How new media is turning old media into state-run media

With all the fanfare for social media, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. and the never-ending reports of the death of newspapers, TV, and radio, the story today in the Los Angeles Times that a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism has found that the most original news reporting still comes from the “old” media–newspapers, TV, and radio isn’t really shocking.

Here’s why. When blogging was in its infancy, bloggers would do exactly what I’m doing now. They would read a story in the newspaper, or see it on TV, or even here it on the morning news show on their local radio station, and then write an opinion about it on their blog.

Now, as blogs and other social media tools have grown over time, they have matured and are competing for the right to publish and promote original news. But the complete dominance of news market share by blogs and social media is still a long way off, if it ever comes. Until then, the more traditional media outlets should feel somewhat safe in knowing that if the majority of people want to know what is going on, they’ll turn to the newspaper, the TV, or the radio.

However, what is more troubling about the LA Times story is what you read after you get past the headline. At the end of the story is a quote from the study that says due to the shrinking newsrooms of the traditional media, they are republishing more news releases. Dig deeper and you’ll see that the study has found as a result, the government is initiating more and more of the news.

If a newspaper doesn’t have enough staff to create original news stories and instead republishes other people’s work, then they’re just publishing unexamined messaging. Primarily, the study found, that messaging is from the government. It’s almost like we’re living in a country with a state-run media. Almost.

The road to you

It’s often said that the journey is more important than the destination. That is an interesting thought to ponder as a new year and a new decade dawns. There is a tendency to reflect on the places we’ve been, the things we’ve done, and the people we’ve come to know. As I sat with my wife and some of her high school friends recently, I couldn’t help but wonder how they came to travel down the path they were on.

In high school, we all had our best friends. Some of us still have those people in our lives and the relationship has grown over the years. For others, that is not the case. As often happens, people who were once close drift apart because of circumstance, situation, location, or any other variety of reasons. It happens. But what is interesting is to consider—upon meeting up with that person again years down the road—who this person is now, how s/he came to be this person, and is this person now compatible within the scope of your life as it is now?

That was what I was thinking as I sat there looking from my wife to the people sitting around the table. I had known some of them in high school, and throughout the years since then. They all had their stories to tell. Some were married. Some were divorced. Some worked almost nonstop. A couple had careers that seemed uncharacteristic.

However, they were all there for that brief moment, even as they continued to chart the next step in their journey through life. They stopped for a brief moment to reconnect and then they all went their separate ways into the brisk night.

As I think about the New Year and its potential, I think that more and more people will use social media tools to stay connected, although I’m not certain how “real” that connection will be. Although most of the people at the table were friends on Facebook, they were all on different paths, which after the meet up, would lead to many various and sundry encounters apart from any with the people at the table.

It is often said that the journey is more important than the destination. What has your journey helped you to discover about yourself and where you are headed?

Tiger plays a bad lie

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

I first heard about the “serious injuries” to Tiger Woods Thanksgiving weekend when my wife asked me if I’d heard the news.

I told her I hadn’t. But when I initially learned more about the story, I figured he just hit the accelerator instead of the brakes and that was why he hit a fire hydrant and a tree, wrecked his SUV, and was taken to the hospital.

Now, as the days have passed since the initial incident was reported, we know Tiger Woods has had “transgressions.”

Many a sports reporter has written that these actions by the world’s most well-known athlete will not affect his image. I beg to differ.

For starters, the way that this was handled by Woods and his PR team (if he even has one) was absolutely atrocious. Instead of the laser-like focus he has exhibited on the golf course, when it came to his carefully managed public image, he and his team faltered at the most inopportune time.

In a Public Relation crisis situation, the goal is to mitigate the negative perception of the brand. The way to do this is to tell your story first in an honest manner and to provide information in a transparent way as the situation allows. Tiger Woods did not do this, and as a result, ceded control of the story to someone else. Simply put, his brand took a brutal hit.

Having said that, I agree that what occurred is a private matter to be handled within his family. It is very apparent that there are things he and his wife need to work out. Regaining trust is a hard thing to do. It is even harder if you don’t have control of your own messaging and someone else is telling your side of the story for you. Until Tiger can recapture the controls of the runaway tabloid train that is now his public life, I don’t know if he’ll ever have the time needed to rebuild his personal life.

I know I’ll never look at him the same way again.

It’s not like they’re running your briefs up the flag pole

I had to do a double take when I read the recent story about U.S. residents fighting for the right to hang clothes on the clothesline. I can’t believe that in this day and age, where so many people are trying to “go green” that there are housing associations that would put the kibosh on people hanging their clothes up outside to dry.

I had no other option but to hang my clothes up on the clothesline to dry when I was in Spain as an exchange student. I’m just lucky that my host parents didn’t live in one of the communities where the “right to hang” is being persecuted.

It is simply ludicrous that there are oversight bodies with this much time on their hands. I have to point it out that no one’s property value will go down because a neighbor hangs their shirts out to dry. It’s a good thing all of these people on the housing committees didn’t live in the time before dryers were invented. 

I’m fully in support of fighting for your right to hang your clothes on the clothesline. It just makes sense. And, as one of the persecuted says:

If my husband has a right to have guns in the house, I have a right to hang laundry.

I guess the communication moral of the story is don’t mess with people’s guns, or their laundry.

 

More than just X’s and O’s

As I sat there and watched the back-up QB for the team I support toss a long ball down the field into the hands of a streaking receiver, I wondered about the communication underpinnings that made that thing of sports beauty possible.

If you follow the NFL religiously, or even if you’re just a casual fan, you’ve probably heard that quarterbacks need to feel comfortable and trusting of their receivers, otherwise they won’t throw them the ball all that often. Instead, the QB will look to someone he trusts to deposit the ball (this is often called a “check down.” Bills fans are keenly aware of this, especially this year). There is a reason for this, and I think a lot of it has to do with communication.

Take Peyton Manning, for example. He had a good relationship with his receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. He could throw up the ball with the faith that one of the two would be there to catch it when it came down. They worked at this, but the simple act of trusting the guy will be there where you put the ball takes communication, too.

On the opposite end, you can see when a quarterback and receiver don’t have good communication. Take T.O. and Buffalo’s Trent Edwards. It is painful to watch. There’s just no chemistry between the two, which is a direct result of the fact that there (more than likely) isn’t good communication between them.

This isn’t just the case in football, though. Communication is at the core of every sport. In baseball there is the nonverbal communication between pitcher and catcher. In NASCAR it’s interesting to listen to the radio communications between driver and crew chief.

So, the next time your favorite team has a big play, take a moment to think about how much communication went in to making it a success, or how a lack of communication caused the other team to collapse in that instant.

What is your favorite example of communication in sports?

Fully-charged review of Thom Singer’s “*Batteries Not Included: 66 Tips to Energize Your Career”

This is my first “official” book review, and it’s taken me a little longer than I had wanted to get it written and posted. The book I’m reviewing, had I read it prior to this review, would have encouraged me not to procrastinate. But alas, that was not to be.

The book, “*Batteries Not Included: 66 Tips to Energize Your Career” is authored by nationally recognized professional speaker Thom Singer. It is a part of New Year Publishing’s “Airplane Book Series,” meaning it “is designed to be read in a coffee shop or airplane.” However, I think it is much more than just a book to read while on a flight to your next destination and then never considered again.

Each of the passages in the book make you think. And if you want to get the most out of the book, that’s exactly what you’ll do as you read it—think about how what Thom writes about is impacting your life and how his advice can help to change that impact into a positive. That’s what is really great about this book. It looks at normal, every day situations that come up, both at and outside the office, and puts a positive spin on them. That is, I think, Thom’s underlying goal in this book, to demonstrate to the reader that as life runs your batteries down, there are simple, positive ways to recharge them and get the most out of life.

There are so many good passages in the book that exemplify and underline this point that it is hard to pick just one to talk about. However, tip #25 “Make an Impact” is a prime example that really speaks to how Thom communicates a message of positive action to his readers.

The tip begins with a very powerful statement: “You have the ability to impact the world around you.” Simple. To the point. But not always something we hear and acknowledge about ourselves and our place in this world. Each and every one of us has the ability to impact this world we live in, some how, some way.

Making an impact in this world. Think about that for a minute. It’s a big thing to tackle, right? Well, not really. Keep reading tip #25 and you see that Thom lays out a very simple way to break down the big into the small in order to then build up the big again.

Here’s what I mean. He writes: “Decide today that you are going to do more with your everyday life. Start small. Look at your current daily activities and find was to put a little something extra into how you tackle the little tasks. Become that person who is known for having that extra spring in their step, regardless of what they are doing. Leave the whining and complaining to someone else.”

In other words, take control of your actions, embrace the tasks you have, and always be bold.

In life, we often wonder why things don’t always go our way. Maybe what we should do when those thoughts enter our minds is to realize that we need to recharge our batteries so that we can tackle the things that are challenging us. Thom Singer’s book is the charger. Read it and your batteries will be charged and you’ll be ready to take on anything that is thrown at you.

Never forget the day the world stopped turning

Where were you on the morning of September 11, 2001?

For my generation, that question is akin to asking my parents where they were when they got the news JFK was shot.

It was a moment during which time stood still. And during those moments, we have time to take it all in.

This is how I remember it:

I was at work, waiting to go to a staff meeting. Our building was located downtown, not far from a Federal building. Teh staff meeting never happened that morning. What did happen was a relentless search for information. I remember hearing the news and trying to log on to CNN, Fox News, MSNBC. None of them would come up. Then I went down to the library and watched with a growing number of other employees the events unfold on live TV.

Then news came that we were to evacuate the building because authorities couldn’t rule out the nearby Federal building as a potential terrorist target.

I drove home listening to the radio in utter disbelief. When I got home, I turned on CNN and sat on the corner of the foot stool watching. Just watching. I called a few people to see if they were okay and to turn on the TV if they could.

In the ensuing days, my community had its annual late summer/fall festival. The gran parade was subdued. There were more people in line ot give blood than were at the craft booths most times. I was one of those people. I wanted to do something.

There are some commentators who say the country on September 10, 2001 was inherently different from the one that rose out of the World Trade Center rubble on September 12, 2001. I don’t know if that’s true.

What I do think is true is that those of us who had never been through a moment like that woke up after the events that morning turned a crystal-clear blue sky into a dust-filled tangle of bent iron, burning flesh, and utter chaos. I think we appreciate the people who put their lives on the line for others more. I think we took a moment to take stock of the things that are really important in life: family, friends, and freedom. I think we understood for the first time in our lives what sacrifice meant and why it is an integral part of the American story.

I also think that what happened is something that should never, ever be forgotten. I will never forget the events of that day and those that immediately followed and how they impacted me. My hope is that you will never forget, too.

Is this newsworthy?

In a recent post Heather Whaling on the prTini blog asked “What’s News?“

Since I started writing for the local newspaper over a decade ago, this has been a question that I’ve thought quite a bit about. Now, in my position as a nonprofit marketing coordinator, when I have to draft a news release I often have to sort through a barrage of flowery language to get to the core issues that could be considered real news.

 

Heather’s post intrigued me because she framed her question around the news of the day, or lack of it. Asking why Twitter got more “ink” than Gmail when both had service issues is an interesting way to bring the world of social media into the realm of the news gatekeeper.

 

I think it would be interesting to inquire of an assignment editor at CNN.com what the thought and decision process was leading up to the posting of the Twitter outage story.  Heather pinpoints the probable response–Twitter is new and exciting. Additionally, an outage effects a lot of people.  But to that point, so does a service outage of Gmail. The “new and exciting” thing is was will get the coverage, though, simply because it is new. You can’t have “News” without “New.”

 

Heather’s second example is the more interesting one, however. She asks how Sen. Ted Kennedy can posthumously become a bi-partisan mythical hero, when during his life he was the “poster child for ultra-liberal partisanship.”

 

She argues that his working with senators from the other side of the aisle while alive didn’t merit coverage, but when he died, that was the shining example of his public service career. It just doesn’t make sense.

However, looking at the context of the story, it does.

 

I think it was important for the news media to highlight the best qualities of Kennedy after he died. When someone of Kennedy’s stature dies, and for the reasons he died (brian cancer) the media can’t play up the controversy surrounding the individual. Instead, the news media has to search for the positive things to say. As the gatekeepers, they feel a responsibility to direct the course of the immediate conversation about how Kennedy will be crafted. They want to be the drivers.

 

With the growing influence of social media, however, the opportunity for news media gatekeepers to be the drivers on any story of interest’s immediate conversation  is quickly diminishing. That is why it is ever more important for any player in the mediasphere to find the news in a story and get it out there.

 

In other words, being newsworthy in the age of social media means being direct, interesting, and most importantly engaging.

 

Photo credit: mfopotos

How to creatively answer any kid question

When I was younger, my mom always says, I asked her how the moon stayed up in the sky.

“Elmer’s glue,” she said.

Driving to our kids’ daycare provider this morning to drop them off, my three-year-old son asked me what the hazy cloud blanketing the field was.

“Fog,” I said. “It’s what is left behind when the sky comes down and kisses the ground.”

He seemed to like that answer.

When a child asks “Why?” sometimes it is easier to just say anything to make him stop asking that question repeatedly.

With a little patience and some creativity, however, the answer you give can be one that creates a lasting memory because as the child grows, you can always tell the story of the day he asked what fog was and how you answered him.

Abuse of ADHD drugs on the rise

Flipping through the newspaper this morning, I was struck by a story about a study that indicates a staggering rise in the reported abuse of ADHD drugs

My first reaction was that this news wasn’t at all out of the ordinary. I give the editors of the paper credit for putting it in the paper. Drug abuse is an important issue, especially when there is an increase in the abuse of  safe (read: FDA-approved) drugs. However, the story was buried on the inside of the front section and squeezed in next to an ad for replacement windows. Such a placement tells me that the editors at the paper didn’t think too many people would buy a paper because of this story.

With the reduction in staff at most local papers, and more and more people moving online for their news, I know that the following suggestion might not carry much weight with news editors, but I’m going to put it out there any way.

This is the type of story that could make an impact in a community. It could really raise the consciousness level to a point where the issues causing the abuse and the infrastructure supporting it are brought to light. It would be perfect way for nonprofit service providers that help with all of the issues regarding drug abuse to enter the public sphere. Working with a reporter to create a follow-up story that localizes the issue and highlights how organizations in the community are helping to alleviate the issue and related issues is a fantastic way to build community awareness and support, both for the newspaper and any nonprofit service providers. The reason being is that readers like to know about what is happening in their community. They also like to read about success stories–people who hit rock bottom, sought out and got help, and are now recovering and finding success.

It is a redemption story.

I’m putting editors and reporters on notice: I’ll be on the lookout for this type of story for sure. I’ll buy more papers with this type of story in them.

Read the story that inspired this post here.