Media Relations

Funny Headlines From News in Utah, California, Pennsylvania. Enjoy!

With my thanks to the Columbia Journalism Review.  The magazine collects these great bloopers from subscribers and reporters.  By the way, if you really want to see inside the news business, understand the challenges and ethical dilemmas, subscribe.

 

 

Funny Headlines - Laugh Away The Heat!

Why should we only have funny Friday's?  We need more humor to survive a summer Monday.  And so, the latest treat from one of my favorite magazines, The Columbia Journalism Review - I highly recommend subscribing.  It is a great "behind the scenes" read.  And from its regular feature, "The Lower Case," the latest funny headlines:

 

Laugh At The News: Funny Headlines

Correct Me If I'm Wrong is a book full of funny blooper headlines collected by the Columbia Journalism Review.

 FYI...you won't find the book on Amazon.  Be sure to go the the Newseum Store .  I get no commission for this plug :)

Some great examples:

Layoffs & Getting Fired. The Worst Ways To Do It.

 If misery needs company, today's Ragan Communications column on "Horror Stories From The Front Lines" lists real life testimonials of a layoff, or firing handled badly.

I'd like to add my own personal story to the list.  At one of the first radio stations I worked at, it was clear that the new management wanted to get rid of me.  Daily cruelty was the first attempt.  One day, after finishing my morning news, management pulled me into a very quiet production booth and accused me of "deliberately sounding bad on the air to hurt ratings."  

Whenever I run into someone going through a similar situation, I can always bring a smile to their face by saying, "Hey, if you've never been laid off or fired, you aren't an official member of the communications profession."

Now, enjoy the Ragan article here.

Funny Headlines. When The News Is Depressing, Read On...

Correct Me If I'm Wrong is a book full of funny blooper headlines collected by the Columbia Journalism Review.

 FYI...you won't find the book on Amazon.  Be sure to go the the Newseum Store .  I get no commission for this plug :)

Some great examples:

 

 

 

New YearTech Memories....The Funny, The Frightening

I knew something was wrong when, while working in a hotel room...technology gadgets spilling off the table, I picked up the TV remote and dialed it like a cell phone. 

Feel like you've crammed a lifetime of tech learning into ten short years? 

Fire up that gray matter and remember with me...

1- Remember when your fax machine was busy?  Now it’s just bored.

2- Remember when the phone rang and the air burst with lively conversation? Keyboards now click quietly in little office cubes.

3- Remember when we used to have a "live" conversation? Now a simple "yes, go ahead," "no wait…," "OK, go ahead," is pieced together via texts, voice mail, email and a Twitter.

4- Remember when you could use a "white lie" and say you never got the message?  Now the sender madly searches digital archives and emails it to you (and sometimes your boss).

5- Remember when you placed mere phone calls to line up a news interview?  Recently, I helped set up a TV story with a reporter on Facebook. I found the interviewees via Twitter. 

 6- Remember when cell phones were just cell phones?  In 2000, a new client handed me a digital phone with a large screen and said, "Guess what?  You can go online with this.  Play with it and tell us what you think."  I fell asleep in my hotel room, phone cradled in my arms...not knowing I'd accidentally ordered $250 in software from Amazon.com.

7- Remember when talking to yourself meant something might be wrong with you? 

8- Remember the world before PowerPoint?  Where do all dead overhead projectors go?  

9- Remember when you rarely knew "whatever happened to" all your old friends?  

10- And remember when life ran slower, brains were permitted to pause, and private time was a right, not a privilege? 

Happy New Year!  May we all make it through with our heads and hearts intact.

 

Humor - Funny Headlines. Laugh Into 2010

And once again, real headlines collected by the Columbia Journalism Review in a new book called Correct Me If I'm Wrong.  Recommended reading for the holidays, and for psychological survival in January 2010!

  

Ten Technology New Year Wishes. #1 - A Keyboard For iPhone

This year, instead of New Year resolutions, I've listed my New Year wishes.  Do add yours!

1. A Bluetooth keyboard for my iPhone.
2. An Apple laptop... my first clean break from PC prison.
3. A lower-cost Kindle.
4. A quick & easy cure for tennis elbow (from over-computing).
5. New media stops berating old media.
6. Old media stops rebelling against new media.
7. Social media gossip stops and credible fact sharing begins.
8. Newsroom layoffs stop and new online revenue strategies become lucrative.
9. Effective computer games restore my brain from speed-of-light multi-tasking.
10. And may all would-be tech entrepreneurs have the courage to "break free" from security, follow their dreams, and still have the comfort of health insurance.

Social Media Exhaustion...Observations

I've been bad in the eyes of social media experts.  I haven't posted on my blog for a few weeks.  Why? Too busy, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY - I didn't have much to say.  Sure, I inhaled a lot of new information, and exhausted myself with FB and Twitter.  Some observations for your entertainment.

1. 1. Tried to buy the book, "The Four Hour Work Week."  After 30 minutes of keyboard arguing..couldn't get Amazon to let me (didn't recognize me as a regular customer...which I am).
2. Hired a virtual assistant in Kentucky. I live in Utah. This feels weird.  Maybe I'll learn to like it a lot.
3. Helped hold a blogger seminar for a client.  Fast and furious debate.  It was really cool ;)
4. For the first time, sent a news release with this wording: Media/Blogger Contact Numbers.
5. For the first time, sent a client news release to reporters via Facebook and Twitter...THEN proceeded to do some emailing and phone calling.
6. Hired an SEO consultant. Exhausted myself over Thanksgiving following all his advice.
7. Got mad about no longer being the top spot if you search Google for Cartwright Communications.  A tech firm and a PR firm in England now beat me out  :(
8. Helped a TV station coordinate a story on the new FTC guidelines for bloggers.  Couldn't get through to bloggers for the story via phone or email.  It was twittering them that got response.  Oh yeah, the reporter and I went back and forth through Facebook.  He said to me, "don't any of these bloggers have phone numbers?"

And life, however hectic and hard on the hands, arms, neck and back, goes on.  What's your week been like?  I'd love to hear about it.

Funny Headlines From The Columbia Journalism Review

With my thanks to the Columbia Journalism Review.  The magazine collects these great bloopers from subscribers and reporters.  By the way, if you really want to see inside the news business, understand the challenges and ethical dilemmas, subscribe.

Enjoy!