Stake Your Claim, Protect Your Brand, or Be Sorry Later
Web users are facing an identity crisis. As the public – readers, potential employers, coworkers – continue Googling each other to learn more about who they’re reading, there’s more potential for spoofing.
Daniel Schawbel on Social Media Today wrote a post with some solid advice about claiming your name on popular social networking and blog sites, including Facebook, LinkedIn and WordPress.com.
Though the idea of staking a claim on myriad plots of Web territory seems daunting, we journalists are in a business where credibility, trust and reputation do matter.
It’s worth thinking about. And if this sounds familiar, it’s cause this subject has come up before.
The Evolution of an NPR Series on China
This could be subheded, “Always a Sucker for Cute Fuzzy Animals.”
Earlier today, Andy Carvin of NPR posted a tweet about NPR’s Chengdu Diary, a blog by the reporting team sent to China that will accompany a series airing May 19-23 on “All Things Considered.”
Blogs like this allow visitors to get a feel for what it’s like to go to a place with a project and a purpose. It’s not just about the journalism, it’s about the crafting of stories, and a window into other lives and places.
And they give people an excuse to post video of cute, fuzzy, squawking animals.
For media organizations doing big projects, investigative reports or covering multi-day events, blogs are an ideal way to expose the process of newsgathering — and to bring something unique and human to a website.
Hed Games: We Have a Winner
Ricochet’s hed-to-hed competition went neck and neck, with a near photo-finish between two entrants. In the end, the headlines by Jenny Cromie took the tape.
Contest judge Matthew Crowley had some funny, instructive advice in his assessment:
All of Jenny’s were complete and accurate and summarized their stories.
The Marriott headline used all of those p’s to sonic use (not to be confused with Sonic Youth, which is a band). I realize Inga Hensen’s head for this is almost the same, but Jenny’s referenced pay-per-view, which I think is a key detail….
I liked the following in the footsteps one for the kite skier. What’s also important is that Jenny’s head uses “great-grandfather” and not the name. This is important because, for the general reader, “Hurley” probably isn’t an instant “I-know-who-he-is” name….
And Jenny’s marathon head mentions the race and the song and dance, putting key elements together. I don’t think you could leave the race out, although I did like Inga’s reference to awareness-raising.
Crowley also gave honorable mentions “for style and snap” to individual entries by Lizz Westman (“Marriott Hotels May Say ‘Kiss Off’ To Adult Movies”) and Anna Curtis (“Arctic Kite-Skier Prepares To Walk South Until She Gloats”).
Thanks to everyone who entered. And Jenny, your Threadless gift certificate will be arriving in your emailbox shortly.
Tim Robbins Tells Off Broadcasters
Actor and activist Tim Robbins was opening keynote speaker at the recent National Association of Broadcasters conference. An interesting choice, for sure.
When the time came, Robbins balked, according to an AdAge report.
After a bit of confusion, Robbins took the stage and gave a speech that entertained the audience before delivering a thrashing.
Here, in its entirety, is the speech.
(via Paper Tiger TV)
If You Controlled the News, What Would You Do?
The news business, and it is a business, is getting squeezed. There are those who think “big J” journalism is a waste of effort and resources at a time when we can count exactly how many people spend time reading the stories, watching the videos, and clicking around on our interactive features.
Strapped for cash, the easy answer is to do things that drive traffic: produce more photo galleries; publish more “gotchas,” celebrity and entertainment news; follow and there by feed controversy; play up drama and conflict.
Does that mean that the fundamental mission of journalism — to find answers to incisive questions; to explore and reveal the world around us; to gather and check facts and report back; to challenge authority — ought to be left in the wings while we make enough money to get us past this rough patch?
Tim Robbins, actor, director and activist, had a few things to say about that during the National Association of Broadcasters conference, which closed last week.
Maybe we the public don’t need the things Robbins is talking about, but clearly, the numbers show us it’s what people are paying attention to. On the other hand, in surveys and day-to-day conversation, people say they want something better than what’s on offer.
So I ask: As a member of the public — not as a journalist — what kinds of stories do you seek out? How do you spend your time when you’re not working on news? And if you’re not in the media business, what do you spend your time looking for, reading and watching? And what aren’t you finding that you’d like to find?
