Inside PR

Inside PR

By Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich, Joe ThornleyBusinessNewsTechnologyMarketingTech News
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Inside PR episodes

  • Inside PR 458: We go to the PRSA International Conference

    This week’s Inside PR podcast comes to you from the PRSA International Conference in Indianapolis. Gini Dietrich and Martin Waxman presented sessions at the conference and they bring us their sense of what is on the minds of North American communicators who attended the session. Even better, we’re joined by a special guest, Michael Smart. Michael delivered a presentation on how to generate positive media coverage. And Gini and Martin dig in for his insights in this area.

    We also visit some of the takeaways of the panel on podcasting that featured Gini, Deirdre Breakenridge and Shonali Burke.

    Finally, Martin, Gini and Michael talk about the discussion around cybersecurity that really stood out for them at this year’s PRSA conference.

    The audio quality has some background noise. Gini, Martin and Michael were in a room with a fair amount of traffic. But we think the content is good. So, I hope you will overlook the background sounds. They never quite drown out the conversation.

    Oh, and by the way, Joseph Thornley was here too.  

    The post Inside PR 458: We go to the PRSA International Conference appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

    22 min
  • Inside PR 457: Close-hold embargos

    Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley are back with another episode of the Inside PR podcast.  

    #IPRMustKnows
    Create your Own Twitter Moments

    Twitter Moments, introduced for media and select users earlier this year, is now available for all users. This is a useful feature for anyone speaking at a conference or participating in an event or discussion that they want to curate and preserve. Bit by bit, Twitter is becoming even more useful.

    Large publishers are becoming dependent on Facebook. But where is the revenue?

    A report published by the International News Media Association and reported on by Nieman Lab indicates that 30% of visits to large publishers websites are referred from Facebook. That’s huge. But if publishers are becoming ever more dependent on Facebook’s network effect, and with Facebook favouring content published natively on it, the big question continues to be, is traffic paying off in revenue?

    Getting out front on AI

    The increasing introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into apps, social networks and internet-connected devices raise a broad range of ethical, legal and policy issues. And where that happens, government is likely to act. So, it should come as no surprise that large businesses are banding together in a number of organizations to address these issues in order in advance of legislation and regulation. Of course, we can only hope that the voice of civil society will be heard alongside that of business.

    A media relations issue to ponder: Close-hold embargoes

    Charles Seife, writing in Scientific American, introduced us to a practice we had never encountered: A close-hold embargo. And it gives us the opportunity to ponder the line between transparency and manipulation and the ethical questions that public relations practitioners must confront when negotiating terms of access with news media.

    The post Inside PR 457: Close-hold embargos appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

    24 min
  • Inside PR 455: Imagining Post-Newsprint PR
    Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley are back with another episode of the Inside PR podcast.  
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    From Docs to Podcasts
    A sign of the continuing professionalization of podcasts. In a few weeks, Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary film festival, will launch its first Hot Docs Podcast Festival. The lineup is heavily skewed to mainstream, large audience podcasts. I guess that means that we need to continue to look to community-generated events like Podcamp Toronto to represent amateur niche content. Things like Inside PR. :)
    Twitter – independent or acquisition?
    Can Twitter survive on its own? Would it be better being acquired by a larger entity? I know that, one way or the other, I don’t want Twitter to disappear. As other services have refined their algorithms to present popular content first, I think that Twitter now holds a unique place as our newsfeed. An essential lense on the world that not only allows us to bear witness in real time, but also allows anyone to see it happening in real time.
    Google Automated Insights
    If you use Google Analytics, you must check out the automated insights that have been added to the Google Analytics mobile app. An invaluable tool that helps you quickly identify the most salient trends and events in the traffic to your site. Little by little, we are moving in the direction of the intelligent assistant. And it’s free!
    PR can’t stop changing
    For our main topics this week, we discuss the need for PR to accelerate the repositioning of its core business proposition in the face of shrinking newsrooms. PR will not disappear. It just won’t look like it did a few years ago. And companies that haven’t changed their focus away from earned media will find themselves left behind. The rise of Facebook as an aggregator. The decline of newsrooms. Sponsored content as the new norm. The end of print newspapers. PR must prepare itself for the post-newsprint world. Some PR agencies are well down the path of reimagining the business. The new firms seem to understand that the emphasis must continue to be on relationships. But different forms of relationships with different actors and agents (algorithms anyone?) Those that evolve in this way will succeed. Along the way, those that change will have to explain themselves to a marketplace that may not have understood the need for these changes. Those that don’t will disappear. Bet on it.
    29 min
  • Inside PR 454: Stalker? Romantic?
    Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley are back with another episode of the Inside PR podcast.  
    #IPRMustKnows
    Martin Waxman’s Social Media Marketing for Small Business is on Lynda.com
    Yes, this is a shameless plug. But since it’s Joe writing this, Martin doesn’t have to be embarrassed. In fact, I think Martin is as smart about social media as anyone I know. And now Martin is sharing this knowledge on Lynda.com. Martin tells us about his trip to California to record a video course, Social Media Marketing  for Small Business.
    Buzzfeed News isn’t entertainment
    Buzzfeed separated its Buzzfeed news operation from the Buzzfeed entertainment operation. Prelude to a possible sale of Fuzzfeed News. Buzzfeed News Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith says no.
    WhatsApp shares user data with Facebook
    As happens so often with privacy concerns, after an initial spate of bad press, public protestations about Facebook’s decision to share user data from WhatsApp with Facebook seems to have died down. Our concern with privacy is something that spikes occasionally. But then we put it out of mind as we enjoy the experience of social media.
    Wired tells us about teens and social media
    A few things in Wired’s profile of teens and social media caught Gini’s eye. There are a lot of do’s and don’t’s. It’s not about understanding young people. It’s about looking at the social mores being established by a cohort that doesn’t have the baggage of previously shaped expectations and behaviour, a cohort that can lead the way in assessing new channels and defining norms of behaviour on them. As Martin says, “One generation’s romantic is another generation’s lurker.” (Apologies to John Cusack.)
    The NY Times on Facebook
    Liz Spayd, The New York Times Public Editor, recently offered her take on the content that The Times has been creating for Facebook. In her analysis, Facebook Live: Too Much, Too Soon, she states

    “…here’s the problem. After watching countless hours of live video in the past few weeks, I have hit upon many that are either plagued by technical malfunctions, feel contrived, drone on too long, ignore audience questions or are simply boring, by I imagine most anyone’s standards.
    “Too many don’t live up to the journalistic quality one typically associates with The New York Times.”

    This leads Martin, Gini and I into a discussion of the nature of content appropriate to social media. It’s not always going to stand up to The Times’ traditional standards. But it will be effective in its new place, for different reasons.
    Also worth noting in this article is something I hadn’t seen before. The New York Times has a contract to produce video content expressly for Facebook.

    “While the terms of the deal are secret, the transaction requires Facebook to give The Times a guaranteed sum (reported to be $3 million a year) in return for a prescribed amount of video (so far it’s averaging upward of four a day).
    27 min
  • Gini Dietrich knows how to promote content
    Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley are back with another episode of the Inside PR podcast. This week, we discuss:
    #IPRMustKnow
    Instagram Stories continues to attract publisher interest. It could well be the combination of an engaging experience meeting a pre-existing audience.
    Blab shut down, abruptly. Another sign that the psychology of scale has beat out the idea of sustainability for many business founders? For sure, it’s another reminder of the danger of placing your content eggs in any single shared space.
    Unless you promote it, they will not come
    Gini Dietrich schooled Joe on the importance and method of promoting content when she interviewed him for the Spin Sucks Inquisition. Within minutes of the post going live, Joe started to see mentions on his Twitter feed. Over the next week, he watched Gini promote the video. But beyond that, he watched Gini’s network chime in and share it. So, this week, we discuss Gini’s approach to promoting content, an approach which enables her to leverage a large and interested community of interest.
    Listen to the end for this week’s outtake
    You know that we’re not polished in our presentation. And if you heard us before the show is edited, you’d know that even better. But we genuinely like one another and have fun doing the show. Occasionally, this shows through in what we don’t include in the final version. Listen to the very end to get a taste of the stuff we leave on the cutting room floor.
    We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you.
    24 min
  • Inside PR 452: Is it time to rethink the Hub and Spoke?
    A recent Ontario arbitrator’s ruling reminds us that the law and social media are in an ever-changing relationship. The Olympics’ once again aggressively enforce trademarks on social media. Instagram Stories are feeling good. And the trend to distributed publishing prompts a rethink of the hub and spoke content publishing model. Join Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley as they discuss these topics on this week’s Inside PR podcast.
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    Employers’ social media responsibilities are fluid
    You may think that social media has been around long enough that you’re comfortable that you know what you should, can and must do when interacting on social media for your employer or client. Well, an Arbitrator’s ruling in a dispute between the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and the union representing its employees should remind us that nothing is fixed when it comes to social media. As reported in the Toronto Star, the Arbitrator ruled that the TTC, when operating @TTCHelps, its Twitter outreach ID, failed to take all of the measure it should have to protect its employees from online harassment and abuse. The union argued that, by operating its customer service Twitter ID, @TTCHelps, the TTC was providing a forum for abuse and harassment of its employees. While the arbitrator did not support the union’s demand to shut down the account, he did indicate that the TTC be more assertive, telling people to take down posts, images, etc. considered offensive to employees, blocking Twitter uses and requesting Twitter to close the accounts of those users who do not cooperate. We have a good discussion about this ruling. Regardless of which side you come down on, this is a reminder to be ready to revise your practices on social media. The law still is being made.
    Olympic-sized trademark enforcement says its about big money more than athletics
    It’s become a tradition. Noting the hyper-aggressive trademark enforcement surrounding the Olympics and the use of any of their registered terms. Small businesses need to keep themselves as safe as the larger entities. And that’s just not fun.
    Instagram Stories make a good social media platform even better
    Gini has been posting to Instagram stories daily, and she reports that it’s a much simpler, intuitive experience than posting to Snapchat. Simpler. Intuitive. A solid foundation for success.
    Does the hub and spoke need a tire change?
    The hub and spoke approach to creating, distributing and promoting content has been a best practice for several years. However, after hearing that 75% of the content Buzzfeed produces isn’t published on Buzzfeed.com, Martin wonders if it’s time for marketers to reassess the role of the hub. Gini and Joe aren’t quite ready to abandon their blogs, but they agree with Martin that we need to challenge our accepted practices.
    30 min
  • Inside PR 451: Perceived vs. real bias in news media
    Twitter opens verification to everyone. Yahoo closes an era. Anthony Ponce is a backseat rider. And the New York Times Public Editor shines a spotlight on the importance of perceived bias. Join Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley as they discuss these topics on this week’s Inside PR podcast.
    #IPRMustKnow
    RIP Yahoo
    Yahoo once was the directory of the internet. So, we couldn’t let it fade into oblivion without marking the event.
    Verify me, Twitter
    It has been a widely-coveted symbol – the Twitter blue verification check mark. Now, we all can apply for it. Many will be called, but few will be granted? Have you applied for Twitter verification under the new process? Has your application been approved?
    Backseat Rider
    Anthony Ponce left his job as an on-air news anchor to spend full-time driving tax and posting the stories he picks up to his Facebook page. An interesting experiment. Politicians long have known that the best briefing they could get when visiting a city is the discussion with the taxi driver. They go everywhere and see everything.
    Bias in News Media Redux
    This is the issue we live with on a day by day basis. It’s also something which viewers of Fox News seem to accept, even welcome. Liz Spayd, the recently-appointed Public Editor at the New York Times reminds us that perception and reality do not necessarily converge when it comes to the issue of bias in news coverage. We’ve talked a lot about bias and personal perspective. And Spayd’s column brings us back to this topic.
    24 min
  • Inside PR 450: Post Ghost vs. Twitter
    Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley look at Post Ghost’s stand off with Twitter on this week’s Inside PR podcast.
    PostGhost, a service that preserved deleted tweets, was told to cease doing this by Twitter. PostGhost complied and shut down its service. But it did not go quietly. They published an Open Letter to Twitter, arguing that the deleted tweets of people with very large followings could have as much impact on public issues as the tweets of politicians. Citing deleted tweets about the Brexit vote by British celebrities with large followings, they say, “the ability to reach millions of followers instantly and leave no trace is a massive and growing power, and one that is currently completely unchecked and undocumented.”
    The PostGhost letter raises important issues that have been debated before and will continue to be debated. And once Gini raised it, we too found ourselves debating it – for the entire episode.
    So, this is a single episode about one thing that raises a number of important issues. We hope you find it interesting and useful.
    22 min
  • Inside PR 449: Snapchat has Memories
    Snapchat is more than ephemeral with Memories. Pokemon Go rules the world. And we pick up on Walt Mossberg’s discussion of our fragmented messaging environment. Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley tackle these topics and more in this week’s Inside PR podcast.

    #IPRMustKnow
    Snapchat Memories for when ephemeral isn’t enough
    Hard on the heels of news that Snapchat has surpassed Twitter in daily users, we say Snapchat switch from its ephemeral-always model to provide users with the ability to save their Snaps using a new feature, Snapchat Memories. Memories lets you save current and previous Snaps and then use them for future stories. So, now you never need to worry people missing that embarrassing photo of your best friend that you sent out 25 hours ago. You can reach into Memories, add the photo to a new story, and start the cycle all over again.
    Pokemon Go Goes
    Like virtually everyone else this past week, we have been entranced by Pokemon Go. For its privacy implications. And because it has brought the potential of augmented reality to the masses. It may be a fad. But it’s a fad that will have made a difference.
    Here an App. There an App. Everywhere an App
    It was simple in the days of email: Just settle on your client – Outlook, AOL… and then add all your email accounts to access them in one place. Today, as we spend more of our time on chat, with proprietary, non-interchangeable standards, we are again facing the need to switch constantly between apps – for social networks, for chat. Pain the butt? We riff on a theme recently explored by Walt Mossberg in a blog post, The Tyranny of Messaging and Notifications, and on his podcast, Ctrl-Walt-Delete.
    22 min

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Inside PR is a weekly look at Public Relations and where it intersects with business and technology