Archive for December, 2008
What Bloggers Can Learn From Journalists
When I read Anita Bruzzese’s blog posting, What Bloggers Can Learn From Journalists, that appeared today on Chris Brogan’s outstanding and popular blog, I immediately sought her permission to repost her list of ten tips here. I am very happy she said, yes: It takes time to gain trust. If you post something that has [...]
TV’s One-Man-Band for News
WUSA television in Washington, D.C., has announced a significant change in how the station will cover and report news, a change that will certainly impact the quality, professionalism and accuracy of news reported by the station in the nation’s capital. For decades, TV news people in larger cities have worked in teams – a reporter [...]
Size Doesn’t Matter … Skills Do
Sincere thanks to Expert Access and my friend Steve Kayser at Cincom in Cincinnati for featuring my piece on leadership, Size Doesn’t Matter, Skills Do: During many interviews with corporations, organizations, and PR agencies—in addition to the media—in preparation to write my new book, “The Media Savvy Leader,” I found that not many corporate leaders [...]
You Know It’s Getting Bad When …
National Public Radio – NPR – one of America’s leading and most respected news organizations – plans to lay off seven percent of its staff, the first layoffs at the popular radio news and information national network in 25 years. The reason – NPR has been hit by the recession, like many other news organizations. NPR [...]
The New Radio … Online
I greatly enjoyed being interviewed recently by Peter Clayton, who runs Total Picture Radio, an online radio news service. And, it has reminded me of how the concept of Podcasts has grown and evolved into today’s new form of radio. The purpose of the interview was to discuss my new book, The Media Savvy Leader. [...]
Interactive Online News Releases
The style and format of news releases has not changed much since the days of Gutenberg. Well, maybe not that far back but it seems like it. Most news releases are not news stories but rather self-serving announcements, written more for the benefit of a company or organization than to get the attention of, God-forbid, [...]
Presentations on Steroids
Well … maybe not steroids. But Animoto sure adds a nice dimension to a presentation. I wrote about Powerpoint presentation techniques recently but only learned of Animoto, thanks to my friend Steve Kayser. Animoto is a way to create animated slideshows using still images, and it has merits to bring alive a possibly dull Powerpoint. [...]
Junk Words Muddy Communication
While attending a conference the other day, I saw a fellow wearing a t-shirt that read, “AAAA” in bright read letters, and underneath were the words, “American Association Against Acronyms.” I had to chuckle. The use of acronyms is one of the great impediments to clear communication. Acronyms are brief codes or shorthand used by [...]
Long Live Storytelling
I love the tradition of storytelling and believe it is the best way to communicate ideas and thoughts. Storytelling is the ancient art of conveying events in words, images, and sounds often by improvisation or embellishment, according to Wikipedia. Great storytelling is also a pillar of effective leadership. In today’s world, we gravitate to stories, [...]
Porter Novelli: Senior Leaders Depart
It’s nothing new that Porter Novelli (PN), one of the many large PR firms in the stable of holding company Omnicom, has been struggling. Much of the agency’s senior team has departed or been asked to leave. The PR business is competitive enough without a massive holding company of bean counters constantly demanding greater revenue [...]
