Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight
445.0K views | +4 today
Follow
Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight
Social marketing, PR insight & thought leadership - from The PR Coach
Curated by Jeff Domansky
Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
Scooped by Jeff Domansky
December 20, 2016 4:03 AM
Scoop.it!

When journalists step over the line: the Julia Ioffe incident - without bullshit

When journalists step over the line: the Julia Ioffe incident - without bullshit | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it

The Trump era is a rough time for journalists. No matter how much they’re provoked, if they show too much bias and disrespect, they could lose their jobs, even for a single tweet. That’s what happened to Julia Ioffe at Politico, and it’s a revealing case study.


I’ll get to what Ioffe did in a moment. But first, let’s have a look at the email Politico’s editors Carrie Budoff Brown and John Harris sent to their staff when they fired her:


"You will remember the note from John and me a few days ago in which we emphasized that POLITICO journalists are representing the publication at all times and on all platforms, and must present themselves accordingly. We also emphasized that the power of POLITICO comes from our independent reporting and analysis. Gratuitous opinion has no place, anywhere, at any time – not on your Facebook feed, your Twitter feed or any place else. It has absolutely zero value for our readers and should have zero place in our work. Julia Ioffe’s tweet this afternoon about President-elect Trump – currently and understandably racing across social media – is a clear example of the opposite of what we were talking about."


This is as clear as it gets. If you’re trying to make a point, this is how you make it: no equivocation, no jargon, and direct, first-person statements....

Jeff Domansky's insight:

No excuse for this "journalist's" faux pas. None.

No comment yet.
Scooped by Jeff Domansky
February 18, 2015 11:49 PM
Scoop.it!

How Lies Spread Faster Than Truth: A Study of Viral Content | Mediashift | PBS

How Lies Spread Faster Than Truth: A Study of Viral Content | Mediashift | PBS | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it

News organizations are meant to play a critical role in the dissemination of quality, accurate information in society. This has become more challenging with the onslaught of hoaxes, misinformation, and other forms of inaccurate content that flow constantly over digital platforms.

Journalists today have an imperative — and an opportunity — to sift through the mass of content being created and shared in order to separate true from false, and to help the truth to spread.

Unfortunately, as this paper details, that isn’t the current reality of how news organizations cover unverified claims, online rumors, and viral content. Lies spread much farther than the truth, and news organizations play a powerful role in making this happen....

Jeff Domansky's insight:

Here's a valuable look at how news media wrestle with the challenge of spreading lies, rumors and misinformation in social media. Recommended reading.  9.5/10

No comment yet.
Scooped by Jeff Domansky
March 28, 2014 2:28 AM
Scoop.it!

Against beautiful journalism | Felix Salmon

Against beautiful journalism | Felix Salmon | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it

The stripped-down, minimal approach to page design has its place -- but most of that time, that place isn't for news stories.


... For a prime recent example of the disconnect, check out NYT public editor Margaret Sullivan’s recent post on trend stories in general, and that monocle trend story in particular:

Media watchers received the story like a Christmas present, tearing off the wrapping to get at the goods. The fun began on Twitter, after the story went online but well before its print publication. Dustin Gillard tweeted: “NYTimes does a trend piece on monocles. It is about as good/bad as it sounds.” (No one ever said the Internet was good at nuance; the wags ignored that the short piece was tucked inside the Styles section in its “Noted” column, treating it instead as if it were front-page screaming-headline news.)


But here’s the thing: on the internet (which, Sullivan admits, was for a long time the only place where you could read the story), the story wasn’t “tucked” anywhere. Instead, it looks like this...

Jeff Domansky's insight:

Even the grey lady, The New York Times, is vulnerable to poor journalistic judgement. What a goofy story!

No comment yet.
Scooped by Jeff Domansky
February 13, 2014 1:36 AM
Scoop.it!

Errata Security: That NBC story 100% fraudulent

Errata Security: That NBC story 100% fraudulent | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it

On February 4th, NBC News ran a story claiming that if you bring your mobile phone or laptop to the Sochi Olympics, it'll immediately be hacked the moment you turn it on. The story was fabricated. The technical details relate to going to the Olympics in cyberspace (visiting websites), not going to there in person and using their local WiFi.


The story shows Richard Engel "getting hacked" while in a cafe in Russia. It is wrong in every salient detail.

1. They aren't in Sochi, but in Moscow, 1007 miles away.

2. The "hack" happens because of the websites they visit (Olympic themed websites), not their physical location.

3. The results would've been the same in America.The phone didn't "get" hacked; Richard Engel initiated the download of a hostile Android app onto his phone. [update here] and he had to disable the security on the phone to do it...

Jeff Domansky's insight:

Robert Graham calls BS on the fraudulent NBC story by Richard Engel about Russian hacking. No wonder public trust in media is dropping.

No comment yet.
Scooped by Jeff Domansky
April 19, 2016 10:04 AM
Scoop.it!

How newsroom pressure is letting fake stories on to the web

How newsroom pressure is letting fake stories on to the web | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it

It started with a post on social media. Or, to be more exact, a series of posts about a visit to McDonald’s to buy a milkshake. Within hours, Josh Raby’s gripping account on Twitter was international news, covered by respected outlets on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

“This guy’s story about trying to buy a McDonald’s milkshake turned into a bit of a mission and the internet can’t get enough of it,” read the headline on Indy100, the Independent’s sister title. The New York Daily News said he’d been “tortured”. Except, as McDonald’s pointed out – and Raby himself later admitted – the story was embellished to entertain his Twitter followers, although he says he based it on real events.

 

Raby’s was the latest thinly sourced story that, on closer inspection, turned out not to be as billed. The phenomenon is largely a product of the increasing pressure in newsrooms that have had their resources slashed, then been recalibrated to care more about traffic figures.

 

And, beyond professional journalists, there is also a “whole cottage industry of people who put out fake news”, says Brooke Binkowski, an editor at debunking website Snopes. “They profit from it quite a lot in advertising when people start sharing the stories. They are often protected because they call themselves ‘satire’ or say in tiny fine print that they are for entertainment purposes only.”...

Jeff Domansky's insight:

The push for traffic means that clicks rule – even if the facts don’t  always check out.

No comment yet.
Scooped by Jeff Domansky
July 22, 2014 1:22 PM
Scoop.it!

Sky News Reporter Goes Looting Through Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Luggage (for News) - PRNewser

Sky News Reporter Goes Looting Through Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Luggage (for News) - PRNewser | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it

...With MH370, the flight seemed to vanish into the ether, like all those horror stories about the Bermuda Triangle. And just when the airliner had that atrocious “breaking news” down to a minimum, the unthinkable happened over the Ukrainian coast as MH17 was shot down…presumably by separatists in the region.


And then Sky News went rummaging through the luggage of the dead passengers on live television.


In the report from Sky News’ Colin Brazier, viewers can practically hear the internal ethics debate as he says, “I probably shouldn’t be doing this” before doing the very thing he knows he shouldn’t be doing....

Jeff Domansky's insight:

Unbelievable breach of ethics and decency.

No comment yet.
Scooped by Jeff Domansky
February 13, 2014 11:42 PM
Scoop.it!

It’s Official: All Major Websites Are Now Trolling For Views | The Daily Banter

It’s Official: All Major Websites Are Now Trolling For Views | The Daily Banter | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it
When do major publications stop having their own identities and become part of one giant, indistinguishable mass of lists and bullshit shock stories?


The Buzzfeedification of the internet is now reaching epic proportions, with virtually every major publication putting up annoying listicles and shocking headlines to generate pageviews. And it’s all the goddam time....

Jeff Domansky's insight:

Ben Cohen has a funny take on clickbait journalism and sameness.

No comment yet.