Preditors Bring New Life to Old Media

That’s right, I mean “preditors” (online publisher/editors), not “predators” (people who prey on others).

I just read an interesting piece in The New York Times (“Slicing Decades of Video for New Life on the Web” by Brian Stelter). Stelter describes how media companies are repackaging old TV footage and posting it on the Web. One such media company is Discovery Communications (DC), which owns The Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and the Science Channel, among others.

Preditors search through old video files from past shows that likely will not make it to the air again. Yet the material is still interesting, still relevant. People want to watch the footage – especially when it’s repackaged into 7-minute or shorter bits – and advertisers are clamoring to support the postings.

This is a great example of a company paying attention to trends (people watching video online or on their cell phones) and finding a way to meet customers’ needs while making a profit.

As a PR practitioner, you need to keep your eyes open for similar opportunities for your clients. For example, maybe your client has a backlog of graphic images it might want to repackage and sell – one image at a time or on a subscription basis – to similar organizations without graphic designers. You could offer this service online and maybe even attract related advertisers to help pay for the space.

Or what if you work for a client that promotes nutrition education. Perhaps you have “evergreen” newsletter stories about food-borne diseases, such as salmonella, that would be particularly relevant now. You could create a Web site with links to these stories, or you could repackage them as hints or posts on a blog.

Can you think of other examples of what companies – especially traditional media – might be able to repackage and sell online? What about newspapers? Do they have old information that might be worth something to someone? Or might they have new information people might pay for?

Obama's Chief Technology Officer & PR

President-elect Barack Obama reportedly will appoint his Chief Technology Officer within the next few days. Business Week writes that the choice is down to two Indian-born technology experts: Padmasree Warrior, CTO of Cisco Systems, and Vivek Kundra, CTO of the Government of Washington, D.C.

Whoever is chosen will have the exciting and daunting challenge of overseeing our government's policies and practices regarding technology of all sorts. Imagine you've been selected to serve on the new CTO's team. What advice would you give him or her in your role as a PR specialist?

Venturebeat.com describes the different mandate for President George W. Bush's CTO -- to "defend against cyberattacks" -- versus that for Obama's CTO -- to "ensure government officials hold open meetings, broadcast live webcasts of those meetings, and use blogging software, wikis and open comments to communicate policies with Americans."

This new approach reflects the "We Are One" theme of today's inaugural concert. It reflects Obama's message that we are "not a nation of red states and blue states but of the United States."

We saw the Obama team's reliance on new media to raise money for the campaign, to distribute its message and counteract rumors, and to rally voters on Election Day. Plans call for using new media to inform the public of the government's goals and plans and to solicit feedback. Technology can help fulfill the "boundary role" of public relations -- to convey information TO and FROM the public and the client.

Transparency, another hallmark of public relations, is at the heart of Obama's plans for government.

So the new CTO has been appointed and you've been asked for your opinion on how to use technology in the Obama administration. What would you recommend? Obama supposedly uses Twitter, but I seriously doubt "he" writes those entries. They sound more like something a PR person would write (no offense). The president would not have time to Tweet. Or if he did, I'd recommend against it. So why pretend he's really Tweeting? Doesn't that detract from the "truth" we're looking for?

"Stuff White People Like" -- and how we get information

Yesterday while we were watching TV, my husband was also scanning the Internet, looking for the blog "Stuff White People Like" (http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/), which he had heard mentioned on NPR and then told me about. I continued the cycle by going online myself, checking out the blog, then clicking on a link to "The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard" (http://www.storyofstuff.com/), which gave me the idea for this blog, and now I'm writing to you.

Think about how old (TV, radio) and new (blogs, Web sites, streaming video) media work together with face-to-face communication to generate a conversation. Can we doubt, as PR practitioners, that we must think about how people think (often as a "stream of consciousness") and make sure we provide information in many ways so that our publics can find our messages?

The blog "Stuff White People Like" started as a distraction for young author Christian Lander, who worked in advertising. It's described as being for "left-wing, upper-class Caucasians." While I don't fit into the "upper-class" category," I find his blog hilarious ... and right on the mark. Here are a few of the things he says white people like: hummus, sea salt, "The Daily Show"/"Colbert Report," being an expert on YOUR culture, public radio, New Balance shoes (that's all my husband wears), promising to learn a new language, grammar (ahem) and recycling (double ahem).

Of course, this is an oversimplification, but it does play into the idea of a buyer persona -- knowing whom you are targeting with your messages, products and services.

While scanning the blog, I saw a reference to "The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard" (http://www.storyofstuff.com/). I just had to click on it ... and then, I just had to keep listening to the 20:40 minute streaming video (because that's what guilt-ridden white people do). In the process, I found an answer to a question I'd posed to myself last week: How is it possible for a company to sell something (e.g., a cotton blouse made in China) so cheaply (e.g., $4 on super sale) and still make money? What about the cost of planting, harvesting and milling the cotton; cutting and sewing the blouse; packaging and shipping the garment from one continent to another; warehousing and then shipping the garment to the store; advertising, displaying and then selling the blouse, packed in a store-brand bag; and, somewhere along the line, paying rent, utility bills, wages and taxes? Well, "The Story of Stuff" answers the question.

As PR professionals, we must be aware of how people get information and how we can help them find what they need and want to know.

Welcome to PR Research & Strategies

Greetings, everyone!

Welcome to PR Research & Strategies. I'm looking forward to learning with you this semester.

This course focuses on teamwork, research methodology and social media -- a diverse set of skills, but all ones that you will need to succeed as a PR professional.

I've been in the PR business nearly (gulp!) 40 years. During that time, I led PR/communication offices in four states -- Minnesota, Vermont, Idaho and Tennessee -- and I've led and/or served on hundreds of teams. I've conducted many surveys, focus groups and other research projects. I've won numerous awards for my PR and communication work. I ran my own graphic design business for awhile. And I'm Accredited in Public Relations (APR) and a Certified Public Relations Counselor (CPRC).

However, I'm a relative newcomer on the social media scene. Therefore, this semester I will be expecting YOU to share your knowledge and help teach the rest of us what you know.

To get started, I'd like you to answer two questions: What would you like to know about the role of social media in PR, and what skills do you have in using social media (e.g., wikis, Twitter, blogs, Facebook, etc.)?

Dr. D