Pittsburgh is not unlike a lot of major cities in America in that it’s become a news media desert, which is not to say an information desert. The two would be different things.
While Pittsburghers, like most Americans, are drowning in a sea of digital information, their local news media landscape has become devoid of a strong news media industry.… Read the rest
There’s a term used in medicine called “the pertinent negative” that helps doctors and other medical professionals diagnose illnesses and identify problems. Essentially, it’s to look for what’s missing.
For example, a pertinent negative is when it appears someone has heart failure but they haven’t gained weight, a common symptom of heart failure. To a doctor that’s weird, and it’s a pertinent negative, because weight gain is missing from the symptom list.… Read the rest
For the longest time, I cut my own grass, and I hated it. Then one day I decided to pay a neighborhood kid to cut the grass, and the sense of freedom was unbelievable. I had more time and less work. But maybe the best thing was that no matter how busy I was as work, I didn’t have that grass-cutting chore hanging over my head every week.… Read the rest
I have some friends who avoid the stress of planning for their annual summer vacation by not planning for it. Yes, they take a vacation every year, and they always have a good time in a nice place. But they don’t plan for it, at least not in the way you may think.… Read the rest
In the communications business, to say we need to meet the media where they live is essentially to say, make it as easy as possible on reporters, editors, journalists and producers. Give them the content they need when they need it, where they need it and in the most user-friendly format possible.
The problem most newsrooms face these days is lack of resources.… Read the rest
I was accredited by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in 1990. At the time, accreditation or that “APR” designation was relatively new and unproven. But since I was working for a big agency that covered the costs for things like this, I decided to go for it, and it worked out.… Read the rest
About a year ago, in the months after COVID-19 first arrived in America, the nation was in crisis. No organization or family or person was unaffected.
As a result, nearly every professional communicator faced challenges of their own.
To be sure, there’s a difference between being in crisis and being a crisis manager. It’s the same difference that exists between being the patient and being the doctor.… Read the rest
Sports Analogy Alert/Warning: In all the years I’ve written articles and blog posts, I’ve taken care to avoid the use of sports analogies because I know the majority of people in the PR profession can be turned off by them. That said, this is that rarest of exceptions where a sports analogy is the absolute best way to illustrate the strategy that is our focus here.… Read the rest
Comedian Steve Martin had a great line early in his career when he talked about the secret to becoming a millionaire. “First,” he said, “you get a million dollars…”
Isn’t that so true? How many self-help books or gurus are just like that? They skip right to the result but are scant on details of how to actually get there.… Read the rest
I got an email today from a respected consulting organization that provided details on a recent ransomware attack that occurred over the July 4th weekend. The rather polished e-news alert was robust in its information, but there was a problem. It’s two weeks too late, and I’ve already gleaned all of the information in the article from other sources when the news first broke.… Read the rest