Social media provides a plethora of places to find out about media changes - are they all accurate?

There are more changes going on in the media than ever before and having accurate information on the media is crucial to media relations professionals. At Cision US, we have recently received quite a few queries from our clients asking how Cision is tracking all of the changes, layoffs and buyouts that are being announced every day. This is typically our response:

“Because of the growth of online media and a struggling economy, our industry is currently changing at a more rapid pace than ever before. One of the unfortunate side affects of these changes is the layoffs and buyouts affecting nearly every daily newspaper in the nation, as well as a number of magazines, broadcast outlets and news services. The research team at Cision knows how important this information is to you.

To stay on top of these changes and provide you with the most accurate information possible, we are tailoring our research to ensure that we are providing you with the tools you need to communicate effectively. Through developing relationships with key contacts at major outlets, increasing the frequency of research at outlets affected by layoffs, monitoring hundreds of industry sites and thousands of media sites, and a variety of other research methods, our research team continues to provide you with the latest changes. We always strive to offer you the most accurate media database in the industry.”

At Cision US, we have dozens upon dozens of researchers working to verify these changes. We also keep an eye out on changes that are reported elsewhere online. Social media has allowed a plethora of users to post changes to a variety of sites, from wikis to Twitter to group pages on social networks. And although Cision monitors many of these sites, we don’t change anything in our database without verifying it directly ourselves.

One of the up-and-comers in posting media changes is @themediaisdying  on Twitter. The concept? Anyone can submit changes to an anonymous email address and the changes will then be posted on Twitter.

“So, Heidi,” you ask, “Can I trust the changes there?” Read it all..

Cision Blog talks to Fusion PR’s Bob Geller about the dual role of blogger and media relations professional

During the current explosion of social media and blogs, many public relations people are wondering if they should begin blogging themselves. There are quite a few high-profile bloggers who are also PR pros, from SHIFT Communications‘ Todd Defren and his PR Squared blog, to Jason Falls at Social Media Explorer, from Brian Solis of Future Works and his PR 2.0 blog, to Fusion PR’s Bob Geller and his blog Flack’s Revenge. So what are the benefits to being a media relations professional and a blogger? Should YOU start a blog?

I recently spoke with Bob Geller about his dual role. Geller is Senior Vice President at Fusion PR and started the Flack’s Revenge blog almost exactly two years ago in late November 2006. Geller encourages anyone to consider blogging as long as they have something relevant, unique and/or original to blog about. “It’s difficult to talk about something no one else is talking about,” Geller said. “But if you’re going to blog about it, you should have an interesting take or original idea on the subject.” Geller himself has a unique perspective on PR and social media that is evident on his blog because of his background in the tech industry, from sales, marketing and PR to his engineering degree that includes specializations and graduate-level work in microprocessors and digital signal processing.

Media relations pros in particular can benefit from blogging according to Geller. In his post, “I am in PR. Why should I blog?” he discusses how blogging forces you to write in a creative and engaging manner, come up with interesting ideas and concepts and stay up-to-date on important issues. “So what?” you ask?  Read it all..

Exploring the implications of the DTV Transition

We’ve all seen the commercials: On February 17th, all full-power TV stations in the U.S. must begin broadcasting exclusively in a digital format. Other than making sure our old analog TVs are digital-ready, what does this mean for communications professionals?

First, a primer on the basics of digital television:

• Analog vs. Digital: Analog signals are the original standard for transmitting television, take up a lot of room within their assigned channels and are subject to interference, decreasing audio and picture quality. Digital transmits by computer code, which uses less bandwidth space and allows for higher-quality picture and audio.
• Multicasting: Because digital transmission will give broadcasters more room in their channel space, they will have the ability to broadcast in high-definition or multicast multiple stations within one channel. Some broadcasters are planning to multicast four or more programming choices during the day and then switch to high-definition for prime-time programming.

So what does this mean for communications professionals, advertisers and marketers? Cision Blog asked the National Association of Broadcasters. Our interview is below:

Read it all..

Into uncharted territory

Planning a social media strategy for a media  relations campaign can seem like such an epic task, it’s easy to forget what a simple phenomenon social media really is: an evolving mesh of tools for information sharing propelled by people, for whom nothing comes more naturally than describing their interests and surroundings. That explains the rise of social news features on media Web sites. Read it all..

Helping communications professionals navigate the evolving media landscape

Thanks for visiting the new Cision Blog! We’d like to take a few minutes to introduce ourselves and this blog.

Our Bloggers

Jay Krall

Jay Krall is manager of Internet media research for Cision. He is responsible for the development and maintenance of the online media segment of Cision’s media database. He coordinated the creation of a new Internet media research team for Cision and has been instrumental in Cision’s social media efforts. Jay came to Cision from the financial services industry and was previously a newspaper reporter.

Heidi Sullivan

Heidi Sullivan is the director of media research and oversees all research of print, Internet and broadcast media. She joined Cision in 2004. Heidi was formerly an editorial manager for a firm that produced regional business magazines, an account executive at a media relations agency and an editor and media researcher for a major newswire service.

Read it all..

Here’s a counterintuitive tip: try the main inbox

Many PR professionals have long eschewed sending pitches to the main e-mail addresses of media outlets. Often regarded as victims of poorly targeted press release distribution, inboxes belonging to addresses like news@, info@ or contact@ are thought of by many as measures of last resort. The attitude stems from media relations 101: find the reporter or editor who is specifically responsible for covering the topic of your pitch, and contact that person directly. Read it all..

How to target the media effectively in a few simple steps

We hear people say “targeting the media” all the time. But what does that phrase really mean? The word “target” means aiming for the right goal. I immediately think of an archery target and that tiny little bull’s-eye right in the center. The bull’s-eye image is, in essence, the key to effective media relations. Finding that exact target, aiming and hitting it dead on with one shot is much more effective than sending 100 arrows in the approximate direction of the target. Here are a few tips on finding and hitting your own bull’s-eye:

• Finding the right goal: Before ever contacting a journalist, media relations pros should conduct some simple media research: who their audience is, what media outlets are the right fit and which journalists are the best to contact for their campaign.
• Understanding Your Target Audience: Think about who you want to see your story, client or company. Is your story angle appropriate for end-users, buyers or influencers? Once you have identified your audience, determine how they consume news. Read it all..

How to get past feeling overwhelmed about the blogosphere

When you’re faced with the prospect of engaging blogs as part of a PR campaign, the sheer size of the blogosphere can seem daunting. According to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008 report, released earlier this fall, the blog search engine has recorded more than 133 million blogs since 2002. But while attempts to count the number of blogs online usually reach into nine figures, the number of blogs relevant for media relations professionals is—thankfully—much smaller.

As you start incorporating blogs into your media research, you may find it helpful to come up with some guidelines about the types of blogs that you’ll be seeking out. The blogs we add to Cision’s media database must meet a couple of basic criteria: Read it all..