The Future of Mass Media

Mass Media

In a rapidly changing media landscape, I can only wonder what the future of mass media looks. One example of possible new direction is the merging of citizen journalism and traditional media. Springwise spotted the latest example of this in Denmark. A local free newspaper is allowing bloggers and journalists to compete for spots in the paper. The question springwise brings up is if these contributors will get paid for their content one of these days. The full article can be accessed here.

Can this new idea catch on? Will a public demand for professionalism override amature journalism? Quite frankly, blogging and citizen journalism may only go so far. Education and experience is a valuable thing.

This topic will be followed in further posts.

Cancer Survivors To Find Community Through Heal Magazine Blog

CURE Magazine, a quarterly publication for people coping with cancer on a daily basis, will launch Heal: Living Well After Cancer this May.

"While CURE focuses on helping readers get well, Heal is about staying well in mind, body and spirit. Heal takes readers to the heart and soul of the cancer survivorship experience with powerful, in-depth coverage of survivors, family, health care professionals, advocates, and others who are intimately tied to recovery and life after cancer."-Heal website

This semester, my class is offering ideas to the magazine for building an online community for its audience through blogging.

GIVING HOPE
After spending time trying to understand the mindset of a survivor and what they need, hope seems to be an important theme. Heal's community blog has tremendous potential to deliver this. Keeping content realistic yet optimistic will be important in meeting survivor needs.

GIVING COMMUNITY
Here are some thought's on what I imagine "community" looking like for Heal:

1. Sharing Stories

One great tool Heal can take advantage of is the power of a video blog. The blog should offer its community the option to document their lives, tell their story, and motivate others. Heal readers would submit their videos to Heal for posting in a regular spot on the site. One great example I found of a survivor story is actually a news clip but it touches on important content for Heal Audiences.



2. Creative Contests

Survivors everywhere have differnt ways of self-expression and coping with life after cancer. Creative outlets may include writing poetry, painting and photography among other things. Why not use contests in these areas to draw people to the Heal blog? Getting people involved in self-expression can help Heal foster a greater sense of community among its readers.

REACHING OUT. UNDERSTANDING.
Introducing Heal: The Power of Film

One of the greatest examples Heal can look to in growing it's community is the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The communication strategies LAF uses are noteworthy and impactful. One specific way the LAF communicates its message effectively is through its "Manifesto".



How would Heal benefit from producing such a film?
Words are powerful, but the combination of elements in this video grasps you in a way that could not be achieved otherwise. If Heal could put it's mission into video format, there would be tremendous potential to grow community. Today's online resources allow anyone to share what Heal is about with the click of a button. This means potentially greater reach to Heal's audience and those who could contribute their expertise to the blog.

These are just a few ideas for Heal. More posts will follow on this topic.

Media Relations

"All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends.
All things being not quite so equal, people still want to do business with their friends.
Hint: To climb the ladder of success, you don’t need more techniques and strategies, you need more friends.”
–Jeffrey Gitomer

Developing and maintaining strong relationships with the media is crucial in the Public Relations field. With the boom of new media in the last decade, the job of the publicist is rising to a new level. The PR industry is forced to think outside the box, address transparency and cover all forms of media. Practitioners must learn how to connect with everyone from expert bloggers to broadcast journalists.

However technology changes communication though in the future, it does not change the fact that relationships are everything. Author Jeffrey Gitomer gets to the core of networking and relationship building in his book, The Little Black Book of Connections: 6.5 Assets for Networking Your Way to Rich Relationships.




Words of advice from Gitomer:

How to connect with Influential people requires these things:
1. An ability to get in front of them so they will come to know you as someone worthy of connecting with.
2. When you meet the person of influence for the first time, you better have something powerful to ask or something powerful to say, or you will have blown an opportunity from the very outset.
3. Have a way to communicate after the meeting.

“The question you have to ask yourself is: how can I make people better as a result of connecting with me?
-Note well: This is not just a strategy to connect at a networking event; this is a strategy to connect with anyone, anywhere, at anytime.”

Intern Insight

This past summer I took a internship position with sports lifestyle brand, Puma, in West Hollywood. Working in the Entertainment Marketing Division, I saw networking at it’s best. Several people in this division have PR background and use it to get face time for the brand in everything from Self magazine to US Weekly, to Entourage.



A few lessons I learned on the job that make the difference:

1. Who you know and who knows you?
When you have friends in high places it can make your job much easier. If it takes 5 people to get through to the right person to break your story, it helps to know him or her. If you don’t, know the person right before them. You’ll save a lot of time.

Being in the heart of the media’s social scene is important too. Are you visible? If they tend to hang out at a particular lunch spot or bar, there you should be also. You cant depend on Myspace to have a friend connection. You need real face time yourself but make sure you on the ball, even in casual settings.

2. People like free stuff
If you are looking for a magazine to recommend or showcase your product, send them some stuff free along with a media kit. Don’t confuse this with bribing. Give the media the chance to speak of your product from experience, which is better anyways in today’s world.

3. Experience and credibility are crucial
Need I say more?




Working with the Media

From those on the front lines, here are some great words of advice for improving Media Relations Skills.



Jennifer Matarazzo, the associate editor of Fitness Magazine gave PR Newswire tips on pitching to Fitness.

1. Jennifer likes email because it is easier and can be checked frequently.
2. Make sure what you pitch is appropriate to the publication
3. Know who your pitching to and what they do.
4. “I’ll get back to you” means she will call if interested. If a journalist is truly interested in your product they will always return your call.
5. Matarazzo doesn’t mind direct calls if it’s in the morning when it is quieter.

She also informs PR professionals that “if you’re sending information about a product, include the price and always state ‘what makes it cool.’ What is different about that particular product? If your sending a study, include how the results were achieved.”

As I mentioned earlier, for product submission to Fitness, Matarazzo stresses the importance of testing the product herself and writing on experience, not a press release.

*This article may be found here


A Final Word from Ben

“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”
– Ben Franklin

"Be Smart!" as my dad would say. For those entering the PR field, keep this in mind, be humble, ethical and make friends.

Top Super Bowl Commercial

Entrepreneur.com recently discussed the results of the best ad during Super Bowl 41. Just to keep in mind, these spots will now cost you $2.6 million for 30-second spots. Go big or go home right? The list was compiled on ad ranking site, www.ADBOWL.com.


Entrepreneur spoke with Steve McKee, president of ad agency McKee Wallwork and had this to say:

"On the whole, the ads this year lacked a certain spark," said McKee. "There weren't any truly big ideas or breakthrough concepts. A number of spots were well executed, but, in general, this year's ads were a little disappointing. But the great thing about Super Bowl ads is everybody's entitled to their own opinion."

The #1 ad is BudLight's "Rock Paper Scissors." It was one of my favorites and it would be a shame for ya'll to have missed it. So, here it is!



You can learn more at www.ADBOWL.com

The New PR Tool

Change is happening and it is happening fast. Although blogging may never become obsolete in the media world, it is revolutionizing how we get information and who can give it.

Many people are learning to turn to expert bloggers for their personal opinion on a matter or product as opposed to taking what they hear on TV at face value. Blogging has truly opened the opportunity to influence the consumer in a way never possible before.

Blogging has a somewhat candid and transparent approach to communicating. It taps into the power of word of mouth marketing. One example of this was caught on TV recently. This week on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, the CEO and the Medical Director of Bosley were interviewed on a new technology in hair implants. A procedure like this can be expensive, costing from $5,700 to $16,500. They decided to document the whole procedure using blogging to create some buzz.

http://www.battleagainstbald.com/battle_against_bald/2006/09/cost_of_the_bos.html

Credibility

“Media has become a participatory sport, in which not just journalists, but literally anyone can provide their perspectives on what they are seeing and what is happening.”
– rossdawsonblog.com

For PR practitioners, blogging is the perfect opportunity to bring their experience, knowledge and networking skills to the table. The ability to influence the audience perception can dramatically increase through the power of blogs.

In a post on Global PR Week 2.0, Elizabeth Albrycht discusses the importance of how blogging in PR is truly a network building tool. She believes, “the primary function of corporate communications and public relations today is network building. A prime reason blogs are such good tools is that they are link heavy, and the link is the core technology in making networks visible.”

Who you are linked to is important in this industry. In the world of networking, “it’s all who you know” and who thinks your credible enough to recommend you, or link you to themselves. Credibility is crucial in succeeding in the blogging world. Many are using this to their advantage. Today, CEO’s like Jonathan Schwartz, president and CEO of Sun Microsystems, are using this media outlet to promote openness and transparencey in business. Other businesses with blogs just added this year are corporate giants like Nike, Wells Fargo, McDonald’s and Starwood Hotels.

The following videos offer more insight to both the future of blogging and how it is being used today.