As newsrooms disappear… IPR 536

• • Show Notes

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

We have our own news to break on this week’s Inside PR. Gini and Martin are going to be working together. Martin has joined the Spin Sucks team. Gini has been building Spin Sucks as a community for a decade – and growth has reached the point in which she needs help leading the content team. Enter Martin. Gini and Martin talk about the Spin Sucks editorial approach, in which Joe hears some traits of Jay Rosen’s community-interest-driven alternative model for journalism. We also talk about the role of the Spin Sucks Slack community.

We also talk about the acceleration of job losses in journalism. In one way, it might be like that old saying that, “I went broke very slowly for a long time, and then very quickly very suddenly.” So, there’s no doubt that the journalism job losses this year have been massive. But even more remarkable is where most of those losses have been this year — in digital media. Digital media, which only a couple years ago many investors and entrepreneurs were betting on as the platform that would replace traditional media. Clearly, online journalism has proven no less immune to the hoovering of advertising support by Google and Facebook. So, in 2019, we’re still waiting for the new model that will save journalism as we know it.

And talking about PR in a world of disappearing and shrinking newsrooms, Martin and Gini argue that PR pros must stay true to the core value of relationships while making the search for the new influencers and news brokers with whom they must establish working relationships.

Having said that, are we in a world in which we are playing for time. Do we need to find a new core to PR to replace the central role that media relations once played. At one time, we thought it would be social media. But that has fragmented. And it seems that the pace of change is accelerating. So, we continue the search for the next key leverage point.

Linkworthy

Subscribe to the Inside PR podcast

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Creative Commons Licence
As newsrooms disappear… by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

We’ve got resolutions – Inside PR 532

• • Show Notes

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

It’s our first show of 2019 and we decided to make it a more personal show – by talking about the things that are important to us personally and professionally – and what we plan to do about them in the coming year.

So, if you want to get some insight into what makes Martin, Gini and Joe tick, you’ll probably find out this week. And along the way, we hope that you may get some ideas for things you may want to do this year yourself.

Of course, we’d like to learn from you. So, please share your own resolutions with us. Look at the “It’s your turn” heading below for ways to connect with us.

Linkworthy

Subscribe to the Inside PR podcast

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Creative Commons Licence
We’ve got resolutions – Inside PR 532 by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Delay, Deny, Deflect – Inside PR 527

• • Show Notes

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Facebook’s Really Bad Behaviour

Sometimes, the stars just align perfectly. When we recorded this episode of Inside PR, we did not know that, within hours, the New York Times would publish a bombshell story delving into Facebook’s tactics to avoid full transparency and accountability for the existence and persistence of Russian troll activity and other bad acts on Facebook. In this episode, you’ll hear us discuss that the only truly satisfactory response on the part of Facebook must go beyond simple PR bromides to real actions that align with its promises. Something which the NY Times story suggests Facebook fell far short of.

Ironically, it was the NYTimes Tech Reporter, Kevin Roose, who provided the most succinct definition of what’s really going on in a Tweet following the picture that emerged of a group of boys allegedly giving the Nazi salute prior to their prom. Roose tweeted, “has anyone answered “a generation raised on platforms that reward provocation in a culture with a shrinking list of taboos” yet[?]”

And it’s not just outside observers who are rethinking the approach the social media platforms took to driving growth and user engagement. Recode reported that Twitter co-founder Ev Williams told a tech conference in Portugal, “I think showing follower counts was probably ultimately detrimental. …. It really put in your face that the game was popularity.” Williams went on to discuss the “suggested user” list that helped new Twitter users start to follow people on Twitter by suggesting well-known are widely followed people for them to follow. Reflecting on this, Williams suggested, “Those weren’t really interest-based follows, and then someone who had grown their following organically compares themselves to them. It’s inauthentic.”

And that brings us back full circle to Facebook. Even before the NY Times story dropped, legislators outside of the US were demanding that Zuckerberg provide some accountability to them for Facebook’s operations in their countries. A few weeks back, we discussed the fact that Canadian legislators were prepared to travel across the Atlantic to attend a joint session with their counterparts in the UK Parliament – if Mark Zuckerberg would agree to appear before them. Last week, legislators from Australia, Ireland and Argentina joined their counterparts from the UK and Canada to provide Zuckerberg with a five for one offer. One appearance for five countries. Yet, at the time of recording Zuckerberg and Facebook still had not agreed to appear.

And then the NY Times story dropped – and we saw in vivid detail the machinations and manipulation Facebook was taking to duck calls for full transparency everywhere. 

Delay. Deny. Deflect. Now that we understand this, could this be only the first of many bad weeks for Facebook?

Faster, Safer Internet Access from Your Phone

Do you ever connect to the Internet via a public WiFi network (think airports, hotels and Starbucks?) Have you read the terms of use you have with your Internet Service Provider (ISP)? If so, you may discover that they can share with “partners” data about your Web surfing and Internet activity from inside your home! Yes, it’s a scary world.

Cloudflare, the company that many developers rely on for Domain Name Server (DNS) and Content Delivery Network (CDN) services, is making it easier for all of us to increase the security and privacy of our connections to the Internet – whether at home or in public places. Last April, the company launched its 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver service that enables you to keep your Web activity private – even from your ISP. Now, they have introduced apps to bring the service to your mobile phone. I’ve installed the 1.1.1.1 app on my iPhone. It took less than three minutes. You too can download the app from the iOS and Android stores. It’s an easy, simple step to protect yourself online.

It’s about the links

When you pitch an article to an online news outlet, do you expect them to include a link back to the source you provided to them? Do you see this as good SEO for the news outlet? As important to your client? A recent PR article on obtaining links in articles referencing clients got us thinking.

The challenge and rewards of Nanoinfluencers

Finally, we talk about  the emergence of Nanoinfluencers. From a thousand points of light may come great influence?

Linkworthy

Subscribe to the Inside PR podcast

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Creative Commons Licence
Delay, Deny, Deflect. Inside PR 527 by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

You’re in trouble if your password is “Password” – Inside PR 523

• • Inside PR, PR, Show Notes

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

On this week’s Inside PR podcast, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley discuss several topics:

Linkworthy

Subscribe to the Inside PR podcast

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Creative Commons Licence
You’re in trouble is your password is “Password” – Inside PR 523 by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Inside PR 438: The media world is spiky, not flat

• • Inside PR, PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Martin here. And we’re all back.

We start this week with three #IPRMustKnows:

Gini talks about Facebook’s new mobile app, Moments, that searches your camera roll, groups photos together and asks if you want to send them privately to the people in the shots. You can also create Moments for events, vacations, etc. (Of course, it’s not yet available in Canada 🙁 .)

Joe discusses Facebook’s Media Central studio in NYC that coaches celebrities on how to use the platform and live video. He says good enough video isn’t good enough anymore and we should take video streaming seriously, not just wing it. Soon FB will up the ante when they let people broadcast high-quality live video that can be integrated into their own studio control room.

I mention PRSA Counselors Academy. This year, I’m chair of the organization and our annual conference for independent PR agency owners and leaders is May 1 to 3 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. There’s a fantastic program on the business of agency PR including a keynote on creativity from Disney’s Duncan Wardle. Here’s a link for more information or to register.

Our main topic this episode centres on the concentration of digital media and is based on The Game of Concentration by Joshua Benton, a story we read in the Niemen Lab Blog. The author makes the case that journalism used to be spread across North America because you needed a local newsroom to cover local news. With digital, you’d think that would create an even more distributed news world, but the high profile new media companies seem to be clustering in major markets like New York, Washington, LA or Silicon Valley, or Toronto, if you’re in Canada. Which means the media world is getting spikier and not flat. And that’s a challenge to both journalists and PR pros.

We’d love to know what you think. 

  • What does the future hold for local media and PR practitioners?
  • Will people’s interest in the immediate world around them spark a resurgence of local stories and news?

Leave a comment on the blog, send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the FIR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Facebook group, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter. And we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on iTunes.

******************************************************************

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Inside PR 432: More must-have PR apps

• • Inside PR, PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Martin here and this week, it’s part two of our discussion about apps and tools we like.

But first #IPRMustKnow:

The Twitter 10K – No it’s not a marathon, it’s the chatter that Twitter’s going to increase its character limit to 10,000 (from 140). We’re mixed on what we think about this. Gini feels it’s another replacement for the verbosity of emails. Joe noticed that even with more characters in DMs, he’s getting fewer of those. I wonder if this isn’t another way to keep people on the platform in mobile. OK, we all like Twitter the way it is… but we also don’t want to be curmudgeons.

Peach – the social network flavour of the moment. Peach is a new social network and messaging app created by Vine’s co-founder. Have you tried it? When we recorded this episode, Gini, Joe and I each had two friends on it and (hint) they’re all hosts of IPR. It’s too early to tell whether or not Peach will catch on – certainly the network effect isn’t evident yet. But, like all new social platform, we encourage you to check it out and see for yourself. And feel free to connect with us there.

And that brings us to our main topic – apps we like and use.

Slack
If you haven’t tried it, Slack is a collaborative chat and networking app that helps manage projects and workflow. Among other things, we use it to prep for IPR. You can set up channels for conversations specific to your needs (i.e. client channels, trends, etc.), add and save links, post documents and easily find what you’re looking for through its search. We all like its simplicity and that it gives us the ability to communicate in the moment.

Auphonic
Auphonic is an audio production app that we use to produce IPR. It lets us edit, include metadata, equalize sound and reduce hum. And because of Auphonic, Inside PR now has its album art back on iTunes.

What other apps would you recommend? We’d love to hear your suggestions and test them out.

Leave a comment on the blog, send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the FIR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Facebook group, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

And we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on iTunes.

******************************************************************

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Inside PR 423: Has Big Tech Become Too Powerful?

• • Inside PR, PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

[display_podcast]

We’re back after a brief end of summer hiatus and start off with this week’s #IPRMustKnow segment.

Martin: Signal, Facebook’s new app for FB and Instagram, gives journalists a set of tools to discover breaking news, curate visuals and stories and share them on various platforms.

Gini: Google and Twitter have teamed up to provide an open-source competitor to Facebook’s Instant Articles, a place for publishers to display breaking news on mobile.

Joe – How do you spell Google Reader? Apple News. Joe gives an overview of the much-touted app. He likes the visual interface but doesn’t think it’s a replacement for an RSS reader yet. And he offers a quick hack on how to get the app if you’re not in the U.S. – but you’ll have to listen to the show to get it :).

And our talk of the big three – Apple, Google and Facebook – brings us to our main topic: a New York Times op-ed by Berkeley prof Robert Reich called, Big Tech Has Become Way Too Powerful. Reich contends Facebook, Google and Apple have too much influence over the government and regulators and the way we discover news and content.

Listen for our discussion. And please send your thoughts. We’re interested to hear what you think.

We end by answering a question Barbara Nixon posed on Facebook and Twitter: ‘What should new PR pros expect and prepare for when interviewing for an entry-level PR position?’

Gini wants to hear where people see themselves in five years and where their career path is heading.

Joe tries to have a conversation with potential hires to see if the person can exchange ideas with him, and if they fit into a culture of creativity and curiosity.

Martin suggests searching the company to find out about the principals, how they think, and what their culture is. And then search yourself to see if there are any red flags.

Any other suggestions? We’d love to hear from you.

Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the FIR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

And we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on iTunes.

******************************************************************

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Inside PR 420: Neville Hobson Hangs Up His Mic

• • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

This week, we have something special: Joe’s interview with Neville Hobson, co-host of the Hobson & Holtz Report and one of the first PR podcasters.

But first, our #InsidePRMustKnow segment.

Martin: The social news distribution space is getting a little more crowded. Facebook’s adding a Twitteresque app to let publishers send out breaking news alerts.

Joe: An academic study shows that what works for marketing – good SERP – also will affect voting decisions in elections. Something for us all to be aware of and vigilant about. Also, helps understand the concern of European authorities over the dominant share of search held there by Google.

Gini: How do you drive more traffic to a podcast? Eden Spodek, who’s launching her own podcast in a few weeks, suggests posting the audio and an image to YouTube and Gini tried that. We’ll let you know what happens.

Now onto Joe’s conversation with Neville …

As you’ve probably heard, Neville is leaving the FIR Network after 10 years and tells us he’s going to be focusing on creating more written content. In a wide-ranging discussion, he takes us on a journey that begins with the early days of podcasting, or as he calls it ‘home brew radio’. Neville tells stories about what he’s observed and learned along the way. He mentions some of the people who inspired him and shares his thoughts on what makes a podcaster great (hint – curiosity).

And speaking of podcasting… Just a reminder that we kick off our #InsidePRBookClub next week with a discussion of The Business of Podcasting by Donna Papacosta and Steve Lubetkin. We hope you’ll read it and share your thoughts.

We’d love to hear from you.

Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the FIR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

And we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on iTunes.

******************************************************************

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Inside PR 416: All the news you can get on Facebook and Twitter

• • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Martin here and I hope you don’t mind if I start with a plug. I’m heading to SXSWV2V in Las Vegas to be a mentor and on a panel called, The Best City in the World May Not Be a City at All. We’ll be talking about what it takes to make the kind of community people flock to live and work in and whether that’s a physical location, online or a creative combination of the two.

Now onto the show with our #IPRMustKnow for this week:

Meerkat introduces Cameo – a new feature that lets you hand off your livestream to other users and offer another angle on a real-time video story.

Twitter keeps getting better at paid promotion and rolls out campaign insights and audience personas to all users. 

Facebook changes its settings and allows people to choose which friends and brands they want to see more of in their newsfeed. Have you adjusted yours?

In our main topic, we discuss a recent Pew Study that focuses on how and where we discover and consume news. Turns out 63% of people on both Facebook and Twitter get news from those platforms. Which helps explain why social networks continue to evolve into media companies.

One stat that stood out: just over 60 per cent of millennials get political news from Facebook and 37 per cent from local TV. The numbers are reversed for boomers. What does that mean? Well, don’t think that millennials will switch to TV when they become ‘mature adults’ – because, hey, that’s what adults are supposed to do. It’s yet another wake up call to mainstream media – and PR – on the need to evolve and transform.

And while we’re on the subject of media, do you get a newspaper delivered to your door? If so, how often do you read it? Where do you go first for information and news – social platforms or MSM?

We’d love to hear from you.

Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the FIR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

And we have a favor to ask: if you like this podcast, please rate us on iTunes.

******************************************************************

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

 

Inside PR 413: A Swift Response to Intellectual Property

• • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

This week we put on our pop music hats and talk about intellectual property and Taylor Swift.

But first #IPRMustKnow:

Google launches YouTube Newswire to verify breaking video news in real-time. Is the newswire about to be crowdsourced?

Speaking of news…Twitter announces Project Lightning, a curated source for news and major events, assembled by the Twitter media team (i.e. people not algorithms).

And…NYTimes temporarily blocks its homepage access from employees in an effort to help journalists better understand their readers who are accessing their news via smartphones and tablets and not from the virtual front page.

Taylor versus Goliath?

Taylor Swift stood up for independent artists and their right to be paid. And Apple Music, which was offering a three-month free trial to users subsidized by not paying royalties to artists, backed down. Swift argued that she personally doesn’t need the money, but independent artists shouldn’t have to lose the equivalent of one-quarter of their income to a profitable corporation like Apple.

Apple is an organization that has gone a long way to define its brand and design aesthetic and cultivated a loyal following. The company quickly realized that when people are deciding which music service to subscribe to, they’d rather be on the side that plays fair, not the one that’s seen to be taking advantage of artists.

Apple made its about-face after listening and being open to Taylor Swift’s POV. Swift is showing herself as a powerful social media force. And she’s smart about the way she does her own PR by creating opportunities for fans and building loyalty and engagement.

The bottom line: You may have to give away some content for free but profitable organizations should value intellectual property and not think of it as license to make money on the backs of creators.

And check out Gini’s rant on the high cost of the free economy!

We’d love to hear what you think.

Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the FIR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

And we have a favor to ask: if you like this podcast, please rate us on iTunes.

******************************************************************

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

Inside PR is produced by Ashlea McGrath.