It has been a whirlwind week of stashing great links and sites into my del.icio.us page (if you want to follow me on FriendFeed here I am!) Playing catchup now on some links that I would love to share…
It’s NOT About Relationships (well, not only!)
Have to admit I have been one to preach, “It’s all about the relationships!” But David Mullen’s post “Five Tips for Media Relations Success” hit it on the head in remarking that it is not only about relationships. Even more key than those personal relationships is “… going beyond developing a great story angle to pull together everything a reporter would need to tell the story.” i.e Serving it Up on the Silver Platter. Take the jump to check out the full five.
Media On Twitter
Every Make the Jump has to include something about Twitter, right? 
Well here is the latest from the PR mind of Sarah Evans, a robust wiki of global media on Twitter. ‘Journalists, Bloggers & Media Outlets on Twitter’ Use the power wisely oh those with the urge to TwitPitch quickly!
Really? You were that Stupid?
That, and a few other choice words, is what I would like to say to Michael Phelps so-called advisors for their actions handling Phelps-Bong-Gate. Not only for the harm they did to Phelp’s reputation, but their sad representation of our industry. John Feinstein’s Washington Post column ‘Phelps Made a Mistake, But His Handlers Made it Worse’ brought to light some disturbing actions by Phelps’ PR team. Bribery, coverup… pretty much everything you shouldn’t do when handling a crisis communicaiton situation for a client.
Saving the Newspaper
In light of the response I saw to my recent post on the Statesman’s recent full-page ad, I thought this article in TIME magazine would be of interest to many of you. ‘How to Save Your Newspaper’ “During the past few months, the crisis in journalism has reached meltdown proportions. It is now possible to contemplate a time when some major cities will no longer have a newspaper and when magazines and network-news operations will employ no more than a handful of reporters.”
Walter Issacson floats the idea of returning to paying for content, with a new twist of implementing micropayment systems ala iTunes, SpareChange, TwitPay and E-ZPass. “I say this, too, because I love journalism. I think it is valuable and should be valued by its consumers. Charging for content forces discipline on journalists: they must produce things that people actually value. I suspect we will find that this necessity is actually liberating. The need to be valued by readers — serving them first and foremost rather than relying solely on advertising revenue — will allow the media once again to set their compass true to what journalism should always be about.”
And lastly, on the same theme, a creative entry from Gary Goldhammer from Edelman Digital on ‘The Last Newspaper’ “Stories are personal and transformational. Stories have definition and character. Stories are history personified. But content is cold, distant. Content is a commodity – a finite consumable of fleeting value. Content is artificial intelligence. When storytelling is reduced to content, ideas die.”
Some divergent thoughts to start off your week…. may it be a great one with inspired conversation and new ideas!
- Jess
