Tag Archives: Journalism

The mistake that can ruin your company’s reputation

Posted by: | February 28, 2013 | Best Practices, due diligence, General Business Practices

PinocchioWhen people visit your company’s website, they take it for granted that the content is authentic. If you say that you fill orders in 24 hours, readers believe it. Some embellishment is a given when promoting your business, but don’t take liberty with the facts.

Credibility is crucial to your company’s success. Prospects and clients need to know that your business is legitimate and that you’ll do what you say you’ll do. Similarly, if your site contains glowing customer testimonials, they’d better be real quotes from current or past clients. Assume that prospects will contact every individual for more information. (more…)

An insider’s guide to getting media coverage: Part one

Posted by: | March 8, 2012 | Best Practices, Journalism, Marketing planning

Some things haven’t changed since I was a reporter. News staffs are stretched thinner than Demi Moore after her breakup with Ashton. And they’re still inundated with requests for publicity. Hundreds of press releases, story pitches, emails and phone calls cross their desks every day. Break through the clutter and get coverage for your business with a few straightforward strategies.

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The newsroom: Another view

Posted by: | July 23, 2010 | Journalism, Print

The newsroom: Another view

When I’m wrong, I’ll admit it. I’ve never been one to shy away from ‘fessing up to my mistakes. My post on Wednesday about my former newsroom ruffled some feathers. One of the editors pointed out that a two-hour visit is not enough time to assess the current state of the paper or its staff. All I know is what I saw and heard, but it seems I rushed to judgment.

With her permission, I’m sharing some of her thoughts:

“Yes, you were there on a bad day, but that doesn’t tell the full story. We have made no staff cuts. We are down one reporter through a resignation, but are actively looking for a replacement. There were few reporters and editors there that day because of vacation and other days off – the latter a mandate to prevent permanent layoffs companywide. There are plenty of people there to put out the paper.”

When I worked there, it was sometimes a struggle to get supplies, such as reporters’ notepads and pens, but we didn’t have to take unpaid leave. So that is new. And it’s not just happening here – it’s occurring in other newsrooms as well. And the day I visited, the overall atmosphere was nothing like it was back in the day. It was subdued and quiet. But as the editor noted, it was a bad day.

She went on to highlight the paper’s equipment and coverage of significant events. She’s proud of their achievements – rightfully so:

“Most of production is fully automated these days. We have top-of-the-line equipment that is operated by the best people. You should have also seen the full (the late U.S. Sen. Robert C.) Byrd coverage. It was comprehensive and among the best. Did you see any of our coverage of the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in April? It was top flight. We are also in the midst of putting together a special series on the disaster.”

The editor conceded that the building needs work, as I wrote, but said the buckled floor will be repaired soon.  

In closing, she wrote that the paper is among the largest and most profitable in its group and that the staff still puts out a great issue every day.

“I just want you to see things through my eyes,” she said.

Newsrooms go dark

Posted by: | July 21, 2010 | Journalism, Print

Newspapers across the country are suffering from hard times. Many of their editorial staffs are forced to take unpaid furlough days every quarter and contend with a multitude of other cutbacks. It’s no secret that shareholders’ relentless pursuit of increasing profits and the industry’s burying its head in the sand about the Internet spurred the crash.

Still, it was a sobering and sad occasion for me last month when I visited the West Virginia daily where I worked for eight years. Half the lights in the newsroom were burned out and had been so for some time, and the floor had buckled in a couple of places. The solution: Mark the areas with orange cones. It seemed permanent.

Even more disconcerting was the silence. It was like a cemetery. And this was the morning the news broke of the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s death. The place should have been a beehive of activity. Byrd was an important figure in West Virginia’s history and in the U.S. Senate, having served the longest congressional term in history.

I was prepared for bad. I didn’t expect the worst. The newsroom was virtually empty. Reporters weren’t scurrying around trying to make deadline or huddling with editors in strategy planning sessions. By late afternoon, at least two of the editors had left for the day. No one was working the phones. In fact, I wondered who was even putting out the paper and if they could afford to print the issue given that they couldn’t keep all the lights on.

In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when I worked there, a big news day like that was an exciting, adrenaline-filled rush. My former co-workers that I keep in touch with know what I’m talking about. I’m not just being romantic about it either. We were a cohesive and talented group of reporters, editors, copyeditors, photographers and page designers who lived, ate and breathed newspapers. We got up each day charged and ready to uncover the next big story. The newsroom thrived and so did we.

Not anymore.

Take your pick – back of the house or front row

Posted by: | June 10, 2010 | Journalism, Print

Who likes sitting in the nosebleed section at a concert? The sound bites and you can’t see the band. The only benefit is that you’re closer to the beer stands and the bathrooms.

The White House briefing room is obviously smaller than a concert venue with only seven rows and 49 seats. The coveted front row is arguably the only section that counts. And the stakes are high. These are assigned to the mainline brass in the White House Press Corps. They are called on first when they have questions, while the reporters who are relegated to the back are ignored.

Since the dawn of time, Helen Thomas, who just retired after making anti-Semitic comments, has occupied the best seat in the house – the middle, front row. She always got to ask the first question at press conferences and had been on the job so long, I thought she’d be entombed there. The jockeying for her seat has begun in earnest and it’s an entertaining spectacle. Some days, I miss being a reporter, but the day the lobbying began isn’t one of them. I think the campaign was under way even before her chair was cold.

Bloomberg reporter Ed Chen told The Wall Street Journal this week, “It’s like musical chairs in elementary school, except it has the cutthroat viciousness of a snake pit.”

Pity the poor Talk Radio reporter who occupies the last seat in the back. You don’t stand a chance, pal. And Media News, which is in the sixth row, might as well quit now. No one knows who that is.

So which outlets have front-row seats? CNN, Reuters, ABC, CBS, the Associated Press and NBC. My hunch is that the FOX reporter, who has the middle second-row chair, doesn’t have a hope of moving up, given that we have a Democratic president who clearly spurns the network. I’m putting my money down on The New York Times, whose reporter sits in the second row.

No matter which contender is bestowed the honor of moving up, the more interesting battle could play out over who gets that newly vacated reporter’s seat. The White House Correspondents’ Association determines the pecking order. Care to place any bets?