Come gather 'round people: NY Times to stop printing

The New York Times will cease to be published in a physical form sometime in the near future according to Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., publisher and chairman of the paper.

"We will stop printing the New York Times sometime in the future, date TBD," he stated at the International Newsroom Summit.

According to mashable.com losses in ad revenue have amounted to 27.2 percent between 2008 and 2009 for the paper.

The article, which can be found here says that Sulzberger acknowledged the importance of "finding new, timely, culturally relevant ways to reach readers and profit from gathering and reporting the news."

The paper is playing around with different revenue models to accomplish this goal.

“Our pursuit of the pay model is a step in the right direction for us. We believe that serious media organizations must start to collect additional revenue from their readers… information is less and less yearning to be free,” he said.

I have to say that I am not surprised by this news. I think it was only a matter of time before this happened. With the rise of new media and the decrease in circulation, it seems like the most logical, cost effective way to keep credible news stories out there.

Competition with online news sources, and yes, dare I say it, blogs will always be tough. Information is forcing itself upon the consumer every waking second; there are some that are useful, a handful that are factual, and a dumpster full of some that should never be read. But as Bob Dylan put it, times they are a changin, and its a little refreshing to see something traditional evolve.

Social media improves your health?

According to an article on examiner.com, social media might actual be good for your health, or more accurately your social life. The article states that experts say the social benefits of Internet use will far outweigh the negatives over the next ten years. Online tools, such as e-mail and other social media outlets, provide "low friction" opportunities to interact.

"The Internet lowers traditional communications constraints of cost, geography, and time; and it supports the type of open information sharing that brings people together," the article written by Clifford Bryan states.

These findings were a result of a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center. After surveying 895 technology stakeholders and critics, it was found that 85 percent of respondents agree with the following statement:

"In 2020, when I look at the big picture and consider my personal friendships, marriage and other relationships, I see that the Internet has mostly been a positive force on my social world. And this will only grow more true in the future."

14 percent of respondents agreed with this statement:
"In 2020, when I look at the big picture and consider my personal friendships, marriage and other relationships, I see that the Internet has mostly been a negative force on my social world. And this will only grow more true in the future."

I guess these findings make sense. I have certainly been able to keep great social ties with the use of the Internet, but the Internet has been there since I was a kid, so I really don't know what it what like before we had it. I would say that social media has done wonders to keep in contact with friends, family, and colleagues and that will only increase over the next decade. Whether this "frictionless" social interaction improves our health, well we will have to wait about that one.

Read the entire article here http://bit.ly/aagUue

Clever advertisement in LA Times sparks controversy

Mysterious giant footprints are found on the beaches of
Southern California. The 'H' of the Hollywood sign has been knocked down, damaging several homes. Universal Studios Hollywood has been partially destroyed. These were all articles that ran in last Thursday's Los Angeles Times.

Well, they weren't exactly articles; rather fake ones created to advertise for the new King Kong attraction at Universal Studios, Hollywood. The print ad was a complete wrap around article that covered the LATExtra section of the newspaper.

What served as a clever and creative way to get the reader's attention has actually garnered criticism and protests. Los Angeles County supervisors are protesting the paper's ad section, saying that this particular ad harms the newspapers credibility.

Many readers felt that the ad was misleading, stating that they felt duped and can no longer trust the paper. One blogger argues that there is no question that the intent was to purposefully mislead readers into thinking something horrible has happened all over Southern California.

I disagree. The advertisement was clearly labeled as that, with a red "Advertisement" label on the top of every page of the advertisement.

This is what Los Angeles Times Publisher Eddy Hartenstein had to say:

"The Universal Studios Hollywood ad wrapping Thursday's LATExtra section met our advertising guidelines, including a large, red 'advertisement' notification on top of the page. Our readers understand the ad-supported economic model of our business, which allows us to provide the outstanding journalism they rely upon 24/7."

I understand that there is a certain level of ethics that many journalists follow and stress, and that this may seem like a breach of trust, however I don't really see that great of harm in the ad. With newspapers dwindling, the LA Times was just looking for a way to profit on the need advertisers have to break through the clutter. In my opinion the ad read as an ad.

This is just my opinion, what do you think?

Majority of companies have no social media plan!?!?

According to a new study from marketing firm Digital Brand Expressions only 41 percent of corporations have a strategic plan in place when it comes to their use of social media. Over 78 percent of the study's respondents use social media in their promotions, but many have not created a clear game plan or set of protocols for how to use social media sites.

"It's fairly well established that social media is a channel that businesses must participate in, leaving CEOs with the new challenge of planning and implementing brand aligned initiatives enterprise-wide," said Veronica Fielding, president and CEO of Digital Brand Expressions.

Of the companies that do have some kind of social media plan, only 69 percent have set up a tracking method to measure ROI of such activities and 71 percent plan for ongoing monitoring of brand reputation.

"This leaves the majority of organizations exposed to problems arising from employees saying the wrong things in the wrong ways to the wrong people at the wrong time," according to the report.

I guess this is where my fellow classmates and I come in once we get into the working world. I find this information interesting because those of us who have headed up the social media of on-campus organizations have has to create social media plans.

I have seen companies use their social media to effectively market themselves. LACMA, in my opinion, has done a great job at this, but not every product should get recognition through social media. It all depends on who your market is. I've seen companies just create a Facebook page for the sake of having one, but it seems out of place.

Social Media can be powerful, especially when the consumer can shape the brand of the compnay by using it. The company has to know how to use that to their benefit.

35th Annual PROTOS Awards

The 35th annual PROTOS Awards and Banquet was held Friday, June 25 at the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach, Calif. The awards ceremony was hosted by the Orange County Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and recognizes the areas of public relations programs, media relations and collateral development.


This year's theme, "The Art of PR", set out to recognize the county's best PR professionals who exemplify the theme's notion. PRSA members from another region judge and critique each entry and the winners are announced each year at the PROTOS banquet.

I had the chance to volunteer and attend this year's PROTOS awards as a representative of Chapman University's chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. Chapman was awarded a thousand dollar scholarship to send members of its chapter to the PRSSA national conference in October during the awards ceremony.

The view from the terrace of the cocktail reception was breathtaking and the awards ceremony was entertaining and valuable. It was such a great opportunity to meet and congregate with so many talented and successful PR practitioners at such an event. I can't wait until I have the chance to attend this event as an actual PRSA member.

Invasion of the Fraudulent Press Releases

Last week a fake press release supposedly from Javelin Pharmaceuticals hit the news wires with the headline "US Supreme Court split - rules in favor of Big Pharma." The release was sent via Business Wire June 18 and is now being treated as a case of stolen identity and as a criminal investigation.

"In the wake of a fraudulent press release that is now the subject of a Federal criminal investigation, Business Wire will no longer accept client releases submitted via e-mail, effective immediately," said Cathy Baron Tamraz, chief executive officer of Business Wire.

According to Business Wire the elimination of e-mail submissions was planned to be part of a security initiative in August, but this incident has prompted the company to speed up the timetable for the changes.

All press releases will now be submitted to "BW connect", Business Wire's proprietary order-entry system, which is audited on an annual basis by leading independent network security specialists according to a press release from Business Wire.

This fraudulent release came after one was sent from PRNewswire last week targeting General Mills. The fake headline reads "Obama Orders Full Investigation of General Mills Supply Chain Following Food Recalls."

I found this incident to be rather interesting. First I thought to myself "who would actually send out fake press release and with what purpose?" I'm still filtering through the reasons in my mind, but I hope that the changes being made will stop this problem.


I feel there is already a distrust between journalists and PR practitioners. If they can't even trust that a press release is accurate or true, it could hurt the industry altogether. I doubt that a few fake press releases would do this, but if it continues, who knows.

This also devalues the trust between major news wire companies and those in the PR field. It will be interesting to see if something like this happens again.

Blogging for Beginners

So I am definitely not an experienced blogger, but I made a promise to myself that I would try to publish one post everyday. That kind of turned into one post every week day, as I refrained from posting this past weekend, but I knew the only way to have a successful blog is to be committed. In fact it's one of the most important things to do as a new blogger according to Bret Simmons of the Student Branding Blog.

Three tips that he gives are:

1. Make a commitment
2. Subscribe to and read blogs by those in your field
3. Subscribe to blogs about blogging

Okay, so far so good. I've done variations of all of the above, but I've also got a few tips of my own.

1. Pick a specific subject to focus on. When I first started blogging, I just wanted to write about everything I was interested in; music, art, film, television, PR, advertising, social media, etc. It's hard to create a brand with your blog if it's all over the place. It's also hard to decide what your next blog post will be about. Pick a subject and stick to it.

2. Edit, edit, edit. I have made numerous posts without actually reading them, only to find embarrassing and obvious mistakes. Being a beginner means that you are the only one who can catch those mistakes. It can be easily changed, but if you don't read carefully and edit appropriately, those mistakes can hinder your online image.

3. Be patient. It may feel like at first that no one is reading your blog and you're probably right. Wait and build up your posts, promote them through Facebook and twitter, and use labels. Someone might view your blog and comment.

These are just a few that I have come up with, but I'm no expert. Comment if you have any tips of your own. View more info on the Student Branding Blog here http://bit.ly/9UYvda

E-mail out, Social Media in?

E-mail as we know it is probably going away as communication moves toward twitter and other social media sites says Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Only 11 percent of teenagers e-mail daily and this, according to Sandberg, is a sign of a generational gap that will result in the decline of electronic mail.

"If you want to know what people like us will do tomorrow, you look at what teenagers are doing today," Sandberg explained to Nielsen's Consumer 360 conference this week. She started out her point by asking the audience if they had written a letter by hand in the past 24 hours. No raised hands. E-mail? Everyones hand raised. She said that there is a trend of how communication is moving. I think there is validity to this point, but that's assuming that as teenagers grow older they will remain using SMS rather than maturing by using a more formal means of communication.

This is good news for marketers. It is harder to reach a demographic or audience through e-mail than it is through Facebook. With over 400 million users sharing intimate personal informations on Facebook, advertisers and public relations practitioners can target users at ease with specific messages.

It will be interesting though to see where communication goes, but of course only time can tell. Watch Sheryl Sandberg here http://bit.ly/aJ9wNi!

Create your own hashtag

Did you know that hashtags can now be claimed and created? That's right, if you have created a hashtag or commonly use one with friends, coworkers, or classmates you can now make it official by using "What the Hashtag", an online encyclopedia for Twitter. Find it here http://wthashtag.com/Main_Page


I decided to give it a try by making the #nsac an official hashtag on the site. NSAC stands for the National Student Advertising Competition. The hashtag is used by those who compete in it and is dominated by the students at Chapman University. All I had to do was write what it stood for and it is now official along with statistics about the hashtag itself. Take a look here http://wthashtag.com/Nsac

If you feel embarrassed about asking your social media savvy friends what a specific hastag means, you can look it up on the site. It's a pretty cool resource for those of us who use twitter and could come in handy when we're looking for a specific hashtag or feel like creating a new one.

What is the Next Breath?

After you have the inhale moment when you get into an accident and the exhale moment once you realize you have insurance to cover it, what comes next? The Next Breath. The Next Breath is the public service campaign communicated through social media that the PR Department of Circle Advertising, of which I was a member of, worked on as part of "Feel Free", the winning campaign for State Farm at this year's National Student Advertising Competition.

The Next Breath supplements the Feel Free campaign by empowering young adults to pass on the Feel Free moment through giving. After conducting a psychographic survey we designed a Next Breath event that would not only match the big idea, but that would incorporate core values of State Farm such as helping people to realize their dreams.

Our event was held at a local venue in Orange and featured three expressions of feeling free: art, music, and writing. Local artists donated pieces of work to be sold for charity. Next Breath attendees could sing karaoke with a live band. There were also two boards that let students express themselves in words. One that asked attendees to write what makes them tense, and another that asks what makes them Feel Free.

People could tweet what makes them feel free at the event and could also take pictures of art they liked as well as their peers singing karaoke. We had over 120 people attend and raised a couple of hundred dollars that went to UNICEF for Haiti relief. Our research showed that the 18-25 demographic would most likely donate to a charity for children or disaster relief.

As part of the sub-campaign students could win the chance to donate $1000 to the charity of their choice as part of the Give Away Giveaway. We found that our demographic is more likely to donate to a charity if they choose where the money goes. If someone tweets @statefarm with the hashtag #feelfree they will be entered into the contest.

Our team worked hard on creating the Next Breath and we are all so proud of it. The best moment was seeing our Next Breath slide up on stage after winning the NSAC national championship.

Chapman For The Win

Last week students from Orange County's Chapman University traveled to Orlando, Florida with one dream. It wasn't to go to Disney World, though some did, or to see the new World of Harry Potter, which didn't open for another week. It was to have the chance to be named champions of the American Advertising Federation's National Student Advertising Competition.

Each year over 150 schools around the country compete for the championship by creating a multimedia campaign for a real life client. This year's client was State Farm and the campaign was to be geared at the 18-25 independent market. After winning first place at the District 15 competition against powerhouse schools such as UCLA and USC, Chapman's team, Circle Advertising, booked their tickets and boarded their planes to make their way to the theme park capital of the world hoping that this was their year to shine.


After watching 17 schools present their campaign for the judges, it was Circle Advertising's turn to go. Our team waited in anticipation to see how the judges would react. They seemed to like it, but was that enough to constitute us as winners. Only the awards announcement, which happened a few hours later, would let us know. We stood there as the fourth through second place winners were announced. No Chapman University was said. Did we actually do it? Had we won?

"And the winner is..." one of the judges started. "Chapman University!" A moment of silence swept the school as we all became shocked at what we just heard. Then a roar of excitement and pure bliss. We rushed the stage to accept the award.

It was, as cliche as it sounds, a surreal moment and one that will never be forgotten. Chapman's campaign "Feel Free" was based on the research found in over 5,000 surveys and countless other means of information. It came from the fact that there is an inhale moment, a gasp of panic that occurs once you get into an accident . State Farm is the exhale moment; the moment when you can feel free and move on with your life.

And that's how Circle Advertising felt after winning: They felt free.

Watch our 30 second spot here http://vimeo.com/11197544