DWPub Sporadic

Benefits to bloggers of being listed on the FeaturesExec Media Database

Many journalists are familiar with media databases such as FeaturesExec and the benefits of being listed in them. These benefits are possibly even more applicable to bloggers.

Here's an explanation, aimed primarily at bloggers, of some of those benefits:

• Profile raising. Being listed in FeaturesExec ensures your blog is visible to public relations (PR) professionals in the course of their work. In addition to their role in providing content for the media PR people also advise their clients on what media they should be following, including influential blogs. So being listed helps to extend your audience.

• Source content. A listing in FeaturesExec helps PRs learn more about you and your blog. They can then provide you with relevant, useful information such as exclusive content, Q&As, competitions, product trials, vouchers and invitations to events as well as press releases. Thus can be a great source of content for your blog.

• Specify your interests. We can include details in your listing about specifically what you want to receive from the PR community (and, of course, what you don't want to receive). The more detail on FeaturesExec the better PRs can tailor contributions to your blog.

Our aim at DWPub is to help the PR and media communities communicate. Bloggers have become an important part of the media and we are keen to work with influential bloggers to help them engage with the PR profession. Including major blogs in our FeaturesExec Media Database is just one way we are doing this.

We use a range of criteria to indentify major (or 'influential') blogs, including frequency of posts, subject focus, quality of writing and design, number of comments and site traffic. This criteria is always under review and I'm always keen to talk to bloggers to find out ways we can make our services work for them.

Bloggers may also find our other services useful, including the ResponseSource Enquiry Service and SourceWire News Distruibution – more details here.

Blogger requests - love 'em or hate 'em

We've released a request on our ResponseSource Enquiry Service today which will probably make most subscribers have a good old chuckle. Though it may annoy some who take it too literally.

It's a bit of a spoof of blagging bloggers - those bloggers that habitually request 'review samples'.

Here is just a short excerpt from the request:

"We are thinking of setting up our "Owt For Nowt" blog and would like you to send us lots of lovely and expensive gifts which we might - or might not - write about... Basically we just want nice things for free..."

The submitter, Bernice Saltzer from Sorted PR, singled out mummy bloggers - though of course there are many good ones and only a minority behave in the style of Bernice's parody. It's also worth pointing out that there are bloggers of other types who are equally inclined to request review samples.

Bernice was having a bit of a laugh about bloggers that ask for a lot of stuff but don't write much (or very well). I don't believe she was questioning the value of blogger relations, at least I didn't see it that way.

Anyway, the point I wanted to make was there has been a big rise in blogger requests and this has put us in a challenging position.

In recent years as blogging has become more mainstream we have of course allowed bloggers to use the service, it's only right that ResponseSource reflects a changing media.

But a significant proportion of blogger requests are of the 'review sample' variety. While many believe they are a legitimate PR opportunity other subscribers feel this clutters the ResponseSource service.

Our response to this is to offer the ability for individual subscribers to filter-out blogger requests or to filter-out specific bloggers. Not all subscribers realise they can do this, and of course many prefer not to filter in case they miss something.

I've always felt that ResponseSource is a barometer of the media. It is a communications channel used by the media and therefore the content reflects media style of the time. Because of this, I feel we should not intervene with the content unless absolutely necessary. We do moderate it of course, but with a fairly light touch as it is not for us to unnecessarily influence the way people use the service.

So for that reason, I personally believe filtering is better than aggressive moderation.

Having said that, I'd really like to hear from the ResponseSource community on how we can balance the needs of those who believe access to blogs is critically important and those who prefer to focus on other media. And that is the reason we let Bernice's enquiry out - it's a piece of comedy and also a catalyst for debate.

What happened to all the journo parties?

I have to thank a couple of journalists - Adrian Bridgwater and David Ludlow - for this inspiration behind this little project.

It was Adrian, a freelance tech journalist, who prompted us to ressurect an idea previously developed by David, who these days is group editor and associate publisher for Expert Reviews and Computer Shopper.

It's a calendar of journalist parties that we have set up very simply on our Facebook page and can be found by going to www.journoparties.com.

Normally this time of year is awash with Xmas drink-ups for journalists. But so far we have only identified about four, including our own annual SourceWire Cheshire Cheese Xmas Press Party.

I know there are fewer press parties these days but surely there must be more? We'll be searching them out and adding them in the coming days.

Journalists say social media is an important tool and PRs don't use it enough

Over three-quarters of journalists believe social media is an important tool for their work according to a survey published today.

Over 900 journalists took part in the survey (see survey results press release) conducted by DWPub in the last six days. Perhaps to some extent participation was galvanised by the on-going superinjuction story which illustrated not just the importance of social media for news dissemination but also how it operates under different conventions than the traditional press.

The survey also found that little more than one per cent of respondents claimed they were using social media less than they were 12 months ago, confirmation that journalists reject the notion that social media may be a fad.

Perceptions of how the public relations industry uses social media could only be interpreted as negative, with only 24% believing that PR professionals make enough use of social media.

The survey coincides with the launch of DWPub's latest whitepaper which examines the impact of social media on the work of journalists. Written by Financial Times interactive producer Martin Stabe, the whitepaper is entitled How social media is changing the role of journalists.

In the whitepaper Martin covers in detail how journalism has adapted to social media as a tool for newsgathering, directing traffic to media sites and profile building for individual journalists. It gives considerable insight to PR professionals wishing to use social media as a way of communicating with journalists.

When what to wear becomes a metaphor for transforming media

I'm not often overly concerned about 'appropriate' dress. Running my own business in media – a sector rarely inhibited by dress codes – means I normally get away with being scruffy.

But the other day I was faced with attending two events, one pretty much after the other, that presented me with an attire challenge that reflected the philosophical gulf between them.

First up was that old school national media shindig the London Press Club Annual Awards Luncheon. There was no dress code, but once I arrived I noticed the presence of guest of honour the Duchess of Cornwall had upped the game, the gents wore suits and ties and the ladies wore smart dresses.

Thinking I was playing it safe, I had gone for the middle-ground.

I appeared in a dark blue linen suit, fresh from M&S, cream linen short-sleeve shirt and finished perhaps a tad rebelliously with Converse All Stars on my feet. I didn't expect to be the only one without a tie, but I think I was. And I was definitely the only one in trainers.

Some of the biggest names in national journalism were at this lunch, and despite the general seniority, it seems both in age and position, I would have expected to see some hacks challenging the status quo. But there were none.

In fact, the overall atmosphere in the Berkeley Hotel ballroom was one of conformity, with just the slightest whiff of elitism. I looked out of place. Camilla seemed to glance at me few times during her speech, I'll leave it to those who know me to decide it what manner I may have indulged in that.

Then, after the fantastic meal and through a slight haze induced by the very pleasant and plentiful white wine provided by the London Press Club, I went on to the next event. This was an informal meeting of those in digital PR PR organised by VCCP Share communities director Jed Hallam through, rather appropriately, the medium of Facebook.

A casual affair in De Hems, a Dutch bar in London's Soho, unsurprisingly outfits were more casual and those few who had to wear suits for work had discarded their ties, while others were decked out in t-shirts and jeans, with perhaps a little streak of geekiness. There was no guest of honour, unless you count the brief appearance by Robin Grant, managing director of fast-growing 'conversation agency' We Are Social – I'm sure he'd be the first to admit he's hardly royalty.

Once again I felt out of place, in the context of my clothing if nothing else. My play-it-safe outfit seemed too middle-of-the-road among this group.

The whiff of elitism was still there, however. You could be forgiven to consider this a cliquey group of agency owners and heads of digital (with a few hangers-on like myself). But this is more perception than reality. In fact the barriers to entry to this fluid and unstructured group are largely non-existent, you just invite yourself.

I enjoyed both events for different reasons, and though I have to confess I felt more comfortable in the evening, this was probably more due to the fact I was among some good friends. But what is for sure is I had experienced a wonderful juxtaposition that illustrated the widening culture in today's media.

Let's shut down all the journalism degree courses

Journalism is a trade, not a profession. That's something I've believed in since I cut my teeth in the local press.

So I enjoyed reading this interview with Kelvin MacKenzie, who was editor of The Sun during what many believe to the the red-top's heyday.

I'm inclined to agree with most of the sentiment in the interview, and chuckled to read that one small thing we have in common is that neither of us have 'A' levels.

A big difference between us though is that I studied journalism at college - a one year course at the London College of Printing (now the London College of Communications).

No doubt Kelvin would sneer at that, he believes the best kind of training is on the job. And I'd agree. But that relies on a culture of in-house training in the media, a culture that faded during the '90s and into its void stepped in the universities with journalism degrees.

Personally, I reckon I could teach journalism to a better standard in three months than any three-year degree course. But shorter vocational or post-graduate courses in journalism are valid in a media industry that no longer has the resources or the willing to train people from scratch.

Hacks at the SourceWire party offer tips for junior PRs

The SourceWire Xmas Press Party at the Cheshire Cheese pub on London's Fleet Street was a bit special this year - we had over 180 journalists through the door.

In recent years SourceWire has become synonymous with this event that was started back in the 1970's by tech PR supremo Bill Moores. We'll keep it going for as long as journalists want to come - and judging by this year's turnout it's going be a long time.

In the video of the event we asked some of them of the journalists for their advice they would give to PR professionals for communicating with the media. You could view the result almost as a training video for junior PR execs.

 

Media slavery

Some readers may be aware of our policy not to take adverts for unpaid positions on the media job site SourceThatJob. We took this stance as our audience felt such things were unacceptable exploitation.

Well, this issue seems to crop up every now and then, not only in journalism but PR too. A journalist told me recently of his discomfort when he discovered the PR person who was serving him expensive drinks at a press party was working for free (no expenses, nothing), and had been doing so for some time.

We have had to refuse a handful of unpaid positions on SourceThatJob recently, true to our policy.

One ad did not say the job was unpaid, we found out afterwards. I won't reveal the name of the advertiser but this is what they said in an email to an applicant: "This role is currently unpaid... you will however have access to press launches, previews and all sorts of other perks."

It's pretty shameful offering access to press launches as compensation for working for free. Sadly, you can just imagine the budding journalist working for free accepting drinks from the budding PR also working for free. Double exploitation.

Predicting future media themes

Our Response Source Journalist Enquiries System is great for helping journalists and PR professionals connect. It's also a barometer of what's coming up in the media.

We've just started a new section in our DWPub JournAlert newsletter for journalists (the section will also appear soon in our FeaturesExec Media Bulletin newsletter for PR professionals) called Response Source Zeitgeist where we will reveal the most common phrases included in recent Response Source requests.

This is what we found when we dipped into the data last Friday:

It may be July, but while the media remains interested in camping, beaches, holidays and hotels, a surprising number have been asking about Christmas and winter already. Perennial favourites like fashion, food, drink and beauty have a strong showing, while in the B2B sector, marketing, government and outsourcing are hot topics. A number of requests, both business and consumer, concerned social media, with Twitter and Facebook inevitably heading the list. For business and trade journalists, top keywords this week included skills, technology, design, advertising, building and management, and the consumer press sought answers about homes, kids, music, hair and gadgets.

We'll be running the Response Source Zeitgeist regularly, it will be interesting to see what themes crop up.

Why we went daily with the DWPub JournAlert

Since 2006 we've been sending an email newsletter to journalists called the DWPub JournAlert. It proved popular and in 2009 it even got its own website.

Initially the JournAlert was weekly, then it became twice-weekly and today we've upped it to daily.

Why did we do this? For a while we've been getting requests from journalists to increase the frequency as sending it just twice a week meant the emails were very long and difficult to read. It also meant some people who submitted items of media news did not see their stories go out straight away. For example, if we heard about a new launch on Friday afternoon we could not put it in the JournAlert email until the following Wednesday.

So, we went ahead and made it daily, and at the same time went for a complete redesign of the emails to make them easier to read and navigate. The amount of content per week is pretty much the same, we've just broken it up into smaller chunks. And we're now able to be more responsive to breaking news.

The response so far has been good, with lots of people commenting positively on the new design. But of course it hasn't worked for everyone - someone quite rightly asked: "Why would journalists want *more* emails?"

We're looking into doing a weekly digest as an alternative to the daily emails. And nothing is ever set in stone, so if the daily emails really don't work out for most people then we'll reduce the frequency.

There are already two alternatives to the email version of the JournAlert which will give you most of the content that appears in the emails. For the increasing number of people who, like myself, use Twitter regularly then you can follow @journalert. And there is a JournAlert RSS feed if you like to get your news in an RSS reader.

Whichever your preference, we love to hear your thoughts so please comment on this post if you feel the daily JournAlert emails are too much. I'd also love to know if a weekly digest would be as good as the old twice-weekly emails. Let me know!