LB's Rambles

Where Do You Get Your News?

The Pew Research Center asks that question fairly regularly. According to MediaPost, the latest indication is that TV still leads the list of news sources for most people - but the Internet is coming up fast, and apparently at the expense of newspapers.

The total number of respondents who said they had looked at a newspaper the day before slipped from 40% to 34% from 2006-2008, according to Pew. Meanwhile, the number of people who say the visit an Internet news sites at least three times a week increased from 18% in 2006 to 25% in 2008.

I think the most significant point, though, is that there is a subset of users who rely entirely on the Internet for news - and their median age is 35, making it the lowest-aged set found in the study.

There's a lot more - check out the article.

The Importance of Transparency

Interesting session at the New Media Expo on Tactical Transparency: the value of getting personal in business. John C. Havens of Blog Talk Radio joined Shel Holtz to talk about something which I think is critical to communications today: the need for transparency in communication.

Holtz and Havens believe it is an organization's enlightened self-interest to be transparent far beyond what is merely reqired by the law. Obviously, you can't disclose everything - some things must remain secret. But you do have to be transparent in areas that are important to the various "stakeholder publics" that can make or break a company. Companies need to expose their leaders, employees, values, cultures, business practices and business strategy.

Transparency is not full disclosure, especially not in the legal sense. You can be transparent and have rules at the same time. It can be scary - but it can lead to authenticity.

One interesting note: it seems the CEO and the "official corporate spokesperson" show up in studies as the LEAST trusted (by the public) to be speaking for the company.

Havens makes a good point about transparency and negative comments. He quotes from the president of Bigelow Teas, who got caught in the midst of complaints, but said - I'd rather you yell at me to my face than behind my back - at least this way I can explain where I'm coming from.

As with most discussions about transparency, there was barely time to scratch the surface in an hour. Havens and Holtz have a book on the subject coming out in November. It should be an interesting read.

Being Social Outside a "Social Network"

Steve Baldwin of Didit makes some interesting points over on the Search Insider blog today, noting that "social media" embraces more than just the big networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace. He points to forums - fora, sorry - that have been around since the early days of the internet and that continue to evolve into places where conversations about products and services are taking place every day. So, as a marketer, whether people are signing up as "fans" of your brand on Facebook, or visiting your page on MySpace, or talking about the brand on an industry-wide forum site, you need to be reaching all of them.

He's right.

“Forums” have been a means of two-way conversation well before the Web really got going, via usegroups and other earlier conversations. PR people - the good ones, anyway - have been counseling clients for a long time now about the need to think in terms of conversations rather than bullhorns. It can be done on “social network” sites such as Facebook just as effectively as on an established forum - but the smart marketer will be in both places.

Time to Retire?

My friend Serena Ehrlich over at Business Wire has sent a tweet pointing out a very funny post on Drew Kerr's PR Rock & Roll Blog, called "The Eight Most Overused Phrases in Public Relations."

Not only funny but right on target. And I think his suggestions for replacements are even funnier. Enjoy!

What's Not to Like About Good Service?

Last week, my home Internet service had a bad stomach ache and refused to work.

So I picked up my phone and called Comcast, which agreed that the service wasn't working, and scheduled a tech for the next day.

OK. In the past, that would have been the end of it, at least until the tech showed up.

But this time, I also had Twitter, and it was still working. So I sent out a tweet, noting the problem.

A few minutes later, up popped a reply from Comcast's digital care manager, Frank Eliason. I gave him some info (again, via Twitter) and he was able to check further on my problem. And, when the tech was due, Frank stayed in touch until the problem was resolved.

I mention him because today's Daily Dog has an article about how Comcast and other companies are using social networking to reach out to clients. The Dog quotes an article in last Friday's New York Times which goes into greater depth - and has the usual obligatory warnings about how it all feels like "Big Brother is watching you."

Nonsense.

If good service is good customer relations - and it is, and if Comcast has always had what might be termed politely a less-than-perfect record for good service - as it has, then I fail to see anything wrong with their reaching out via Twitter and blogs to improve their service and their image. Hell, as a beneficiary of it last week, I think it's great. Thanks, Frank!

About Writing

There's a fascinating column in today's edition of the Bulldog Reporter's "Daily Dog" newsletter by Kim Perez, a freelance writer and PR consultant. She explains why she writes: because she loves writing. Yes, it's how she makes a living, and it's unbelievably hard work. But she loves it, and that's her main motivation.

As another professional writer, I understand what she's saying, and I agree with her completely. I too am fascinated and occasionally frustrated by people who seem to think that writing isn't really "work." Surely we must do something else as well.

Wrong on all counts. See what Kim Perez says, because she is saying it extremely well. And I would echo her advice to those who think they can just sit down and start writing: if you don't love it, and aren't willing to work at it - please don't bother.

Classic Mysteries - Now a Blog Too!

The Classic Mystery podcasts (which are linked individually from the right-hand column of this blog) now have a matching blog to go with them, where - I hope - we can continue the conversations started by our weekly Monday podcasts.

The blog is at www.classicmysteries.net - note that this is a .net, not a .com . Think of detectives casting out their nets and you'll remember it. Anyway, I encourage you to visit there and join in the conversation. I'd love to see suggestions for other authors in the classic mold.

I'll still keep posting a brief announcement here each Monday - but will take most of the mystery discussion over to the new blog. Please visit early and often!

The Mighty Dinosaur in the C-Suite

Steven Cody, Managing Partner at Peppercom, has a fairly depressing commentary over at the Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog site - depressing because it is accurate. Cody laments the lack of understanding of digital PR in the C-suites. He quotes various communications execs, speaking about their bosses:

• "The CEO is disinterested in communications altogether."
• "The C-suite is for it as long as it saves money."
• "They see it as an expensive tool to use during hard economic times."
• "My C-suite simply doesn't believe in digital."
• "My communications department is ready to implement a digital strategy, but management and other departments are uncomfortable with technology."
• "They have no idea what it is."

Thus spake Tyrannosaurus Rex, king of the dinosaurs, at the top of the food chain, looking forward to an undoubtedly bright future.

Also, alas, extinction.

I don't expect the CEOs and other Cs of major corporations necessarily to lead the way on technology. They have other matters on their plate, necessary functions if they are to become or remain industry leaders. But technology isn't waiting for them. Cody has some very good suggestions about how to speed up the education of these people. He's right. It's just that we're all well along the way through this communications revolution we're all undergoing - and it would be so much easier for all of us if the top people had a clue...

Being Social

Another study and white paper, this time from Universal McCann, shows the amazing growth of virtually all kinds of social media. At the Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog, Sally Falkow says it's more proof of a basic shift in the way we communicate. I agree. And I presume, since you and I are communicating with each other on this blog, that you will agree too...

In Fairness to the AP...

As a followup to my last item below, this story continues to develop. As such stories will, it has taken on something of a life of its own.

In fairness, there are two newer, lengthier posts you ought to read - a well-thought-out comment from Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine, and a longer one with very valuable background about the controversy and its background - and why the AP's point of view has been misrepresented - from Robert Cox, the president of the Media Bloggers Association.