Media Relations

Sad Times For Public Relations - A Utah Mayor's Ethics Lapse

photo by royal constantine

I don't need or want to rehash this situation.  It has been covered in more than 300 news articles and blog posts across the country, and even by the BBC.  I belong to an organization called the Public Relations Society of America, or PRSA, and I've been red-faced this week after learning about the actions of a part-time elected official in Utah.  He also works for a high profile PR firm but he is not a member of PRSA.  At this PR firm, even though he emphasizes he does not serve a PR role but works in "public affairs," I'm not sure there's much difference.  UPDATE: He has resigned from the PR firm on the evening of November 15.

PR professionals I know are wincing and wondering...how will this impact the reputation of what we do?  I'm also watching the media coverage and public reponse with a careful eye. What worries me most?  When I hear someone say this is no big deal.

For the record, those who do belong to PRSA are asked to abide by an ethics code modeled after the one adopted by the Society of Professional Journalists.

1. If you aren't aware of the Mayor's actions, here's a pretty detailed article by the Deseret News.
2. If you would like to see how the national and Greater Salt Lake PRSA offices responded, here are the statements.
3. And if you'd like to read blog reactions by those who have received their APR, Accredited Public Relations certification from PRSA, go here.

And may we all regularly "check in" with our inner compass. 

Employment Despair - When Loyal, Experience-rich Employees Get the Axe

It has happened to me and perhaps to you, or a spouse, friend, or relative.  It can mark one for a lifetime.  I decided to put my feelings on paper...yes paper.  Then the editorial board of my local daily newspaper, the Salt Lake Tribune, was kind enough to publish on paper, yes...paper and online, my thoughts. 

Pass it along to someone you know who can relate.

 Laying Off the Loyal

 

 

Salt TV: High-profile TV News Reporters Launch Utah Online News Network

Coming soon to a smartphone, iPad, or computer near you - eleven extremely familiar Utah faces will once again report and deliver news and entertainment via the new Salt TV Network.  They miss their profession and they’re going online to get it back.  Last weekend, I came across their beta site on the Internet. 

Where have they been?  Some had retired, others were downsized during this great recession and revolution in communications.  You know their names, possibly as well as you know those of your children.  KSL (NBC), KTVX (ABC), KUTV (CBS) and KSTU (FOX) once spent millions in branding dollars to showcase their faces, personalities and talents.

One Deep Bench

Here’s the lineup: Dick Nourse, Ruth Todd, Terry Wood, Susan Wood, Randall Carlisle, Kimberly Perkins, Shelley Osterloh, Craig Wirth, Kim Johnson, Reece Stein, Lisa Cline, Jill Atwood, Larry Warren…and even Tom Barberi.  Yes… a radio guy snuck in!  Will they be any competition to their former employers?  Only the future will tell. 

Salt TV Network creator, former KTVX assistant news director Pat Benedict, has a contract with United Press International for national/international news and believes his business model could be franchised in other states.

They Want You To Be Involved

Each reporter will soon have a social page with a welcome video, plus tabs you can click on for bios, their most recent news stories and their personal blogs.  You can fire off your opinions and concerns, communicate via Skype and even post your own video.  Salt TV Network promises exclusive stories, local news that isn’t covered anymore, fresh content every day, along with sports, recreation and features.  And it plans to give time and attention to the issues of every county in the State.

Their Thoughts

“On Salt TV, news and information flows both ways,” says Dick Nourse.  “You won’t have to wait until 10 p.m. to get the news,” adds Ruth Todd.   Randall Carlisle calls Salt TV, “ a bold new adventure in local news.  We are not the same old boring news you watch on your local stations.  With us, you get news from a grass roots level.”  Terry Wood laments the current economic pressure that “has forced broadcast journalism as well as the print media to cut back.  Now journalists are finding they must reinvent the form of the delivery of news.”

Beat Reporting

Some have specific beats. Susan Wood will cover medical news, Carlisle will report on downtown business, development, entertainment and the people and non-profit groups doing good things in the community.  Reece Stein will have a program called Outdoor Family Fun, including hiking, camping, fishing and hunting news.  He encourages all of us to be his field reporters. Ruth Todd plans to focus on education and family issues.  Craig Wirth, Utah’s version of the famous Charles Kuralt, will offer up his  well-loved brand of personal humor.

Then there’s this radio guy...Tom Barberi, the longtime radio Voice of Reason.  Tom will be back with his own program of rants and raves.  “Have an issue with something I said?  Who doesn’t?” he says, encouraging his audience to spar via email, Twitter or Facebook.  “This is a 21st century town hall meeting in which you are front and center.”

Household Names

These individuals were my household brands.  They’ve been in my living room for decades.  Here they are again in a colorful line-up photo.  Great genes, white teeth, clear eyes and not a hair out of place.  I’d like to see them succeed.  I’d like Salt TV to give new opportunities to citizen journalists and other print journalists who’ve lost their jobs.  I hope Salt TV has advertisers and investors who will give it the time needed to establish and strengthen its audience.

Bye Bye TV Consultants

I have but one suggestion.  Relax.  Online you don’t have to be “TV perfect.”   Soften the make-up and the broadcast voices.  No TV consultant will bug you about your wrinkles, gray hair, lack of hair, or sudden extra pounds.  Even better...no more big investments in fine clothes and dry cleaning. Be real. Just have a great time doing what you love.  www.salttvnet.com

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.

Meet America's New Non-profit Investigative Journalism Network

PR professionals...gird up your loins.  Old school investigative journalism may be near death from shrinking newsrooms.  Yet, as I write, the fresh shoots of a second birth are jutting from the soil.  From what I've been reading, a number of new non-profit news producing organizations have been created in the last few years, hiring "top talent" reporters who've been laid off.  Muckraking journalism is their focus.

Leaders from 20 of these new entities held a meeting in New York last year.  All 20 inked a document that declared participants members of the first ever "Investigative News Network of nonprofit news publishers throughout the United States of America."  

Calling this a "tectonic shift," Charles Lewis comments in the Columbia Journalism Review, that an "ecosystem is emerging in which an increasing percentage of the most ambitious reporting projects will emanate from the public realm, not from private commercial outlets."  

This leaves us with a lot to think about, doesn't it?

• Reporters may find new work. 
• PR professionals may tremble.
• The little guy could have a new and powerful advocate. 

Let me wish upon a star:  May the stories this new network produces be balanced, accurate and funded by those with integrity.  If that can happen, we all win.  

If Everyone's A Celebrity, Who Is The Audience? Do All Social Media Dreams Come True?

Disclaimer:  Don't get me wrong.  Social media is amazing. I love it and respect those who've harnessed its power. 

When you meet a high-level blogger, Tweeter, FBer, etc., can you see the stars in their eyes?  They've tasted the drug of celebrity.  Addiction levels are off the charts.  Visions of speeches at conferences, their books sold at the back as the audience exits. Webinars, Amazon orders & profits rolling in.  Attorney level consulting fees and the joy of the freebies.  It's a heady rush.

When Seth Godin spoke in Salt Lake several years ago, an audience member cried out, "we want to be like you!"  For some reason...that made me sad.  It seemed to bother him a bit, too. 

The slice and dice of once powerful media into cell sized morsels has brought power to the people.  May we use it wisely.

Can this be sustained?  Some questions I'd like you to ponder with me.

1. If we can all get our 15 minutes of fame, who will be our audience?
2. If we each publish our own newspaper, blog, have our own TV & radio (podcast, YouTube) outlets, how many followers can we attract before the excitement levels drop?  How much information can one human consume in a day, let alone generate? 
3. And now that we have all written and published a book (or plan to), who will read it?  What profit, if any, will we see as our copy joins the thousands of advice books outdated within mere months?

Online activity resembles a blur of swarming bees, all buzzing around each other, all frantically trying to give each other attention....and asking the same in return.  Pedestrians, drivers, people on dates, kids at the dinner table...eyes locked on mini-screens as their latest Google alert, Alexa rank, and online analytics confirm their new star status.

So it has come to this.  A country that strives to be so respectful of individual rights is now packed with citizen celebs.  In the anxious grab for audience...any audience...whatever audience is out there, to what lengths will people go?  Balloon boys?  Crashing presidential dinners?

Newspaper Girl Janet Thaeler - Meet Utah's New Media

She's concerned about balance in her life, thus she only spends 7-10 hours a day online...not as much on weekends. She always wanted to be a reporter, but then learned how little it paid. She still misses the rush of writing in a noisy newsroom. Blogging is "so solitary," she says.

I went to her site and saw four display ads in the right column. She is making some money at this. I think she is an important facet of emerging new media.

If you'd like to meet Janet, here she is.  Thanks to UtahPulse for picking up the column!

3 Topics: Meet Utah's New Media. What's The Best Measure Of Your Online Presence? And "Engaging The New Influencers."

Plenty to talk about!

1. We've heard, with sadness, about newsroom layoffs.  You may not be aware of the new Utah media outlets that are growing (not shrinking) and actually making money on their content and activities.  In tandem with my associate, Lisa Davis, we are writing a four-part series for utahpulse.com on "Meet Utah's New Media."  It starts in mid-September and I hope you'll join us there for profiles on:

• Newspaper Girl - Janet Meiners Thaeler
• Utah Mama, Today's Mama - Rachael Hersscher
• Utah Stories - Richard Markosian
• Mom It Forward - Jyl Johnson Patee

How influential are they?  How do you approach and interact with Utah's new media?  We'll tell you on www.utahpulse.com.

2. Boss still resisting social media?  Can she/he argue with this?

Edelman has done us all a great favor by gathering 100 professors of communications, journalism, business and public relations from North America and Europe.  All met for an event held in Washington, D.C. Sessions were led by 50 practitioners in charge of digital communications in companies such as:  AstraZeneca, CNN, eBay, Environmental Defense Fund, GE, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Starbucks, UPS, Whirlpool and many others.  The resulting report, "Engaging The New Influencers," is packed with best practices and insights into our future...online. Thanks to Steve Rubel for making me aware of it.

A great menu of topics:

• The State Of Media
• Employee Engagement: Encouraging New Conversations
• Every Organization Is A Media Company
• The New Era In Washington D.C.
• Health: Using New Media In A Regulated Industry
• Insights From The U.S. Administration About Engagement
• Crowdsurfing: Engaging Consumers
• Academia: Keeping Up With The Pace Of Change

3. Measurement, measurement, measurement. 

How can you determine how well you show up online? This short, sweet piece on "The Five Senses Of Online Measurement" makes good sense.  Thanks to the Cision bloggers for sharing it.

Newspapers On Cliff's Edge - Will They Fly Or Jump?

They felt thin and weak in my hand this morning.  Two extremely lean newspapers, plastic wrapped and waiting on my doorstep.  I've subscribed to the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News for a long time.  We've been so fortunate to have two daily newspapers in the Salt Lake City market.  The bill to "re-up" came just yesterday and without hesitation, my check is in the mail.

But changes are coming.  It can't be denied.  We've heard about the newsroom layoffs, the lack of  print advertisers during a down economy, and the gutting of classifieds' revenue by other online entities who do it for free.

The industry is on the edge of a cliff.  Will it fly or jump?  Most importantly, will it hang onto its sage newsroom management and senior reporters?  Will they be there to mentor the newbies who may not understand how easily their words can ruin reputation or influence government and business for better or worse?

What if...

both papers suddenly announced they were going completely online?  Advertisers who've doubted the effectiveness of online ads would have only one option if they wanted to be in the Deseret News or Tribune....get used to online news.  As more advertisers take the plunge, new forms of measurement will follow to satisfy those who live and die by the numbers.

What if...

Kindle and iPhone offered Tribune and Deseret News subscriptions?  Sure, I can currently subscribe to other larger papers, but I want local news.   I'd be the first to buy in, because I refuse to spend my carefully rationed free time in front of a computer monitor.  Just last week, in five quick minutes, I bought a book from Amazon.com on my computer and it was downloaded wirelessly to my iPhone.  I quite enjoy reading from the device.

And what if...

in their hard copy absence, a group of skilled and fresh-out-of-work reporters could cobble together the financing to create a brand new Salt Lake newspaper...the kind you can still hold in your hand when technology hurts the weary eyes.  That would be a blast.  And I hope it happens.

No news reruns.

The news industry can't fill the online space with re-runs.  This is the information age and those who produce the content will always have a place.  Two tough questions remain:  Is it a welcoming, ethical, respectful place, and does it pay enough to make it worth their lifetime dedication?

200,000 Layoffs in January. Employers Beware - Tattlers Turn To Telonu.com

Ahhh, the latest headache for the PR profession.  When employees and former employees want to vent, they can do it here.  A site called Telonu "Tell On You" is featured in the Ragan newsletter.  Membership on the site has exploded, climbing 50-100% EACH DAY.  Those who post to the site are allowed to do so anonymously.  The Public Relations Society of America frowns on anonymous Internet posts for obvious reasons.  People can and do lie. 

But instead of feeling victimized and defensive, companies who find themselves attacked online should monitor what is being said.  The complaints just might give them more truth than they could get from their middle management and fearful-of-layoff employees. 

By the way, a lovely example from the site (look out for the language), by an anonymous manager...or maybe an employee with a flair for writing : ) 

Telonu.com

"I am Sonny McCutcheon and I just want to state a few words. My first priority is my bonuses and severance package. My second priority is my staff. My third priority is I don't give a damn about my employees..Ya'll can KISS MY ASS!!! I just want to give a few examples of how I treat my employees....When I hold a meeting for employee appreciation I reward them with notepads, logo pens, coffee mugs (all from a temporary agency...PROSTAFF and such), kitchen rugs, ELCOTEQ logo shirts that I've been holding for two years...that doesn't fit me and $20 restaurant gift cards that will pay for your date's dinner(but you're on your own). On Thanksgiving I purchase pre-packaged turkey lunch meat (that I heated up in the micowave) and on Christmas I arranged the potluck Christmas Party :). I am a money making man and I DON'T CARE ABOUT MY EMPLOYEES, all I care about is putting all the money I can IN MY POCKETS. I don't care about my asian hourly employees, your job is to get to the work out and put money in my POCKETS!!! I RUN A SWEAT SHOP HERE!!!!"