging: No one’s born a good blogger. You become one by thoroughly researching your topics and reading other people’s blogs. But just because no one leaves comments doesn’t mean no one’s reading. So keep going.

Use your social media resources: I use Twitter and Facebook to announce new blog posts. That has served me well. But I’m also very active with them. I average about 5 “Tweets” a day ranging from what I actually AM doing at the moment to bringing up relevant and interesting articles, blog posts and other content.

Keep Commenting: This is so crucial in “joining the conversation” people may or may not reply to or even read every posted comment, but if you’re doing your research and posting intelligent comments, you’ll get their attention.

Be determined and deliberate: In both your research on new social media as well as your involvement.

Recover and learn from mistakes: I’ve made some pretty stupid Twitter mistakes (ie. linking to a blog post as though it was this scandalous news but it was actually an April Fool’s joke) but had to keep making posts and am now much more careful.

Be bold: Asking questions isn’t always enough. Making educated assertions is what gets you “in” to the conversation.

Stick it out: It’ll pay off in one way or another. The things you learn and the connections you make in Web 2.0 are of use now and in the future.

If it’s True Grit you want, here are some guidelines from a seasoned amateur.

*Image courtesy of http://www.needlenose.com/

The Legacy of a “Lonely Girl”

The producers of the YouTube phenomenon vlog of “Lonelygirl15″ and Kate Modern are launching a production company called Eqal that calls itself Social Entertainment. From their website they say they’re incorporating the best of traditional narrative and online interactivity. At the site you can watch their intro which seems to be a montage of their futurer shows. They’re very Cloverfield-eque, seemingly done from home-video cameras. The shows themselves, according to the Eqal are driven by the participation of their viewers.  It’s “community-generated” content, rather than studio-produced. Neat idea - capitalize off of the YouTube trend.

So, with this new ripple in the Social Media Stratosphere, what does this mean for PR? Can the public relations industry approach this medium in a ethical and efficient way?

Since viral content and especially videos have become such a staple in the public relations arsenal, we can only assume that this, too, will become a weapon of choice… er-not to put too violent a connotation on PR tactics.

Regarding Eqal, though, they may be on to something. As their name suggests, there exists the same amount of reciprocity in this medium as in most social media outlets: Users and viewers see the fruits of their own participation.

Let’s just hope this, like most other forms of social media, promotes, respects and contributes to transparency, more than the original inspiration, Lonelygirl15, did.

Setting the PR Bar in Rwanda

In a recent article from allAfrica.com, public relations professionals are making an effort to regulate the profession there and clean up its reputation. Peter Malinga, president of of the Public Relations Association of Rwanda, asserts that the public relations world has a current “free entry” status in which “failed or re-traded journalists” can thrive. This being the case, the PRAR, a joint private-public sector venture, hopes to align the industry with professionalism and apparently competency.

“[PRAR]’s main aim, [Malinga] added, is to professionalize the public relations profession, given that its practitioners are often considered to be poor cousins of advertisers’ and event management.”

The organization hopes to “weed out” unqualified people and make the profession something to which people aspire, rather than resort.

At first, I was mildly offended. Only mildly because I wasn’t sure if Malinga and his organization were referring to the Rwandan PR industry rather than the global profession. But I was offended because I think that the skills that make a successful PR professional are disciplines that I am daily honing and - well, at least thinking about.

The article later goes on to focus on the importance of distinguishing between good and bad PR and the need for the former.

And so at this point, I realized: I need to NOT be offended (even mildly) about this and realize that he’s right. There’s plenty of bad PR out there, even if most of the time I associate it with being stimulated by external, “beyond our control” forces. Probably the bulk of bad PR out there is done by PR pros who really aren’t THAT pro.

This is a rallying call for mobilization and engagement. How do we answer?

By striving to be truth-centric and people-oriented. By allowing the industry to be chastized.

“It is in the institution’s interest if it is criticized, since this helps in the correction of different mistakes.”

*Photo courtesy of http://polosbastards.com

I hate to be so choosy.

Since being turned on to Twitter and del.icio.us, I have weekly bouts of social media lust and today I have been frantically and rabidly building my web 2.0 application and social media empire. This particular quest began with a realization that, when faced with impending internship interview with Paull Young this week, I do not want to be caught off guard like I was for my first interview where I ended up fumbling through my experience with social media and why I like it. And stuff.

So, I began my research… I googled “Social Media” and found an entire wikipedia article. From there I found out about Pownce and from joining Pownce, I found about ten other applications that I wanted to join. But first, I had to update all of the others I’d joined from my last social media feeding frenzy - Technorati, LinkedIn, Stumble-Upon, etc. Once those were covered, I joined Twitxr and was about to join Jaiku. But come on, people. How many of these things can I have an actual PRESENCE on?! I’m a full-time college student with an internship and a job. My life cannot be devoted to social media. Yet.

So I have to be choosy. Not only choosy, but deliberate. For now, until I have a lifestyle that is mass social-media friendly, I must choose media that are quick, easy and painless and will let me join the conversation enough to be heard. I hate to be choosy, but in order to stay afloat in the the Web 2.0 sea, I have to trim some of the fat.

The remarkable thing is that, even with a lean arsenal of applications, I still am proactively engaged in nearly 20 social media networks. And this has to be true for other social media users, both organizational and business. There simply isn’t enough time or man power to enlist all of the networks and applications that would benefit your cause. In the same breath, it must be noted that not all of the flashy or “obvious” media will prove to be a positive promotional tool. For example, Facebook probably wouldn’t work for a toy company because young children aren’t on it.

So I’m learning, be choosy, be deliberate with your social media. It needs to be something that boosts your interests or the interests of your business or organization, rather than a hindrance to the efforts that really matter - in my case, school.

Platonic PR?

This last Winter term, I took a Classics class. It was the first of its kind, comparing Plato’s The Republic and the writings of Mencius, the Chinese philosophical follow-up to Confucius. In my first class, I felt rather like an anchor had been attached to my foot and I was drowning in knowledge and readings I didn’t understand, while the rest of the class was calmly treading water at the surface, basking in the light of their knowledge - I’d never taken a Classics course, much less anything remotely to do with Greek or Chinese history or thought. I was terrified. But as I took in the writings of these two great thinkers and floated to the surface to join the others, one major theme plagued me as a communicator (Journalism major): Plato condemned Greek poetry and the poets.

Plato’s beef with poetry was that, in ancient Greece, poetry and mythology and the stories of Odysseus and the Greek gods encouraged the Greek people to engage in and invest in lives of amorality and baseness. Greek mythology, like MTV is full of self-centered gods who abide by no one’s rules but their own. The problem is, to continue this metaphor, that there were no other channels like CNN, C-Span, Discovery or TLC to encourage true knowledge and goodness. So if an audience is only getting MTV, that sure as hell entertains you, but doesn’t encourage its audience to better themselves, what conclusions should be drawn about life? It’s poetic and epic, but does it foster goodness?

This was a little convicting, because in the journalism school, out of all of the focuses - news-ed, magazine, broadcast, electronic media, etc. - public relations majors, and probably advertising, seem to be the poets of the school. What would Plato think of public relations professionals and the industry as a whole?

Is there such a thing as Platonic PR?

I suppose this could be, more or less, conceived as a question of ethical PR, but it’s more than that. Public relations writers craft messages that are pleasing to our audiences and our clients: we highlight positive information and find ways to hide or spin negative information. We tap into the vehicles that will best carry our messages to our publics.

The first thing that came to my mind was non-profit PR and what I’m doing for my internship. My team is working on a local account that creates curricula for new and young parents in order to foster low-stress home environments and eliminate child abuse and neglect. The greater good, right? Sounds very Platonic. We’re using our poetic skills to strategically create awareness for our client.

But is Platonic PR limited to non-profit organizations and charity causes? Can it encroach upon the corporate, for-profit realm?

I’m going to go with: YES.

Like I said, avoid calling this “ethical” PR, because you can do celebrity or Exxon Mobile reputation management and still play by the rules. Platonic PR seems to me to reach beyond just ethicality to help a client strive for the greater good and act with with justice and truth and the idea of the “good beyond being” in mind. I realize that the “good beyond being” means just that - it’s beyond being and unattainable. But I don’t think it’s a waste of time to try. As Shakespeare and Hallmark cards prove, poetry can be used to educate and stimulate goodness in a society.

It’s Not Easy Being Green

This is my last post that counts as an assignment for the class in which this blog was assigned. So in honor of St. Patty’s, I’d like to say, it’s not easy being green (as in inexperienced not eco-friendly).

This term, more than anything else for me has been: “What’s public relations all about?” And more than ever before, I’ve been asked to prove that I can answer that question. I have one instructor who insists that at its very fundamentals, PR is about influencing people. I have another instructor who stressed how much we needed to make messages that were going to “stick”.

So here are some things I learned this term to make me less green and more savvy:

1. In a trade publication, if you don’t know the audience, check the media kit.

2. Everything you write needs to matter to someone.

3. Accountability is important and it’s good to let a client know in a plan how you’re going to be accountable to them

4. Never list someone as a reference on a resume or CV until they know they are being listed.

5. In order to truely “join the conversation” you must be actively listening.

6. Shareholders don’t always care about the CSR.

7. Do not data dump in presentations.

8. Tripple Bottom-line: People + Community + Profit<– According to mis-read lecture notes - it’s actually People, Planet, Profit (Thanks, Emily).

9. Transparency is key.

10. In a media-advisory, make the photo-op irresistible to the press.

11. In a crisis, address concerns first.

12. Nail down AP style.

13. Listen and respond.

Thanks to all the PR pros that have indulged in my questions and concerns this term via Twitter and e-mail. I hope we’ll have an opportunity to continue the conversation.

*Image courtesy of www.smart-kit.com/