Negative Doesn't Always Mean Negative

PR buzz is not always perfect. As a PR pro, you know that you can do a lot of work, but still need a little bit of luck.

When you work with reporters, you do not have full control of what gets shared; even if YOUR prep work is spotless. You may have created great keywords and statements that can get misdirected, or your product may be poorly reviewed. It's really out of your hands. However, bad news is not ALWAYS bad. It's still news, right?

Currently, I work with a client that is very unique and has gained success with a niche market. They are trying public relations for the first time ever and getting a lot of buzz. However, the mainstream market does not particularly love the product and are willing to say it. My client knows and even says they are not a brand for everyone, but he still gets nervous after reading a negative review or hearing a negative comment. Nonetheless - they are getting ALOT of publicity. One review did come back negative, but they still placed a large photo in the review and said where someone could buy the item. This is what counts.

Again, in a situation when a reporter does give you negative feedback - don't be surprised. This can happen! I was reading about a similar situation where a brand received negative PR after reporters tried the product and didn't enjoy it. The company came out making a statement that said too many went way too far with reviews and said they wouldn't release any more items to be tried until further notice. This is a poor move and never do this. PR works symbolically with media - they need each other. So, if you think something, don't way something. You don't want the reporters on your bad side even more.

Witty headlines: black and white and dead all over (because of SEO)

I always enjoy reading a good headline, they always make me chuckle. However, with the dawning of SEO, witty headlines are causing to be a problem.

Crafty headlines are just not SEO-friendly. A much better headline would include the keywords and wouldn't have much room for puns or plays on words.

The Atlantic has weight in on this notion with its recent article "Google Doesn't Laugh Saving Witty Headlines in the Age of SEO."

Matthew Crowly, a copy editor for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has won awards for his on-so-clever headlines. "I understand the shift toward search optimization" he told The Atlantic. "But I think we're losing something when we take the wordplay and surprise out of headline writing."
In many ways, SEO is killing the art of the clever headline in journalism, and it doesn't seem like a trend that will reverse as long as such a huge chunk of Web traffic comes from search engines.

Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post addressed this same issue last summer, and he didn't offer optimism either.

How to Pitch a Reporter Using Twitter

I've recently started to use Twitter as a means of pitching my clients. Public relations is still quite a new line of work, but the reality is that PR professionals cannot always just do the same thing, we cannot always rely on sending a pitch and making follow-up calls to see success in our work. As PR professionals we need to keep evolving and thinking of new ways of reaching media. I think Twitter is a great way to do this. Why? Because first, many reporters are doing freelancing and don't have a specific outlet, phone number or email address, and second, most of the reporters we're trying to reach are there and posing questions to their followers! Here is what I've found to be the most successful ways to start the conversation with the media you want to through Twitter.

1. Introduce yourself. Don't jump right into your pitch, especially if you've never contacted this person before. Say "hello!" Otherwise, you're being creepy and rude.
2. Keep it brief. This may seem like a given, as it's Twitter, but try to keep your pitch to the point and don't send more than two tweets relating to the pitch. No one wants to read a book when they check their @ messages.
3. Don't use "netspeak." It's your prerogative to tell your BFF that you're "LOL"-ing at her joke and will "<3u4eva," but keep it professional for a pitch.
4. Link it up! 140 characters isn't going to be enough to hook someone (or event get them to remember what you're talking about five minutes later), so include a link with all the details.
5. Keep the conversation going. Don't pitch and ditch - keep engaging with your new contact (even if they decline your pitch)! You might be making a valuable relationship.

Have any experience with this sort of pitching? Please share your story! Happy tweeting!

New Idea Happening at Starbucks

To set itself apart in the coffee business, Starbucks is launching a new marketing tactic. The company is inviting customers to enjoy premium web content for free while dining in one of their coffeehouses. Starbucks just introduced it's new Digital Network in partnership with Yahoo!.

The idea is that Starbucks will pick up the tab for access to certain websites, so that customer's don't have to. By bringing your wireless computer in while you sip, you can have exclusive access to:

• Breaking news from subscription editions to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
• Listening to popular music, and downloading exclusive iTunes Tracks for free.
• To local Zagat reviews and ratings.

What do you think? I think it's a great idea and will give Starbucks an edge over other coffeehouses. To learn more about the company's idea check it out here: http://promo.yahoo.com/starbucks/

A Few Words About Randy Moss

Randy likes to talk a lot, usually too much. He's a great football player, but he really has some public relations issues. The Patriots receiver lashed out in a lengthy and passionate news conference after Sunday's 38-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, saying he doesn't feel appreciated in New England and that waiting until the season to get a new contact would be "a smack in the face."

Since his arrival 2007, the unhappy Moss has had three straight 1,000-yard seasons, including a record setting '07 in which he caught 23 touchdowns while helping New England to a perfect 16-0 mark in the regular season.

"It's not that I'm mad or trying to be disgruntled. I'm hurt. You give me a word," he said. "Sometimes you want your boss to tell you you're doing a good job. That's every man or woman who works for somebody. And that's just the way with football. If you do a good job and think that you're doing a good job, you want to be appreciated. I really don't think that - me, personally - that I'm appreciated." Bug, Moss who complained that reporters twist his words around, also said in a 16-minute back-and-fort: I'm not saying that I'm not appreciated here." Well, what are you saying then Randy?

"This is the last year of my contract. Nothing has been discussed. There's not been anything said. Not a letter. Nothing," he said. "I'm not saying that I want to stay here, but I love playing here. If the future of my job lets me go to another team, then that's what it's going to be. But for now, I'm still in a contract for the New England Patriots, and I have a job to do.

Randy has had a trail of on-field accomplishments and off-field problems over his 13 years of professional football. All of his talent has been marred by rancorous departures from Minnesota, Oakland and the Raiders. "When it comes to football, I take my job seriously," he said. "But I think around here in the New England area, a lot of people don't want to see me do good. And the reason why, I don't know. I really don't care. ...Me being unhappy doesn't have anything to do with me toning my game down. I'm here, and I understand my role. My role is to take the ball deep and take the top off the defense."

Then when asked who wants him to fail, Moss said "I'm just thinking that the journey I've taken to get to where I'm at, 13 years, I don't really feel that I'm very liked. And I'm not saying from you all. I don't really give a damn if you like me, to be honest with you."

Moss is an interesting, very talented sports star. He could use some media training too. Of course his large ego gets in the way and gets him in a lot of trouble. This is the center of why it would be hard to be his publicist. I don't think there is a thing Randy Moss can do to change his reputation now - he has been the same his whole career. Good thing he is good at football, because that's why people want to have him around; nothing else.

War and WikiLeaks: Who is a journalist and are journalists’ still considered the gatekeepers to society’s information?

What occurred on the floor of the People's House on Tuesday afternoon was quite possibly the first ever congressional wiki debate. Lawmakers are privy to all sorts of classified information and confidential briefings about national security, but as they argued about a new spending bill to fund the war in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, they spent a good bit of the afternoon bickering about things they'd seen on the Internet.

WikiLeaks is an international organization, based in Sweden, which publishes anonymous submissions and leaks of sensitive documents while preserving the anonymity of sources. Its website, launched in 2006, is run by the Sunshine Press. The organization has described itself as having been founded by Chinese dissidents, as well as journalists, mathematicians and start-up company technologists from the U.S., Taiwan, Europe, Australia and South Africa. (www.wikileaks.org/)

Earlier this week, the site became an issue when thousands of classified U.S. military documents, regarding whether or not the U.S. should leave Pakistan, were posted on the website.

Currently, no information in our society is secret and with the updates and changes in cell phones and the creation of social media sites such as blogs, twitter, Facebook, etc. anyone can share information easily. No longer do we need to depend on journalists and news sites to be the gatekeepers. This raises a question to me, who is a journalist? What classifies someone as a journalist? I think the line between who is and who is not, is very thin.

Having a Newsroom is Not Just for the Big Dogs

I work for a small business in downtown Minneapolis and right now we're completely revamping our public relations efforts. We've met with a consultant to get a second opinion and one thing he recommended is to create a online newsroom off of our website to house all of our media hits, newsletters, press releases and product images. This would be an easy one-stop-shop we could easily direct media, consumers and retailers to for information on the company.

I too recommend this for any small business.

This is what you want your online newsroom to house:

• Complete Media Kit: Complete a entire media kit and make it available on your Newsroom as downloadable PDFs. Your media kit would include: Company Profile (Also known as a backgrounder, this highlights how you stand out in your industry), Fact Sheet (This serves as a handy reference guide to your company, providing all the basic facts at a glance), Key services and Products (Provide an overview of your major services or product lines, and individual services or product sheets as applicable), FAQ (An FAQ (frequently asked questions) is a services of questions and answers that addresses timely topics related to your company or industry), Company History (Make it brief, but stress the expertise you have built up over your years in business), Biographies of Top Management
• Photography: You should have high-resolution (300 dpi for print) images of products, projects, events and headshots of top management.
• Podcasts: Your site could include podcasts of your published articles and company newsletter for those who would rather listen to the content instead of reading it.
• Contact Information: Be sure to include full contact information for the person authorized to talk with the media: name, title, phone, cell phone and email address.

Don't be the Annoying Salesman: Three Phone Pitch Tips to Avoid Getting the 'Hang Up' from Editors

Think about it; when was the last time you bought something from someone who called and pitched you a product over the phone? We've all been there. We are in the middle of working, eating or sleeping and the phone rings. Out of obligation or to get the phone to stop ringing, you answer it. You say "hello" and the intrusive caller launches into a sales pitch without even the slightest consideration whether or not this is a good time for you to talk, or in most cases, listen to their one-sided monologue about a product or service that you don't need.

Now pretend that you are an editor. You're at your desk working hard to meet a tight deadline and the phone rings. It's another lazy PR professional who didn't do their homework, hasn't read your publication and is pitching you a story that you covered last week. How likely are you going to be to write about them? Not likely.

Editors receive phone calls from "annoying salesmen" everyday. Imagine receiving dozens of phone calls a day from people who are trying to sell you their product or services as a possible story without concern for how it might benefit you and your readers.

1. Avoid calling journalists and editors on deadline days. Many media outlets have consistent deadline days. If a publication comes out on Friday, their deadline day is likely to be Wednesday. So DON'T call on Wednesday! Wait until Thursday or Friday when a journalist is looking for a new story and has the time to talk.

2. Introduce yourself and your pitch in one sentence and then shut up. If an editor answers the phone, introduce yourself and your story in one sentence. For instance, "I am a public relations professional in the Minneapolis area, and I am calling to see if your readers would be interested in an article with 5 times on how to boost their sales with social media."

3. Shut up. Once you have said your one sentence, shut up and let the editor respond. They will either say that they are not interested, or they will ask you for more information. If they ask you for more information, provide another three sentences and then shut up again and allow them to respond. Always give them the courtesy of ending the call if they don't have time to talk to you or if they are not interested.

The Star Tribune eEdition

This month I got a flyer along with my weekend Star Tribune about the new Star Tribune eEdition. I was not surprised to see this addition with all of the changes going on in the print news industry, especially since The Wall Street Journal made the same change and added a fee for online readers to view entire articles on their website.

The Star Tribune eEdition is an exact replica of the print edition, conveniently emailed to you every morning. Some of the advantages the Star Tribune sees with their eEdition are:

• Simple action search: Find the current day's edition plus 14 days of back issues
• Easy article previewing: Scan headlines and page thumbnails for quick browsing
• Zoom-in/out capability: Get full and side-by-side page viewing
• More news: Each section offers companion links to current news updates on StarTribune.com
• Language translation: Read articles in English or Spanish

I think it's a great idea that the Star Tribune offers this service. A couple neat things about the eEdition I see are: The Star Tribune's reach expands greatly. Anyone in the world can receive the Star Tribune. The price is affordable, just $2.00 a week. Also, the eEdition is very green. The more subscribers that choose to receive the paper online, the more trees that will be saved.

Check it out for yourself, click here!

Use Twitter to Get Ahead, Not Just Play

A common reason given by those who have yet to try Twitter: "I have nothing to say." The truth is, you don't have to post a message to get the most out of Twitter, you can just join and see what others are saying.

At its best, the social medium is a perpetual, personalized news service about topics of your choosing, whether it be health care reform, tech news or the latest episode of "American Idol," filtered and sent to you by people who care a lot about what you care a lot about.

Even the most prolific users say Twitter has become more useful as a way to tap into the discussions of the day and than can be used to broadcast their own thoughts. They believe that once you get pulled in, you might just find you have something to say after all.

Biz Stone, Twitter's co-founder, suggests that naysayers simply log on to Twitter's home page and search for a topic they are interested in, whether it's their favorite sports team, the name of their company or a topic in the news. Within a minute, they understand the appeal, he said (The New York Times, 3/9/2010).

Twitter users write 50 million messages a day. For those of you who haven't tried Twitter out, here are a few ways to make Twitter work for you:

• If you don't have anything you feel is important enough to say, you can learn a lot from others on Twitter just by following them. Depending on who you follow, after checking Twitter for a bit each morning by lunch you can know most of the top trend topics of the day, just by reading the feed you see on Twitter.
• Search what is being said about a specific person, place or thing at that particular time or recent past.
• You can follow leaders who post about politics, religion, fashion and food. People with shared interests become your editor and Twitter becomes an alternative RSS feed. Find those people by searching Twitter directories, like WeFollow or Just Tweet It, and by following people whom others repeat or mention.
• Stay up to date on news stories A lot of messages include a link and after awhile a popular news story will bubble up after being retweeted enough.
• You can create lists of people you follow to keep your interests separate. For example, you can create a list of celebrities you follow, a list of coworkers you follow, a list of friends you can follow and a list of news people you follow. This way their tweets will not be thrown all together on your homepage.
• Once you're on Twitter, you can post questions when you don't know who to ask. For example, ask about a restaurant you're thinking of trying or how to use an iPhone application and you'll be sure to get answers.
• Find out what is going on in a certain area. Now you can limit your trending topic tweets to certain cities or countries.

The Future of Public Relations: Utilizing both Old and New Media

Old Media and New Media, including social networks, press releases and search engine optimization (SEO) are fighting a war of attrition - and the smart money is on New Media to win, eventually. But at this point in time, they're neck and neck on the battlefield and the leaders of public relations will know how to work with both.

Digital online content swept the media world for the first decade of the twenty-first century like a grass fire consuming old growth in its path. Old Media, such as, newspapers, magazines, broadcast radio and television, has relatively high production values and controlled distribution. Above all else, Old Media is programmed, which means it's vetted, fact-checked and less speculative. On the other hand, New Media, by which we mean the Internet and the Internets intercept with targeted cable television is on demand, raw or refined, multi-platformed and always open for business. When a press release takes off in New Media, they tend to break in a big way because the audience becomes the promoter, linking to the story on blogs and Facebook pages, and e-mailing it to their entire address book. What was once water cooler gossip in the days of Old Media is now heard around the world. This particular phenomenon is called viral buzz.

In Old Media, a relatively small number of gatekeepers control the information flow. Cultivating relationships with these gatekeepers - whether you want a story to run or stop dead in its tracks - is of critical importance to the success of any public relations strategy.

The advent of the Internet created not only a new promotional medium for public relations, but also a new approach. On the Internet there are almost no barriers to entry. Every webmaster is a potential gatekeeper. The information is out there - and caching tools means it's out there forever. However, promoting any particular piece of information can be daunting. There are well over a hundred billion websites. But the Internet has developed a number of tools to narrow cast to segmented interest groups. Chief among these is the search engine.

A search engine is a computer program that uses mathematical formulas to seek patterns within content. The exact algorithm may vary from one search engine to the next, but generally relies upon some combination of meta tags, key words, external links and the position of elements on the web page itself. SEO is the art and science of assuring results by customizing your website or press release with hidden content that will score high on search engine probability indices. However, just optimization isn't enough. The most successful websites and press releases also utilize search engine ad word buys and reciprocal links to lure traffic. The rise of so-called social media brought yet a new personalization twist, further refining narrow casting through the use of browser cookies that reflect the search history of the person using the browser. It's very possible that two people typing the same search term into the query box will get widely divergent pages of results.

So what does this mean for PR? It means PR professionals should understand both Old and New Media inside and out. Further, if you're really good at it, you'll marry the two and find ways utilize each with help from the other.

Reformat your traditional press releases. Your traditional ones will not work on the Internet. If you want your press release to find an Internet audience, it must contain those triggers that guarantee search engine pick-up and distribution to your target demographic, while finding ways to be creative. Find ways to connect your keyword saturation.

Write for both New and Old Media at the same time. This makes a lot of sense: the most cost-effective strategy for any business is the creation of quality content that can be repurposed effectively both on and off the web.

Submit articles. Search engines are not the only way to distribute information across the web. Many members of your target audience have favorite sites they rely on for news and information. Don't forget to submit your content to these appropriate sites and articles directories.

Do social media bookmarking. Watch for community forums, blogs, message boards and content-centric sites and match the elements of your client and work them to get your messages out.

Will The New York Times' Paywall Help to Avoid Collapse?

It appears The New York Times have found a solution to the 'online news reader only' problem. Last week, The New York Times announced that it would erect a paywall in order to help collect from news readers who only get their news online from their website. Their idea is neat because the paywall will get the frequent readers to pay for The New York Times content, but not the new, visiting readers.

This plan is called a 'metered-model,' will call for people who visit the website (nytimes.com) a undetermined amount of times per month to pay an undetermined fee, excepting those who currently subscribe to the weekly print paper, including those who only get it on Sunday. Not knowing how much The New York Times will charge, I'm curious to know if it will cure the problem newspapers are having.

I say yes. Currently, The New York Times (nytimes.com) has 17 million unique visitors per month which allow them to have high ad prices. Since they are taking their time, and getting this high-tech program to separate new and old visitors they can still keep those good ad sales up, attract new readers and hopefully charge those who want to keep coming back.

The print journalism industry has gone through a tough time in recent years and has needed to make some changes in order to survive. Is this the solution or will this only decrease readership? Now, I'm curious to see how many other newspapers will take on this approach. Further, if it works for The New York Times, how fast it will take over the print newspaper websites. Lastly, as a social media user, I wonder how this will affect linkage to The New York Times page and articles. In another release last week, The New York Times made it clear that they are aware of this reality, stating that its metered model would allow it to still "stay connected to a search-driven Web." It's smart that they are on top of this because this aspect is equally as important to its survival as publication income. In order to stay afloat, the site must continue to be part of the large online conversation.

Issues Surrounding Coaches Comments of Vonn’s Weight Could Have Been Avoided

Recently, Austrian media reported that coaches discussing downhill skier Lindsey Vonn, the reigning downhill and overall World Cup champion, said she would have an advantage in speed events because she was carrying additional weight. This is incredibly tacky, and I do not believe that this comment would have been made had Vonn not been a woman.

According to The Associated Press, Vonn said the comments didn't weigh on her but served as motivation when she won a trio of World Cup races, dominating three days of speed racing in Haus im Ennstal, Austria, this month.

Last week in a teleconference, Von said that she takes pride in being fit and fast and "if weight were the key to success in ski racing, then everyone would be stuffing their faces with food. ...I just think it's pretty ridiculous and it definitely irritated me." Vonn said.

I thought it was interesting that Vonn put more blame on the journalists than the coaches who actually made the comments. "But, you know, I think in all fairness, I think it was an exaggeration on the journalists' part on the comments of the Austrian coaches, ...the Austrian coaches actually apologized to me," Vonn added. Why was this exaggerated though? Truthfully, because it was an extreme comment that the journalists' knew would start debate and controversy sells.

Even though there have been great leaps in equal rights, this shows that there is still a stigma surrounding women athletes compared to male athletes. But, in this rise of feminine power - I'm not surprised this statement was taken and blasted through the media.

Twin Cities station, WCCO interviewed U of M Sports Scientist, Nicole LaVoi on this topic. LaVoi said when it comes to female athletes, many people talk about how they look rather than what they actually do. "The critique wasn't, 'Oh, she looks muscular and fit and ready to do her best.' It was, 'Oh, she looks a little heavier.'" LaVoi said it becomes an issue when you consider how many times you hear the same types of comments directed at male athletes. You don't often hear people saying of Bode Miller, "He's looking a little heavy this year, maybe that will help him go faster," said LaVoi.

I think this issue could have been avoided if the Austrian coaches had been media trained better. Any publicist or rep would know what words or comments should be avoided. However, in the end I think the coaches did a good job apologizing to Vonn for their comments.

Despite skiing with a bruised left lower arm Vonn hurt in a crash during last month's giant slalom race in Lienz, Austria, Vonn won two downhills and a Super-G at the beginning of December. That raised her total to 28 victories, putting her at No. 2 on the all-time list of American skiers, three titles behind Bode Miller. I'm glad to see that this is not affecting her ability or attitude.

Charlie Gibson Retires and Opens Door For Another Female Anchor, Diane Sawyer

If you haven't heard yet, this is Charlie Gibson's last week serving as anchor for ABC's flagship news broadcast "World News." After 35 years Gibson will fully retire from full-time employment at ABC this Friday, December 18th. Since his announcement to retire on September 2nd, ABC stated that co-anchor, Diane Sawyer will be his replacement.

This move for Sawyer seems to be very similar to Katie Couric who anchors "The CBS Evening News." Both started out on network news morning show and then was promoted to evening news anchor positions. But, I'm curious to know if ABC is promoting Sawyer in hopes of competing more against Couric and CBS? I think so, but am not exactly sure why. For quite awhile "The CBS Evening News" has ranked 3rd (last) against the other major network evening news broadcasts the entire time Couric has anchored. "NBC Nightly News" with Brian Williams has continued to rank first and the "CBS World News" with Charlie Gibson continues to rank second. Regardless of the rankings for Couric, CBS must believe the fact Couric is a woman is not the reason for her low rankings, since they're bringing in their own female anchor.

I am glad another woman is taking a leap into what was considered a man's job. I am interested to see what happens in the coming weeks and years as two strong female journalists compete against one another. I wonder if by adding Sawyer to the ring will actually help Couric, since then she won't be the only female evening news anchor. Or on the other hand, if NBC's first place lead will grow.

Right now, I tend to watch ABC for evening news and going to miss Gibson. I really like his anchoring style in many ways. I can't say that I'll stick with ABC forever after he leaves; it will give me an opportunity to 'shop around.' I hope you enjoyed this post. Thank you for reading and "for all of us at (The Bright Bold Blonde Blog), have a good night."

More Changes in the Newspaper Industry: Star Tribune Cuts 100 More Jobs & Announces Changes for 2010

The largest Twin Cities, MN newspaper, the Star Tribune, announced this week that starting soon, they will layoff 100 more employees to recalibrate out of bankruptcy. Nine percent of the total reduction will be done by the end of the year, but 30 of the cuts will come from the Star Tribune's newsroom and those may take a little longer. This is just another example of the changes happening in the journalism industry.

I wrote early last month about the new website the University of St. Thomas created for all of their news outlets (http://www.tommiemedia.com/). It seems the Star Tribune is going to take the same approach strategy in hopes of growth. Editor Nancy Barnes told newsroom staff that she believes the newspaper will succeed in "reinventing" its business and that it won't diminish news coverage. "Newspapers have been struggling financially, but not for readers,'' Barnes said.

The Star Tribune's operating committee disclosed that the newspaper is redesigning its website in 2010 and will expand the amount and types of information available to readers as it works on a new outreach strategy. "The cracking of our historical economic model and the current Great Recession have forced us to move quickly to make meaningful and difficult adjustments over the next few months," the committee said in a memo to employees Monday. "We have tremendous reach. We actually have more readers than we did a decade ago, only some of them are reading us online or on mobile rather than in print" Barnes said.

It's been a rough decade for the Star Tribune, but I am curious to see what changes will be made to their website and if it will help increase readership and finances. I'm not sure if this is the solution to their problem and I understand that they're not sure either, that this is just a temporary change that will be made until they know what is the right path to take. However, I know the Internet news source at the University of St. Thomas is doing very well and is extremely popular among its audience.

As a broadcast journalism major in college, reader of the newspaper and a fan of traditional journalism I may not completely like the changes being made, but really hope the paper can pull out of their troubles. I'm very sorry for the Star Tribune employees who will lose their jobs in the coming months, especially the reporters, good luck.

Is Internet Really the Only Affective Way to Reach People With News?

In case you haven't heard, the news industry is suffering and needs a face lift. Recently, a fellow journalism major and I went back to our undergraduate college, the University of St. Thomas (UST), for a visit. I ran into my old broadcast journalism instructor and learned that the ENTIRE student news outreach has changed and is being done through the Internet on a new website: http://www.tommiemedia.com/

The website has completely taken over the well respected weekly school newspaper, The Aquin and the previous monthly produced UST TV news show, Campus Scope. Just like the past news media outlets, the news media website offers paid positions to its directors and editors, and offers educational positions in other areas of the journalism world.

Before I start sounding too negative about change, I want to make it clear that I am very excited for UST and the Journalism Department. I looked at the TommieMedia website and think it looks great. It does a nice job of intertwining broadcast and print journalism in a professional way. (Even though I was sad to see something so important to my fellow journalism students had changed in such a short time after our graduation.)

However, I am wondering if the Internet is the only way the news outlets can reach their target publics? These days I only hear that you need to get your words or products online somehow, either through a website, social media outlet, blog, etc.