Archive:

The key to Mark Zuckerberg’s fine April 10 performance before a Senate committee on Capitol Hill, which resulted in his becoming billions richer when Wall Street approved of what it heard, is something so basic it often is glossed over in PR training courses. While Zuckerberg’s vast resources no doubt helped his preparation, any PR pro can avail herself/himself of many of the same tips and tactics his handlers used.

Several early media reports about yesterday’s awful shooting at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, CA, linked the alleged shooter’s actions to YouTube policies on monetization of videos and prohibiting gun-related content. In reality the shooter likely was mentally disturbed as there can be no justification for shooting at innocent people. What can brand communicators learn from this incident?

It is a given that the newsroom is changing. It is smaller and more diverse, for example. A new study from the Tow Center of Digital Journalism at Columbia University also points out that people who are skilled in data, analytics and platform-oriented operations have infiltrated newsrooms. We asked media relations professionals for tips about pitching to this more data-infused newsroom.

Among the topics PR people talk about most at trade events is how media relations has changed. The typical comment is that newsrooms contain fewer reporters who are busy covering more beats than is humanly (or humanely) possible. Pretty much gone are the days of reporters having time to be able to schedule casual lunches… Continued

The post Data Analysts in the Newsroom: 6 Ways to Adapt Your Media Pitches appeared first on PR News Blog.

We’ve seen it before but it never seems to lose its irony: A brand built on something turns out to be in short supply of it. The British arm of KFC recently ran out of chicken. Built on collecting and protecting sensitive financial data, Equifax turned out to be clueless when handling customers’ confidential information. And Facebook, which espouses “meaningful social interactions,” has leaders who have been slow to talk about its biggest crisis yet.

There’s been no shortage of news in the past couple of days, much of it relating to messaging, brands and crisis management. It’s difficult to know where to start, though it’s hard to ignore the messaging that emanated from the ousting of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Other interesting messages and lessons came from Tillerson’s deputy, the SEC, United and Uber’s Bozoma Saint John.

According to PR News’ 2018 Salary Survey, the most important skills for advancement in communications are written communications, media relations and content creation. Way down on the list, at No. 8, is measurement/data analysis skills. A roundtable conversation with 14 senior communications pros painted a different picture.

As a communicator, you can have a powerful impact on just about every corner of your organization by using the platforms, relationships and knowledge that you and your PR team are uniquely positioned to leverage. It’s on you to get your head around these trends and make something of them.

Comedian/actor Jim Carrey has begun a campaign to dump Facebook due to the company’s profiting off fake news and ads it sold to Russian agents during the U.S. presidential election. Part of Carrey’s beef is that Facebook still isn’t doing enough to stop it. He’s removed his Facebook page, given up his Facebook shares and urges concerned investors to do the same. Should Facebook consider Carrey’s actions a crisis or a bad day?

At the PR News Top Women in PR Luncheon on January 23 keynoter Melissa Bernstein of toy company Melissa & Doug shared all the misses among the hits of puzzles, toys and stuffed animals over the company’s 30 years. At their headquarters in Wilton, CT, there’s a whole room dedicated to failure—toys that seemed like such a good idea until they weren’t. As Melissa pointed out, it’s only through repeated failure that she’s found great success.