Came across this today, which is a post containing ‘seven strategic steps’ to making news in the digital era. For ease, dear blog snorkellers, I reproduce them here. These steps, according to their author – a communicator of some note – focus the ‘news making’ process to ‘shed old-style communications practices, like press releases, that no longer work’ in order to ‘begin making your own news online in a compelling manner to engage audiences’.
Here they are:
- Advocate change
- Avoid compulsively marketing and promoting
- Start listening and engaging in conversations
- Embrace storytelling
- Use plain language
- Reach out to fewer to achieve more
- Become the credible voice and face
- Don’t be afraid to try something new
Initially, I looked at these and thought – here we go again – another set of Utopian guidelines for engaging in the global conversation, where everything goes with the flow and there are no real goals, objectives and outputs; where you’re not supposed to expect anything in return and virtue is its own reward. Not new-style communications, more the absolute antithesis of what lies at the heart of professional business communications.
Then I looked at them again, and realised that these steps are no more or less than a beginner’s guide to media relations. In point of fact, the press release has been dead for 10 years, and these steps are how you develop a relationship with your sector journalists (print, broadcast and online – but mostly print). These steps are your route map to a one-on-one live encounter with a hack who you hope is going to give your business/brand/organisation a good hearing. These are the seven strategic steps to running your conversation over lunch.
As such, they’re very useful.
thewordmonger 
If you are going to freely use my copywrited material, at least give me credit. Otherwise remove it.
David
I thought, that by posting a link to your content, and referencing it in my copy, I had given you credit. If I’d cut’n’pasted it, without linking to the source and without mentioning that it was not my own orginal thinking, then that would be a different matter – but I made it clear that it was something I’d read, and I gave my readers the chance to read it for themselves. I can’t help it if they’re slow to click on a link.
And, as an aside, if you’re going to claim copyright, then do us the favour of spelling it correctly.