It seems there is a lot of confusion about the topic. Here are my thoughts on the matter. I’ll first discuss the general content of the press room. In my next post, I’ll talk about navigation and give some additional tips.

But first, the basics.

The term “online press room” (also called a “news room” or “media room”) refers to an area on the web that is dedicated to providing the news, visuals and other information reporters may need to cover your company, product and services. The section also gives other visitors an organized way to get background information.

A good online press room has several advantages:

• It gives reporters 24/7 availability to current, timely and important information.
• It can reduce the load on your PR staff by decreasing e-mail and voice-mail messages.
• Since you can track traffic to the press room, you have another tool to measure the effectiveness of your PR campaign.

The online press room could be a designated area on the general website or a mini site with its own URL. If the former, make the link obvious on all pages—especially the home page—and make sure it takes only one click to get there.

Here are some other tips.

Content

Make the online press room complete. Provide all the information someone who knows nothing about your organization would need to understand your business.

For example, include the following material, as appropriate for your organization:

• News releases, both current and archived as far back as possible. It’s a good idea to include the contact information on the releases, even when that information is available elsewhere.
• Past press coverage. Put headlines and links to favorable articles and other coverage about your company and industry.
• A fact sheet, backgrounder and other information outlining your organization’s mission, product or service, history, management and the like.
• High-resolution, downloadable graphics in several formats (e.g., JPG, GIF). It is also good to provide instructions on how to download the visuals (e.g., “right click”).
• Contact information for the internal and external PR representatives. The lack of contact information is a pet peeve of many reporters.
• Presentations, including slides and streaming audio and video.
• Case studies and testimonials.
• FAQs, answering the questions reporters frequently ask.
• A list of industry and company events, including trade shows, webinars and presentations.
• Bios and photos of company spokespeople.
• Links to blogs, podcasts and archived webcasts.
• Annual and quarterly reports.

You might also consider:

• An online “request-an-interview” form.
• A sign-up form to receive news releases and other information directly.
• Both HTML and PDF versions of important documents.
• A comment form.
• Pre-loaded dark pages, which can be activated in the event of crisis.

In my next post I’ll discuss navigation and give some other tips for an effective online press room.

Amanda Cosco, author of “How Twitter Can Make You a Better Writer,”  thinks so.

I was initially surprised by her premise, but she makes some good points.

After all, Twitter, by its nature, demands brevity. You have to rely on nouns and verbs. For the most part, adjectives and adverbs need not apply. That focus on making every word count made Hemingway an excellent writer. Perhaps it can help some other aspiring authors out there.

Amanda also points out that Twitter lets writers try out ideas. Using Twitter to ask people’s opinions is a great way to brainstorm. (Twitterstorm?) Amanda admits she asked her followers what they thought about Twitter and its influences on writing before she wrote her article.

So perhaps communicating in 140 characters is good for us after all.

LOL everyone.

]]> http://communicationsplus.net/2012/02/16/twitter-makes-us-better-writers/feed/ 0 http://communicationsplus.net/2012/02/09/an-infographic-as-a-news-release/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-infographic-as-a-news-release http://communicationsplus.net/2012/02/09/an-infographic-as-a-news-release/#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:03:13 +0000 kaypaumier http://communicationsplusblog.wordpress.com/?p=755 In his article in Ragan’s PR Daily (http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/9686.aspx), Mickie Kennedy cites five reasons “why Infographics could be used for a news release.”

• Infographics clearly explain even the most complex issues.
• Infographics stand out from traditional press releases.
• People love sharing infographics.
• Infographics can be read quickly.
• Infographics give reporters details they can use to fill out their story.

I believe a good infographic would help an announcement stand out in the crowd.

I also doubt that an infographic, by itself, could truly convey the news. Probably the most famous infographic of all time, Charles Minard’s 1869 chart of Napoleon’s 1812 Russian campaign, requires text explanation.

Still, it seems that the infographic is becoming more important and popular, making it a good tool in the publicity toolchest

So reports Brandon Keim in his article “Happy Words Trump Negativity in the English Language” (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/english-positivity/).

This comes as no surprise. As a former writing teacher, I often advised students to write positively rather than negatively. It is harder for people to understand a negative sentence (e.g., “It is not as difficult now”) than a positive one (e.g., “It is easier now”).

And positive statements tend to be shorter than negative ones, again speeding comprehension.

I guess this means we can pack more positive sentiments into a given conversation or paragraph than we could pack negative ones.

So, as the old song goes “accentuate the positive.” Sounds like a worthy goal.

]]> http://communicationsplus.net/2012/02/07/stay-on-the-sunny-side/feed/ 0 http://communicationsplus.net/2012/02/02/turn-right-here-left/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=turn-right-here-left http://communicationsplus.net/2012/02/02/turn-right-here-left/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:19:09 +0000 kaypaumier http://communicationsplusblog.wordpress.com/?p=731 As the political campaigns heats up again (sigh), I’m fascinated by the political labeling. We have red, blue and purple states (and perhaps red, blue and purple people).

We have conservatives, liberals and moderates. (Not too many of that last group, unfortunately.)

And, of course, we have the “right” and the “left.” This is perhaps the most pervasive of the labels, because we use the words so often in daily, non-political speech.

After all, if you’re “right,” you’re “correct.” What a nice, positive statement. But we don’t say someone is “left,” do we?

Any driver will tell you it’s easier to go “right” than go “left.” And it can be tricky to follow the directions to “turn right here left” or “turn left right here.”

But you can be “left” behind (not good, generally, although it might be good in some circumstances). And we say someone “left;” we never say someone “righted.”

As a left-hander, I know too well how much in this world favors the right. I’m reminded of that saying: “If the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, then only left-handed people are in their right minds.”

Julia Moos discusses these statistics in her article, “Pew: 75 percent of Americans Say Press Can’t Get Their Facts Straight”  (http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/147038/pew-75-of-americans-say-press-cant-get-their-facts-straight/

“Taken together, the findings indicate negative opinions about media are higher than ever,” Moos says.

But even given those dismal percentages, most Americans trust traditional media more than other sources of news.

What does this mean? We believe only a quarter of what we read or hear? If so, why do we repeat (and retweet) so much of this “fiction”? Why do so many bits of news have a greater life on sites like Twitter and Facebook than on traditional media channels?

To venture a guess, I think lots of us feel it is less important to be accurate than to be interesting. Being “interesting” is important (perhaps essential) for many online “communications.”

But being “interesting” (by itself) does not an informed populace make.

]]> http://communicationsplus.net/2012/01/26/who-can-you-trust/feed/ 0 http://communicationsplus.net/2012/01/23/tv-news-becoming-more-popular-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tv-news-becoming-more-popular-2 http://communicationsplus.net/2012/01/23/tv-news-becoming-more-popular-2/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:25:31 +0000 kaypaumier http://communicationsplus.net/?p=1512 Who would have thought it? Network TV news, which was supposed to be on life support, grew their audiences last season, the first time since 2001-02.

In his article, “New Life in Television’s Evening News” (http://news.yahoo.com/life-televisions-evening-news-105534857.html), AP writer David Bauder says that ABC, CBS and NBC are continuing to add viewers this season. Collectively they are seen by more than 20 million people each weekday.

As Bauder notes: “Many pundits believed evening newscasts would become obsolete with the availability of news 24 hours a day on cable TV and the Internet. Instead, the curating function of the evening news has become more vital.”

It seems that many of us get Internet and news fatigue, and just want someone reputable to sort through things, explain them and give some perspective. I understand, really I do.

NBC is the most popular TV news, followed by ABC and CBS, a rating that hasn’t changed since the days of Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather. But the content of at least two of the newscasts has changed somewhat.

With Scott Pelley of “60 Minutes” as anchor, CBS “has aired a meat-and-potatoes newscast for a serious time.” The network has devoted more time to foreign policy and economic subjects than either of the other shows.

ABC emphasizes celebrity, health, medicine and family stories more than CBS and NBC. Although it’s called “World News,” the ABC newscast covers foreign affairs and foreign policy less than either CBS or NBC. Diane Sawyer is anchor.

NBC’s “Nightly News” with Brian Williams covers more late-breaking news than ABC or CBS, and spends the most time on natural disasters. It’s also the least-changed broadcast. But when you’re number one, you don’t need to change…much.

“Clogin” is defined as “one who blocks an entrance or exit while checking a smartphone.”

“Mailingerers” are “those who pretend to have messages.”

And “e-ander” is “walking slowly while checking messages.”

I ran into several clogins and mailingerers, not to mention a few e-anderers, just the other day.

It’s amazing how they appear if you’re running late.

The survey found that 92% of journalists actively use LinkedIn, up from 85% two years ago.

The impact? Besides being a forum for business connections, LinkedIn becomes a publicity vehicle. And that means that sharing your content and information freely on LinkedIn can help you market not only to prospects and business associates, but also to media professionals.

Once you become established as the LinkedIn “go-to” person for particular topics, guess who the reporters will call when they need someone with your expertise?

Just another tool in the publicity tool chest.

Not surprisingly, Facebook is the most dominant Website. What is surprising (to me at least) is that Americans spent more than 53 billion minutes Facebooking last May alone. That comes down to a total of nearly 101 years.

Where, I ask, do people get all that time?

Other interesting statistics:

• Almost 40 percent of social media users access their networks from their mobile phones.
• People over the age of 55 are accessing these sites on their phones twice as much as they did last year.
• Game and weather apps are the most popular smartphone applications.
• The most active social networkers are women and people ages 18-34.
• Tumblr nearly tripled its unique U.S. audience in the last year.