The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

The federal government should stay out of the squabble over prepackaged news materials such as video news releases.

The FCC is reviewing existing rules and regulations on two types of prepackaged news materials – those involving financial or promotional considerations for broadcasters who air them and those involving “controversial” or “political subjects.” The FCC became involved after two well-publicized cases last year in which broadcasters aired government-sponsored video news releases on controversial presidential issues without identifying the source.

PRSA, the world’s largest organization representing public relations professionals, correctly argues that broadcasters and producers of prepackaged news materials are obligated to fully inform the public about who provided the information contained in the material and who paid for the production. So there’s no reason for the FCC to expanded the laws.

Read the full PRSA comment.

Posted In: Press Releases/News Releases, TV Publicity
posted On: 6/25/2005: 9:07 pm: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m fascinated by all the “citizen journalism” experiments under way throughout the U.S. I’m not alone.

Blogger Steve Outing says he wondered if he was writing too much about the topic, but that the responses to his blog items, and queries from “real” journalists, leads him to believe this could eventually be a hot topic.

Read more about his observations. And stay tuned.

Posted In: Newspaper Publicity, Publicity on the Internet
posted On: 6/24/2005: 2:59 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

One reason newspaper circulation is plummeting is because people feel a real disconnect between real life and what they see printed in their daily newspapers.

Complaints of biased and inaccurate reporting, too much emphasis on crime (when in fact crime rates are decreasing) and too little good news are encouraging people to take news-gathering into their own hands.

Enter Amy Gahran, a citizen activist in Boulder, Colorado, who is recruiting a team of volunteers to help “cover” a controversial housing development that her local newspaper, the Daily Camera, hasn’t yet covered. They will post their stories on the Daily Camera’s website as part of the newspaper’s new citizen journalism initiative known as My Town.

Other newspapers throughout the U.S. are involved with projects like this one. Citizen journalism, known as citJ, for short, includes news, features, analysis and commentary produced and published by people, including bloggers, who don’t work for newspapers. They’re simply involved citizens who want to report news in their own words and offer opinions.

If something like this had happened back where I come from—in the newsrooms of the 70s and 80s, we editors—with our bachelor’s and sometimes even master’s degrees in journalistm—would have scoffed at the very idea. But as an article in the Christian Science Monitor has quoted Gahran as saying, “The skills involved in creating journalism are underappreciated, but they aren’t particularly rocket science.”

She and partner A. Adam Glenn, who recently left his Senior Producer position at ABC News.com, are teaming up to educate the “citizen journalists” and help the news organizations that seem to have few other options than to try to work with them. Gahran explains more about the project in this item at her own blog.

Their website is called I, Reporter, and will include a blog, a training program for citizen journalists and news organizations, workshops, educational materials and e-learning.

This is a fascinating twist in the ever-changing media landscape. This grizzled, former newspaper editor wishes them the very best.

Posted In: Newspaper Publicity, Publicity on the Internet
posted On: 6/23/2005: 8:56 am: By Joan
Comments: 1 Comment

Kevin Maney, USA Today’s technology writer and tech columnist, doesn’t cover daily breaking news, individual product pieces, product announcements or product reviews, unless “they are mind-blowing.”

But he wants PR people to let him know about up-and-coming technology that is just coming out of labs and factories, as well as tech trends in other countries. He also writes feature stories about the people behind the technology, the inventors.

Read this article on how to pitch him, courtesy of PR Newswire.

Posted In: Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media
posted On: : 1:22 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

Jennifer Marko of Jacksonville, Florida writes:

“I represent a luxury high-rise community, which is almost sold out, but we don’t want to lose momentum on our publicity efforts about the community itself. Our target market is retired or almost-retired empty nesters looking to downsize their lifestyle so they can travel. The 12-story building is on the St. Johns River. It has 64 units that start at about $1 million. The website is at http://www.villariva.com

“What tips do your Hounds have for how we can create even more publicity for this development?”

Posted In: Business Promotion
posted On: 6/21/2005: 10:32 pm: By Joan
Comments: 13 Comments