According to a recent survey, more than 50 percent of journalists visit online newsroom sections of organizations’ websites at least once a week.
What are they looking to find in the online newsroom? More than news releases. The online newsroom should serve as an organization’s online filing cabinet with news releases, company information and digital assets readily available, including:
news releases;
visual assets like photographs (including key leaders’ headshots in print-quality resolutions) and video;
succinct information about products and services;
biographies of key executives;
media contacts, including cell phone numbers;
financial statements.
Smart PR professionals are now thinking about online newsrooms as... ⇢ read more
It’s time to vote! Perhaps you ran to the polls this morning to help the candidate you love become our next president. Or, maybe your vote just celebrates your right to do so and the end of a very long ad season. Either way, there’s no denying the Trump/Clinton race has been particularly intense. Dominated by unprecedented levels of mudslinging and scandals—the effect may last longer than Election Day.
A sky-high level of controversy is characteristic of this year's election. But, it begs a question about whether Trump and Clinton are that much more controversy worthy than candidates in the past. Could this level of... ⇢ read more
Barb Harris and Sharon Kreher, teamworks communication management, www.teamworkspr.com
I read a fair amount of Facebook group and media blog chatter about the love/hate relationship media folks have with PR people. At best, they begrudgingly acknowledge that sometimes PR people can occasionally be helpful. But as most public forums are inclined, complaints about PR folks tend to dominate these conversations. As a PR professional, it’s difficult to reply to or refute these attitudes, as that can fly in the face of our goal of fostering good working relationships with members of the media for the benefit of our clients.
Instead, let me... ⇢ read more
Barb Harris and Sharon Kreher, teamworks communication management, www.teamworkspr.com
I read a fair amount of Facebook group and media blog chatter about the love/hate relationship media folks have with PR people. At best, they begrudgingly acknowledge that sometimes PR people can occasionally be helpful. But as most public forums are inclined, complaints about PR folks tend to dominate these conversations. As a PR professional, it’s difficult to reply to or refute these attitudes, as that can fly in the face of our goal of fostering good working relationships with members of the media for the benefit of our clients.
Instead, let me... ⇢ read more
My wife, a human resources executive, recently attended a half-day professional development program and was so stunned by the behavior of the other participants that she was nearly (not quite totally) speechless when I asked her about how it went.
“The program content was fine,” she said. “But I couldn’t believe the other ‘so-called professionals’ – they were anything but… Instead of using the time to learn, network and develop relationships with other HR professionals, virtually all of the other participants at my table had, and kept, their faces and their attention buried in their smart phones the entire time.”
Prior to... ⇢ read more
By Solveig Raftery, The Firm Public Relations & Marketing
It's a turning point many companies and organizations eventually reach: After establishing a promising product or service, you decide to hire a PR agency to promote your valuable efforts. You conduct due diligence, research PR companies, and find one that offers the services you seek and that understands your vision and goals. You sign a contract.
Now what?
Hiring a PR agency is a significant investment, and of course you want to ensure this investment is effective. Fortunately, when an organization and a PR firm collaborate well, they can reap very satisfying results.
Listed below... ⇢ read more
By Solveig Raftery, The Firm Public Relations & Marketing
It's a turning point many companies and organizations eventually reach: After establishing a promising product or service, you decide to hire a PR agency to promote your valuable efforts. You conduct due diligence, research PR companies, and find one that offers the services you seek and that understands your vision and goals. You sign a contract.
Now what?
Hiring a PR agency is a significant investment, and of course you want to ensure this investment is effective. Fortunately, when an organization and a PR firm collaborate well, they can reap very satisfying results.
Listed below... ⇢ read more
In times of controversy, Elton John was right. Sorry seems to be the hardest word. Look no further than Bill Clinton, Paula Deen and British Petroleum CEO Tony Hayward.
In what The Atlantic calls “one of the most famous apologies in modern American history,” President Bill Clinton sounded stony and defiant in August 1998 when, after seven months of denials, he delivered a televised speech admitting to a sexual affair with Monica Lewinsky.
Paula Deen’s ill-fated 2013 apology tour for using a racial epithet resulted in the loss of sponsors such as The Food Network, QVC and Walmart, and ultimately, led to... ⇢ read more
There have been a few events/circumstances that occurred recently, which have prompted me to consider starting a new movement. Who's with me?
“What is it?” you are asking? Well, I would like to propose a new direction/focus to the practice of Public Relations and call it…Common Sense Communications. I think it might better explain what we do and how we personally approach the discipline as it relates to our clients and life in general.
A client called recently with a potential crisis at its facility, which was brought to their attention by a customer. Without providing all the important information to us,... ⇢ read more
By Felicia K. Knight, President The Knight Canney Group KnightCanney.com
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner! Three winners, actually. Yes, the Powerball has been won. To all you winners, your dreams have come true. But you are about to be thrust headlong into a public relations nightmare—unless you take steps to save yourselves.
None of you live in Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio, or South Carolina, which means, by law, you must be identified as a winner. And that’s when the ticket hits the fan.
Once you’re photographed holding that big check, you will be amazed at the number of relatives,... ⇢ read more
Food safety problems can be a recipe for disaster in the restaurant industry. Just ask Chipotle Mexican Grill.
In the span of two months beginning in October, the company has dealt with an outbreak of E. coli infections that sickened 52 people in nine states and forced the company to temporarily close some locations along with reports earlier this month that up to 140 people fell ill from norovirus linked to a Chipotle restaurant in Boston.
The situation was summed up best by US News & World Report: “For a company founded on fresh ingredients and locally sourced food, it was a... ⇢ read more
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