Kennedy Assassination: Turning Point for Our Nation...and the Media

This week marks the 50 anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, and while this -- along with JFK's meteoric rise to the Presidency -- had a tremendous impact on our nation, there's one aspect to this chapter in US history that bears a closer look.  We'll likely never forget the role of media -- how it changed that week in November 1963 and how it has evolved since then.  Kennedy had already been part of a turning point for the media with the televised Presidential debates, which played a huge part in his victory over Richard Nixon.  But in 1963, we saw viewers waiting by their televisions for an update after news of the shooting spread across the country.  We saw Walter Cronkite delivering this news, a moment that established him as the nation's preeminent face of the media -- and TV as its powerful new delivery vehicle.  And many watched live on TV as Kennedy's assassin was himself shot and killed.  Until that time, one might argue we were still primarily dependent on newspapers -- and the Boston Globe is recalling those days this week with reprints of the front pages around the Kennedy assassination.  Today, network news and their anchors don't carry the weight that Cronkite did in the aftermath of November 1963, and newspapers are struggling to survive.  Today, we'd be more likely to learn about events like this on Twitter or Facebook -- from citizen journalists rather than the professionals.  I hope there's room for both traditional media and social media...and whatever comes next.  And I wonder what the media landscape will look like in 2063, when we reflect one of this year's watershed media moments -- the Boston Marathon bombing -- and Twitter's role in days reporting on unfolding developments.  One thing is certain -- there will be changes, and that's what makes watching the media's evolution so interesting.

Selfies (2013 "Word of the Year") Expand Our View of the World

"Selfie" was just announced by Oxford Dictionaries as their word of the year for 2013, and it's a significant one for followers of the media.  Years ago, we began to hear the term self-publishing tossed about, and since that time it's far more prevelant in our lives.  Where once we were dependent upon traditional media for news updates, today blogs, tweets, Facebook posts and other forms of social media -- including selfies shared online -- are a way we learn about happenings not only in our families, but in our hometowns and around the world.  I'm still a believer in traditional media and the advantage of having the perspective of media professionals -- international correspodents, investigative reporters, colmunists, etc. -- and that goes for professional news photographers as well.  But selfies -- like other forms of self-publishing -- add an exciting new dimension to our view of the world.  Check out this link that reimagines famous photos as selfies -- it makes you wonder what scenes we would have witnessed if selfies were possible in decades past. 

Guiding and Protecting: PR and a Coastal Landmark Have Something in Common

There's a special place in my new hometown of Gloucester, Massachusetts, that has meaning for the work I do in communications and public relations.

The historic Dog Bar breakwater is a particularly long jetty -- 2,250 feet -- the extends into Gloucester Harbor.  For more than 100 years, the Dog Bar and its beacons have protected and guided -- protected the boats and business in and along Gloucester Harbor from storm surges and pounding waves, and guided ships passing by the rocky coastline and into our busy port.

Guiding and protecting is a important part of work done by PR and communications professionals.

We guide companies, organizations and individuals through the increasingly complex and evolving world of the media -- traditional and social, online and print, self-published and reported, earned and owned.  We guide them toward the tools, technologies and strategies to deliver their stories through this world -- much like the captains deliver the cargo and passengers aboard their ships.

And we protect those companies, organizations and individuals from potential hazards -- from misdirected messages or from adversaries who might attempt to use the media to attack.

Now, there's much more communications and PR professionals do -- and many other analogies we could use to describe our work.  But for me, this Gloucester landmark is an apt reflection -- and it's a beautiful spot to visit next time you visit our area (if you do come, let me know -- I'll bring you to the Dog Bar myself).

Our Sporting Lives are a Sign of the Times

Adweek's Data Points feature is one of my favorite reads, providing always interesting snapshots of media trends. Since we're in the midst of the pro football season, fresh off a remarkable baseball Cinderella story, and watching the return of NHL and NBA games, it seemed like a good time to dig out a Data Points report from a few months back that looked at "Sporting Life." Among the topics this data addressed: how we consume sports content.  Not surprising, mobile, social networks and online scored the biggest gains from 2011 to 2013 -- and nearly 60 percent have changed their consumption habits over the past two years. Watching sports is clearly one of those activities that's a reflection of how the public's media preferences are changing.  So next time you fire up your laptop to check stats while watching a game on TV or pull out your phone to check scores before the waiter arrives with dinner, remember that you're a sign of the times.

Visual Storytelling -- Inspirations and Everyday Examples

I attend a lot of events put on by and for the PR and marketing community in Boston, and it's not always that case that I come away feeling I've learned something new. That was certainly true a few weeks ago, with a session on "Employing Visual Content for Compelling Storytelling" presented by PR Newswire and the Business Development Institute (interestingly, this was held at one of the most magnificent repositories of written storytelling -- the Boston Public Library).  Like most communications and marketing folks, I've long ago embraced the belief that videos, images, infographics and other visual assets are increasingly important when we are working to generate interest in their message.  But what struck me -- as I watched the examples offered up in this program and as looked for other signs of visual content in PR and marketing efforts in the weeks that followed -- was how acheiveable this is. As we see from our own personal experiences with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other forms of social media, we can easily build videos and images into our storytelling -- and thanks to smartphones, it takes just seconds to capture this.  For inspiration, I'll share one video that stood out that day -- Caine's Arcade -- which was spotlighted by Andrew Davis, author of the book Brandscaping, who presented several very cool examples at the BPL that day (and that's my snapshot of the library -- some very basic smartphone-enabled visual storytelling of my own).

Sources of Inspiration for a Life in Communications -- Yesterday and Today

We all have our inspirations, and I was recently reminded of one that led me to a career in communications.  The book -- Timothy Crouse's "The Boys on the Bus" -- chronicled the press corps following the 1972 presidential elections, spotlighting media superstars of that era (Teddy White, Hunter Thompson, RW Apple, David Broder and others).  This book -- together with Woodward and Bernstein's "All the President's Men" and Henry Beetle Hough's "Country Editor" (looking at his work with the Vineyard Gazette on Martha's Vineyard) -- inspired me to switch to a journalism major in college, which set the stage for a career in public relations and corporate communications.  Today's sources of inspiration go beyond books like these -- social media has created a channel for every one of us to share their experiences, present their thoughts and perspectives, and demonstrate their creativity.  At the recent Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston, I heard marketing strategist Dorie Clark talk about this opportunity, which is the subject of her book "Reinventing You."  I plan to check this out, as it promises to shed some light on the phenomenom that is enabling us all to be sources of inspiration for those who may have a future in media and communications.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is Here Too Early...For Shoppers and the PR Community

I'm not the first to make this point and given the trend we've seen in recent years, I won't be the last.  The promotion of our holidays is getting out of hand, and this has implications for shoppers and for PR and marketing professionals. 

I just returned from my local supermarket where I saw Christmas items featured in the "seasonal" section.  It's October 6, and I'm still trying to hold onto summer season -- ignoring the signs of autumn (apple cider, Halloween decorations, fall color floral arrangements) -- and what do I see but elf hats, Chrismas stockings and singing reindeer. 

The year-round acceleration of our holiday hysteria is forcing PR pros to roll out Christmas strategies in September, pitch national media on Valentine's stories in January, develop and place back-to-school articles in June.  Social media still offers opportunities to address the seasons in the season, but in most other ways marketing and communications professionals are expected to "greet the seasons" earlier and earlier -- and I don't see any relief in sight.

Patriot Coach's Attitude is Offensive to Football Fans and Media Followers

Sports fans in the Boston area have become used to Patriot coach Bill Belichick's dour personality, showcased on the sidelines each week during the football season.  We've also come to accepted his attitude toward the media, evidenced through the scripted, evasive, dismissive responses in news conferences and radio interviews.  It's safe to say that any of us who have ever coached spokespeople cringe at Coach Belichick  approach to the media in these situations.  For any spokesperson, it's important to avoid providing information that might give opponents a competitive advantage or create unwanted controversy with your public comments, and this is especially true for a coach or manager in professional sports today (we can address the trials of the verbose former Red Sox manager Bobby Valentive at another time).  But Belichick takes this confrontational, say-nothing attitude to an extreme.  It was there in full force in recent days -- in a post-game news conference and in his weekly radio interview on WEEI.  For me, it's an attitude that is not only highly questionable from a PR perspective -- it's disrespectul to the media and to fans.  Success or not, this is one fan of the Patriots and follower of the media that finds Coach Belichick's act unacceptable.  It's time for this football genius to smarten up.

A Few New Data Points on Today's Cybersecurity Threat

Those of us who have worked with cybersecurity companies in recent years, have referenced all sorts of data points, but a presentation Friday shed new light on the subject for me. Lynn Dugle, who heads up Raytheon's Intelligence and Information Services unit (a  team of 17,000!), reminded the audieince at a Asssociated Industries of Massachusetts Executive Forum of the security challenges we're facing with points like these:
- the Department of Defense has added the "cyberdomain" to their land, sea and air focus
- the biggest transfer of wealth today is by cybercriminals
- $100 billion a year is stolen from biotech industry alone each year

For more, check out this clip from her presentation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpHD8lmUlD8

Observations Driven by a Passion for Communications

Over the years working with large marketing services and PR firms, boutique agencies, in-house corporate communications departments and the media I've developed a passion for communications .  I've watched how this world changed -- and I've been fortunate to have had a hand in its evolution. 

While this was happening, I was able to share my perspectives through my PR agency's blog, Topaz Partner's Tech PR Gems. For years, this was an active platform for the Topaz team's opinions and insights on "the intersection of technology and public relations." 

With Topaz and Tech PR Gems behind me, I'm looking to refresh this "communications watch" with a broader spotlight on developments in and around the ever-changing and expanding world of public relations, social media, corporate communications and marketing services.

I welcome your comments and opinions -- I hope others who share my passion for communications are moved by these observations to join in the dialogue.