Mike’s Points

Courtesy of The Chicago Daily News, here’s a link to some great journalism reporting and writing tips from the MIT Media Lab.

The contents of the various tutorials — including “bite size” and “one-minute” versions — run the gamut of producing good journalism. Examples include:
> On Developing the Idea
> On Reporting Process
> On Writing
> On Conducting an Interview
> On Localizing
> On reporting
> On photography
> On Interviewing

I’d say it’s a “must read” for citizen journalists who wants to be taken seriously.
– Mike

Technorati tags: Citizen Journalism

Do you read only blogs pertinent to your industry or interests, or do you have a variety? I would assume that most people stick to their industry, plus have a few select “others” they visit. Well, FWIW, here’s a run down of non-PR/advertising/etc. blogs that I frequently visit (in no particular order):

Autoblog
Jalopnik
A View Through the Windshield
Treehugger
Techdirt
Poynter’s Romenesko (though it is somewhat related to PR)
Media Nation
Machine Design’s Ron Kohl. If you ever had the chance to read any of Mr. Kohl’s editorials in Machine Design, you were lucky. Unfortunately, Mr. Kohl (as you’ll learn if you follow the link) recently died of cancer. I never met him, but his writing abilities will surely be missed.

Can you point me and other readers to other good blogs we should visit?
– Mike

Will history repeat itself?

Well, Forbes‘ Daniel Lyons felt the wrath of bloggers with his story “Attack of the blogs,” on Nov. 11.

I wonder how the blogosphere will react to Kathleen Parker’s piece about blogging. (Thanks to Ryan McGrath for the heads up.)

Parker is a bit heavy in some of her comments about bloggers:

“[O]ur new enemies–that interests me most. I don’t mean Al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden, but the less visible, insidious enemies of decency, humanity and civility–the angry offspring of narcissism’s quickie marriage to instant gratification.”

She seems more than a bit offended at the “journalist” tag given to some bloggers: “Bloggers persist no matter their contributions or quality, though most would have little to occupy their time were the mainstream media to disappear tomorrow.”

A self-proclaimed “blog fan since the beginning,” Parker, in all fairness does point out that some bloggers “offer superb commentary” — me? — and some are even “brilliant.” But, she lays in to what I assume she feels are the majority of bloggers: “spoiled and undisciplined.”

While she is overly harsh and brandishes the majority of bloggers in a bad light, she does have a good point. If you don’t like a blog, don’t read it. That’s the same as you can do with any newspaper columnist (like Parker?), talk show radio host or TV program.

“But we should beware and resist the rest of the ego-gratifying rabble who contribute only snark, sass and destruction. We can’t silence them, but for civilization’s sake–and the integrity of information by which we all live or die–we can and should ignore them.”

If you don’t like a blog, ignore it. And, likewise, I’m sure many bloggers will ignore Parker’s future colunns.

Now, the caveat for PR and other communications professionals: You can’t afford to ignore bloggers you don’t like. If they are pertinent to your client or your company, you must monitor them, and react accordingly in the best interest of your client/company. (How you should and can react is another post.)

So, while there is validity in Parker’s “ignore them” point, that can be a costly mistake for those who protect the brands of businesses.
– Mike

Technorati tags: Blogs

Courtesy of Slashdot, Kirk McElhearn has a thorough examination of online newspaper Web design.

His point is that, why can’t the online versions of newspapers offer the freedom to scan and read their contents the way readers can with a paper newspaper?

“Leafing through a paper newspaper, one sees headlines on each page, and may end up reading stories that would not be likely to show up when customizing a web site by subject and keyword.”

At the opposite end of offering “my” pages with your customized news, some newspapers try to fit too much onto one page. They “skimp” on the content. This doesn’t give much opportunity for readers to skim and read articles they might not normally be interested in. (He also talks about the annoying pop up and other ads. Amen to that, I say.)

I’m not sure what is the solution to merge the positives of paper newspaper reading with reading the “paper” online.

Is there existing gadets and technology to help resolve the problem? iRex Technologies is one. And, some newspapers are replicating their print editions as electronic versions.

Do you know of any online newspaper sites that give you the feel and scanning flexibility of their paper editions? If so, please leave the URL in the comments section.
– Mike

Technorati tags: Newspapers

The media coverage of this week’s trouble (Monday, Dec. 26) with Alaska Airlines Flight 336 from Seattle to Burbank, Calif., made a clear statement about the influence of citizen journalists. A number of sites and people — including Poynter’s Paul Grabowicz, Robert Scoble and Jeff Jarvis — have talked about it. They’ve even included the nasty comments the main CJ blogger has received.

But, what few — possibly only one person — are talking about is Alaska Airlines’ public relations dilemma. So far, only POP! PR’s Jeremy Pepper has discussed it.

Why should Alaska Airlines be concerned? Well, one main reason is the uncivil and even vulgar comments Alaska Airlines employees (based on tracking commenters’ IP address) are leaving. According to Jeremy:

“[I]t does really project that every organization needs to have a blogging policy for all employees. Even if the employees are not operating as official (or unofficial) spokespeople for the company, their IP addresses scream ‘I work for so-and-so!!’ . . . In the blogosphere, everyone from the company feels like they are part of the company, and part of the greater good. This is true for old companies, and new, but it is not the way it really should be. Employees are an extension of the company, and what an employee does is a direct reflection of the corporation.”

Yes, every company should have a blogging policy. That blogging policy should be part of a larger internal communications policy and program (as I commented on Jeremy’s post).

Hopefully, the potential PR pitfalls from the ease of blogging and commenting of blogs will spur a re-emphasis on internal communications. Word-of-mouth communication is stronger and more trusted than any “corporate” communication. Therefore, it is important for all company employees — from the janitor to the CEO — to be aware of their influence, and of their company’s marketing and communications activities. Examples include:

> What the company brand means (at least, what the company is trying to make its brand mean).
> What are some of the major marketing communications programs being introduced that employees might see.
> What are some of the new products and services being worked on.
> The important role that every employee plays in the success, brand and reputation of the company.

There are many other items an internal communications program and policy should include. For that last point, along with the important role each employee has in a company’s success and reputation, it should be stated very clearly the responsibilities each employee has and what boundaries there are in talking about the company. That’s where something like a blogging policy would be included.

Now, some may complain about limiting free speech and the like, but in business, a company’s brand and perception is as important as any product or service it offers. Companies need to be dogged about protecting its brand — externally and internally.

And, that’s my point.
– Mike

Technorati tags: Internal Communications