Speedy Spotlight: Strange Attractor

Strange Attractor will be featured in this week’s Media Updates. Kevin Anderson writes the blog with his wife Suw Charman-Anderson. He spoke to us about journalism, passion and good PR.  

Why should people read your blog?
Strange Attractor explores the intersection of digital technology and traditional publishing, with a strong focus on how the digital platforms, and social media especially, are changing journalism and publishing, and how traditional news and publishing businesses can adapt to the new normal.

The blog was originally started by Suw Charman-Anderson, my wife, as part of the Corante network in 2004. We often joke that we moved in on the blog together before we got a flat together. I got my first digital job, as an internet editor for a local TV station in the US in 1996. Suw is truly a social media pioneer, having worked in the field for ten years. We have a depth and breadth of digital experience that is rare.

What makes your blog different?
My consulting and journalism work has taken me all over the world working on a wide range of projects, which gives me a unique perspective on the digital revolution, particularly as it affects the news industry. With experience of news organisations not just in Europe and North America, but also in India, the Middle East and Africa, I bring a global perspective to the challenges journalism faces.

Suw is currently focused on the publishing industry, though she has done social media work, especially in terms of how it can be used for internal collaboration, with a range of industries including technology, pharmaceuticals and investment banking. She was once at a conference in Washington and two large, burly men approached her, fortunately with enthusiasm rather ‘could you come with us’ menace. They were with the CIA and wanted to thank her for her social media adoption strategy, which she shares freely via our blog. It had helped them greatly in launching an internal wiki at ‘The Company’.

What’s your favourite blog and why?
So many blogs so little time. Suw loves Neil Gaiman’s blog. He’s everything a blogger should be – open, honest and interesting, she says.

I’m going to slightly cop out, although my answer speaks to the changes in blogging since we started. Rather than a lone blog, I love Zite, an app that helps me keep on top of the smartest pieces on the topics I’m interested in. It not only follows topics and authors, but it notices what I open and share to help me discover new blogs, Tumblrs and random writing on journalism, digital media and publishing. Smart, semantic aggregation for the win.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a blog?
Be passionate and be real. I am passionate about journalism and digital media, and while journalism has recently been called an ‘endangered industry’, I still am excited that for the past 20 years, I have gotten up every day with the opportunity to create a new medium.

Being passionate doesn’t mean channelling your inner Richard Littlejohn or Jan Moir. I see far too many young journalists trying to jump from classroom to columnist using their blogs. It’s far more important to passionately cover a subject than try to use your blog to become the next ranter for rent. There’s far too much competition for that crown on the internet.

How does a good PR work with you?
A good PR actually does a bit of research and looks at what I write. For the past three years, I’ve written mostly about the intersection of media and technology. A good PR spends a little time understanding my focus and whether their story is right for me and my audience, and helps me do my job. They walk a mile in a journalist’s shoes and manage to balance the needs of journalists they work with and their clients.  

What do PRs do that’s bad?
As I said, it’s pretty clear what I cover and yet I’m inundated with PRs reaching out to me about everything from self-help books to kick boxing and every conceivable point in between. For particularly aggressive PRs who turn their blogger/journalist outreach over to their 20-something interns and flood my inbox, I actually report the messages as spam and add their contacts to a list that goes straight to my trash folder. Bottom line is that just like everyone else, my time is valuable. Don’t waste it.

92% of UK journalists are on Twitter, how important is it to bloggers?
I keep a close eye on my stats, and now, if I don’t share a post on social media, I might as well not have written it at all. For me Twitter is definitely important, but I also share my posts on LinkedIn. I’m a professional who derives most of my income from consulting now. Former journalism colleagues ask what I do these days, and my standard line is that I do things to support my journalism habit. Twitter is great for my profile, but LinkedIn pays the bills.

Editorial information on Strange Attractor, Kevin Anderson and thousands of other media contacts and outlets, can be found in the CisionPoint Media Database.