Fed Shield Law - The Good, The Bad, The Protected

The U.S. Congress is considering creating the Free Flow Information Act, a federal media shield law offering universal protection for news reporters -- and bloggers -- who conceal their sources. Currently, there are only thirty-five states with shield law protections, the details of which vary from state to state. Some apply to civil but not to criminal proceedings; others protect journalists from revealing confidential sources, but not other information relating to their reporting.

There is concern that a broader fed media shield could encourage the disclosure of trade secrets and confidential corporate information. One only need be reminded of the Apple employee who gave bloggers secret product information regarding Asteroid, a new audio interface for GarageBand. When bloggers published the design and marketing plan, Apple lost its competitive edge and had to go back to the drawing board. Apple subpoenaed the bloggers and their ISPs to identify the source of the leak. But, the state's media shield insisted the rights of the media come first.

Undeniably, the protection of media sources is critical to freedom of the press. It is interminably linked to watchdog reporting, and indeed remains the founding principle of democratic thinking. Without it, we would not have known the depths of Enron's financial scandals, or learned of the horrific events at Abu Ghraib, as sources would never have risked coming forward without guaranteed anonymity. Had Woodward and Bernstein been forced to reveal the identity of Deep Throat upon their first tip, Watergate would have been viewed historically as nothing more than a fraternity prank because the flow of information would have ceased.

But, surely some protections must also be in place to prevent unfair market practices and libel. Certainly, as freedom of the press has always stopped short of shouting "fire" in a public place, it should also offer protection against revealing corporate trade secrets and anonymously-sourced stock manipulation.

I will always support media who protect their sources and I hope our government does as well. Any reporter willing to serve jail time or incur fines to uphold the rights of the individual is undeniably a hero in my book. And, I am 100% in support of a federal shield law in order to better give voice to the voiceless. As our world gets smaller and smaller, we need a uniform Federal standard which can not only be upheld in the states, but can also transfer to overseas bureaus as well. However, in this day of business moving at the speed of information, we should also be careful not to open a Pandora's box of anonymity that precludes protections for fair market advantage and proprietary product & property rights.

-- my two cents

AP's Battle with Bloggers Continues...

As I reported yesterday, the Associated Press arranged a sit-down with the Media Bloggers Association in response to boycotts over their litigious actions against a small Blogger who quoted and credited an AP story.

Now, the AP wants all Bloggers to pay to quote them. Yep. You read that right. The global press service has announced a Web Use Charge for AP passages as short as 5 words in length. This includes passages that are not stolen; not plagiarized - but fully attributed and quoted directly with links back to the AP source.

The pricing scale for using AP content begins at $12.50 for 5-25 words and goes as high as $100 for 251 words and up. Nonprofit organizations and educational institutions enjoy a discounted rate.

Now, I will always speak out against plagiarism. As a writer myself (and not just of this blog), I truly understand the total violation of someone stealing your work and your words. But, like so many of my colleagues, I can't get my head around how this pricing model will be enforced.

Rather than paraphrase what others are saying, allow me to quote them directly (for free and with all due accreditation).

PoliGazette.com asks: What’s considered quoting the AP? If President Bush says something, and the AP quotes Bush, are we then not allowed to quote Bush anymore because the AP also quotes him?

BetaNews asks: Suppose a news source holds a press conference and makes a statement to several attendees including an AP correspondent. Does the citation of that quote count as an excerpt of an AP story? What if Reuters cited the same quote? Or worse, what if Reuters cited the quote differently, and a Blogger noticed the difference and excerpted both for comparison? If the AP citation turned out to be in error, would the Blogger still owe?

Techachio asks: Should “boilerplate” words count towards the fee? For example, a phrase common among news stories is "XYZ Company had this to say" when prefacing a published statement or quote. If the AP runs a story with this phrase, will it therefore cost anyone else $12.50 to use this 10 cent expression?

Michelle Malkin, in a rather hilarious twist, adds that she found several examples of the Associated Press quoting her Blog directly (without links back or accreditation). Malkin estimates that by the AP's pricing model, she is owed $132,125.

With that in mind, I have most certainly seen leads from The Drudge Report and posts from The HuffingtonPost quoted in AP stories. Perhaps Matt and Arianna were adequately compensated.

And, I'd add to the debate: what about the citizen-journalists who break major stories? Talking Points Memo, for instance, broke the Alberto Gonzalez story - which was picked up by major news channels, including the AP. Was David Kurtz paid by word? TPM was also instrumental in the reporting that led to U.S. Senator Trent Lott’s resignation, which was certainly picked up by major market media. Other Bloggers like GigaOm and TechCrunch have broken major news and have been directly quoted by major media, including the Associated Press, with no Web Use Charge for its online reporting of their stories.

Likewise, if you read my blog, you know The New York Times followed Bloggers' lead in the Target PR blunder. Were those folks compensated when the AP picked up the story? And, what if the AP runs information gathered from Brew Blog, does Miller get paid?

Finally, how about Reporter-Blogs? As we've already seen, 95% of the top 100 newspapers offer Reporter-Blogs. Yet, traditional media are exempt from paying to reprint AP news.

Timothy Wu, a professor at the Columbia Law School said the case is not clear-cut, but he believes that the AP is likely to lose a court case to assert a claim. "One important legal test of whether an excerpt exceeds fair use is if it causes financial harm to the copyright owner. I hardly think a Blogger, especially one who has issued proper accreditation and who links web site traffic back to the Associated Press, can be proven to have caused financial harm."

So...the saga continues. I will keep you informed...

-- my two cents

image courtesy of bizarro.com

AP Responds to Blogger Boycotts with a Sit-Down

Certainly blogger credibility has been a hot topic here and now a new twist has come into play.

Here's the breakdown:

Last week the Associated Press filed takedown notices against the Drudge Retort (a small news community whose name is a parody of the more prominent Drudge Report) for use of its content on the site.

By Saturday, online protests urging bloggers to boycott the AP were set up by the aptly-named UnAssociated Press. The boycott encourages bloggers to make use of other agencies' material in response to the AP's takedown notice.

Meanwhile the blogosphere lit up this weekend with criticism against the AP for going after a small blogger who appears to be in compliance with "fair use" provisions of copyright law. (The Drudge Retort included links back to the AP articles and attributed proper credit to the original authors.)

Yesterday (Monday), in response to the blogger reaction, the Associated Press announced plans to meet with the Media Bloggers Association to help form guidelines under which AP news stories could be quoted online. Jim Kennedy, the AP's director of strategic planning, said that meeting's goal is to "create standards for online use of AP stories by bloggers that would protect AP content without discouraging bloggers from legitimately quoting it."

Today many bloggers are accusing the Associated Press of trying to control the blogosphere. Michael Arrington, a blogger who has boycotted the AP, wrote on his TechCrunch blog that the Associated Press "doesn't get to make its own rules about how its content is used, if those rules are stricter than the law allows ... they are trying to claw their way to a set of property rights that don’t exist today and that they are not legally entitled to."

Arrington goes on to outline his stance on the boycott, stating: "So here’s our new policy on A.P. stories: they don’t exist. We don’t see them, we don’t quote them, we don’t link to them. They’re banned until they abandon this new strategy, and I encourage others to do the same until they back down from these ridiculous attempts to stop the spread of information around the Internet."

Techcrunch hit home on the real issue here: fair use. Are people allowed to take small quotes from the AP stories for the purpose of starting a discussion or reporting news, while giving proper credit and linking back to the original author?

Intellectual property attorneys say the issue falls into murky legal terrain because the original law was drafted pre-web. And, it's isn't just the AP trying to navigate these waters. Last year, Google agreed to a licensing deal with Agence France Presse, which claimed indexing its leads to the wire service's stories amounted to copyright infringement.

Nancy Mertzel, a New York intellectual property attorney with Thelen Reid, explains the danger in any precedent set here, "If there was a court decision that said quoting from a news story was an infringement, then I think a lot of blogs would have to rethink their business model."

Kennedy said the AP had no intention of making such strict rules or setting any kind of legal standard. He also said AP was reconsidering how and when to send legal notices to bloggers in hopes of giving them "a little more leeway."

Meanwhile, some bloggers are upset that the Media Bloggers Association is even involved. According to Bloggers For Change, "...[the] Media Bloggers Association, of course, are walking right into that meeting because they crave nothing more than creating the impression that they, you know, represent bloggers (they don't). But anyone with an inkling of understanding of the law and principles at stake would know that the AP has no ground to stand on, and anything negotiated between them and the MBA will be ignored by the vast majority of bloggers anyway."

I am not a legal scholar, but I certainly recall my college courses in libel law and basic copyright infringement, and from my limited experience, I have to agree with TechCrunch and the others. As long as a blogger uses proper accreditation, there is no infringement. The blog, Copysense has an interesting and legal perspective on the case, which I encourage folks to read. It's rather long, but it outlines the specific codes of conduct that are currently on the books.

In the meantime, it will be very interesting to see how this plays out.

-- my two cents

Will Mainstream Media Morph Into Blog-Form For Good?

We've spent a lot of time here discussing blogger credibility and journalistic integrity. A pal sent me a link today to a medical skepticism blog called Neurologica Blog in which the author, Dr. Steven Novella rants a bit about poor science journalism.

This is not a new topic for me as this particular pal, Patrick, often points out poorly sourced science or medical news; a specific annoyance for him is the mention of a study with no details about how the study was conducted. Fair point, too, because let's face it, a study of 10 subjects is hardly as significant as one with 1,000. As is the case with most things, truth lies in the details.

Anyway, Patrick sent me to Dr. Novella's blog because of a particular post in which the mainstream press got it wrong and the good Doctor concluded with this comment:

"Perhaps the news editors thought this was not a “science” story but a “human interest” (i.e. fluff) piece. That may help explain the gross journalistic incompetence, but it does not excuse it. The bottom line is that they got the story wrong and misinformed the public.

Mainstream journalism is slowly dying in the age of the internet. This will probably lead to bloggers (or whatever comes after blogs) largely filling the gap. But if journalists want to maintain their central position in news reporting they are going to have to do a better job."

In Patrick's email to me, he said: Made me think of something you said quite a while back. Funny, at the time you said it I thought, "really?"

Patrick, is referring to my long-held belief that soon we will see more "old school journalism" in bloggers than in mainstream media. A belief, that is often poorly received in PR circles. In fact, when I raised this point on a PR panel about eighteen months ago, I thought folks were gonna rush the stage in protest! But, I still stand by it. Bloggers are breaking stories that a lot of traditional media simply aren't investigating. And, it's not just in politics, bloggers are breaking news about major corporations that mainstream media later pick up on. (In some cases, the timeliness of a blogger's post can give savvy investors a leg up over the general market as was the case with Best Buy's VC news.)

Now, let me be clear, I do not favor bloggers over major media. Both channels have their pros and cons. But, I think we can all attest to some sloppiness in traditional media reporting lately. And, I agree with Dr. Novella. Some traditional reporters need to re-establish themselves as the first and best source of news. I think it can be done. But, the question now is simply, will it?

In my recent post, I referenced a study indicating that a full 95% of the top 100 US newspapers now offer reporter blogs (much to the chagrin of Mark Cuban). So, it really makes me wonder if we will simply see major media morph into blog-form. With those figures, it is a possibility. And, really, a New York Times blog still carries the same cache as a New York Times editorial. The only difference is formatting and editorial hierarchy.

I'm not suggesting newspapers will go away. But, I do wonder if the move toward blogs will change how they are packaged online. Kind of like when MTV launched and suddenly the packaging of music changed to style over substance; the look of the band had a greater impact on their success than the talent behind them because of visual medium of MTV. I wonder if the packaging of online news will simply shift to blog-form.

In the meantime, I do hope major media — especially those who cover medical and science news that can impact people’s health — will take greater measures to accurately source, fact-check and re-check their stories.

-- my two cents

New Stats on Reporters, Blogs & How They Are Used

Although I still run into people who think bloggers are just guys sitting around in their mother's basements posting their rants in between games of Dungeons and Dragons, studies continue to show that the blogger demographic is more educated, more knowledgeable, and more relevant to our everyday lives than ever before.

As Mark Cuban learned a few months ago, an increasing number of reporters are blogging today. In fact, according to a study by the The Bivings Group, a full 95% of the top 100 US newspapers now offer reporter blogs (up from 80% in 2006), while 58% of the top 100 magazines provide blogs.

And, it's not just blogs helping people voice their opinions, it's the comments on the blogs. I've certainly enjoyed reading debates and discussions in the comments here and have used other Blog's comments sections to drive site traffic.

We all know that bloggers break stories these days -- from Rathergate, which led to Dan Rather's early retirement from CBS to the Albert Gonzales scandal, bloggers are at the forefront. And, certainly in January Target learned that major media follow the lead of bloggers. But, a recent study indicates that reporters use blogs less as a news source and more as a way to connect with readers and check up on competition.

In a survey of US journalists by PR Week, PR Newswire and Millward Brown, 57.7% of respondents said they used blogs to measure sentiment, 51% used them to gauge how their competitors were covering stories, and 38.7% of respondents used blogs as a mechanism to dig up sources.

Nearly 40% of journalists scouring blogs for story ideas is still quite significant. And, based on my conversations with reporters and my study of story timelines (from boards to blogs to major media), I think those numbers are low. Bottom line, blogs, micro-blogging, social bookmarking and really all social media is still in its infancy and I think we are only just beginning to see the total impact this will have on our clients, our audiences and our profession.

-- my two cents

Big Oil's PR Campaign to Win Us Over

The Washington Post just ran a story that is straight out of a Christopher Buckley novel.

"Big Oil" has launched an aggressive new PR campaign aimed at reminding consumers the oil companies are on our side. According to the article, the American Petroleum Institute, which is the industry's main lobby, “has embarked on a multi-year, multi-media, multi-million-dollar campaign, which includes advertising in the nation’s largest newspapers, news conferences in many state capitals and trips for bloggers out to drilling platforms at sea.”

The current talking points emphasize the idea that rising energy prices are not the producers' fault and that government efforts to punish the industry, especially with higher taxes, would only make pricing problems worse. "We decided that if we didn't do something to help people understand the basics of our industry, we'd be on the losing end as far as the eye could see," said Nick Naylor, er, I mean, Red Cavaney, the American Petroleum Institute's spokesman.

The campaign is well-timed with Democratic congressional leaders proposing an energy plan this week that would eliminate billions of dollars of tax breaks for oil companies and impose a tax on windfall profits.

What's intriguing about this campaign is how the oil lobby is connecting with local media who, let's face it, don't get courted very much anymore. According to the article, state capitals are the backdrop for photo opps and local television stations are being granted one-on-one access normally reserved for nationals. The result: prominently placed, upbeat 30-second local news segments after each visit.

Likewise, a lot of the oil lobby's outreach has been online. The institute said it invited bloggers to Shell's facilities in New Orleans and then took them to visit the offshore platform Brutus. The same month, the institute also brought bloggers to Chevron's offices in Houston and its Blind Faith platform under construction in Corpus Christi, Tex. (These names really are Buckley-esque: Blind Faith?! Wow.) There are more tours in the works.

It will be interesting to see how the bloggers -- typically known for being impervious to spin -- report on the Institute's findings. So far, Cavaney has said his group's efforts have produced "a very different conversation" about energy, but that the job is not nearly finished.

-- my two cents

P.S. If you read my blog and you don't know Buckley, you are doing yourself a great disservice. Scroll down to the Favorite Novels section on the left and check him out. He and Max Barry are two authors you should know!

Brilliant Beer Blogging From Miller

Can you imagine dedicating staff to do nothing but blog about your competitors? To report on their news? Run their press releases and re-run their articles? Well, in a stunning blogging strategy, Miller Brewing Company has done just that.

Brew Blog is not your typical stealth blog in that it is clearly labeled as being “brought to you by the Miller Brewing Company.” What it is, is the most ingenious corporate blog I’ve seen in quite some time. Miller hired former a Advertising Age reporter, James Arndorfer, to cover their industry, including the competition. They instructed him to write just like a beat reporter would.

The brilliance is that they’ve created a legitimate source for industry news (product launches, Nielsen sales stats, etc.) across all beer makers. By offering information that is genuinely useful to media, the blog becomes a go-to source for the press. They cover all companies to get the draw, and then toss in their own news to a waiting audience.

But, the best part is it’s written with just the slightest nuance of commentary. Take the post: More Bud/Bud Light Extensions on Tap?

In this post, they say: Back in January, Anheuser-Busch told Brandweek that it planned to tone down its new product push and focus on its core brands…Since then, of course, A-B has announced plans to introduce Bud Light Lime…

That “of course” is brilliant strategy. It is so subtle, but implies so much. (i.e. “back in Jan, they said they’d do this…then – of course – they did that”) It subliminally positions the competition as less-than-credible.

According to David Kesmodle’s WSJ article, Brew Blog is the brainchild of Paul Pendergrass and Pete Marino, communications consultants for Miller who wanted Miller to have more influence over what's covered in the industry. The site reaches mostly beer-industry professionals and received about 24,000 visits in the month ending April 10 -- representing more than 12,000 individual visitors.

Kesmodle uncovered another great example of the slyness behind this strategy in his article: In February, Mr. Arndorfer's industry sources were telling him that Anheuser was planning a lime-flavored version of Bud Light, the world's best-selling beer. He posted an article saying Anheuser appeared poised to roll out a knockoff of Miller Chill, a lime-and-salt-flavored brew launched by Miller last year. The scoop, chased by this and other publications, allowed Miller to paint Bud Light Lime as a "follower," says Nehl Horton, Miller's senior vice president for communications.

Just brilliant.

So, kudos to Miller for a truly unique, super-stealth, and - by all accounts - successful blogging strategy! You’ve definitely raised the bar for us.

--my two cents

Blogger Gets Book Deal Through Viral-PR Success

If you've ever doubted the legitimacy of the blog itself, the power of viral marketing as a PR tactic, or the value of bloggers as media contacts, you’ll want to read today’s post.

First week of January 08: Chris Lander, an internet copy writer, launched a tongue-in-cheek site called Stuff White People Like which pokes fun at Caucasian stereotypes. (A favorite entry of mine is “The No. 1 reason white people like not having a TV, is so they can tell you that they don’t have a TV.” Priceless.

Mid-January: The blog moved virally as friends passed the link to each other online and Stuff White People Like saw about 200 hits a day.

End of January: Bloggers picked it up and the publicity buzz began with site visitors jumping to 4,000/day in just 1 week.

Early February: Quoting bloggers, morning drive-time radio and online media talked about Lander's site, delivering 100,000 unique visitors a day.

Mid-February: Wired Magazine, The LA Times and various others reported on the blog’s content and, six weeks from launch, daily visitors hit 300,000.

End of February: The hosts of NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” debated whether the site is racist or satire, spawning more media coverage, and Stuff White People Like sees 1.5 million hits.

March 20: Random House announced a book deal for Lander with a paperback scheduled for release in August. Reports put the deal at around $300,000, an unheard of sum for a book spawned from a blog, written by a previously unpublished author.

Now, I’ve always said, the beauty of the web is it allows business to move at the speed of information. This book deal is living proof. In what other medium can one become a global success and a published author in three short months? It’s phenomenal.

And, apparently, it’s the new trend.

The site I Can Has Cheezburger, which features lolcats, (photos of animals with humorous, ungrammatical captions) debuted in January 2007. Three months later, the site had 1.6 million page views and literary agents were calling. After a bidding war, Gotham Books won the deal and the first book hits shelves this November.

The creator of the Skull-A-Day blog, a blog which features images of skulls made from candy, sparklers and other stuff, has a book deal for an October release.

And, the best seller “Julie and Julia,” about a woman who cooked one Julia Child recipe a day, started out as a blog. Likewise, “The Hipster Handbook,” spawned from freewilliamsburg.com in 2003, has sold 39,000 paperbacks, according to Nielsen BookScan.

So, the blogger legitimacy question has taken a new twist as literary agents are now scouring blogs for their next big deal. And, to that I’d like to say, I can be reached through the "Contact Me" links above.

-- my two cents

Mark Cuban Bans a Blogger from Maverick's Locker Room

As we continue debating media access for bloggers, an ironic twist has come into play. Mark Cuban, a blogger himself, banned a blogger from the Maverick's locker room for having too much media credibility! Now there is a first!

Tim MacMahon, who writes a blog for the Dallas Morning News was denied entry to the Maverick's locker room over the weekend because of a new policy refusing access to writers whose "primary purpose is to blog."

On his blog today, Cuban says he's not coming down on the citizen journalist. He's calling out traditional media who send in bloggers, instead of feature writers, to get a jump on media companies that don't blog.

"What I didn't like was that the Dallas Morning News was getting a competitive advantage simply because they were the Dallas Morning News. Some out there will take this as my not 'liking' blogs. Ridiculous. its the exact opposite. What I don't like is unequal access. I'm all for bloggers getting the same access as mainstream media when possible. What I'm not a fan of is major media companies throwing their weight around thinking they should be treated differently."

The Dallas Morning News, however, claims this new ban is aimed at MacMahon, whom the paper says was asked to leave the locker room on February 29th after posting a piece that was critical of coach Avery Johnson. MacMahon has been blogging about the Mavericks for the Morning News since 2006.

Banned For Too Much Journalistic Credibility
Usually organizations ban bloggers for not having enough traditional media cred. But denying a major-media-backed blogger just because the Dallas Morning News could publish a story first? Well, that would be like telling TV networks they can't cover an event because they'd scoop print reporters. Or denying CNN an interview because 24/7 broadcasting gives them an unfair advantage over the networks!

Technology changes the game. Always has. Always will. Those who play smart, win. Certainly Mark Cuban, the man who created Broadcast.com, understands this. And, considering that bloggers have been beating traditional media to the punch for years now. Perhaps turnabout should be fair play here.

-- my two cents

Americans Turn to Web For News

According to Reuters - Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news.

While most people think journalism is important to the quality of life, 64 percent are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities, a We Media/Zogby Interactive online poll showed.

"That's a really encouraging reflection of people who care A) about journalism and B) understand that it makes a difference to their lives," said Andrew Nachison, of iFOCOS, a Virginia-based think tank which organized a forum in Miami where the findings were presented.

The stats break down like this:

Nearly half of the 1,979 people who responded to the survey said their primary source of news and information is the Internet, up from 40 percent just a year ago.

Less than one third use television to get their news, while 11 percent turn to radio and 10 percent to newspapers.

More than half of those who grew up with the Internet, those 18 to 29, get most of their news and information online, compared to 35 percent of people 65 and older.

Older adults are the only group that favors a primary news source other than the Internet, with 38 percent selecting television.

Howard Finberg, of the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, said the public often doesn't understand that the sources they are accessing online such as Google News and Yahoo News pull stories from newspapers, television, wire services and other media sources.

"It's delivered in a non-traditional form, that doesn't necessarily mean there isn't traditional journalism underneath it," he explained.

But Finberg said the study does support the belief among many large media companies that focusing on local issues is important to their journalistic and economic survival.

Polk Awards: A Blogger and a Slain Editor Among Those Honored

The 2007 George Polk awards, informally known as the “Golden Globes of Journalism,” have been announced. Interestingly, a blogger (!) Joshua Micah Marshall of Talking Points Memo, was among those honored for his reporting on the US Attorney scandal that brought down Alberto Gonzales. Given my last post, this is an exceptional move toward accepting bloggers as real media.

Also noteworthy is the bittersweet recognition for slain editor Chauncey Bailey who was ambushed and shot while investigating the Black Muslim splinter group, Your Black Muslim Bakery. Seven men were arrested after Bailey's shooting on charges including fraud and kidnapping after a raid on the bakery. A bakery handyman has been charged in the slaying and is awaiting trial. A true hero, Bailey led a 37-year career in investigative journalism. Click here for more information on Bailey the story that cost him his life.

And, here for a complete list of Polk winners. Congratulations to all!

-- my two cents

Traditional Vs New Media: Is It Really Either/Or?

When I was a kid, I saw All the President's Men and Absence of Malice in the same week (thanks to HBO) and decided then and there I wanted to be a reporter. (Of course, a few weeks later, I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and wanted to be a swash-buckling archeologist. But, that's a different story altogether!)

Watching those movies, I was fascinated by the important role media plays in our daily lives -- the way they could right a wrong -- the responsibility they have in finding the truth and getting it out there. Today, of course, I'm not a reporter, I crossed to the "dark side" and my job is to persuade reporters to tell the truth I want them to tell. Still part of my success, I think, stems from that early and continued respect for the media.

Ad Age and the Bureau of Labor Statitics just reported a steady decline in traditional media jobs since 2000. Given the increase in the 24-hour news cycle since 2000, one might assume the opposite to be true. However, as I continued to read the stats, I wondered how much new media contributed to this drop in the traditional journalist job market.

So, let's do a timeline study, shall we? One of the first blogs came from Jorn Barger in 1997 -- he's the man who coined the phrase weblog. He was soon followed by Peter Merholz who shortened it to blog. The next year, Open Diary launched and the first network of blogs entered the scene. By '99, Brad Fitzpatrick launched Live Journal which had a more user-friendly interface and suddenly blogs were popping up all around us. Pyra Labs launched Blogger.com that same year and the formerly-email subscription Drudge Report went global in an aggregate blog form.

A year later, in 2000, traditional media jobs began falling by the wayside. Now, this is a little like saying, I see the sun when I wake up in the morning, so I must be the cause of its rising. Still, I can't help but to connect the dots a little bit.

Of course, it's not just blogs. Webzines also began to rise around the same time. Suddenly, you didn't need a publishing house and a major investment to start your own magazine. All you needed was an internet connection and compelling content. I recall writing movie reviews for e-zines as early as 1998 and at that time, I began seeking out other reviews of films, music and books from non-traditional channels.

Here's a question: when is the last time you watched your local news, or even the national nightly news? In the 70s and 80s, my folks watched the local news and then NBC Nightly News every single night. I remember the local news interrupting Happy Days and Mork and Mindy to report on the Atlanta Child Murders, basically scaring the bejesus out of me every day! Now, I can't tell you the last time I sat down to watch an entire news program on TV. I get nearly all of my news online and I'm not the only one. As I've mentioned here before, in 2002, the EVP, Marketing for CNN, Scot Safon gave a speech in which he said college students didn't even think about CNN as a broadcast channel, they only viewed it as a web site.

Next, consider newspapers. I remember in 1998 when online versions of newspapers were nearly all subscription-based even I said "I still like the tactile feeling of holding the paper, I'll never read all my news online!" Of course, this was back in the day when you watched the screen for 5 minues as each page downloaded. Today Newspapers are laying off staff left and right because of the efficiency of the web. And, I gotta admit, reading a printed newspaper today is like reading last week's news.

So, back to the original Ad Age report...where are all these traditional media jobs going? According to the statistics, to marketing and PR. Yep, all those laid-off reporters can now get jobs pitching reporters and/or blogging for Corporate America. According to Ad Age, "marketing consultancies over the past year added 14,500 jobs (up 10.8%) nearly matching staff cuts at major newspapers (down 16,900)."

In other words, while the number of target media we pitch declines, the competition for our jobs grows.

Now, I'm a huge advocate of blogs and ezines and the strength of independent voices. But, the part of me that cheered for Woodward & Bernstein in All the President's and whose heart sank for Sally Field and Paul Newman in Absence of Malice wonders are we de-valuing the traditional journalist a bit too much here?

I think Neil Henry of the SF Chronicle said it best last May when he wrote: "[this means] Fewer resources will be available to investigate stories as nationally significant as the BALCO scandal; fewer professionals to doggedly uncover shady financial practices at the University of California, forcing top officials to publicly acknowledge their mistakes and work to fix them; fewer journalists to cover local city halls, courts and schools, reporting community news that the public often takes for granted -- and which other media, including local television and radio outlets, rely upon to set their own news priorities."

Fact is, I love new media. (Those of you who attended a recent dinner party at my house and witnessed the great blog debate of 08 know it!) I love the citizen-journalist. I love the immediate ROI found with digital PR. I love the idea of reporters who aren't tied to a corporation that controls the content.

But, I also love that hard-nosed journalist who digs and digs and uncovers the stories that no one believed in. I also love the tradition of integrity that we all identify with days gone by. It's an interesting time out there folks; let's keep the conversation going and the trust in our traditional watchdogs high.

-- my two cents

Viral Marketing, Bloggers and Instant Celebrity

Today, I learned about John Fitzgerald Page. While I am loathe to contribute to his newfound Internet celebrity, the whole story is a fascinating study of viral marketing, the power of bloggers, and why people/marketers must embrace these new voices online. Therefore, please forgive me for adding another notch to this non-celebrity's publicity belt.

If you don’t know the story, here’s the skinny.

1. John Fitzgerald Page was/is on Match.com.

2. A woman “winked” at him.

3. He sent her a form-letter in which he boasted his accomplishments: high rise condo, Ivy League school, big money career, etc. He then asked her how much she weighs and if she works out regularly. (To his credit, he did acknowledge the rudeness of the inquiry.)

4. The woman clicked “no thanks” so Match.com sent him a polite note saying “thanks but we’re not a good match based on personality.”

5. Instead of leaving it at that. John sent her a nasty email stating that since she rejected him, she must be fat. He goes on at length to insult her and describe himself and his "caliber" including how much he can bench press.

6. She sent his email to a few friends. They sent it on to other friends and so on and so on…

7. Soon, the blog Gawker.com (which covers "media, gossip and pop culture") got a hold of it and ran the story.

8. It spread like wildfire with bloggers because well, let’s face it – his arrogance is funny and everyone loves a good villain.

9. Now, I always say, major media follow-the-lead of bloggers. True to form, soon the AJC, CNN, FoxNews, CBS and the NYT interviewed him.

Today, John is reveling in Internet stardom. He is releasing his own online videos, putting together book deals and a 20-city tour, all the while securing as much publicity as he can, while he can. He has even become an official escort selling dates for $250-$500 a pop proving in this age of hyper-voyeurism, anybody can be famous, if they want to be.

Certainly none of this is newsworthy. And, I do feel a bit smarmy talking about it here. But the whole story is another example of the speed of viral content online and why people/companies should embrace bloggers. As Target learned, bloggers have the luxury of writing what they want and with each blog linked to another blog, content moves like lightning.

So, bottom line: Bloggers can be a marketer/publicist's (and even a guy trying to find love) greatest advocate or greatest annoyance -- which one is entirely up to you and how much publicity you really want.

-- my two cents

Marketers More Accepting of New Media

Guideline recently asked B2B and B2C marketers to rate the effectiveness of various online marketing tactics.

Almost all marketers surveyed used some form of social media. However, business marketers reported more success with podcasts:

21% of B2B vs. 13% of B2C listed podcasts as "effective"
17% of B2B vs. 6% of B2C favored blogs, and
14% of B2B vs. 11% of B2C preferred RSS feeds

As you know, I’m a big fan of using Second Life for promotion and it seems B2B marketers are starting to catch on with 8% of business marketers rating Second Life as an effective new media platform, while consumer marketers had either not tried it or the sample size was too small to include. As I’ve mentioned previously, I think B2C marketers are missing a major opportunity by ignoring Second Life. This virtual world has so permeated our society, while reading Dean Koontz’s latest book the other day, I was amazed to discover the double-life Koontz's villain described leading was actually in Second Life. With members in the millions spending real dollars in this fake world, brand owners should really take a second look at “lifers.”

No surprise, the most common online marketing too in the B2B world is the blog—although I’m surprised to see the adoption rate of corporate blogging is still so small. Fact is, if you want to position yourself as a subject matter expert, a properly linked, digged and lensed blog will take you farther than just about any other method today.

About one-quarter of B2B marketers surveyed had tried a viral or participatory ad campaign, while 29% sponsored an online community or discussion site. Also in the study, B2B and B2C marketers revealed they were unsure how emerging vehicles such as blogs, games, social networks, virtual worlds, widgets and wikis would actually influence potential customers.

Clearly, we need to publish more ROI on the subject because – as many of you have heard me say – the immediate metrics captured in online marketing makes it the most effective promotional tool today. Never before has so much real-time information been available to us. The opportunities to play are there. According to Forrester, 53% of marketers surveyed anticipate increasing their overall marketing budget this year, and, of those, the average increase in spending expected is 28%.

However, there is a still a fear of new media here. Although the survey found more marketers used e-mail, search and webinars in 2007, B2B has a long way to go in terms of the transformation to digital media. Blogs, online video, podcasts and other emerging media were used by only about a third of survey participants.

Report author Laura Ramos, a VP at Forrester says, “There's still a perception that it's expensive and difficult to do online video, or create rich interactive applications that demonstrate your product and tell your story. Rich media is well suited for B2B because of the high-consideration product sales and the long sales cycle. It is a medium that is interactive, that is visual and auditory, and more engaging to the visitor and [which] may tap into their emotions and their motivations better than other media."

The onus is on marketers and PR practitioners to demonstrate the value of online marketing to our clients and corporate leaders. So, let’s get our metrics out there and move that needle for corporate adoption!

-- my two cents

Target Tells Bloggers to Buzz Off

Today the New York Times reported a PR pro from Target told a Blogger the company does not respond to non-traditional media outlets. The story goes something like this:

1. Last week someone from Shaping Youth, a Blog that covers the impact of marketing on children, emailed Target’s PR team about a current ad.

2. The PR pro brushed off the Blogger saying they only talk to “traditional publications that reach our core guests.” The Blogger ran the story/editorial about the ad, along with Target's non-comment comment.

3. A Blogstorm quickly followed and continued throughout the weekend. Bloggers spread the word: Target doesn’t like Bloggers; Bloggers aren’t Target’s customer-base; Target is living in 1997.

4. Today, Monday morning, Target was forced to address both issues: the original concern about the ad and what they said about Bloggers when the New York Times picked up the story, which has been syndicated through the Associated Press.

The official Target spokeswoman, Amy von Walter, told the Times, “We do not work with Bloggers currently. Target’s policy is to focus limited resources on the big media outlets, like television stations and newspapers, which reach large numbers of shoppers. With a small public relations team, we want to make sure we are making an educated decision and we live up to any promises we make, in terms of service.”

Anyone who believes that Bloggers do not reach a large number of shoppers need only recall Dell Hell, a blog that became so popular it cost Dell its place as market leader. To this day, the company is still trying to rebuild its customer service image.

There is simply no more immediate way to spread information than the Blogger. Every one Blog is linked to other Blogs, which are linked to other Blogs, and like the old shampoo commercial goes…and so on ... and so on.

In fact, companies that embrace Bloggers (and PR pros who pitch them) often see a loyalty not found in a lot of traditional media. Bloggers have the luxury of writing what they want and they can be your most vocal advocate if you invite them in.

On the flip side, disrespecting Bloggers is the quickest way to invite their wrath, which Target has most assuredly done because, once again, Bloggers have the luxury of writing what they want.

The fact is: media are everywhere and they take all forms. The first thing I say on my web site is:

The Internet has democratized our media landscape. Through blogs, webzines, social networking and more, your customer now has a voice as loud as any traditional channel—perhaps even louder. In today’s world, your customer is the media. That’s why it’s never been more important to “speak media” fluently in terms of strategy, message and delivery.

And, as I’ve said before on this blog—a great number of Bloggers work for traditional media outlets, in addition to writing their own blog. This is part of the one-two punch in pitching a Blogger; you can get your story in front of two media channels at once. Similarly, in this day of 24/7 news, a lot of media search Blogs for leads, as we’ve seen with today’s New York Times.

So, let the lesson be loud and clear: Bloggers are media too! In fact, they are fast-becoming the most important media Target out there (pun intended).

-- my two cents

A Response From Jeff Gannon to My Blog

In my previous post, I discussed the seemingly increasing incidents of fake reporters, including the fake FEMA Press Conference; Columbia Picture's fake movie critic, David Manning; and Jeff Gannon outed as a phony White House correspondent in 2005.

Jeff emailed me yesterday asserting he is a real reporter and referenced his coverage of the White House for the Talon News Service. He argued that the notion he is not a real reporter is a myth perpetuated by biased bloggers.

While a search does yield a great number of blogged reports, there have been several articles by traditional media like Washington Post, the New York Times, the News & Record, CNN to name a few.

These reports state that the Talon News Service for which Jeff wrote is owned by the partisan Web site GOPUSA and that he was there to report the party line. (For a concise look at the accusations of Jeff's background, I'd recommend Media Matters, a non-partisan web site that covers misinformation in the media.)

I am not a journalist; I'm a publicist. But, since I'm so often on my soap box about journalistic integrity, I wanted to make sure I give a voice to both sides here. If anyone has anything else to add on this subject, please let me know.

Thanks for reading!

Demystifying Blogging for Promotion

I'm often asked about how & when to blog as well as how and when to pitch bloggers. So, here's my thinking on the subject:

Pitching Bloggers:

1. Bloggers Are Media. You want to pitch bloggers much in the same way you pitch media. Even if a blog isn't affiliated in any way with a traditional media channel, bloggers are "the new media." They interview subjects, conduct research and report stories just like any other journalist. So, the first step is to re-think how you define bloggers.

2. Creating a One-Two Punch. We've all seen the media sponsored blogs (Wired blogs, Forbes blogs). But, also keep in mind even if the blog isn't officially sponsored by a publication, it could be written by a journalist. Or, if it is sponsored by a media outlet, the journalist behind it could be affiliated with another publication. A good example is the Fast Forward blog on CNN Money. It is written by a senior editor at Forbes. Pitching him means you are putting your story in front of two media channels in one.

3. Who Follows Whom? I'm often asked, "should I focus on the traditional media and hope bloggers will pick up the story?" In fact, the opposite is usually true. Independent bloggers don't have to contend with the traditional hierarchy of reporter-to-editor-to-senior-editor for story approval so they can move much faster. The result is that a lot of traditional media take their cues from top bloggers. I'm not dissing traditional media here -- all I'm saying is news moves at the speed of information and a good reporter will rely on every source they can to get the jump on a good story. And, of course, with blogs you have the advantage of one blog being linked to five others, which are each linked to five others...to help perpetuate a story virally. This is the great power of blogs and is precisely why a hit in the right blog can be more powerful than a story in a traditional media channel.

When to Blog:

1. When You Really Have Something To Say. The fact is there are millions of blogs out there and most of them are lucky if they have one or two readers. If you're going to take the time to blog, make sure you have something to say. The best blogs are either provocative, funny, or educational. If you can't fit into these three categories, blogging may not help promote your company or product. After all, if a blog is posted online and no one is there to read it ... then no one is there to read it.

If you have any specific questions about blogging or any other forms of promotion, marketing or public relations, please contact me at http://www.andersonjonespr.com/.

/Jennifer Jones