Trevor Cook on public relations, social media and politics

Monthly Archives: December 2008

What newspaper editors get stressed about

December 16, 2008 – 8:19 pm

We all know standards are falling. But some people are more determined than others to arrest the inexorable decline in the use of written english. A few weeks ago the Guardian published this irate all staff memo from Daily Telegraph (UK) associate editor, Simon Heffer. It’s a corker with many good lessons and tips for [...]

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Media | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Comments, communities and ghettos

December 14, 2008 – 5:39 pm

I wish my blog got more comments, I look forward to them and I often learn stuff from them. But I don’t stress about it. It is easy to exaggerate the importance of comments. My visitor stats are a better guide to what people read than the comments. Colleagues in the US, where blogging is [...]

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Media, Social Media | Tagged , | Comments (15)

Should public broadcasters give their content away?

December 14, 2008 – 11:06 am

We are only at the start of the coming media revolution. As we get further along the road, the assumption-challenging questions become more fundamental. 
At the moment, the ABC and SBS, like all other media properties, generate content and distribute it themselves. With things like Unleashed, they are taking baby steps towards letting the public generate [...]

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Media, Social Media | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Murdoch or Google? Is that the future for NYT?

December 14, 2008 – 10:30 am

With the recession forcing a faster pace of change on the newspaper industry, there is speculation that a deal with Google might be the only alternative to a Murdoch takeover: 
For one, John Ellis at RealClear Markets said earlier this year the Sulzbergers would run into the arms of Google to avoid any takeover from Rupert [...]

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Newspapers | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Australian journalists on twitter

December 13, 2008 – 9:24 am

Tom Burton – formerly SMH, now living in Washington - https://twitter.com/tburton
Stephen Brook – Australian working in London for the Media Guardian - https://twitter.com/SDBrook
Harley Dennett - news editor, Sydney Star Observer – https://twitter.com/
Mike Dobbie – MEAA - https://twitter.com/MikeDobbie
Joshua Gliddon – science journo - https://twitter.com/joshglid
Jonathan Green – Crikey editor - https://twitter.com/GreenJ
Mark Jones – freelance tech writer and podcaster - https://twitter.com/markhjones
Mark Pesce – ABC New [...]

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Media, Social Media | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Wanna follow some journos on twitter?

December 13, 2008 – 8:38 am

Courtesy of my NYC PR buddy, Peter Himler, here are some lists of journalists on twitter:

Business Week (courtesy of @JohnByrne)
UK journalists (courtesy of PRBlogger.com)
Newspapers that Twitter (courtesy of graphicdesignr)
Journalists, US & elsewhere (Courtesy of My Creative Team)
Media (courtesy of Social Brand Index)
Journalists by name only (courtesy of TwitterGroups.com)

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Media, Social issues | Tagged , | Comments (0)

A documentary on John McGahern

December 12, 2008 – 5:56 pm

It’s a year since this great author passed away

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Books | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Kmart scores with blog giveaways

December 12, 2008 – 9:07 am

Competitions are a great staple of traditional media and marketing (they are cheap & ‘free stuff’ is always a winner) now they are being used with some great success in the blogosphere:
A sponsored social networking campaign enlisting the help of six well-known bloggers is yielding big buzz for Kmart and encouraging consumers to give the [...]

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Advertising & marketing, Business & economics, Media, Public Relations, Social Media | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Corporate social media scores low on trust: study

December 12, 2008 – 8:38 am

New York PR guy and blogger, Peter Himler has a nice round-up of the reaction to this Forrester ‘trust’ research  and particularly the finding that:
Company blogs earned a paltry 16% ranking of “information sources they trusted the most.” By contrast, “Email from people you know” ranked highest with 77%, followed by “Consumer product ratings/reviews” with 60%, [...]

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Advertising & marketing, Media, Public Relations, Social Media | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Newspapers feeling the heat of recession

December 12, 2008 – 12:20 am

Grave predictions, made during the recent economic boom, that newspapers would last only another few decades are starting to look real rosy.  
The US recession may be hastening the decline, and even ringing the death knell, of the newspaper industry:

According to the Financial Times: “The recession has turned the long, slow decline of newspapers into [...]

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Newspapers, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (1)