Weekly comms round up 10/01/13

The first weekly comms round up of the year, curated via @CisionUK. Hope everyone has enjoyed their holidays.

How looking beyond UK may save British newspapers by @dansabbagh via Guardian

“For most of the half century since the Guardian left Manchester, Britain’s newspapers have travelled little further than a few miles out of Fleet Street, in most cases with only a handful of copies printed outside the UK. But the last couple of years have seen a push outside the British Isles with titles such as the Mail Online expanding in the United States.”

How to communicate effectively with the media by @Becky_Slack via Guardian

“When the chancellor announced a cap on income tax reliefs, voluntary sector campaigners went into overdrive. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and Philanthropy Review joined forces with charities large and small to undertake a major lobbying campaign.”

How to make social media insights more meaningful by Alice Mayel-Afshary via THE Wall blog

“Two questions that marketers often ask are: Does my audience care about my brand? How can we make them care more? To answer these questions, brands and agencies heavily invest in market research. Online panels, focus groups, ethnographic studies, social listening are just a few of the most popular insights gathering tools.”

Pitching reporters in the age of pageview journalism by @shelholtz via PR Daily

“The first reason is the reduced opportunity for coverage. By 2010, newsrooms had 30 percent less staff than at the turn of the century. The reporter who covered your company is gone. Now there’s a reporter who covers your industry or several industries, and he has less time for you and your pitch. High-priced veteran reporters are being replaced with younger tech-savvy journalists who have no long-standing relationships with PR sources. Meanwhile, newspapers have fewer pages than before. A 2008 study showed that 34 percent of newspapers had reduced business coverage, while only 17 percent had increased it.”

10 things every journalist should know in 2013 by @SarahMarshall3 via journalism.co.uk

“Here are 10 things every journalists should know in 2013. This list builds on 10 things every journalist should know in 2012, 2010 and 2009. It is also worth looking back at the previous posts. This year, in addition to making our own points, we have spoken to some key industry figures to include their ideas.” 

Can newspapers still afford to publish every day?  by @JaspJackson via the Media Briefing

“The business model of newspapers has been to publish on as many days of the week as possible for as long as anyone can remember. More copy sales, more circulation income = more profit. But that could be about to change as the distribution model for printed media strains under the pressures of online competition and rising costs.”

Visual storytelling tool for journalists Storyplanet aiming for 2013 public launch by @rmcathy via journalism.co.uk

“Storyplanet plans to launch publicly this year as a tool to allow journalists to package together multimedia content. The new platform has been in beta testing since May 2012, with trials in newsrooms including Al Jazeera and Time magazine. The platform enables users – such as journalists and photographers – to build interactive and visually captivating packages of content, which can then be embedded within a news site.” 

Reaching out to PRs – watch your language and cut the phone calls by @GreensladeR via Guardian

“Journalists are often amused, sometimes irritated and even occasionally enraged by the attempts to engage their attention by PR outfits. One persistent PR has taken to calling me ahead of sending an email, phoning me afterwards to see if I received it and then phoning again to ask what I think about it. He knows who he is because I’ve complained often enough about his counter-productive approach.”

19 tools to improve your content marketing strategy by @kelvinnewman via Econsultancy

“No doubt you’ll have the objectives in place, created a well thought out strategy and work plan as long as your arm. It’s that last element I want to help you with in this blog post, by sharing a clutch of tools and services which will save you time, improve your results and give you the freedom to work on the creative aspects of your campaign.”

Online journalism, data and social media: 22 short courses for journalists by @SarahMarshall3 via journalism.co.uk

“Journalism.co.uk runs training courses for experienced journalists wanting to boost their skills. Several are created specifically for freelancers.”