Inside PR

Well, it’s been a while since you heard from us …

And I wanted to let you know that after a hiatus of around 20 months—and all the things that have happened between then and now—Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley and I are back recording Inside PR.

Why? To be honest we missed talking with each other about what’s new about PR, social media and digital marketing. We also missed hearing from you and being part of the FIR Podcast network community.

Our one big change is we’ve moved to a biweekly or fortnightly format, which fits better with our schedules and other commitments. That way, you can expect to hear from us on a regular basis. (OK, given our recent history, my fingers are crossed on that one.)

In our first new episode, we catch up and talk about what’s changed.

We also discussed how to establish boundaries when you don’t stray too far from the home office and ways to spark creativity.

It’s great to be back! Thank you for listening!

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

We’d love to hear what you think and if you have any subjects you’d like us to cover in upcoming episodes.

Leave us a comment on the blog.

Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected],

Connect with us on Twitter. We’re @inside_pr or connect directly with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman.

Oh, and we have a new producer!

Meet Jacob Waxman (yes, he is my son and also a talented musician, producer and recording engineer). Jacob produced the episode and is also the composer of our new theme music. Roger Dey is our announcer.

The post IPR 546: Inside PR is Back appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Summer vacation is over – and it’s time to fire up the Inside PR podcast.

The post Inside PR 545: Autumn Intent appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

On Inside PR this week: Open Government, open engagement and open data activists from around the world gathered in Ottawa. So did the grand committee of countries looking at the practices of the social platforms. But it doesn’t matter how many countries come together in one place — Mark Zuckerberg responds to no flag but his own. He was, once again, a no-show.

Also, Gini Dietrich provides practical advice to the PR practitioner on the importance of SEO to media relations and earned media. PR practitioners understand much more than algorithms. And we must combine our media relations expertise with SEO best practices to ensure that we maximize long term exposure for our clients’ content. The cost of failing to do this will be the incursion of SEO experts into media relations.

The post Inside PR 544 – Mr Zuckerberg was otherwise engaged appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

On this week’s Inside PR, we consider the implications of an Algorithmic Accountability Act, rebalancing the freedom of companies to capture and use our data with our right to informed consent. Plus: Protect your privacy against hidden cameras during your next business trip.

The post Inside PR 543 – Algorithmic Accountablity and Privacy appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

We have big news this week: Dan York is joining the Inside PR team. Dan is well known to Inside PR listeners for his tech segments on Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson’s FIR podcast. And, if you didn’t know, his day job is as Director, Web Strategy, at the Internet Society.

Gini, Joe and Martin are big fans of Dan’s reports. He provides a perspective that combines expertise in communications and marketing with strong technology underpinnings. When Shel and Neville announced that FIR would be moving to a monthly format, Gini, Joe and Martin immediately put out a call to Dan to ask if he would be willing to contribute to IPR on the other three weeks of the month. And, happily, Dan said yes. So, you may hear Dan less often on FIR (and we encourage you to listen to FIR monthly), you’ll be able to hear him the rest of the time on Inside PR.

So, that leads us to this week’s debut of Dan’s Two Minutes of Tech for Communicators segment. We know he’s going to teach us a lot.

Canada has long taken privacy and consumer rights seriously. And as public concern about the unseen use of our personal by social networks data increased following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, calls for change have mounted. Now, the Government of Canada has made its next move with the announcement of a Digital Charter for Canada. While the Charter sums up established values and points to aspirational goals, it also takes two real steps toward action with references to Canada’s Privacy Commissioner and Competition Bureau. Both have regulatory muscle that they could flex in the near term. And both are in a position to scrutinize the social networks.

Europe, California, and now Canada. Momentum to reign in the previously underscrutinzed use of our data by the social networks is gaining momentum.

As if we needed another reminder of where the early optimism of the open web and the social graph has taken us, the New York Times offers a thought provoking look at our relationship with Google.

The post Inside PR 542: Welcome Dan York appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The FIR Podcast is one of the longest continually-produced podcasts for communications pros. Since 2005, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson have been providing insight into the communications trends and developments that are important to communications practitioners.

But now they are dialing back their production schedule to once a month. And as podcast producers who have followed in their footsteps, we’re glad that they are continuing. Because if you are a communications pro, you’re sure to learn something useful with each and every FIR podcast.

So, kudos Shel and Neville for finding a way to keep it going and keep it fresh.

It’s been fifteen years since Apple first offered GarageBand with Macs. Since then, it’s become available for PCs and iOS as well. And that means there’s a whole generation of musicians and podcasters who have brought their ideas to life using Apple’s free software. In fact, we use GarageBand to mix and produce the Inside PR podcast. And it couldn’t be easier to do, thanks to the simple, intuitive interface.

So, here’s to GarageBand. And here’s to the community of creators who have grown up around it. And here’s to Apple for giving us this incredibly useful software.

The abuse of social media by foreign or malevolent agents is not just confined to the United States. It is a global problem. But that doesn’t mean that the social and search platforms are giving it the same attention in countries other than the United States. Indeed, you need look no farther than across the border to the north to Canada to see Facebook and Google taking very different approaches to the responsibility that national legislators and regulators say they should take on. In this tally, Facebook gains a point. Google loses a point.

Facebook’s local news support project, Today In, underlines the news deserts that have been created by the diminution out of the display ad economy that local newspapers relied on. And in doing so, it drives home that the social and search platforms efforts to “support” journalism are not adequately addressing the problems they have created. It’s time for radically different thinking.

This post was originally published on the Inside PR podcast blog.

The post Inside PR 541 – Gain a point. Lose a point. appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Is Mark Zuckerberg’s concept of privacy your concept of privacy? Probably not. And this week we discuss Zuckerberg’s ongoing repositioning of Facebook as “private.”

The post Inside PR 540 – Private and Privacy aren’t the same thing appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Google takes a pass on carrying political advertising in Canada. And there are reports that Cision is up for sale.

The post Inside PR 539: Google Takes a Pass and Cision thinks about a sale appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

This week, we take a deep dive into Roger McNamee‘s Zucked. McNamee, an early investor in Facebook and an erstwhile advisor to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg has provided us with an insightful consideration of how Facebook and social media have changed over time. It is an account that throws light on questions of responsibility and accountability. And while it pulls no punches, it also presents a vision of what might be done to create a healthier relationship between the giant entities that dominate search, social and tech.

This should be a a must-read for anyone who deals with social media and search, with marketing and online advertising, with community building.

Also, on this week’s show, we pay tribute to Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson’s FIR Podcast, which just hit the 1,000 episode mark. Sometimes weekly, sometimes biweekly and now monthly, Shel and Neville are the seminal PR podcasters. And they’re still going strong and providing insight that we can’t do without. Keep it up guys.

Finally, a shoutout to Martin on the completion of an important milestone. Huzzah Martin!

The post Inside PR 538 – Roger McNamee is Zucked appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Joe had a moment of surprise when he realized that, not only does he no longer listens to radio, he doesn’t even own a radio! Over the past few years, he had transferred his listening time from linear radio to on-demand podcasts. And he hadn’t even noticed the shift in his media consumption – until his wife threw out the last radio in their house.

A recent report out of the UK suggests that Joe isn’t alone:

Since 2010, around 840,000 15 to 24-year-olds have switched off for good, according to research from Enders Analysis. And among the 6.5 million or so who do still tune in, the amount of time they spend listening has plummeted 29% between 2010 and 2018.

Both Martin and Gini also have noticed a shift in their media consumption. Not just one that adds to their daily information diet. But a shift that has replaced one medium with another.

So, if podcasting is constituting a greater portion of many people’s media consumption, you just know that advertisers are eyeing it and entrepreneurs are looking to provide them with a new medium to reach consumers. We’ve seen Spotify’s big move, acquiring Gimlet and Anchor. This is unlikely to be the last move of this sort.

As others follow, what does that mean for the open podcasting system that has let enthusiast and professional podcasters coexist? Will services like Spotify start to push the enthusiasts off to the side, out of sight, as they promote their own professionally produced podcasts so that they can maximize revenue? Sound familiar? Substitute the words blog and Facebook for podcasts and Spotify.

So, is this the end? Not necessarily. It may be possible for two systems of podcasting to existing together, thanks to things like Patreon, which didn’t exist during the rise of Facebook and the decline of blogs, along with membership-oriented initiatives life that being advanced by outlets like Slate.

The post Inside PR 537 – As radio fades, can podcasting survive the attention of advertisers? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.