Trevor Young | PR Warrior blog | Where PR meets social media meets content marketing

PIXELS & INK: A Discussion About the Future of Journalism {VIDEO}

 I was in the audience this week at an event presented by Herald Sun and News Limited - PIXELS & INK: A Discussion About the Future of Journalism.

The event was held at State Library Victoria in Melbourne but was live streamed over the internet.

The moderator was New York-based Steve Rubel, EVP Global Strategy & Insights at Edelman, with a panel comprising:

• Phil Gardner, Editor-in-Chief, Herald and Weekly Times
• Campbell Reid, Group Editorial Director, News Limited
• Russel Howcroft, CEO Australia/New Zealand at Young & Rubicam Brands
• Renee Barnes, Journalism Lecturer, RMIT

(DISCLOSURE: I was part of the team from Edelman engaged to help stage the event).

The discussion was free-flowing and participants came at the topic (the current and future state of the media) from numerous angles.

Key Themes

Key themes explored included: What does journalism look like? How is it going to evolve? How is this going to affect us as consumers and readers?

If you work in media, marketing, advertising or PR - or are just interested in the media space - then I think you'll  enjoy this video recording of PIXELS & INK.

It's nearly an hour long, so you might want to grab a coffee (or glass of wine) before pressing 'play' :)

Twitter hashtag for the conversation is #heraldsunfoj.

More information on the 'Future of Journalism' topic can be found at News Limited's futureofjournalism.com.au website.

 

Perspectives on Trust from Edelman Sydney {Video Interviews}

This week saw PR firm Edelman Australia launch the local findings of the global Edelman Trust Barometer at events in Melbourne and Sydney (disclosure: I work for Edelman).

The report was launched by Michelle Hutton, CEO Edelman Australia and included a panel of support speakers including:

• Greg Baxter, Former Corporate Affairs Director, News Limited
• Professor Jim Macnamara, Professor of Public Communication, UTS
• Hailey Cavill, Founder + Director, Cavill + Co
• Laurence Evans, President International, StrategyOne

While at the Sydney event I managed to catch up for a one-on-one chat with all of the speakers - below is an edited video of my interviews (thanks Ed Courtenay for filiming/editing).

The following is from the Edelman blog:

The 2012 Edelman Australian Trust Barometer was launched today at an event at Sydney’s Mint. The key findings:

• 60% of Australians do not trust government leaders to tell the truth 
• Business, more trusted than government, has the opportunity to move from a license to operate to a license to lead 
• Technology the most trusted industry sector in Australia, while trust in energy industry is low 
• Trust in media increases; Social media increasingly trusted as a company information source amongst informed public 
• Peer to peer trust is rising: 31% increase in ‘a person like myself’ and 17% increase in regular employees as credible company spokespeople

Click here to see more, including a Slideshare copy of the Australian presentation and infographic.

Here is the official global website dedicated to 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer.

FURTHER READING:

• Edelman Trust Barometer - Intro by Edelman Australia CEO Michelle Hutton
• 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer - Global Deck
• Richard Edelman on the 2012 Trust Barometer Findings (VIDEO)

 

PR Needs to Support Journalists in Their Role as the Fourth Estate

I wrote a post the other day titled The Rise, Rise (and Rise) of the Opinion Cycle.

It was based around a presentation the former senior press secretary to PM Kevin Rudd, Lachlan Harris gave at the Public Relations Institute of Australia's PR Directions conference.

The presentation proved to be quite controversial, and sparked much debate during the conference. 

I received a few comments on the post, one of which was from Geoff Barbaro (below), co-founder of Corporate Growing Pains. He is the author of The Leader’s Beacon: The 55-minute guide to Leadership Communication.

Geoff's response to the post was too comprehensive to sit languishing in the comments section on the blog so, with his permission, I have posted it in full below.   

 

G'day PR Warrior, I believe there is a lot in what Lachlan and you say, and I'm not sure there's an easy fix.

Traditional media organisations have been cutting expenses in traditional management style and have failed to maintain their values and standards.

As a result, they have spent the last couple of decades throwing away their Unique Selling Proposition.

They have also spent that time diversifying their business interests into entertainment and gaming, which now provides the lifeblood for many of these organisations.

It is no coincidence that traditional media sales have fallen in real terms, almost in inverse proportion to the rise and rise (and rise) of opinion. We can get opinions at the local pub.

What we want from traditional media organisations are the credible facts we can use to back-up our views and fuel our debates.

As an industry, PR has been extremely remiss in not strongly supporting journalists in their role as the fourth estate. Opinions have nothing to do with the role of the fourth estate. We are partially responsible for allowing this problem to occur.

We need to challenge traditional media to return to values-based journalism that meets standards, but we won’t take on that challenge because it is not seen as being good to challenge media proprietors and some see it as against the interests of clients.

People like traditional media. Despite predictions for the last 40 years or so that it was dying, we continue to keep it alive. We still like reading papers in the mornings, however they are delivered.

Many of the young journalists entering the industry still want to achieve the same things as their predecessors. But our will to fight to keep alive traditional media is continuing to drain.

Soon, someone will come up with the new way to deliver credible, properly checked and appropriately sourced news. When they do, the disruptive innovation for the traditional media companies may be complete.

In the meantime, I'm not sure that being proactive in the media is that effective.

By all means, respond fully and openly when they ask questions, but I'm not sure that the effectiveness of traditional media is so high that we should continue to respond or drive proactive campaigns when there are so many avenues available for direct conversations, discussions and debates between organisations and their stakeholders.

Traditional media tend to be picking up and reporting these conversations anyway, so do we keep going to journalists, given we will be lucky to get any news reporting and the majority of coverage for any reasonable issue will be reporting of opinions?

I agree with your approach about open conversations with stakeholders and not relying on the media filter. Stakeholder conversations are much more credible than our media releases.

Why not let the journalists have good access to these conversations? After all, the pressure to report them fairly becomes far greater when a) the whole conversation is public and b) the stakeholders being reported can respond to any element of comment about them.

However, if we go down this path, we also need to be more accountable for what we publish, more accountable for ensuring our information is presented accurately and fairly and that stakeholders have the clear right to respond in their own ways just as openly, without threat or much in the way of censorship (censorship for standards only, not messages or themes). 

And hopefully keeping us accountable will see journalists back in their true role as the fourth estate.

Cheers.

Geoff Barbaro

The 55-minute guide to Leadership Communication available on Amazon 

Corporate Growing Pains Pty Ltd 
ABN 45 144 975 404 

 

The Rise, Rise (and Rise) of the Opinion Cycle

Day two of the Public Relations Institute of Australia's PR Directions conference kicked off with an in-your-face presentation by the former senior press secretary to PM Kevin Rudd, Lachlan Harris (pictured).

Harris's presentation - When your communication gets into a spin – the battle of policy vs populism - focused on "the rise and rise and rise of the opinion cycle" and why it has become more important than the news cycle.

Harris has examined the changes in the media over the past five years. His conclusion?

“Opinion happened”

He says: "Opinion has always been a big part of the media but never like it is now."

Harris contends the media industry, which has until recent years been driven by the traditional news cycle, has given way to the cycle of opinion (which includes tweets, blogs, talkback radio etc).

As far as the Australian media industry is concerned, “the apprentice has become the master – opinion reigns supreme”.

This in turn has resulted in "massive fundamental change" to the political landscape.

The rise of opinion is new and it’s fundamentally changing the way politics runs, he says.

News and opinion are intertwined but opinion cycle is "slowly smothering the news cycle".

Tweets, comments, blogs, email, talkback - collectively - are now more important and influential than the news story.

According to Harris, the difference between news and opinion is simple:

News is a flow of information that depends on facts, opinion is a flow of information that depends on argument.

“Opinion is a fundamentally different proposition to news”

 So much of the information we’re exposed to in politics has little to do with facts.

Facts don’t matter, arguments do, he says.

According to Harris, five years ago Kerry O’Brien was the most influential media figure in Australia; today it’s Andrew Bolt (because he has a talent for provoking debate).

WHY IS THE MEDIA OBSESSED WITH OPINION?

“Opinion is cheaper than fact” – it's much easier to fill a page of opinion versus the volume of output required for fact-based reportage which requires a team of journalists.

Opinion is a lot easier to package for readers, listeners and viewers.  If you give an opinion, you can’t be disproved.

“It’s much, much harder to establish fact.”

But there are consequences associated with the rise of opinion: “We have developed a lot more divisive political culture”.

“Hyper-negative, super critical” opinion is coming from the community, says Harris.

This negativity is not just confined to the politicians – sports people and artists etc cop it too.

“Opinion is driving us into a very negative place.

“Stories that divide community opinion don’t get churned and burned in the news cycle but slowly roasted in the opinion cycle.”

Harris outlined several tips for the audience largely made up of PR types:

• “Adjust your radar, look for ‘faultlines’” – whereas you used to assess media opportunities on the facts, you've now got to pick up on ‘faultlines’ … need to understand how your story is going to drive debate…how are people going to react to it emotionally, and how are they going to develop an argument around that?

• If you want to argue for change (not just political), you HAVE to be prepared for negative criticism.

• Stories don’t ever, ever, ever go away - "the wisdom of the crowd is driving these stories on and on and on".

• News judgment is being overwhelmed by the wisdom of the crowd - “We need to adjust our timelines”.

Harris sums up: “The media is now a rougher and tougher game” than ever before.

However, he suggests there may be a swing back to the appreciation of fact-based news. Eventually…

The PR Warrior's View?

A lot of what Harris says makes sense.

But Harris also comes from the hurly-burly of political spin doctoring. Participants in this space are often combative by nature and being reactive to circumstances is a daily occurrence. To them, negativity is very much a fact of life.

There must be something companies and individuals can do to offset the tide of negative opinion rather than merely bunker down through fear? What can be done in a 'positive sense' to (try to) redress the balance? Is everything really that bad out there?

I'm thinking being proactive is key. Always be out there telling your story (not just in times of crisis). Build your brand reputation through open engagement with the people who matter most the success of your business, cause or issue...ongoing. Connect directly with the marketplace rather than relying on the media filter.

Maybe the answer is to mix Lachlan Harris's hard-edged pragmatism and innate understanding of the media with Brian Solis, who kicked off the conference with a superb presentation about engaging with people in today's hyper-connected age.

It would make an interesting combo!

NOTE: My next post will be on Brian Solis's talk.

Emmy Buzz: Media Vs Twitter {INFOGRAPHIC}

The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards are on tonight. Like the Oscars, they create massive buzz online, offline and in the media.

I spotted this infographic yesterday via Mediabistro.com.

Zinio and Webtrends have teamed up to measure word-of-mouth hype surrounding nominees from the main categories. Interestingly, they have compared the buzz generated on Twitter versus what's coming from traditional media outlets, thus painting an interesting picture as to who people think will win.

Quite a bit of disparity between the media and Twitterverse. I wonder which medium/s will prove the most accurate come awards time?

(Infographic Source: Zinio and Webtrends.) 

The Future is NOW: Two Examples of Innovation in Print Media

One thing that continues to occupy the minds of senior executives at major (print) media houses is how to not only survive today's ever evolving new media world but to thrive in it.

As a keen observer of the space, I occasionally see slivers of 'progress' at such establishments but any major innovation, which is what's needed, is generally pretty slow in coming. There's a lot of noise, but very little action as far as I can see.

But there are some trailblazers out there and in this post I look at two examples of innovation in media.

One is a newspaper company that is attempting to redefine itself as a 'digital first' organisation, the other is a magazine format created for the iPad.

Journal Register Company

Mid last year John Paton, chief executive of the Journal Register Company, heralded a new direction for the company - 'Digital first, print last'.

JRC is not a small concern - it publishes 19 daily newspapers among its 170 print titles and also has 154 online sites. 

Interestingly, the company was in bankruptcy when Paton and Co. took over. A year later it had made a profit of $41 million while at the same time blazing a trail of innovation.

Some of the measures Paton has initiated include:

• issuing 1000 Flip cameras to its reporters so they can video record the news as well as write about it;
• appointing an advisory board consisting of three eminent thinkers on 'new journalism', including Jeff Jarvis, author of 'What Would Google Do?' and the blogger who in 2005 was at the centre of the 'Dell Hell' online firestorm;
• experimenting with a number of community initiatives designed to get the public more involved with its newspapers (and the process of news gathering itself) - for example The Register Citizen Open Newsroom Project (which includes a Newsroom Cafe, Community Journalism School and a Community Media Lab);
• setting up the Ben Franklin Project, an experiment that provides JRC the opportunity to "re-imagine the newsgathering process with the focus on Digital First and Print Last"; 
• establishing ideaLab whereby a group of JRC journalists are "charged with experimenting with the latest technology and tools to help our company think differently about what we do and how we do it". 

John Paton not only embraces digital technology but also the open and transparent 'mindset' required to make it work effectively in a large organization. This is what makes a difference. The digital tools are all well and good, but it is the open attitude and progressive thinking (led from the top of the company) that is driving this cultural shift.

Paton's blog Digital First chronicles his efforts in transforming JRC. It is essentially a dialogue with staff about the journey they're all going on, but is shared openly with the public as well. Well worth a read if the topic of media reinvention is of interest to you.

Project Magazine

Project is an exciting initiative of Virgin Digital Publishing with content that focuses on design, entertainment, technology and entrepreneurs. It's a web-enabled multimedia version of a traditional magazine, created specifically for the iPad viewing experience. It's pretty cool!

Basically, Project brings 'life' to the reading experience.

The front cover becomes a video (see below).

Stories have extra dimension (one travelogue piece on Berlin, for example, features a 3D map).

Links are scattered everywhere, and readers are able to submit comments on stories.

Plus there's a blog.

Lots of reading goodness in one iPad package. Long may it live/grow/prosper!

PROJECT Issue 4 - featuring Eric Bana from PROJECT on Vimeo.

Anthill's James Tuckerman: If I were Rupert Murdoch for a day.

In this second video excerpt from THE RIFF (see first instalment here), I posed a question to Anthill Magazine founder James Tuckerman along the lines of:

What would you do if you were Rupert Murdoch for the day.

I was interested in hearing James' views on whether he would use Murdoch's money and clout to dramatically change the News Corporation empire in any way, bearing in mind he only had one day to do it in!

James' first response was:

"That is the hardest question that anyone could ever ask anyone in this room," before adding: "I'd do something positive with all his money".

Check the video to see how James fares. You will also discover one exercise in which nine-year-olds excel at ahead of CEOs, who are in turn are better at than MBA graduates!

What would you do if you were Rupert Murdoch for a day? How would you bring change to his media empire? 

 

About THE RIFF

THE RIFF was organised by my employer Edelman and featured a panel of three savvy media guys - all 'traditional' hard copy journalists who have embraced wholeheartedly the brave new media world:

• MICHAEL SHORT -- writer / interviewer / producer -- The Zone at The Age.
• JAMES TUCKERMAN -- Founder of Anthill Magazine.
• FINN BRADSHAW -- Deputy Network Sports Editor, News Ltd. 

Check out all all six video excerpts from THE RIFF on the Edelman Australia blog.

THE RIFF was held at the Uptown Jazz Cafe in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. VIDEO PRODUCTION CREDIT: Ryan Spanger (@ryanspanger) from Dream Engine.

  

Never a Better Time to be in the Media: An 'Explosion of Opportunity' Waiting to Happen

On behalf of my employer Edelman I was involved in an event the other night that looked at the state of the media and pondered the question: "Where to next?".

It’s an interesting topic and one that’s forever being discussed and debated by bloggers, marketers and the media itself the world over.

The session - dubbed THE RIFF - featured a panel of three savvy media guys - all 'traditional' hard copy journalists who have embraced wholeheartedly the brave new media world:

MICHAEL SHORT -- writer / interviewer / producer -- The Zone at The Age.

JAMES TUCKERMAN -- Founder of Anthill Magazine.

FINN BRADSHAW -- Deputy Network Sports Editor, News Ltd. 

In the video excerpt below, Michael Short proclaims: 

"I don't think there's been a better time to be in the media.

He says there's "an explosion of opportunity" for journalists and those working in the media, and believes newspapers should be moving from being "in the market of disseminating information to being involved in insight".

"We should be looking at why and how in newspapers," he says. "People will pay for that that they value...and people value curated information."

Insightful stuff!

Check out all six video excerpts from THE RIFF on the Edelman Australia blog.

THE RIFF was held at the Uptown Jazz Cafe in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. VIDEO PRODUCTION CREDIT: Ryan Spanger (@ryanspanger) from Dream Engine.

 

Harvey Norman's Gerry Harvey - Stranded at the Dance Without a Partner?

Even seasoned media performers (politicians especially) can misread the mood of the people and embark on a public campaign that backfires on them badly, and in today's hyper-connected world, when it backfires it does so pretty damn quickly!.

Over the past couple of days the last man standing without a partner at the big dance was Gerry Harvey, business icon and the face of retailing giant, Harvey Norman.

I like Gerry. I enjoy his direct manner and common touch. He uses language that is direct and cuts to the chase. Unfortunately, on this occasion, he left the 'common' behind - he showed that he was plain out of step with consumers.

PIC: SMH

For the uninitiated, Gerry is spearheading a campaign by Australia's big retailers designed to pressure the Federal Government into applying Goods and Services Tax (GST) to goods bought from overseas-based online retailers. Currently, anything purchased overseas via the web escapes the 10 per cent levy. 

Now, anyone who has even tripped over someone who once went online and accidentally bought something from overseas (via dial-up no less!) knows this whole topic is a no-go zone from a consumer perspective.

Amazon Gets It

Australians are increasingly buying online from overseas because it's cheaper (so much so that a 10 per cent GST would make little difference), our dollar is so strong against the US Greenback in particular, the range is superior plus overseas online retailers like Amazon, well, they get it. Their websites are functional and easy to use comparative to a lot of Australian retail sites.

But then, Gerry has never really been a big believer in the web - this article 'Gerry Harvey has his head in the sand - online retailers' appeared in 2008.

I'm not here to debate the veracity of the major retailers' campaign, suffice to say they've backed a dog of a horse and while Gerry has publicly been left holding the (nose)bag, there are others who are complicit in this ill-conceived PR 'effort'.

But I digress ...

Reason for this post is to highlight (a) the need to understand your market, (b) the need to understand who is influencing whom, and (c) why you should never under-estimate the power of social media.

Let's dodge (a) - Gerry obviously understands the consumer marketplace generally - duh - but (b) he cocked up on this one, and (c) methinks he completely stuffed up on this one too ... sorry Gerry :)

I don't have any stats on this but you'd have to say that intuitively a fair proportion of people who shop online would also be active on social media. Put another way, a lot of active Tweeters do shop online (the topic does come up regularly in Tweetstreams).

So you'd have to think this groundswell of support for online shopping would galvanise in the wake of the big retailers' campaign to have the government impose GST on goods purchased from overseas.

But this is not just a social media thing. It may have been fuelled by the social media brigade (The "Dear Gerry Harvey'' topic on Twitter was the No.4 trending topic in the world in the past 24 hours, according to this report in the Courier-Mail) but it broadened quickly. Public reaction was swift and has cut across newspapers, TV and talkback radio especially.

Unfortunately for Gerry Harvey, he has a few bridges to mend. The question now is, how deeply has his involvement in this campaign damaged the Harvey Norman brand?

Owned and Earned Versus Paid Media

Marketers today face a dazzling array of mediums through which to promote their brand to the masses.

More often or not it seems many brands, when faced with such choice, take the easy option and fall back on lazy habits – spending lots of money buying airtime and print media space to promote their wares and if that doesn’t work, buy more airtime and print media space!

Okay, in some circumstances this might be the right strategy. But more often than not in today’s hyper-connected world marketers need to be a little more thoughtful in their approach.

Rather than simply select a mix from all the various channels available and then retrofitting into an ‘integrated campaign’ (it happens more than you’d think!), how about standing back for a minute and thinking a bit more strategically about how ‘media’ can set the tone at a deeper level?

There are three types of media you need to be concerned about and understand intuitively – ‘paid media’, ‘owned media’ and ‘earned media’.

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