Fast Company senior writer Christina Farr teed off on PR last week. Stated her Nov. 23 Tweet: "PR needs to innovate in 2017: Press releases, embargoes, mail-merge all need to be a thing of the past. Not how journalists work anymore." Considering that Christina once worked in PR herself (Eastwick), her complaints carry extra weight.
It's hard to imagine the Wall Street Journal without deputy bureau chief Don Clark -- he worked there 23 years. But as of Dec. 15, Don is out the door, having accepted the buyout offered last month by WSJ parent company News Corp. Always quick to return an email, tech PR pros will miss him. Says Don: "That's what they've been telling me -- and it's gratifying."
AI is it in Silicon Valley these days. But what exactly is it? Is bot coverage a fad? Who are the influencers? And when can I buy a synth? We'll be producing a special report next month on AI edit, an influence map and all the goodies. Meanwhile, based on our conversations, one might want to consider the following...
Ever look up your first Tweet, or anyone else's for that matter? Examine enough of them and you'll see patterns. Most say what the person is doing or where they're going. Just for fun we looked up First Tweets from 30 tech media influencers. Here are eight of them. Your mission: match the First Tweet with the influencer who Tweeted them.
The Verge redesigned today. Gone are the colored tiles -- era over. Instead the site offers a single wide-measure column tailored for finger-flicking. But The Verge is really not about "the site" anymore. It's about platforms and video. That's where the growth is. Home page? RIP.
Ed. note: Lauren Gilmore, contributed content gatekeeper at The Next Web, sent us a comprehensive list of do's and don'ts. Even senior PR pros will learn a thing or two. Here she is.
"I receive 50+ pitches a day. Seriously. Daily. So any time someone wants to know how to pitch to me (or really, these tips span the gamut of any editor's dream inbox)."
Seeing as Bloomberg Businessweek has published its "The Year Ahead" issue, it's probably OK to begin assessing 2017 and what it will bring tech PR pros and the editors they pitch. Today let's keep it simple and consider just one issue -- stunning job losses where print advertising and unions still reign.
Why aren't more PR pros pitching Kevin McLaughlin, The Information's AI reporter? "Some have reached out," Kevin says. "But I haven't been contacted by too many, which is interesting compared to my old job at CRN, where I had a lot of people contacting me every day."
Looking to contribute content to the world? Project Syndicate might be a place to do it. Founded in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, non-profit Project Syndicate is a web site that houses commentaries on economic, business and political issues of our time. Its tag line: "The World's Opinion Page."
Currently a freelancer for eWeek and other tech sites, David Needle has reported on tech for more than 30 years. Over that period, he saw quite a few email pitches and became something of an expert on the topic. In a recent email exchange with us, that topic was very much on his mind. Things got started when we sent him this Sept. 29 post in The Atlantic from senior editor James Hamblin.
Bloomberg made news of its own last week. It launched its newest vertical, Bloomberg Technology. It launched Decrypted, a tech podcast, and Fully Charged, a daily e-mail newsletter. It announced two new live-video shows: "Apple This Week" with Mark Gurman and Alex Webb, and "Digital Defense" with Jordan Robertson.
Ben Kepes used to be a writer who did a bit of investing on the side. Today the enterprise tech influencer is an investor and advisor who does a bit of writing. Why the switch? "I was tired of being played," says Ben. "As journalists we get a very one-sided picture of what's happening."
