The More Things Change...

In my last post, I not only quoted the philosopher Ferris Bueller, I talked about how much things have changed in public relations over the course of the past several years. While it is always important to stay ahead of the technology and communication curve, it is far more important to have a sound base for any PR initiative. These are among the things that have NOT changed in the past several years.

The need to plan. You’ve heard the old saw, “If you don’t know where you are going, then ANY road will get you there!” It was true when I was a young pup in this business, and it remains true today. Planning is essential. Set objectives, outline strategies, assign tactics to those strategies (including all of the new social media platforms), determine what success will look like, and set measurement matrices. A good, sound PR plan is like the score for an orchestra; each instrument knows when and what notes to play, and the end result that emerges is far greater than the sum of its parts.

The necessity of the media. To paraphrase another modern-day philosopher, Mr. T, “I pity the fool who thinks you should disregard traditional media.” In most cases, there is still no better and more credible way to connect to your audience than with traditional media. The New York Times remains the number one most quoted and referenced site on the Internet for a reason. And what people see on television or in the news (even if it they receive it tweeted, emailed or posted on Facebook) is often seen as holding far greater value and gravitas than a piece that originates solely on the net.

Content is still king. I don’t care how many “friends” or “likes” you have on Facebook or followers on Twitter. If you are not delivering solid, relevant, useful content, you will not be able to engage with your audience for long. And speaking of engagement…

You need to engage. Public relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its public. That takes engagement. And while connecting with various publics is often accomplished in a very different ways today than it was 10 years ago, the end result should be the same: to create and maintain connections. In other words, engage.

Yes, things have absolutely changed for PR agencies and practitioners. We would be among the fools that Mr. T would pity if we were to think or act otherwise. But a solid foundation that starts with a good, sound and well-vetted plan, that employs the strengths of both traditional and social media, that delivers good and useful content and makes and nurtures connections is still the way that excellent PR is practiced today.

Rupert Murdoch "Gets It"

Newspaper maven Rupert Murdoch just appointed Jonathan Miller, recently of AOL, as his head of digital operations. This includes a wide range of products, including MySpace, Photobucket, and Hulu. Miller's job is to make sure Murdoch's News Corp.'s online assets are "central to, not separate from, the enterprise."

Instead of newspapers bitching about how the Internet is killing them, perhaps they'd do better to look to the vision that Murdoch seems to possess. Yes, old Rupert "gets it" -- media convergence is here to stay.

Now you tell me: if a 78-year-old Australian can figure it out, why can't the New York Times?

Newspapers that think their old tried and true model (sell ads, build subscription base, take money to the bank) will work in the 21st Century are sorely mistaken. And, no, it's NOT enough to just put your content up online and sell a few Internet banners. It's time for a fully integrated strategy. Newspaper content has always been superior. How about starting THERE and leveraging that as an advantage?

Time for Newspapers to Charge for Online Content

Rupert Murdoch said last week that he thought that newspapers would have to begin charging for their content for economic survival.

Now isn't that a novel idea -- actually charging for your work!

The New York Times website is one of the most visited, quoted, linked to, and credible sites on the Internet. People all over the world seek out their content. And why not? For all of the bellyaching of the far right, the Times is still the "paper of record" in the United States.

And yet, The Times is losing money.

It's time for newspapers to adopt an economic model that makes sense. Just about nobody this side of Rush Limbaugh wants to see newspapers go the way of the dodo bird. If we need to pay a little for our newspaper content -- especially important papers like The Times -- then I say let's go for it!

Nobody Goes There Anymore, It's Too Crowded

I love "Yogi-isms." And the one that I've swiped to title this post is typical of the appeal of Yogi Berra's unique brand of scratch-your-head honesty -- how could a place be crowded if nobody goes there?

Try this one: Newspapers are dying because nobody reads them anymore.

Conventional wisdom (and circulation figures) seem to back that up. So how come the New York Times saw OVER 40 million unique visitors to its website in December, 2008? Just who are these 40 million-plus people, if not readers of the New York Times?

There is no question that the newspaper business will have to change its business model to survive in the rapidly-changing world of media delivery. But these figures -- and the fact that the New York Times is among the most quoted news source on the Web today -- belie the demise of it, or many other "newspapers of record" around the country.

Riddle Me This.....

If newspapers are "dead," why is it that more people read a newspaper the day AFTER the Super Bowl, than actually WATCHED the Super Bowl game itself?

This great ad was placed by The Newspaper Project:

The Newspaper Project

I am an unabashed fan of newspapers. I love just about everything about them. For that reason, I am thrilled that the newspaper industry has banded together to form The Newspaper Project, an online resource and discussion site about the future of newspapers in our society.

Here's what they have to say about themselves:

NewspaperProject.org was launched in 2009 by a small group of newspaper executives to support a constructive exchange of information and ideas about the future of newspapers. While we acknowledge the challenges facing the newspaper industry in today’s rapidly changing media world, we reject the notion that newspapers—and the valuable content that newspaper journalists provide—have no future.

BRAVO! And good luck!

Publishing Bad News/Good News

I was sad to read yesterday that PC Magazine was going to shut down its print edition. Sure, the Internet is a great tool (heck, we're both using it right now, right?). However, there is no substitute for having a crisply written, composed and printed magazine or newspaper in your hands as you curl up on a big comfy couch or chair -- perhaps with a fire roaring in the fireplace, cold beer nearby, ballgame in the background on the TV.....but I digress.

Many of us who spend what seems like our entire workday in front of a computer screen appreciate the printed piece, and will mourn the demise of yet another "old friend."

At the same time, a bit of good news has just come out of the publishing world. Jonathan Schein, a longtime publishing veteran (and an all around good guy, by the way), has just announced the launch of NYinc -- a a magazine, website, and conference medium for the New York market, focusing on commercial and residential real estate, law, finance, and economic development.

I, for one, wish Jonathan and his staff at Schein Media all the best with this new venture. NYinc joins two other quality titles, New York Home and New Jersey & Company in Schein's growing media stable. Good luck, Jonathan! I look forward to getting my first copy of NYinc.

Trenton Makes (dumb rules) -- Newspapers Take (it on the chin)

An area of concern for the advertising and PR community in New Jersey is a bill that would no longer require that legal notices be placed in newspapers around the state. The measure (A-1083), recently passed unanimously in the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee, would allow legal notices to be placed on official government websites, instead of in newspapers, as is currently required.

Passage of this bill would further weaken the financial health of newspapers -- at a time when many are already on life support. In addition, it is argued that Internet use is by no means universal, and there exists a significant population (mostly older) that does not yet have Internet access.

Since the state, also by law, sets the rates that newspapers can charge for this “legal advertising” -- at rates that have not changed since 1983 (when Ronald Reagan was President and many of us were humming Duran Duran’s “Rio”), the savings to the state and municipalities would not be as dramatic as you might at first think.

Given all of that, I believe there is no good reason that legal notices should not continue to be placed in newspapers and at the same time, on government websites. After all, shouldn't we be demanding MORE government transparency, and not less?

Perhaps there will come a day when legal advertising exclusively on government websites will make sense. I don't believe that time has arrived.

In a bizarre twist – even for New Jersey – at the same time that the government is seeking to save money by eliminating the requirement to post legal notices in newspapers, two bills, A 1092 and A-1106, would require newspapers to run certain political advertising free of charge.

Will SOMEONE in Trenton PLEASE wake up?