State of the blogosphere – read it & weep?

Not really, but Technorati’s annual report makes for fascinating reading.

The state of the blogosphere – apparently we are taking it more seriously and bloggers are finding it easier to blog now with authority than ever before. And bloggers are certainly attracting more kudos as content creators. Competing with hacks, in fact – just look at the case study of the Huffington Post in the USA to see where British Blogging could go with the right push.

I would say this new-found seriousness applies to the one-man brand bloggers, rather than the corporate bloggers working within an organisation and not gaining the limelight, of course. These marketers are not branding themselves, big difference.

But, ultimately, anything which raises the bar for blogged content is, I think, a good thing. Great research from Technorati, too.

“Adapt to digital or die” – we get the message.

Re-iteration of a point made consistently for months now here, and although it is aimed primarily at creative ad agencies, it’s relevant for anybody in a creative space. And yes, that includes you, newsroom journalist. You, too, need to go digital now.

Damien Blackden makes solid points, but we’ve heard it all before, to be honest. For a long time now. And to me, it raises simply one question.

If you’re working in creative industries, why wouldn’t you adapt to digital ways of doing business, and quickly, given where audiences are migrating? Anything less is surely a form of commercial suicide.

Well, the senior management in regional newspapers aside, of course – unless they know some cosmic secret the rest of us haven’t been allowed to access as yet regarding the state of journalism offline in the UK.

Oh crap, I’m being sarky again about the media managers in print. But, having done my time in Northcliffe Group, and seen the erosion of the motivation of literally 100s of talented journalists and editors across the UK , it gets a little hard to sit back and let the inefficient management carry on nailing our editorial talent to the cross of outdated management models anymore.

The choice? Simple really.

Do yourself a favour – get out. Fast. Run to the nearest organisation which embraces content, digital, online and is serious about offering you, as a trained media professional, an industry-level salary. Enough is enough! Or, carry on moaning in the newsroom, until the axe falls and you’re left moaning at the Job Centre.

Remember, adapting and moving on is a sign of strength not weakness in British journalism. I know, for me, adapting has meant surviving and retaining a successful content-based career.

Actually, the thought of still being in a traditional newsroom fills me with dread. Phew, lucky escape.

Or did you actually expect a job for Life? Really? Oh dear.

1,200 applications for 1 editorial post? Life after journalism…

Great article here from www.journalism.co.uk, indicating that a recent Sunday Times vacancy for an online reporter has attracted more than 1,200 applicants for the position. The article then goes onto discuss what’s left after a life in Journalism for the out-of-work, redundant, laid-off Hacks out there.

I think a bigger question comes from this – if you’re taken out of the newsroom, perhaps it’s time to stay out?

After all, there are a plethora of other content-based positions which give as much if not more job satisfaction, more security, more money, and – in all likelihood – a better work/life balance. Oh, how I love the 13-hour days on deadline.

Online content production, blogging, tweeting, copywriting – there are endless opportunities to continue to craft compelling content when the redundancy axe crashes its blow through the newsroom. Heck, journalists may even have to learn digital skills.

Would you apply for a position on a daily newspaper ever again, or seek brave new frontiers to deliver your content? I’ll pick the latter option, thanks.

A PR firm with about as much use as a chocolate fireguard…

(Re-posting this after an inquiry about the worst example of bad PR I’ve seen. Think of it as educational rather than critical)

…and the dubious award goes to these guys.

A huge thumbs-down to the PR Directors at PR firm Dada.co.uk today: following a mis-pitch yesterday on behalf of their client Whyte & Mackay, in which a press release on the drinks firm’s re-brand was sent to a printing industry-based Newsroom (ie mine) a follow-up email was sent by myself, asking the PR Account Director to remove us from their irrelevant PR issues.

Email received back, apologies accepted, we all move on and continue to cypher the 250 daily emails from PRs.

Or so I thought.

This morning, another email from a different PR Account Director at Dada, telling me about the wonders of how Whyte & Mackay are using Twitter to promote and launch Campaigns for consumers. Fabulous. And totally irrelevant. Again.

Many thanks to the second PR Director at Dada – this guy. He was too busy to take my call earlier, asking if they could actually confirm that they had removed our newsroom email address from their database, and if they would please, please, please stop PR Spamming us. Too busy to talk to the Press? Another clanger for a PR firm to commit.

So, in the absence of a decent resolution, here we are.

To top it all, Dada’s PR pitch on their site claims that ‘No-one can offer you a PR service like DADA’ and – for completely the wrong reasons – I am now inclined to agree.

Now pass me that chocolate fireguard, it could come in useful.

Iain Hepburn’s on the money about Twitter and PR…

…and here’s why.

Great post concerning the value of Twitter and PR, widening out into a larger discussion about how journalism sees Twitter in terms of news value and the stream of PR.

The particularly relevant point for me is how, according to Iain, content and PR-promoted content might be valued in relation to how many times is it re-tweeted. Usurping the traditional ‘column inches’ metric for old-fashioned PRs to ‘wow’ clients with.

Content is still king, as highlighted in Iain’s post. PRs need to remember this. Places like Twitter never forget this.

Has the BBC got it wrong on blogging?

The Jury’s out following this story today.

Strikes me that one of the main reasons most people read a blog – any blog – is the authentic, genuine, real, undiluted voice they get from the author. A slice of their life. Certainly with many of the BBC’s journos, we follow their blogs for this very reason.

Or, it appears, we used to. Not anymore, as the editorial guideline changes seek to push even more Beeb journos into mediocrity.

Of course, we all want to see standards maintained and the quality of journalism must be maintained – especially at the BBC. But when references to Sachsgate are made and cross-referenced, one can feel the Daily Mail-esque fervour rising. Arse.

I, for one, think it’s a sad day for the BBC’s editorial bloggers. Freedom of the Press should surely include British bloggers.

Throw me a digital lifejacket, the regional news Titanic is going down…

Interesting to see from this story today a hyperlocal newswire launching across 12 UK cities – but are we hopeful, or watching another attempt to galvanise a regional news industry which is dying away at the hands of the internet and free content?

So much has been written about free content, digital content, hyperlocal content, de-constructed content et al lately, it leaves me wondering where journalism students go when they graduate. It certainly isn’t into regional newsrooms in the UK.

Valiant efforts by redundant journalists to keep local news going, but when the majority of the British audiences are moving away from offline news and selecting content from online news, blogs, twitter feeds and the like, it begs the question what can – realistically – be done to save the neolithic dinosaur that is the regional newsroom. I struggle to see any solution, and I’m a mostly-positive Editor too.

Suggestions? Jump off the sinking News Titanic and await for digital rescue?

Top 10 ways to win an Editor’s attention – and keep it

Here’s a starting point: if I had to define the Top 10 things to remember in delivering good PR to the media, they would be:

1. Remember it is the story that counts, not the ego

2. The editor is not your pal, he is a media professional looking for editorial of interest to a discerning and fussy readership

3. Your PR will be competing with many other stories and news items hourly

4. Make sure you have something different, interesting and unique to offer

5. Get to know your target publications and media thoroughly before you make any direct PR-based contact

6. If your PR gets knocked back the first time, deal with it. Be persistent and take a different angle next time

7. Make sure you supply outstanding images with all PR submitted

8. Remember that there are different rules of media engagement for online vs. offline media

9. PR yourself widely, across as many sources, publications, forums, blogs, tweets as possible

10. Get ready to deliver consistent, month-after-month PR. One-off hits usually under-deliver

Inside tips from the newsroom…

Even with the depressed state of the Nation, editors still need, want and demand News. And we still need to be supplied with excellent content and images to feed our readerships. So how can you guarantee you’re hitting the headlines? Try these tips:

1. Get inside your business and uncover newsworthy stories. Don’t make stuff up, or create spin. Uncover the people news.

2. Make sure you get your content professionally written and supplied to us with professional images taken by a professional photographer – note the word ‘professional’ in there? That’s because you need to give a professional representation of your business to us: saving money and cutting corners sends out the wrong messages to us. Obvious, really.

3. Research your target newspapers, magazines and online sites throughly – you need to know who is writing what, where and when before you try to sell us your PR. Anything less is nothing short of media relations suicide.

4. Be persistent – you may well need to contact, re-contact and re-re-contact before you get the result you’re after.

5. Respect deadlines – always, always, always ask us if we’re on deadline BEFORE you launch into a pitch.

6. Give us what we want, and within the hour. Trust is rapidly built with us by you delivering the goods on deadline.

Even if you maintain the above Tips only, you’ll go a long way to building great media relationships. Try it!

What to do if an Editor won’t take your call…

So, imagine the scene…

You’ve sent your shiny, perfectly-formed, stunningly-interesting press release to all your target Press. Not a single irrelevant media contact has been emailed. You have absolute confidence in the power of the story contained within your PR correspondence.

And then?

Nothing, nadda, zilch. Three days pass and not a single, salutory email or phone call from any of the contacted editors.

What next?

Don’t fret, panic or take it personally.

I receive 250 emails per day from company prs, in-house marketers and PR Agencies dealing on behalf of clients across the UK. And roughly 10% of them are worth reading. As in, worth taking a closer look because they are actually, fundamentally newsworthy and may interest my readerships. No sales pitches, PR spin, irrelevant waffle, just good old-fashioned News.

So, are you being honest with yourself?

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Is the press release just a poorly-worded sales effort?

2. Is it really relevant to the target readership?

3. Is it about current or upcoming News in the business, or a re-hashed story from 3 months ago?

4. Is the accompanying image of appropriate quality for the publication or online portal?

5. Is the editorial well-written, punchy and without waffle – does it succinctly tell the story?

6. Have I given the press release to a third party to check before emailing it to the Press?

If you can pass the above questions, and still no contact from the Press, be patient. Be persistent. Keep sending the right PR, in the right format, at the right time, and within our deadlines. We’ll get to it eventually.

Oh – and never, ever, ever ring us to see if we’ve recieved it. You’ll often find an expletive offends.