Some people seem to miss out on the point of journalism when discussing technology and the news. The fact that something newsworthycan be published instantly on Twitter doesn’t mean that traditional media is on its deathbed. As Ger Colleran pointed out, traditional media’s role has always been to filter citizen journalism and bring newsworthy content to a wider audience. The difficulty for most media organisations is their relative slowness in mining emerging sources of content for news.

The role of the media to filter citizen journalism sounds somewhat parasitic, but in fact it’s quite the opposite. We need organisations or individuals that we can trust. Noam Cohen had an interesting piece in the New York Times about the strengths and weaknesses of Twitter in relation to the events in Iran. In it he points out:

Nothing on Twitter has been verified. While users can learn from experience to trust a certain Twitter account, it is still a matter of trust. And just as Twitter has helped get out first-hand reports from Tehran, it has also spread inaccurate information, perhaps even disinformation. An article published by the Web site True/Slant highlighted some of the biggest errors on Twitter that were quickly repeated and amplified by bloggers: that three million protested in Tehran last weekend (more like a few hundred thousand); that the opposition candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi was under house arrest (he was being watched); that the president of the election monitoring committee declared the election invalid last Saturday (not so).

As I’ve mentioned before, some people seem to think that because news breaks on a certain medium first, then that medium is inherently the best news source. That is a dangerous assumption as there are editorial standards to consider. Following its coverage of the Beslan tragedy, the BBC introduced a time delay as part of the its editorial guidelines in order to underline the point that accuracy and quality should come before speed.

When traditional media has been shown up of late, it is because the structural flaws of short staffed newsrooms have been highlighted. A hoax quote posted to Wikipedia after the death of Maurice Jarre was used by a number of media organisations. The journalists involved took the easy option and turned to Google. What sets journalists and bloggers apart is that journalists are meant to have the time to research their stories thoroughly.

A lot is being made of the current events in the US Newspaper industry. A recent article in the Observer sums it up, with Philadelphia looking the the first US city to lose all of its print newspapers. Obviously as a result there is a lot of speculation about newspapers in other parts of the globe. However, a key factor that is often overlooked in these comparisons is that a lot of US newspapers were bought and run into the ground by people that didn’t know anything about journalism. The real vicious cycle that emerged was each newspaper in difficulty could never service the level of debt generated by the purchase and the measures take to address costs such as newsroom cutbacks only harmed the quality of the product.

By not having people on the ground, traditional media are fundamentally undermining themselves. David Simon, the creator of The Wire, made a comment that you don’t see many bloggers in a courtroom. Unfortunately, you have to worry how much longer we wil see journalists there either. For example, Jamie Symth had an interesting piece in the Irish Times the other week on the effect of cutbacks on the coverage of EU affairs. In the article Smyth outlines the measures which a number of publications have taken recently. The net result of which is that the public will be less informed about the EU, all in the same year as Smyth points out that will be “punctuated by the European elections, a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and the appointment of new team of commissioners in Brussels.“

In terms of international comparison and the effects of the cutbacks in terms of Irish media output, Smyth goes on to write:

Statistics show Ireland is very poorly represented in Brussels, with just six journalists registered to cover the commission from The Irish Times, Examiner , RTÉ and Irish Daily Mail. In comparison, states with a similar population such as Denmark, Austria and Finland all have 13 or 14 correspondents based in Brussels, while Switzerland, which isn’t even an EU member, has 19 registered reporters and Norway has nine journalists.

Research conducted after the first Lisbon referendum demonstrated that public knowledge of EU affairs is low in Ireland. The commission has also noted a growing euroscepticism among the Irish media, which is being driven by increasing sales of the Irish editions of British tabloid papers.

Given all that is going on in the world at present, it is more important than ever that the public is kept informed on a range of key issues. The appetite for news is there, as recent current affairs viewing figures have demonstrated.

If traditional media is to adapt and thrive in the new media ecosystem, the people in charge need to listen to the likes of Jeff Jarvis more. He hits the nail on the head in a recent blog post:

The greatest value a news organization can add to this new news ecosystem is to identify, curate, vet, and train people…The larger the network of people a news organization can organize, the better shape it will be in when news breaks, the better it can filter the reports that come - whether from people in that network or in the larger network of people those people know. The more people in the network, the more who can go to the scene of news or research closer to it - the more you can ask for help.

As for the future of journalism, I’m inclined to agree with a piece in the Economist that John Naughton recently highlighted:

Nico Pitney of the Huffington Post, Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic and Robert Mackey of the New York Times waded into a morass of information and pulled out the most useful bits. Their websites turned into a mish-mash of tweets, psephological studies, videos and links to newspaper and television reports. It was not pretty, and some of it turned out to be inaccurate. But it was by far the most comprehensive coverage available in English. The winner of the Iranian protests was neither old media nor new media, but a hybrid of the two.

In Ganley’s defence, he was polling well and his party also played a key role in the defeat of the Lisbon Treaty in last year’s referendum. However, the question of balance is an interesting point to raise given that a second referendum will take place in the autumn. As discussed previously, I attended a recent Cleraun media forum where representatives from RTE and the Irish Times were at strains to highlight that their Lisbon Treaty coverage was 50:50 balanced, but some other publications were anti Lisbon. The Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI) also complained about the challenges broadcasters faced having to give both sides equal airtime. IBI chairman Willie O’Reilly was quoted in the Irish Times as saying, “By giving equal time to both sides we gave the No case more credibility and less scrutiny than it deserved,” and added that the rules for 50:50 balance in a referendum “make a megaphone for any argument regardless of its own merit and or the credibility of its proponents.”

You can see why Ó’Luain would have cause for complaint given that a couple of months ago, representatives from groups with no electoral mandate and with little scrutiny were given ample airtime. It’s an issue that is likely to be discussed ahead of the next referendum. With Ganley reportedly resigning from political life folowing Libertas’ poor showing at the polls and Mary Lou McDonald’s failure to regain her european seat, will we see the microphone swing back to Joe Higgins and the alliance of the left, who could genuinely now claim to be the voice of the no vote.

By and large there are valid reasons for organisations to have rather bland business cards. Business cards should reflect the organisation’s brand and its values. That said, however, there are a number of elements that can be factored into a card to make them stand out. For example, the business card owner could have their photo on their card which helps recall if the recipient has picked up fifteen other cards at the same event. For examples of innovative business cards have a read this article, 51 Creative Business Cards That Will Make You Look Twice.

One creative example I came across is PrintDelicious.ie’s chocolate business cards. I was recently speaking at a Small Firms Association event and was given a sample by the owner, Sandie Stanley. Here’s a video of some samples Sandie sent into Ireland AM on TV3. While they might not be appropriate for many organisations, let’s just say that people would be sure to remember anyone giving out these business cards. In fact, if you’re a bit shy I’d almost encourage you to think about using them as the person giving them out at the SFA event was literally inundated with people looking for a sample once someone else at the event had shown them what they had received.

I’ve met Robin a few times over the years and been impressed by his obvious intellect, but have always been surprised by his marketing skills. I happened to be flicking through some notes over the weekend and came across Guy Kawasaki’s amazing book ‘Art of the Start’, which is a must read for all entrepreneurs.

Decisions for Heroes is an excellent brand. It’s name alone sums up what the company is about, but Blandford goes further and follows one of Kawasaki’s rules - make a mantra for your company. The example quoted in ‘Art of the Start’ is the mantra of Wendy’s should be healthy fast food.

Decisions for Heroes’ mantra can be found at the bottom of the homepage - better decisions save lives. It’s clear and concise, explaining to potential customers exactly what it does on the tin.

There were some interesting insights shared at the event such as the Rose Report’s recommendation that primary school students graduate with a knowledge of IT (which will be a huge challenge in Ireland given the lacking of technology funding in our education system) and the changing role of teachers from simply being a distributor of information to that of a moderator or facilitator for the ideas that students bounce back at them.

What really got me thinking though was the presentation on the Dutch approach to promoting science and technology to secondary school student. The presenters pointed out that they had identified that students could be grouped into different subsets ranging from young people who were passionate to subjects like maths and chemistry to those who will never show any interest and opt for other careers. One of the comments made highlighted why our approach to science education is wrong and why we need to completely change the way we teach it. There are also clear similarities with communications strategies and why breaking down the audience into different groups with similar behaviour is so important.

One of the presenters pointed out that scientists or technologists rarely are politicians, as a result important policies governing these sectors are made by people with little understanding of the subjects, often resulting in poor decisions. The fact that the education system takes a one-size fits all approach to students within the system is detrimental in some ways. It simply does not recognise that some people will never be interested in science or technology subjects and effectively puts them off them for life. You will then often hear scientists complain about how important achievements in different fields are rarely recognised by the general public, whether it’s in the media or in government.

The shift that needs to occur is a rebalancing of the system so people’s varying aptitudes are recognised. For example, rather than simply focusing on mathematical theorems or definitions, the subject would also incorporate aspects of other fields which students would be better suited to. For example, students (primarily in earlier stages of the education system) would learn about scientists and the important cultural role they played in a similar fashion to their history subjects. In later stages once students have an opt-out of the subject, more focus could then be put on the practical elements. This would result in less negative reinforcement about the perceptions of science and technology as it would become more accessible as this balanced approach would mean students could play to their strengths.

There are clear benefits to this approach which can be applied to communications strategies, particularly for public information campaigns. By recognising that subsets with different behaviour exist, you can tailor tactics to engage individual groups making the overarching strategy much more robust than the one size fits all approach.

Costs - One of the main things that a lot of companies overlook is the usage rights of photography. Most people assume that when they commission a photographer they own the photos - wrong. By and large if you commission a photographer, you will end up paying for their time, the contact sheets which will include a thumbnail of each image and the cost of distributing a selection of pictures to newspapers. However If you want a copy to use on a regular basis, i.e. a headshot of an executive that is often quoted in the press, then you need to pay for usage of that image. So before commissioning a photographer establish what the exact costs will be. Ensure you explain to them exactly what you will be using the pictures for.

Neil Danton was onto me with feedback on my original post and offer some extra advice:

A professional photographer worth their salt should actually be quoting a client along the following lines:

To produce & provide (Qty) images of (Subject) at (Location) on (Date).
For (exclusive/non-exclusive) use by Client to use these images for:
(Definition - could be PR release National & Local newspapers, or brochure, or web-site, or a combination)) Period of use: (One year/Two years) etc.
Territory: xyz (Ireland & UK/Europe/Worldwide).
Licence fee based on the above: €Eur xx

That’s it. It’s irrelevant what the photographer’s costs are. It’s irrelevant how long the photographer is actually standing in front of the client on location. The fee depends on the Licence. The Licence depends on the usage.

This isn’t too say that you should go with the cheapest photographer, all I am saying is that you should be clear on costs and usage rights as it can cause headaches. For more advice on pricing, check out Neil’s post here.

You Get What You Pay For - Some people are obsessed with price and will simply commission the cheapest photographer. When it comes to photography, you get what you pay for and the cheapest is not always the best. The reason why people use established photo agencies or individual photographers is that their images land in the newspapers on a regular basis. While images are never guaranteed to appear in a paper, no matter how good the picture, you should always pay for quality. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t shop around, but take the time to flick through the papers every now and again to see who is credited in pictures in the press. This is a good way of identifying a good photo agency, particularly if you don’t employ a PR agency.

Timing Is Essential - One of the simple ways that organisations miss out on potential coverage is through bad timing. If you are commissioning photography for the next day’s papers; ideally you should aim to have the photo session complete by 1pm in order for the photographer to have the images issued to the picture desk for consideration. Recently, I bumped into a photographer on his way down to a job outside Dublin at 3pm with an Irish sports personality for a charity. Ordinarily this type of picture have a good chance of landing, but even he said the client was mad for refusing to be more flexible on the timing as there was little chance they would appear.

You should also take the day of the week into consideration. I personally think that unless the photography is for an event or something genuinely newsworthy, you should always try to issue images for a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday as it’s generally to busy later in the week to have a good chance of landing. One should also consider when supplements appear in national newspapers and try to coordinate photography with them if relevant. For example, Monday is a good day of the week for health related photocalls as the Irish Times health supplement is published on a Tuesday.

From an even more basic perspective, it’s always better to issue images to appear midweek as there are less papers at the weekend, hence less of a chance of appearing.

Give Them What They Want - It’s always worth flicking through the papers on a regular basis to get an idea of the type of pictures individual papers use on a regular basis. By doing this you will observe things like the Irish Times being extremely unlikely to use images with models or that the Irish Daily Mail rarely uses pictures from photocalls.

Look At The Composition Of The Image - The makeup of the image is extremely important. Always consult the photographer you have commissioned with your thoughts and take his feedback on board. Some basic tips include ensuring that the image isn’t crowded (have a maximum of three people in any image), leave your ego at the door (if it’s a product shot, leave the marketing manager out of the image unless it’s for a trade shot) and try to make the image as tight as possible (a full length shot of a lorry means that the people in the picture will generally end up as specs in the mage)

Use Of Models And Personalities - Despite all the mocking of Irish models, they are commissioned for photocalls on a regular basis because the resulting images are often featured in newspapers. Models and other personalities are great for product launches because the public are naturally interested in them, so they become an avenue for putting your product in front of consumers when they are pictured with it. By enlisting the help of a personality like a celebrity or a sports star, you can also get more editorial space. For example, sports stars are quite effective if they have an upcoming match as you can arrange interviews along with the photocall.

HowStuffWorks has a good article on how Nine Inch Nails are leading the charge when it comes to the future of the music industry. The band are demonstrating ways to make money from free music, something a number of other industries should take note of.

Guerilla Innovation highlights a clever art project in New York called anycoloryoulike, which aims to add a little colour to the trashbags that like the streets of NYC. It’s a great solution to one of the city’s eyesores.

I’ve been following the MKC Communications blog with great interest. MKC Communications is a Dublin based PR agency and a number of their team are contributing to the blog on a variety of topics such as the recent Irish elections, the swine flu epidemic and the future of the newspaper industry. The blog is only two months old, but it’s an essential read for anyone with an interest in PR in Ireland.

Two other blogs I’ve also started following recently are those of Dave Molloy, editor of a Trinity College Dublin student newspaper, and Mark Coughlan, a journalism student. One great post on Molloy’s site is ‘Technique over Technology‘ which highlights while it’s good to keep up with the latest technology trends, don’t forget the basics like interview and shorthand skills.

Samsung are making a string of great viral videos at the moment, here’s my favourite one for the Samsung Ultratouch.

Reading the interview with Light, I couldn’t help but think about how some of the lessons McDonalds learnt back in 2002 matter more than ever during a recession. Here are two key quotes which I think are particularly relevant in the current economic climate.

During the years preceding 2002, McDonald’s focused on cost reduction, rather than customer experience improvement. The result was the incremental degradation of product and service quality.

Managing costs is a major focus at present. Companies are right to look at cost savings when it comes to improving efficiencies, but unfortunately many organisations are cutting off their hand at their wrist in order to save on trimming their fingernails. The majority of companies need to shift their focus from customer acquisition to customer retention. If company’s want to improve their customer offering, the best way to do it is by focussing on customer experience improvement. Robin Blandford has an interesting blog post on this topic about how organisations can turn customer complaints to their advantage.

Effective marketing is essential for enduring profitable growth. It is not enough to renovate and innovate. Customers must be kept aware and reminded of the brand promise. And, the brand image needs to be kept up to date. Beginning in 2003, the McDonald’s brand reputation experienced a major rehabilitation and revitalization.

One topic consistently brought up by advertisers is the old chestnut that the companies that profited during the last recession were those that maintained or increased their advertising spend. I think this is over the top, what companies need to focus on though like McDonalds is reminding customers about their brand promise. McDonalds took a step back and looked at what was really important to their customers. People go to McDonalds because they want to get something to eat quickly in a clean and friendly environment, so they invested in fulfilling this experience for their customers through clever investments like hostesses to cater for parents with small children.

Competing simply on price is a short term strategy, it only buys you some time before your competitors eventual respond. If you want to build brand loyalty then you have to develop an experience which isn’t easily replicable by your competition.

For these insights alone, I will definitely be picking up a copy of Light’s new book ‘Six Rules for Brand Revitlization‘ For those unfamiliar with McDonalds’ ten commandments, here they are again:

1. The customer is the most important person in our business

2. The customer is not dependent on us - we are dependent on him

3. The customer is not an interruption of our work - he is the purpose of it

4. The customer does us an honour when he calls - we are not doing him a favour by serving him

5. The customer is part of our business, not an outsider - he is our guest

6. The customer is not a cold statistic - he is flesh and blood - a human with feelings like our own

7. The customer is not someone to argue with or match wits with

8. The customer is the one who brings us his wants - it is our job to fill them

9. The customer is deserving of the most courteous and attentive treatment we can give him

10. The customer has the right to expect an employee to present a neat, clean appearance. The employee should have trim, clean
fingernails, be clean shaven and keep his hair cut