Just Give that Assignment to the Computer

As a long-time journalist, an article in Bloomberg Businessweek a couple of months back gave me pause. In fact, I found it truly disturbing. It was about a new piece of technology called Narrative Science that takes data-intensive information and turns out a news story.

The example was sports stories; stats are e-mailed to Narrative Science where a computer pops out an article in just a few minutes. The Big Ten Network is using the service as is Fox Cable for its baseball and softball coverage on its website.

As if journalists weren’t concerned enough about their jobs, now they have to worry they will be replaced by computers. “There’s no human author and no human editing,” Narrative Science CEO Stuart Frankel is quoted as saying.

And if you don’t have human authors and editors, you don’t have paychecks to hand out every two weeks. Sure, it’s a significant financial savings, but at what cost? Articles won’t have the context and perspective a human can bring. They won’t have the historical information and analytical eye that trained and experienced journalists provide. It’s a good bet the writing won’t be as polished and will probably be filled with clichés and unimaginative writing.

To bring this a little closer to home, from a public relations perspective, it’s a little tough to suggest a story idea or source to a computer.

Using a computer to generate short online stats-driven stories for the website and saving the meatier pieces for the journalists would certainly be a slightly better option, yet it still takes away jobs from interns and young reporters who often cut their teeth on these sorts of assignments.

Granted, widespread use of technology like Narrative Science may be many years in the future, but whether it’s five or 50, it’s unfortunate something like this would even be considered. It’s clear more and more people assume the skills of reporting, writing and interviewing are something anyone – even a computer – can do.

BP and the Case of Bad PR

Beyond the horrible images of the Gulf of Mexico drowning in oil, I can’t help but watch yet another disaster hitting BP: a PR nightmare that has ruined its brand. This is a company’s worst fears come true – a disaster impacting an entire nation brought on, it seems, by much of its own doing. Ouch. That PR team has its work cut out for it.

One of the most interesting developments has been the creation of a fake BP Twitter feed, BPGlobalPR, now with more than 163,000 followers and retweets galore thanks to its dry wit (“Investing a lot of time & money into cleaning up our image, but the beaches are next on the to-do list for sure.”) and tweets dripping with sarcasm (“Adopt a BP oil plume! $25 makes you 100% responsible for an oil plume and a ‘bpcares’ shirt!”).

And don’t forget YouTube, home of videos taking BP to task for its reaction to the oil spill. My favorite: BP Spills Coffee.

But BP certainly isn’t the first company to take a beating for its missteps. Lest we not forget Toyota just a few months ago and a bevy of auto executives from Detroit taking a private jet to Washington, D.C., to ask for a government bailout.

Unfortunately, these recent examples won’t be the last. But, today a reputation is destroyed in the time it took me to type this paragraph. (140 characters)

Before your company barely has a chance to catch its breath and craft a statement, blogs are buzzing, Twitter is tweeting and Flip cameras are rolling for a satirical YouTube video. Truly, your only course of action is to be as ahead of the game as you can be. This isn’t the time to say “no comment,” buying a couple hours for the staff to set up a Twitter account and a Facebook page.

In this day of social media and the instantaneous news cycle, you have to stay one – better make that two – steps ahead. If these events teach PR people anything, it’s to cover all your bases and that includes social media.

Social Media is Just One Big Referral Network

Hop onto Twitter or Facebook pretty much any evening during prime time and you’re almost certain to see some friends posting comments or tweeting about TV shows. Who hasn’t seen many a comment about Lost or Glee? In fact, I’ve seen so many comments about Glee, I’ve thought about watching it just to see what all the hype is about. Those friend recommendations piqued my interest more than any TV commercial I saw about the show.

That’s the power of social media. And it’s a power NBC is harnessing as it continues its “Fan It” initiative into the 2010-2011 TV season. Fans signs up on the NBC website and then earn points for talking about NBC shows on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. Points are good for NBC merchandise (wonder how many points I’d need for an Office bobblehead?) or for entries into mega contests (wonder how many points I’d need to appear on Parks & Recreation?).

In an Associated Press article last week, Adam Stotsky, president of NBC Entertainment Marketing, is quoted as saying, “A recommendation from a friend is infinitely more powerful than any message we can put out through conventional marketing channels.”

That’s sums up nicely what social media is all about and why it’s critical for businesses to be part of the landscape. Social media has expanded the concept of word-of-mouth marketing beyond asking our neighbors to recommend a good plumber into a global network of referrals.

If your business isn’t paying attention to social media, it’s missing an opportunity to reach potential customers, reward them for their business and respond to their questions or complaints. Last week I asked on Twitter if anyone could recommend a good company to pressure wash my house. I received a recommendation from a Twitter follower so plan to call that business this week.

What would have made that example even more powerful is if this particular pressure washing business was on Twitter and could have reached out to me directly, possibly offering a free estimate or a discount.

I applaud NBC for recognizing the massive referral system that is social media and hope it serves as an example to other businesses that engaging your customers, rewarding them for their efforts and thinking beyond conventional marketing channels has to be a part of your business plan.

Are You in Style?

Bring up grammar, spelling or the latest technique for diagramming a sentence (remember that?) and pretty much the whole room will let out an audible groan. Most folks – save for newspaper copy editors and English teachers – just don’t have a great grasp on our native tongue.

Sure, most of us have a grammar rule that gives us pause (think affect vs. effect), and everyone has at least a couple of words they struggle to spell (think canceled). But writing is so much of what we do, it deserves our focus. On any given day, I read an e-mail with an error (think it’s vs. its). And that’s simply unprofessional.

As a longtime newspaper reporter and editor and having taught some classes on writing, I have become well versed in Associated Press style. Those in the journalism industry abide by the AP Stylebook and its guidelines on punctuation, abbreviations and spelling. It gives a standard for consistency.

Public relations professionals should abide by AP style rules so they are in line with what journalists are doing and are writing their news releases in a journalist-friendly way.

Yes, some of the items in the stylebook are a little obscure (proper spelling for “shepherd’s pie”), but most are incredibly useful. Here’s a list of some common spelling, grammar and style errors. Keep this list handy and start checking your work.

Dates: When a date is used with the month, abbreviate all months except March, April, May, June, July. (Example: The program launched on Dec. 10, 2009.) But when the month is used alone, spell it out. (Example: The rebate will extend through the end of December 2010.) Do not use: “th,” “st” or “rd” as in “Let’s meet on March 11^th.”

Times: Lowercase a.m. and p.m. and use periods and a space between the time. Do not write times with “:00” (such as 8:00). Spell out “noon” for 12 p.m. and “midnight” for 12 a.m.

Addresses: When using the specific street address, abbreviate: boulevard (blvd.), street (st.) and avenue (ave.). (Example: The office is at 123 Main St.). When the street name stands alone, spell out. (Example: The office is located somewhere on Washington Boulevard.)

Numbers: Spell out numbers zero through nine; use numerals for 10 and above. There are some exceptions to this rule such as always use figures for ages.

Capitalization: Capitalize formal titles when used immediately before a name. (Example:  XYZ Inc. President Jane Smith is chairing the committee.). If you’re unsure, just don’t capitalize.

A final few tips:

• It’s – it is; its – the possessive
• Use website, Web page and Internet
• No “s” at the end of backward, forward, toward and afterward.
• Use “more than” instead of “over” when referring to an amount (Example: I ran more than 10 miles.).
• Between is for two items/people; among is for three or more.

Selling Out the Front Page

It’s no secret newspapers have fallen on tough times. With more people turning to the Internet for their news and a recession that put advertising sales in the tank, newspapers are struggling. But that’s no reason to comprise journalism ethics and values.

In the more than 10 years I spent in newsrooms across this country, there’s always been a distinct line between editorial and advertising – “separation of church and state” as it’s often called. Unfortunately, that line is blurring as newspapers look for any way they can to make up lost revenue.

A perfect example of this was splashed across the front page of the Los Angeles Times on March 5. The LA Times worked with The Walt Disney Co. to create a fake front page promoting Disney’s new “Alice in Wonderland” movie. A large photo of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter covered a fake front page with the real front page pushed back to Page 2.

This incident makes my stomach churn. What it says to me is that advertising is more important than the news. It says news should take a back seat – in this case second page – to the almighty dollar.

I’m sure the PR professionals for Disney and the movie loved this concept. It was great exposure for the movie and the controversy surrounding it simply created more buzz about the film. But any self-respecting public relations professional – particularly those of us whose roots are in journalism – should value the sanctity of editorial content. There’s a reason you can’t buy coverage like a front page news story. At least that’s the way it used to be. This incident shows us apparently you can buy the front page.

Some may argue newspapers have to do what they can to survive.  Some may suggest that these sorts of promotions will keep more journalists from losing their jobs. That may be true, but at what cost? And do these journalists really want to work for a newspaper that values money over news? Newspapers should think twice before selling the front page – and PR folks should think twice before asking them to.

Is it Time for a New Approach?

When you want to promote your business, organization, event or cause, the old standbys just aren’t enough in this all-media, all-access, all-the-time world. Twenty years ago newspaper advertising was critical. And, if you could afford it, a spot on the radio or television certainly were next in line.

But, the times they are a changin’, and a business that settles on just one or two traditional modes of communication won’t be hitting the whole market of potential customers, clients, donors or volunteers.

I’m not advocating against these traditional advertising avenues. As someone who spent more than a decade as a full-time newspaper reporter, I’ve received many a paycheck thanks to newspaper advertising. And, yes, it still works. People still turn to their local paper as a source of reliable local information and that includes the ads. Magazine advertising goes another step in reaching a more targeted audience, such as women, food enthusiasts or jet-setting travelers.

You don’t have to fully eliminate print, radio or television from the marketing pie, but you may need to make the slices a little smaller to accommodate nontraditional outlets and social media. I recently heard about a large ad agency that offered up its plans to a business for a new ad campaign. The plan included newspaper, radio, TV and billboard advertising. All great, but not particularly forward thinking.

• Go where your audience is. For example, if you want to reach a national audience of moms, take a look at the vast community of Mommy Bloggers who wield a great deal of influence. Their blogs could be just the place for your message.
• Don’t be afraid to try a new way of promoting your business. If you typically devote 50 percent of your marketing budget to newspaper advertising, try taking 25 percent to hire a firm to manage a social media campaign for six months. You haven’t eliminated newspaper advertising completely, but you’re trying a new way to reach your audience and promote your message.
• Be consistent in what you say. You can’t have a newspaper ad that has one message, a radio spot with something different and a blog that focuses a third component. You can promote different aspects of your business, but with a consistent thread. You want consumers to recognize your message and the best way to do that is by being consistent in everything you say.
• Track and measure. Don’t just throw money at every option out there. Be targeted in your approach and see what works. If you try something for several months with little or no return, then move on. There are so many options today for promoting your business you may have to tap around before striking gold.

Finding Your Blogging Voice

The mechanics of setting up a blog are pretty simple: create an account with a free blogging site like Blogger or WordPress; select one of the pre-made templates; decide on a name for the blog; and add a few widgets and a blogroll. That can be done in less than an hour.

The next step is a little more challenging. How do you create a blog that’s engaging, informative, smart, witty and well read? Well, if I could bottle that up, I’d be a millionaire for sure.

But there is one piece of the blogging puzzle that shouldn’t be discarded: finding your voice. The beauty of the blog is it’s an extension of you, reflecting your opinions, thoughts and ideas. To grab your readers, they need to get to know you through your blog.

Even the most prolific writers struggle with finding their voice – that style of writing that is uniquely theirs. So don’t give up if you’re stuck, just try of few of these techniques to get started:

1. Find your focus. First and foremost, what is the purpose of your blog? It could be political commentary, information on green living, tips for parents or simply a day-to-day diary of your life.
2. Reach your readers. Think about who might read your blog and write to engage them. Are you trying to reach people interested in international news, green living, organic gardening or how to discipline a toddler? Don’t write to moms if you want dads to read too. Don’t right for left-wing politicos if you want to grab the attention of all political junkies.
3. Write like you talk – for the most part. In many ways, blogs are a compilation of your thoughts and your conversations. That’s not to say your blog should be filled with sloppy grammatical errors, but keep the writing conversational, approaching your blog post as you would meeting a friend for coffee.
4. Don’t be afraid. If you have a dry wit, use it. If you have an uncanny ability for description and can really turn a phrase, do it. Play to your strengths and you’ll quickly see a pattern in your posts.
5. Write what you know. If you have no interest in cats, don’t start a cat blog. If you don’t know the first thing about computers, don’t start  a tech blog. But if you love college basketball, start a college basketball blog. Or if you have tons of great cooking tips, start writing about cooking.

These tips can apply to company blogs as well as personal ones. You company has a focus, an audience and an expertise – all those can be honed to create a well-written blog that gives a voice to your business.

I’d love to hear how you found your blogging voice or if you have examples of great bloggers who have their own distinct voice.

Finding the Best Blogs

Keeping up with all the blogs in the world can be one tough challenge.

Check out this post on our client Spirit Telecom’s No Static Blog about how to weed through the maze of bloggers to find the ones that are best suited for you and your business.

And be sure to share some of your ideas for managing the blogosphere too!

Don’t Knock It Until You Try It

I’m beginning to think Twitter is something you either love, hate or just plain don’t understand. I often find myself trying to dispel the myth that it’s simply people writing about what they ate for lunch, what kind of creamer they’re using in their third cup of coffee or that they’re on their way to the kids’ soccer game. Well, yes, if that’s all Twitter was, I wouldn’t want to be part of it either.

“Twitter haters see no point in tweeting” was the headline for an Aug. 25 article in USA Today. Interestingly, the first comment in the story is from a man who has never used Twitter, but says it bugs him. Another woman quoted in the story has no interest in tweets that “share the most mundane details of life.”

Texas-based Pear Analytics, which does data analysis for marketing, studied 2,000 tweets from the public Twitter timeline over a two-week period from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Central time). The tweets went into six categories: news, spam, self-promotion, pointless babble, conversational and pass-along value.

Even though pointless babble was 40.55%, conversational tweets accounted for 37.55%. Coming in third was pass-along value at a lower 8.7%. You can read more about the study and get the firm’s white paper on its blog.

I spend a great deal of time on Twitter each day, checking out things for clients or just monitoring my own Twitter account. Yes, Twitter has its share of “turkey and cheese on rye” kind of tweets. But I gloss over those and direct my attention to people I know have something entertaining, informative or useful to share. I’ve come across plenty of good Web sites, tidbits and articles I wouldn’t have seen without Twitter. I’ve checked out products, companies, shopping deals and parenting tips all thanks to Twitter.

It’s a matter of filter. Look at who you follow. If the person is tweeting about lunch and other mundane details, it’s quite simple: don’t follow that person. And you can always unfollow someone who seemed interesting at first and later takes a nosedive into mundane.

Also, choose to follow like-minded people. If you have no interest in sports, don’t follow people who are talking about sports – to you, that’s “pointless babble.” If you don’t have children, don’t follow people who tweet about their kids or give parenting advice – to you, that’s “pointless babble.”

If you find tweeters who share your interests, opinions and hobbies, chances are you’ll find more conversations and pass-along value and less pointless babble.

OK, gotta run. I’m having ham and cheddar on wheat.

The uses of social media – in life and in death

My first real foray into the land of Web 2.0 was a blog I started in fall 2005. It was mainly a way to record and share the moments in my life with friends and family. Since then, I’ve jumped on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I feel immersed in the world of social media and its capabilities as a personal and business tool.

But earlier this month, I discovered an entirely new use for social media and the Internet when a professional colleague and friend passed away after a battle with brain cancer. Terry Harper was the executive director of the Society of Professional Journalists, an organization with more than 8,000 members. I served on the SPJ national board of directors for six years so had worked with Terry during my board service.

When we found out about his cancer, members of the organization rallied their thoughts and prayers and put full support behind Terry and his family for many months. But a few weeks ago, we found ourselves coming together again, this time to pay our respects to our colleague and friend.

What struck me as most interesting was the method for our collective sadness. With SPJ members scattered about the country, the majority of us couldn’t physically attend the memorial service or other events that would honor Terry’s memory. So we pulled together online. We posted messages on Terry’s Facebook page as well as a special group page that had been created to support Terry’s fight with cancer. We tweeted our grief on Twitter. We posted hundreds of comments on Terry’s blog, Thumping My Melon. SPJ created a memorial page on its Web site where members and friends of the society could post comments, donate to a memorial fund or simply remember Terry in pictures.

I couldn’t help but think about how social media has changed the way we do everything, including celebrate lost loved ones and friends. In the past, we could only send a card of condolence, make a phone call or give a memorial donation to a particular charity. And while those are all still quite appropriate and important, now we have a chance to create a living, breathing memorial, a place where a person’s friends and family can read the many touching and inspiring comments as long as they like and friends can continue to post their thoughts.

Terry wrote a final blog post that his wife posted the day of his death. At last check, that post had 241 comments. Many of the comments are from people who knew Terry well; other comments are from people who didn’t know him at all – just another example of the far-reaching power of the Internet.

Housed online, these blogs and Facebook pages live on forever, a touching reminder of a person’s contributions here on Earth. And, I have to admit, I’ve been thinking: what would my final blog post say?