I have to think they saw this coming:
Philadelphia authorities have closed at least 16 storefront fortune-tellers.
Author: Mike
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The Press Release: Time Not Well Spent
The fine folks over at the Marketing Profs Daily blog have an informative post today listing six telltale signs a company’s press release is full of BS (or, as Opie & Anthony would phrase it, “Bravo Sierra.” Look it up in the Brady Bunch encyclopedia if you need to).
The list is spot-on. Too often, companies waste enormous amounts of energy and budget spinning their wheels to get a press release onto PR Newswire or BusinessWire. The press release — whether in its traditional form or its Web 2.x form — is a lazy pro’s PR tactic (although I think the ideas behind the new media releases have some merit, not as releases, but for story support). Press releases don’t drive coverage. I’d go so far as to claim that they hinder it. The time spent in approvals and re-writes is time better spent on the phone or in conversation with the media (and, yes, I count bloggers and other new media influencers in this bucket).
So, what’s a company to do once it realizes the ineffectiveness of its releases? Some ideas:
- Build out the story beyond the “Company x announced today…”
- Interview one of the people behind the news. Capture the interview and post it as a podcast or videocast. Offer that person up to reporters. Personalize the news.
- Uncover customers and other third-parties that can talk to the impact your news has on your industry (afterall, your news does have impact, correct?).
- Find something provocative in the issues your announcement addresses and write an equally provocative blog post or byline on it.
I’m sure there are others. Feel free to chime in with yours in the comment section.
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Must-See Photography: James Nachtwey
I love photography. I’ve had a couple of images published (many, many years ago). I’ve had some that were good enough to frame and display on the walls of my home. And, despite being an eternal optimist, I know I will never be able to be the photographer James Nachtwey is. His images are haunting and powerful. So powerful is his work, that he was recently awarded a prestigious TED Prize. Well-deserved…and well worth taking time to soak in his photography.
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The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming! (Let’s Hope!)
Yesterday I posted about the decline of American broadcast journalism, singling out Katie Couric’s journalistic skill in reading words on a screen. Today, Jeff Jarvis over at BuzzMachine has an interesting post highlighting comments from the director general of the BBC on the death of the news presenter (i.e., celebrities like Couric).
Over the past year or so, I’ve started to rely on the BBC — on the web and on XM Radio — as the reasoned journalistic voice on global and political topics. Now, I’m sure they aren’t perfect, but its reporting, its tone, its balance and its objectivity give it credibility that the once-watched network news shows no longer deliver (I chose “shows” because the 5, 10 and 11pm newscasts have long since crossed the line from journalism to entertainment and advertising vehicles).
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Murder Inc.: City of Brotherly Hate
Bruce Springsteen sings a haunting song about the demise of once-great Asbury Park called “My City of Ruins.” He might as well have been writing about the city across the Delaware River: Philadelphia.
This weekend, 11 more people were murdered on the streets of Philadelphia, bringing the total number of people killed so far in 2007 to 127. At this pace, Philly is on track to overtake Camden (just across the river) as the country’s murder capital.
I’ve lived in the suburbs of Philly for about four years now. I’ve gone to Philly for concerts, for dinner, to see art exhibits. I’ve seen some of the good that this once-great city can offer. However, all the rock stars, Superbowl and World Series rings, restaurants or world-renowned artists don’t overcome the murder rap that Philly is increasingly becoming known for.
This is more than a crime problem for Mayor John Street. It is now a PR and economic crisis. Philly was on the way to a resurrection. It is time for Street, his police force and his PR counselors to act swiftly and overwhelmingly to put an end to the violence and restore confidence in Philadelpia.
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America: Hooked on Newsphonics
I am a news junkie. It’s a mandatory trait for anyone in my profession. That said, I have stopped watching the 5pm, 10pm and 11pm “news.” With all respects to Murrow and his generation, broadcast news should have its journalistic credentials yanked. It no longer meets the criteria of serious journalism (with few exceptions).
Think I’m nuts? Take a look at this quote from a column Gail Shister just posted over at Philly.com:
“On a 30-minute evening newscast, however, what’s required is the ability to read the TelePrompTer and not display too much emotion.”
Want to know who she’s talking about? Katie Couric. Considered by too many people across America to be one of our top journalists. What’s the criteria for being a reporter with a $15 million salary? To ask tough, probing questions? Nope. The criteria America holds up for its top journalists is the simple ability to read and act. I know many people whose only concept of what’s happening in the world comes from 20-second segments of news read off a teleprompter.
Despite the fact that most people think of what I do as spin and anti-media, I hold journalists as having one of the most critical roles in a free, working society. They are the first and last stop in the checks-and-balances needed to keep people honest. They — again, minus a few exceptions — operate with a level of integrity that most of us would be challenged to equal.
Reading words from a screen while worrying about your Q score is not reporting, it’s acting.
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Heading ’em off at the pass
BuzzMachine’s Jeff Jarvis is, by most accounts, not one of Dell’s biggest supporters. You could probably even make a rightful claim that he’s been the single-most hit on their reputation over the past year (actually, they’ve delivered the single-most hits to their reputation, but Jeff’s been the leading voice on their woes).
So, when he blogged that he was heading to their neck of the woods, Dell’s chief blogger, Lionel Menchaca, stuck his head into the lion’s den, inviting Jeff to meet him and a few other Dell folks for drinks.
A ballsy move, to be sure. It was also a very smart move.
Instead of avoiding their “enemy,” Dell’s PR team faced them head-on. I imagine the internal debate went something like this:
PR Guy #1: “Dude, Jarvis is coming to Texas next week.”
PR Guy #2: “The guy hates us and makes our life a living hell, but he’s got more influence than a Texan President and seems pretty cool. Bet he’d be fun to have a beer with.”
PR Guy #1: “Dude, we should invite him to drink with us.”
PR Guy #3: “Woah, guys, I don’t get a good feeling about this. What if he blogs about it? What if he still really, really hates us?”
PR Guy #1: “He can’t hate us any more than he does now. He’ll definitely blog about it. But we’ve got nothing to lose. Might as well embrace him, show some honesty, get some real face-to-face feedback, and live this transparency stuff we keep talking about.”
PR Guy #2: “Just don’t talk about the accounting scandals.”
One of the things any good PR team does is counsel clients on doing the right thing. Not only did Menchaca counsel correctly, but he executed on it. And Jarvis showed he’s a stand-up guy by accepting Menchaca’s invitation.
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Happy Birthday To Me…Chicago Style!
I am lucky to have some really good, really close friends. I say lucky because three of them yesterday surprised me with an overnight delivery of deep dish pizza and cheesecake from one of the three most-awesome’ist pizza joints on the planet: Lou Malnotti’s in Chicago, Illinois (the other two are Benny Tudino’s in Hoboken, New Jersey, and Mama’s in Hackettstown, New Jersey). Now I have to decide whether to gorge and eat them all in one meal or space them out to savor their deep dishy goodness.
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Better Than Bowling a Perfect Game
My friend Jeff would tell you he was just doing his job…luckily for patrons of this bowling alley, he does his job very well.
Mike Maney 