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Media PeopleTuesday May 13, 2008
What is Arianna Huffington Telling David Fenton?
A broad swathe of media power brokers attended Arianna Huffington's Right is Wrong book party last Friday in Manhattan. The attendees were chronicled by Gawker photographer Nikola Tamindzic and included Rupert Murdoch, Mort Zuckerman, Tom Freston, Jann Wenner, Charlie Rose, and of course, our own Laurel Touby. Out of all the night's pictures, only one was not captioned. We won't blame Nikola for not knowing his name, but here at PRNewser, we do. That's Fenton Communications CEO David Fenton, who has the ear of Huffington for the moment. In a Washington Post feature on Fenton last year in recognition of his agency's 25th anniversary, Huffington was quoted saying, "There's no division between his life and his work. The work that he does is exactly what he is passionate about." Fenton Communications claims a variety of lefty clients including George Soros, MoveOn.org and GreenPeace, but has worked on all sides of the political spectrum, including a campaign with Laura Bush to fight malaria in Africa. The agency billed in the $6M range for 2007. Thursday Apr 24, 2008
PRWeek EIC on New ReportersAs we mentioned earlier, there have been several staffing changes over at PRWeek. Kimberly Maul (kimberly.maul@prweek.com) recently joined as entertainment reporter, and just this week Jaimy Lee joined as healthcare reporter (jaimy.lee@prweek.com). Sorry to all you aspiring journalists - they're no longer hiring, at least for now. PRWeek editor-in-chief Keith O'Brien tells PRNewser, "We're now fully staffed and ready to roll, as it were." The new hires were not additions to the team. Keith tells us they "replace departing staff." Thursday Apr 17, 2008
Sam Zell: Funny PR Man?
FishbowlNY Editor Noah Davis keeps us up to date on the latest with Tribune owner Sam Zell and his crazy press releases. Apparently one went out today with the headline "TRIBUNE ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS AND, AMAZINGLY, ONLY ONE IS CONNECTED TO CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS!" Unfortunately, Noah has not yet received any offical world from Tribune on the strategy: When we called Gary Weitman, Tribune VP of corporate communications, for comment, we were told he was in a meeting, no doubt thinking of more witty PR tactics. Can't wait. In related news, Tribune Co. recently reported a $78M 4Q Loss. Monday Apr 14, 2008
Spinning a Blog Sale
As you may have heard, Gawker Media head Nick Denton sold some blogs today. For real this time. FishbowlNY has been all over the news, speaking with Gawker Media managing editor Noah Robischon, who could not confirm the fate of freelancers at Gridskipper, Wonkette, and Idolator. On a related note, we've always known Silicon Alley Insider's Peter Kafka to have a high "bullshit censor." He analyzed the different spin tactics: You can interpret this two ways. Either Denton is dumping three weak sites to concentrate on his strong ones, or he's worried about the online ad market in the face of a looming recession. Denton is happy to provide both spins. Look at that, instead of dishing the snark, Denton is receiving it! Monday Apr 07, 2008
We're Not Dead
After getting emails from about a zillion friends, co-workers and of course family members, we feel compelled to blog about the "talk of the internet" today, the NY Times story on "blogging 'till you drop." In case you somehow missed it, the story analyzed the health consequences of the 24/7, always in front of a computer, not exercising, eating crappy food lifestyle that most bloggers adhere to. Rest assured PRNewser readers, Jason and I are young, full of energy, and despite sometimes consuming a few too many "adult beverages" at industry happy hours, we should be good for quite a while. Jokes aside, tech guru Doc Searls may have put it best when he told us all to "chill out." Scoops are great, and in the online media world, more traffic equals more money. It's very simple. But putting a scoop before your own health: not sustainable, and not wise. (Don't worry Laurel & Chris, we're still hustling.) One person who is wise: Matt Richtel of the Times. His story garnered quite a bit of buzz today, as we all took his link bait. Monday Mar 31, 2008
Blogging for Book Deals
Has a trend officially hit the mainstream once it's reached the NY Times? We think so. The Times Allen Salkin has an article out on bloggers and book deals, featuring mediabistro's own Galleycat blogger Ron Hogan. "I was shocked and amazed that they got that much money for a concept that Martin Mull had written a book on back in 1985," Ron told the Times. That quote was in reference to Christian Lander of stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com landing a $300k book deal. While literary agents are scouring the web for potential blogger book deals, they are not always a success. For example, "Gawker.com spawned the book, 'The Gawker Guide to Conquering All Media,' which has sold fewer than 1,000 copies since its release in October 2007," according to Salkin. We mention this on the heels of two PR book releases this week. Ogilvy's Rohit Bhargava published Personality Not Included: Why Brands Lose Their Authenticity And How Great Companies Get it Back. In a clever way to promote the launch, Rohit issued an open call on his blog to ask for any blogger to send him a five question interview that he would personally respond to. So far he's done over 57 interviews. Meanwhile RLM PR president, author and pundit on "media culture and hype," Richard Laermer sent PRNewser an advanced copy of his next book, 2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade. We'll read it soon, Richard! It is now available on Amazon.com. Monday Mar 24, 2008
NYTimes Video Blogger "Cat Fight"
Is there a "cat fight" going on between two prominent NY Times video bloggers, David Carr and David Pogue? PR video maven Doug Simon seems to think so, and he has the video to prove it. Simon is asking folks to vote on who they think is the "Best Video Blogger" at the Times, and as of now, Pogue is leading Carr 58% to 42%. Ok, so it's definitely a joke, a somewhat funny one at that, but maybe you could use it as "pitching fodder" with either journalist over the next few weeks? [Disclosure: This PRNewser counts Doug Simon among his former bosses.] Friday Mar 21, 2008
Do You Ask Bloggers for Reprints?A tipster sent in this post from Crunchnotes, which features an email exchange where a staffer from Qorvis Communications asks TechCrunch's Mike Arrington about "reprints." Arrington's response: "yeah, we're a blog, we don't do prints, let alone re-prints." On the other hand, David Parmet points out in the comments: "Some companies like to reprint their press mentions with a logo and the masthead from the publication. They use this for sales. Most print pubs charge for this sort of use. That's probably what she was asking about." Do most print pubs charge for this? It definitely varies, depending on the publication and what exactly you're using the clip for. We're curious to hear your thoughts on this matter.
Thursday Mar 20, 2008
WSJ: Flacks Make More Than Hacks
In an interview with Eric Gerard, senior vice president of Great Ink Communications, the former journalist explains why he made the move: "Every Thursday night, I'd work until midnight to meet deadline and one Thursday at around 8:30 p.m., I got a call from a publicist I knew who was having two people leave her practice. She asked if I knew anybody who would be good. When I asked what the pay scale was, I was floored. It was 35% to 40% more than I was making. At the rate I was going, it would take me 15 years to make that salary, so I took the job, and in one jump I made a 15-year leap." What's better about PR: "Basically it's a nine-to-five job. It's more family friendly. Instead of 2% raises, there is an annual 5% to 10% raise, and you don't have to crawl on your hands and knees for it. I now make over $100,000. I am also able to vacation more regularly -- I never had more than two to three weeks' vacation at the newspaper. In public relations, especially in a small firm, if you bring in clients you get a commission. There is a constant ability to supplement your income -- with one account you can make an extra $10,000." Interestingly enough, this article showed up in a Google News Search as posted 21 hours ago, but a note before the article stated, "Originally published September 6th, 2006." Old or not, we felt it was worth a read, especially in these economically turbulent times. PRWeek Publishing Director Launches Blog
From PRWeek: Julia Hood, upon her promotion to publishing director of PRWeek, has launched Page Views, a new PRWeek blog on the intersection of media and marketing. PreviouslyDallas Morning News Reporter: PR Email Straight to The Junk Folder AdWeek's Brian Morrissey and "15 Tips of PR Wisdom" Smirnoff Gives Media The Shaft PRWeek Gets a New Editor in Chief Men's Journal Staffer: No More Shweaty Balls CNN vet Andrea Koppel hired by M+R Can't Find Your Favorite Journalist? Don't Be Wrong With Duncan Riley, Or Anyone, For That Matter Shel Israel To Join Robert Scoble at FastCompany.tv When Kara Says AllThingsD, She Means It Forbes Announces "Web Celebs" of 2007 Jane Mag Editor Moves To Yahoo C-B-S'een at CBS Holiday Media Party |
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