Tag Archives: Media

Public Relations Plays a Vital Role in the News Cycle

Posted on July 20, 2011 by | 4 Comments

Popular New York Times columnist David Pogue is well known for actively engaging with his cohorts in public relations, maintaining an active dialogue with PR pros, and speaking at industry events, sharing his perspective on creating effective pitches and working effectively with journalists.   However, his session titled “Pitch Me, Baby” at Ragan Communications’ Media Relations Summit, a paid event, didn’t sit well with the Times’ staff, and they moved to prohibit Pogue participating in that session, or similar events in the future.

Public editor Arthur S. Brisbane discussed the decision earlier this month, noting: “…Such appearances are explicitly prohibited by The Time’s ethics policy. Excerpts of the relevant portions: Staff members may not advise individuals or organizations how to deal successfully with the news media (though they may of course explain the paper’s normal workings and steer outsiders to the appropriate Times person)….They should not take part in public relations workshops that charge admission or imply privileged access to Times people….”  Pogue agreed not appear at anymore PR events.

However, some of the characterizations and allusions in Brisbane’s editorial left a bad taste in many PR professional’s mouths. Pogue’s public admission of his reliance on publicists caused some discomfort in the Grey Lady’s upper echelons.

“Times readers deserve to be assured that journalists don’t get too cozy with the P.R. professionals who strive to influence coverage,” wrote Brisbane. “A virtual army of publicists, media specialists and others stands ready every day to infiltrate the news with stories that help their employers.”

Not surprisingly, Brisbane’s comments elicited enough feedback from the public relations quarter that he was compelled earlier this week to muse whether or not PR is a bane or boon to journalists, and put several questions forth, asking readers how they felt about the Times’ reliance on PR for stories, and querying the PR community about the benefits public relations delivers to Times staff.

PR Newswire sits squarely between professional media and public relations practitioners, and media relations has always been important to us.  Our editors help clients polish their press releases, catching mistakes, authenticating sources, adding attribution when needed and refusing copy that doesn’t meet standards.  Our audience development and research teams work with news outlets, web portals, journalists, bloggers and freelancers worldwide to ensure they can find and access the content they need, in the manner most convenient for them. Along the way, we get a lot of feedback about public relations and press releases.   So I put one of Brisbane’s questions — What are the benefits that publicists and P.R. professionals can provide to The Times? Are there any problems? – to my colleagues here at PR Newswire.

Former television journalists and long-time media relations manager Brett Simon agreed with Pogue’s view that a smart PR person can save a journalist valuable time, noting a savvy publicist can help a reporter find the right people to talk to in an organization as they’re fleshing out a story.

“Publicists can lay a vital role in securing the right person for journalists’ stories and they can do so with expediency.  PR folks at corporations and other organizations are keenly aware of who does what, their nature of expertise, access to their contact information and can quickly make the person available,” she told me. The benefit to the journalist is clear, as well, she noted, “This saves the reporter valuable time by not having to call around to find the appropriate person.   PR people do all the leg work and the journalist can get the credit.”

Victoria Harres, PR Newswire’s director of audience development, noted the role public relations plays in surfacing stories, and reminded us that non-profits and NGOs also make use of PR.

“Public relations people play an important role in bringing things to the attention of journalists. There are not enough journalists in the world to make sure that every story worth telling is told,” she said. “A good PR person will understand individual journalists’ beats and provide relevant information that help journalists do their jobs without spending significant amounts of time finding out when events are happening, when products are launching, or if there is a coordinated effort to send money and aid to some part of the world where tragedy has struck. Let’s not forget non-profits also use PR professionals to make sure their stories are told.”

Christine Cube, another former journalist and another of our media relations managers, commented on the legwork public relations pros do for journalists.

“PR adds a great deal to the news cycle. Without it, there are a lot of gray areas. And whether journalists want to admit it or not, PR helps clear up that gray. It provides background info, story ideas, and produces the principles who can speak to a specific subject or matter,” she said.

Maria Perez, director of news operations for ProfNet, discussed the role public relations plays in facilitating communications between a journalist and an organization, and their role in finding and connecting journalists on deadline with relevant experts.

“Not all subject matter experts are experts at dealing with the media,” she noted. “PR professionals are. Working through a PR professional can help facilitate the process and improve communication. Furthermore, because PR professionals often represent several clients, working with them can help journalists choose from a larger pool of experts, ensuring that a variety of voices are heard. Finally, PR professionals often know what’s going on in their client’s industry, and can add facets to the story that would otherwise be overlooked.”

Tom Hynes, manager of blogger relations for PR Newswire (and yes, another former journalist on our staff) commented upon the negative perception many have for public relations, and the fact that minds change quickly when a fast-breaking story or crisis situation unfolds.

“I feel like there’s probably a lot of unjust scorn or derision aimed at PR professionals,” he said. “For this discussion, I’ll liken that to the chiropractic practice. You may think it’s a quack science — until you throw your back out. You may think PR professionals are unnecessary — until you have a crisis situation that needs deft and professional communicating.”

Harres and Perez both offered comment on the responsibilities of the professional journalists in this discussion.

“One sentence in Brisbane’s post that stood out for me is that he asks about “how the PR industry influences The Times,” Perez noted. “I would like to think the PR industry does *not* influence journalists, but provides journalists with the information necessary regarding their client. If a journalist can be “influenced” by a PR person, that’s a problem.”

Harres also noted the roles played by both sides, and the responsibility of the professional journalist in the development of a story.

“A good PR professional tells a story from a particular perspective. A good journalist will look at all sides and angles of a story and tell it in an unbiased fashion,” Harres commented. “The public relations perspective should be considered in this process. It is a very valid element in putting together a clear picture.”

Simon summed it up well. “PR folks are a journalist’s friend. Yes, they may sometimes annoy reporters with useless pitches but when a New York Times reporter needs them for a story, you can bet that publicist is going to go beyond the call of duty to help that journalist out.  In today’s deadline driven news cycle, with journalists providing content across multiple platforms, a PR person can be a tremendous source of people/experts and information.”

Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.

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Media Moves and News for July

Posted on July 5, 2011 by | 2 Comments

PR Newswire’s media research team continually updates the media database that powers our MEDIAtlas service, and our popular Microlists, which let you target niche audiences on the fly.  Here’s a summary of recent media and blogger updates.

Hearst Corporation acquired six titles from Hachette Filipacchi Media including Woman’s Day, Elle, Elle Decor, Road & Track, Car and Driver and Cycle World. The latter title is already up for sale by Hearst. One of the first moves Hearst executives made after the purchase was to lay off 25 people. Meanwhile, they promoted James Meigs (jmeigs@hearst.com) who now holds the dual roles of Editor-in-Chief of Popular Mechanics as well as his new title of Editorial Director of the men’s enthusiast group of magazines.

Gannett Co., Inc. plans on laying off 700 employees in an effort to cut costs due to the weakened economy and loss of advertising revenue. The cuts are expected to affect the daily newspapers that fall under Gannett’s U.S. Community Publishing division. Gannett says layoff decisions are being determined by individual publishers. Gannett also owns USA Today, which will not be affected.

ABC has announced that Katie Couric will be hosting a new syndicated daytime talk show. Couric has signed a multiyear contact to host and produce the show, which is expected to air in fall 2012. Former NBC Chief Executive Jeff Zucker will be the show’s Executive Producer. ABC continues to look for a replacement for Regis Philbin. The Live with Regis and Kelly Host has announced his plans to leave the show in November. Although no official replacement has been named, a source says that the network is considering candidates such as Ryan Seacrest, TV Host Andy Cohen and Actor Mark Consuelos.

Meredith Corporation’s Advertising Age (http://adage.com/) is scheduled to lay off 75 employees to trim production and operating costs. On a brighter note, Meredith has acquired Eating Well magazine (http://www.eatingwell.com) and recently debuted its Better Homes & Gardens redesigned website, featuring new tech attributes (http://www.bhg.com).

Tribune Broadcasting Company (WGN-TV/ WGN-AM) (Chicago, IL) — Nils Larsen has been named Chief Executive Officer of the broadcasting division. He will supervise the strategic vision and day-to-day operations of the company’s television stations and national cable network, WGN America and WGN-AM.

“LX New York” on WNBC-TV is now “New York Live” (http://www.nbcnewyork.com/shows/newyorklive/). The two-year-old show has changed its name to better fit its objective of local, live news and entertainment. The hosts remain the same with Sara Gore (sara.gore@nbcuni.com) and Jane Hanson (jane.hanson@nbcuni.com). It now airs two hours earlier at 3:00 p.m.

The Fox Business Network bureau in Chicago has moved. It now resides just above the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It was previously located on Wacker Drive. So far members of the bureau include: Reporter Jeff Flock and Producer Ellie Heckman. They can be reached at jeff.flock@foxnews.com and Ellie.Heckman@foxnews.com, respectively.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has announced that New Jersey government run station WNJN-TV will be transferred to New York’s WNET-TV management as of July 1st, laying off the stations entire staff.

Public Broadcaster WITF in Harrisburg, PA has layed off 18 employees from their radio (WITF-FM) and television (WITF-TV) divisions including WITF-FM Anchor/Reporter Melanie Hirschorn and Program Director Craig Cohen. These public stations have lost state and federal funding of over a million dollars in the last year and this has led to these layoffs.

Time Out Chicago (Chicago, IL) — The lifestyle outlet (http://timeoutchicago.com) has a new look. Check out the debut of its redesign with bigger features and more extensive content at http://www.timeoutchicago.com.

Atlantic Live (TBA) — Steve Clemons is the Editor-in-Chief of this new events/ideas enterprise of The Atlantic. He can be found on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/SCClemons

The United Kingdom’s “The Guardian” is coming to the U.S. with a new digital expansion plan. They are going to be based in New York and are looking to hire over 20 Editors for their Fall launch.

Hey greasy spoon fans! The Baltimore Sun has a new blog, “Baltimore Diner” (http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/baltimore-diner-blog/) penned by its Restaurant Critic Richard Gorelick (rgorelick@baltsun.com). This new blog goes beyond the famous spoons and explores all the delicacies of fine food in the Charm City. This blog replaces the Dining@Large. It also provides the latest food industry and local festival news too. Richard also tweets food news at: http://twitter.com/#!/gorelickingood

Tom Raponi has been named General Manager at KTVU-TV, an Oakland, California-based Fox affiliate that serves the San Francisco market. He replaces Tim McVay, who departed to become General Manager of WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. Both stations are owned by Cox Communications.

Current TV (http://current.com) has officially launched the nightly news program of Keith Olbermann. The newscaster, who abruptly left MSNBC early this year, was hired by the cable and satellite network to help raise its profile and reach. Olbermann is reportedly taking in $10 million per year at Current, which was founded by Al Gore in 2005. Follow Keith on Twitter @KeithOlbermann and Current TV @current.

Eric Schurenberg, once Editorial Director for CBS Interactive sites BNET and CBSMoneywatch, has left the company. The web properties are being folded into CBSNews.com, which is being led by Dan Farber. Follow Dan on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/dbfarber.

The San Francisco Chronicle has lost its Business and Technology Editor, Marcus Chan, who has become Technology Editor at Bloomberg.com. Follow Chan on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/mchan.

Chicago-based Tribune Company is once again in talks with Freedom Communications to purchase the Orange County Register, after a recent negotiation breakdown with MediaNews Group to purchase the Irvine-based newspaper.

944 Magazine has ceased publishing. The magazine chain filed bankruptcy last year. The online edition will continue and there are plans to revamp the Las Vegas edition at a later date.

Former OC Weekly Publisher Will Swaim has launched a new local news website called Republic of Costa Mesa. Contact Swaim at will@republicofcostamesa.com.

July MEDIAware updates by region: http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/July2011MEDIAtlasUpdatesbyRegion.html

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Do you know where your content is?

Posted on June 10, 2011 by | 2 Comments

A weird moment at a media relations workshop I attended yesterday left me feeling as though I had spun backward in time, to the late 90’s or thereabout, before Twitter was a gleam in anyone’s eye, to a time when newspapers still reigned supreme in the information universe.

Three prominent Chicago journalists admitted they didn’t use Twitter – not for research, nor for communication.

Several Chicago PR stalwarts noted their clients only cared about print and broadcast – none of “that internet stuff.”

I sat openmouthed in the back row upon hearing these comments, given in response to a question I asked about the extent to which journalists in the represented newsrooms used social networks to build audience for stories.  (I was told that most do, but these three big leaguers didn’t.)

The conversation devolved into the same one you hear at any meet-up of PR people and journalists.  The journos bemoaned long, irrelevant, attachment-riddled e-mail pitches with stupid subject lines squealing “Check this out!”   The PR pros said a little common courtesy, such as noting whether or not a pitch was received, would be nice.

I snapped my jaw shut and adopted a neutral demeanor when I saw that one of the panelists had noticed my bewildered expression.  But inside, I was really disappointed in the media pros and in the PR reps both, for ignoring  a medium that has become the preferred news source of many, and has fueled some of the biggest stories of the year, from the rise of the Arab Spring to the downfall of indiscreet politicians.

After the panel, one of the journalists sought me out, to double check a web site I had mentioned during the Q&A.  We chatted for a minute and I mentioned my surprise that he wasn’t using Twitter, which I went on to characterize as the most awesome personal newswire a person could imagine.   The journo said he had tried it but didn’t see the value.

I asked him if he had ever set up lists in Twitter, or seen Flipboard and Paper.li. When the answer was no, I told him the story of how I changed my husband’s life forever, by setting him up on Twitter,  creating a list of NFL draft prognosticators, and hooking that into Flipboard, producing a personalized, glossy, user-friendly and up to the minute news magazine focused on the recent draft.  When I handed my husband his iPad, his eyes grew wider and wider.  He sank onto the couch, flipping through the articles and blog posts.  He was thrilled by my 5-minute creation, and proceeded to gorge himself on the latest draft intelligence and speculation.

It’s important to understand how your audience is consuming information, especially if you aren’t familiar with or don’t prefer some of the content aggregation services out there.   Pulling out my iPad, I told the journalist “You need to see this,” and sat him down for a quick tour.

First, I showed him my Twitter feed, which really isn’t pretty, and described how I built lists of people who focused on particular subjects.

A screenshot from Hootsuite, showing a couple of my Twitter lists, including "SocialPRpeeps" - a list of social-media savvy PR pros.

Then, I showed him what that Twitter list looked like in Flipboard, showing him how links are rendered into article summaries, and presented in a glossy magazine format. I handed him my iPad.  Wide eyed, he flipped from page to page, looking at the articles my SocialPRpeeps list members had tweeted.

My SocialPRpeeps Twitter list, as viewed through Flipboard on an iPad. Flipboard renders the links people tweet, and presents the content in a reader-friendly format.

The ah-ha moment came when I showed him how elegantly Flipboard served up access to the articles on their native web sites.

The abstract of an article on Flipboard. Clicking on the arrow at the bottom of the page takes you directly to that piece.

Viewing the original version of the article in Flipboard.

We were both kind of stunned – him by the presentation of content he held in his hands, and me by the fact that a big time media guy didn’t know about Twitter lists, Flipboard, and the myriad other interesting ways people are accessing news content these days.

Moments like these make me fear for the future of journalism.  Readers crave content.  It’s easier and more convenient than ever to stay abreast of the news.  The question, of course, is how to sustain the business of news in this new and fast evolving environment.

Until that big question is answered, my own opinion is that communications pros have some key imperatives, including:

  • Driving ourselves to understand all the different ways people are collecting, reading and sharing news and information.
  • Educating our clients and the C-suite about the value of online visibility and the social layer
  • Help your peers become conversant and confident in social networks.  Gently lead colleagues who don’t use social media into this new communications fray, like I did with the aforementioned journalist.  Share your knowledge freely, because our colleagues need to know this stuff.  It will help them drive more readers to news articles and more results for clients – and this rising tide will help lift everyone’s boat.

I’m glad that journalist sought me out – I hope he takes what he saw back to the newsroom, where more media pros can ponder the new information landscape, and maybe dream up that new model journalism so desperately needs.  Anyone with a vested interest in communicating with audiences really does need to stay on top of how content is consumed.

Related reading:

Using Twitter for Media Relations

Social media press release distribution

Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.  Follow her on Twitter: @sarahskerik

Read the article pictured in the blog post (it’s a good one!) here: http://prbreakfastclub.com/2011/06/10/whispergate/

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Media Moves & News for June

Posted on June 7, 2011 by | 1 Comment

PR Newswire’s media research team continually updates the media database that powers our MEDIAtlas service, and our popular Microlists, which let you target niche audiences on the fly.  Here’s a summary of recent media and blogger updates.

Conde Nast is moving its offices downtown. It was announced that the publisher will lease new office space at 1 World Trade Center. Conde Nast which publishes magazines including Vogue, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, expects that approximately 3,000 workers will move in to the new office in late 2014. The 25-year lease with Port Authority will cost about $2 billion. It is anticipated that construction for 1 World Trade Center will be complete by the move in 2014 and will be country’s tallest building at 104 stories.

McClatchy Newspapers announced more layoffs at its newspapers. The cuts include 24 at The Kansas City Star, 20 at the Raleigh News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and 15 at The Miami Herald.

The Casey Anthony trial has created much buzz in Florida as Orlando’s local stations (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox) are all pushing to provide live streaming video content on the trial on their websites in which viewers can watch, read comments from reporters,  and comment themselves on the trial. This trial compares to the 90’s coverage on the O.J. Simpson trial where viewers turned to Court TV for coverage.

It was announced that the Miami Herald’s parent sold 14 acres of waterfront land ,that surround The Miami Herald’s headquarters, to Asia’s third largest casino company  for a pay of $236 million. McClatchy, the Herald’s parent company, announced that the deal was made upon a decision to bring in a growth in revenue to the company that was not met by advertising revenues and staff cuts at its newspapers across the U.S. What does this mean for the Herald? The daily will now have a new location but the changes won’t take in effect until another two years.

The Boston Globe is negotiating to print and deliver The Boston Herald. The deal would layoff the Herald’s truck drivers allowing the Herald to cut labor cost while the Globe gains a new client for its printing and delivery service. The editorial offices will remain separate.

CNN (Cable News Network) Anchor Erin Burnett (Erin.Burnett@turner.com) who hosts Squawk on the Street and Street Signs for CNBC Cable Network will jump to join CNN as its new Anchor and Chief Business and Economics Correspondent. The change is set to take effect some time in June in which Burnett is set to host a daily show from its New York bureau. Information and name of the show has not yet been revealed.

Patch (http://www.patch.com), America’s local news source produced by AOL, has doubled its size since December to over six million unique visitors. This network now offers local news in 20 states and is continuing to expand. Brian Farnham (brian@patch.com) is the Editor-in-Chief of this amalgamation of local news brought nationally.

Michael Redding, CEO and Publisher of the Daytona Beach News-Journal (Daytona Beach, FL), has denied allegations of ever encouraging the reporters and editors to sell ads and subscriptions in an effort to increase their paychecks or as a form of bonus payments.  Redding’s defended himself by saying that doing so would be against the company policy and his editors were well aware of this. He stated, “If a reporter walked in my door and said he had just sold an ad or a subscription, I wouldn’t fire him, but I would say don’t you do that anymore.” Reporters who were contacted for an interview to confirm the validity of the ad incentive newsroom program rumor confirmed the reports were true but refused to reveal their identity in fear of getting fired.

A new magazine has opened its publishing doors to South Florida’s residence. Plum Miami, a magazine geared towards luxury lifestyle for elite residents in the South Florida area, will feature coverage on Miami’s upscale fashion, restaurants, travel, art, autos, architecture, and interviews with celebrity contributors. The newly released publication is under the management of Managing Editor Eric Newill (enewill@plumtv.com). The publication is set to be published ten times a year with distribution  targeted to wealthy local residents and influential luxury hotels and international locations.

Host of HLN’s evening show Nancy Grace reveals that her decision to walk away from her hit HLN show “Swift Justice” was a decision based on family issues rather then monetary concerns. Upon learning that CBS has decided to move the show to Los Angeles instead of continuing to film in Atlanta, Grace has decided to step down as Host because the show did not allow her to be close to her husband and two children who reside in her hometown in Atlanta. “Swift Justice” has earned 2 million viewers and is considered one of the highest rated new syndicated shows in the market with a nomination for a Daytime Emmy. Replacing her role as Host is Judge Jackie Glass (jackie.glass@turner.com).

A new magazine has launched in Orange County, New York. Entitled simply, “Dirt” the bi-monthly publication explores sustainable living. The magazine will include articles such as how to reduce your carbon footprint and organic gardening. The editor is Becca Taylor, who can be emailed at editor.dirt@strausnews.com.

The Grindstone (http://thegrindstone.com) is a new site that covers the woman’s role in the workplace. Meredith Lepore (meredith@thegrindstone.com) is the Editor. She is also on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/malepore

Collected (http://www.collectedmag.com) brings collectors and interior design together in a new online magazine that creates great interiors. Krista Schrock (krista@collectedmag.com) and Jessica Comingore (jessica@collectedmag.com) are the Co-Editors.

Oprah’s open time slot has allowed for the expansion of WINK-TV (Fort Myers, FL) as they prepare to expand their programming with a new 4:00 p.m. newscast and a new weekend morning newscast. The weekend newscast is set to air from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. They also announced the promotion of Erin Maloney (erin.maloney@winktv.com) as the new Weekend Anchor Desk. She will be joined by new hire Katie Walls (katie.walls@winktv.com) who will serve as Meteorologist for the weekend newscast.

Staff changes have occurred at CBS Interactive, an umbrella that includes CBSNews.com, CNET, and BNET. Executive Editor Neil Katz has left for the Huffington Post. Ysolt Usigan joins CBSNews.com as Lifestyle/Technology Editor for Women. Corbett Daly joins as Deputy Political Editor. He was previously with Thomson Reuters Financial.

With great regret and much deserved respect, South Florida Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) has announced the death of  veteran news reporter Gregory Lewis who has recently passed away. Lewis was responsible for covering News and Minority Affairs for the daily. He has also worked for the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Los Angeles Times publisher, Eddy Hartenstein has been promoted to President and CEO of the Tribune Company. Mr. Hartenstein will remain publisher of the LA Times and will continue to reside in Los Angeles

NBC has launched round-the-clock regional news programming on the digital channels for NBC stations, KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, KNTV-TV in San Francisco and KNSD-TV in San Diego. NBC California Nonstop will be dedicated to capturing the true essence of life in California.

Christina Norman is out as CEO of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network as the network struggles to attract viewers.

Popular entertainment gossip TV show TMZ will launch a 1 hour program on SiriusXM radio. Founder Harvey Levin will host.

The sudden death of KCBS-TV/KCAL-TV Media Manager James Kang shocked and saddened staffers of this duopoly. Kang left work after complaining of a headache and was later found dead in his car in the stations parking structure. Kang was 42.

WMAQ-TV Sports Anchor Daryl Hawks was found dead in an Atlanta hotel room after missing a wake-up call. Hawks was in town to cover the NBA playoff series between the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks.

Tribune Broadcasting Company and ITV Studios America will produce and syndicate for television The Bill Cunningham Show, which is set to debut fall 2011. The show features veteran radio talk show host Bill Cunningham. Cunningham will continue to host his local radio show on WLW-AM and the Premiere Radio Network syndicated show, Sunday Night Live with Bill Cunningham.

Randy Hano is joining lifestyle magazine Time Out Chicago as Vice President and Group Publisher. Hano has served as Publisher of the Chicago Magazine. He replaces Ivy Lester, who has gone out on her own to start a custom publishing business.

Wisconsin-Michigan partner stations WFRV-TV/WJMN-TV President and General Manager Perry Kidder announced that he will retire as soon as Nexstar Broadcasting‘s acquisition of the stations is finalized. WFRV-TV the CBS-affiliate in Green Bay, WI and WJMN-TV the semi-satellite in Michigan’s Central Upper Peninsula are owned by Liberty Media Corporation.

KCNC-TV in Denver relaunches its website to CBSDenver.com. The station is utilizing the WordPress platform.

Some rebranding activity: Denver’s KDVR-TV is now “Fox31 Denver.” KWGN-TV, also in Denver, will be “Colorado’s Own,” in late July.

June MEDIAware updates by region:

http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/June2011MEDIAtlasUpdatesbyRegion.html

Author Kevin Frey is a senior member of PR Newswire’s Audience Development team.

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Video: PRNewswire Catches Up with Spike Lee, Ray Romano & others at Peabody Awards

Posted on June 6, 2011 by | Leave a comment

The Peabody Awards returned to the Big Apple last week for its annual awards luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria.  Although not as widely known as the Oscars or the Emmy awards, the Peabody’s are one of the most prestigious awards given in the media industry and draw some big time celebs.  PR Newswire’s Brett Simon and ProfNet Connect’s Evelyn Tipacti — armed with their Flip cams — put their reporting hats back on to cover the event.

Here is a complete list of all of the Peabody winners. Kudos to you all!

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The New Media: You & Me

Posted on May 9, 2011 by | Leave a comment

What is the changing role of the journalist?  What is the changing role of the PR professional?  How are marketing tactics evolving?  Are PR and marketing converging?  What is brand journalism and are brand journalists really journalists?  Is there journalism on Twitter?

These are the kinds of questions that I see in my Twitter feed and in the blogs I follow on a daily basis.  They are in fact the basis for the name of this blog, Beyond PR.

I have one answer for all of these questions.

It  is based upon the virtual obliteration of the traditional roles in the news and information cycle.  These were once pretty well defined.  There was first of all the source, maybe a government official, a celebrity, a corporate spokesperson, an event driven newsmaker or just the randomly discovered “man on the street.”

The source would be discovered and debriefed by the writer, the author, the journalist.  The re-packaged information was then delivered to the editor who was the curator of what news and information would pass to the next step in the process based on some knowledge of both what the audience wanted and of what they needed to know.  The last player was the reader, the consumer of the information whose input in the whole process was largely expressed by the outlets he or she chose to buy or watch.

Source → Writer → Editor → Reader

These roles were fairly distinct.  No more.  We are now all of the above.  That is true whether you’re an activist on the streets of Cairo or the voice of the Bronx Zoo cobra.

Your job title may be reporter or editor or it may be public relations manager or marketing manager or new media coordinator or social media specialist.  The skills needed to assume these positions are becoming one and the same and the functions of these jobs are looking more and more alike everyday.  You can’t hang one of the traditional roles on any of these, at least not if they are going to effective.  They all have to be able to identify what is important or interesting, be able to communicate about it and to listen, read, consume.  What they all are is communicators.

What is most interesting is the changing role of what I described above as the seemingly passive reader.  The distribution path that news takes now in fact starts with the reader.  The cliché is “the news finds you” but in reality you determine whether or not it can find you.

Whether you call it news or information or content, it has become unbundled.  It may still be packaged by editors or curators of publications and Web sites but the most effective curation has become individualized.  So the end user has become the starting point for the dissemination chain.

Search has done a lot to expedite this.  Content has been separated from its masthead, and the digital equivalent, and rises and falls based upon what the end user wants.  Social has made us all curators.  I bundle news from media organizations, favorite brands, and old college friends all under the masthead of my Facebook and Twitter pages.

I am reminded of a character in the Martin McDonagh play “The Cripple of Inishmaan.”  Johnnypateenmike knocks on the doors of residents in his small village and announces to them he has “three pieces of news.”  He needs to secure some consideration for his efforts as source, author and curator of that news, but after getting perhaps a piece of bread and a glass of wine, he reveals three pieces of gossip.  They of course have to be good, or no one answers the door next time.

This was set in 1934.  We digitalized that process.  And we’ve linked in everyone.  We gather, we curate, we broadcast and we do it on our own network.  How big, how influential is that network?  Well, your stuff of course has to be good.

Author Ken Dowell is PR Newswire’s Executive Vice President, Global Social Media Strategy & Audience Development.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Side-2

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Media Moves & News for May

Posted on May 6, 2011 by | 1 Comment

PR Newswire’s media research team continually update the media database that powers our MEDIAtlas service, and our popular Microlists, which let you target niche audiences on the fly.  Here’s a summary of recent media and blogger updates.

The Wall Street Journal has yet another edition to add to its roster. The Professional Edition now has a sibling, which is geared toward CFOs. It is called CFO Journal and focuses on corporate finance. It includes customized tools, a targeted news feed, technical analyses and topical digests. The subjects covered include regulatory matters, taxation, accounting and the financial markets. Heading up the CFO Journal is Ronald Fink. Fink (ronald.fink@wsj.com) is no stranger to this topic as he was formerly with CFO Magazine. Assisting Fink are Deputy Editor Matthew Quinn (matthew.quinn@wsj.com) and Senior Editor Emily Chasan. Chasan (emily.chasan@wsj.com) was previously with Thomson Reuters.

In a surprise move, Editorial Director Michael Wolff (Michael.wolff@adweek.com) has folded both Mediaweek and Brandweek into Adweek, forming one magazine. Unfortunately with the merger some positions will be cut. Along with the “new” magazine, Adweek has launched a new website. Recent additions to the magazine include Reporter Erin Griffith (erin.griffith@adweek.com) and News Editor Brian Braiker (brian.braiker@adweek.com).

The Fix (http://www.thefix.com) is a new web news site that covers anything involved with substance abuse. It features stories on addiction and recovery and includes profiles of rehabilitation centers. It even features celebrity addictions in the news too. They’re on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/@_thefix) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/thefix.com). Maer Roshan (maer@thefix.com) is the Editor-in-Chief.

Comcast SportsNet Bay Area will begin providing Sports coverage for NBC affiliate KNTV-TV. Comcast recently purchased NBC and this could be the first of many between the two. This move could be something to watch because the other Comcast SportsNets around the country may work out the same arrangements with their local NBC affiliates.

Katie Couric has announced that she will be departing from CBS Evening News upon the completion of her contract in June. Couric exclusively announced her plans in People Magazine. She will likely be replaced by 60 Minutes Correspondent Scott Pelley, who has been with the network for 21 years. Couric has anchored the CBS Evening News for five years.

Another talkshow host is expected to be stepping down from her position. After speculation, it appears that Meredith Vieira will be leaving The Today Show in June. She is most likely to be replaced by Ann Curry.

Conservative Talk Show Host Glenn Beck is leaving his show on the Fox News Channel. Beck, his production company (Mercury Radio Arts) and Fox News will create new projects for the network.  His announcement comes after ratings for the Glenn Beck Show have been on a decline. He is expected to leave his Host position later this year.

Congratulations to Frank Main, Mark Konkol and John J. Kim, winners of the Chicago Sun-Times’ first Pulitzer Prize since 1989. They were honored in the local reporting category. Film Critic Roger Ebert, Reporter for WTTW-TV,  Elizabeth Brackett and former Chicago Tribune Correspondent Richard C. Longworth will be honored as winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Peter Lisagor Awards dinner.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel won its third Pulitzer Prize in the last four years. Congratulations to Mark Johnson, Kathleen Gallagher, Gary Porter, Lou Saldivar and Alison Sherwood, honored in the explanatory reporting category.

Time Out Chicago launched a content partnership with Fox-owned WFLD-TV. The magazine will provide a link to WFLD-TV’s “daily deal” on TimeOutChicago.com sending those who click on it to MyFoxChicago.com for discounts touted by Sondra Solarte on Tuesday and Thursday editions of “Good Day Chicago.” As part of the partnership a Time Out contributor will appear on Friday editions of “Good Day Chicago” for a segment attached to the magazine’s “Things to Do” section, which provides weekend events and activities.

CNN Cable News Network announces they will lose their Entertainment Correspondent Brooke Anderson upon her decision to board The Insider as a co-anchor early in May. Anderson has been with CNN since July 2000 and has served as Entertainment Correspondent and host of Showbiz Tonight.

As Daytona Beach News celebrates its one-year anniversary of the newspaper under the new co-ownership of Publisher Michael Redding, Redding welcomes the celebration with a bit of a questionable and slightly too some, unethical idea: have his 400 remaining employees which includes editors and reporters to sell subscriptions and ads for the paper. The idea was presented by Redding’s as an incentive and not as a requirement. Those that sell a three-month subscription to the paper would get a $25 bonus or $50 for a six month subscription. Anyone that sells over $100 of advertising would get $50. Newsroom staffers have not received raises in four years and no raises were offered this year. “I think the new direction is the same direction as the old direction,” a staffer stated, “except there’s new people in charge. New people think they’re reinventing the wheel, except they’re not.”

The Los Angeles Times won a public service Pulitzer Prize for articles exposing politicians in the small working-class town of Bell, California. Some of Bell’s top officials were paying themselves six-figure salaries by increasing property taxes, amongst other fees. You can read the story here: http://www.latimes.com/la-2011-pulitzer-html,0,795326.htmlstory?track=la-hp-market-awards-pulitzer-winners-20110418-sl

“Winging It! Buffalo Style” is the name of a new show on the CW-affiliate WNLO-TV in….where else? Buffalo! The morning show is hosted by Victoria Hong (victoria.hong@wivb.com), Allie Hartwick (allie.hartwick@wivb.com ) and Joe Arena (joe.arena@wivb.com) with Melissa Holmes (melissa.holmes@wivb.com) reporting news. The show airs at 8:00 a.m. weekdays and covers such subjects as health and fitness, food, parenting, beauty and fashion. The show may air on sister station WIVB-TV in the future.

KABC-TV is one of the first TV stations to begin using the social blogging platform, Tumblr, by launching an official Tumblr page, http://abc7.tumblr.com.

The San Diego Union-Tribune has acquired the lifestyle website DiscoverSD.com. The acquisition is part of the Union-Tribune’s strategy to broaden its online audience.

Check out more media updates by region here:

http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/May2011MEDIAtlasUpdatesbyRegion.html

About MEDIAtlas: Create, edit, save and distribute to media lists 24/7 with this easy-to-use web-based global media database and automated distribution system. Updated continuously, MEDIAtlas™ contains fully searchable contact details of hundreds of thousands of journalists and bloggers worldwide.  Tens of thousands of Pitching Tips from Bulldog Reporter help you learn exactly how and when to send your story for the greatest likelihood of pickup.

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Media Moves & News for April

Posted on April 5, 2011 by | Leave a comment

PR Newswire’s media research team continually update the media database that powers our MEDIAtlas service, and our popular Microlists, which let you target niche audiences on the fly.  Here’s a summary of recent media and blogger updates.

The New York Times has launched a paywall on its website, allowing readers to only view up to 20 articles before charging for access. The charges range from $15-35 every month. Home delivery subscribers are exempt from paying fees for online access. However readers can review unlimited articles by accessing them through blogs and links via Facebook and Twitter. Readers can also view up to five extra articles by using search engines.

YO DUDE! Check out the Food Republic (http://www.foodrepublic.com) This is a not just any food website. It’s a guys’ food site with easy recipes that work and includes news on coffee, wine, beer, restaurants and travel. Send news to Editor-in-Chief Lisa McLaughlin or Editorial Director Richard Martin at: editorial@foodrepublic.com. And they tweet @foodrepub

Washington DC’s WTOP-FM (http://www.wtop.com) is the top billing radio station in the country and is the first all-news FM station to do that. They billed $57 million dollars in 2010 and topped the charts literally. They’re on Twitter: @wtop and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wtopnews

The online trade publication, Crain’s Michigan Business, has recently launched a print version. CMB offers detailed industry updates and legislation pertaining to the healthcare, government, education and financial sectors and articles on business news throughout the state. The publication will provide statewide business reporting to local markets, targeting business leaders outside the five-county region in Southeast Michigan not covered by Crain’s Detroit Business. Editors Bob Allen (ballen@crain.com) and Matthew Gryczan (mgryczan@crain.com) are responsible for the leadership of the publication.

WLS-TV in Chicago is set to launch “Windy City Live” a new live, local morning program to replace The Oprah Winfrey Show at 9:00 a.m.weekdays. The show will debut in late May 2011. Ryan Chiaverini and Valerie Warner will host the live show in front of a studio audience. Lynne Wisnefski joined Windy City Live as Associate Producer. Executive Producer Marlaine Selip and Supervising Producer Cindy Patrasso will oversee the day to day operations of the show. You may follow the new show on Twitter at @windycitylive.

Chicago’s BNP Media Inc. is merging Meat & Deli Retailer into Refrigerated & Frozen Foods Retailer and The Deli Advisor, their newest publication. They will focus on the deli retail industry, which includes sales of prepared foods like entrees, chicken, sandwiches, pizza and salads. The trade outlet will target food retail executives, buyers and managers who are responsible for deli and foodservice operations. Richard Mitchell is the Editor-in-Chief. You may reach him at mitchellr@bnpmedia.com.

To announce its news website The Today Show on NBC produced an online telecast. Hosted by Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, the webcast streamed simultaneously with the regular television broadcast. The new website is http://www.today.com.

It appears that new technology is paying off for The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ recorded an additional 200,000 subscribers via the Kindle and the iPad.

Bloomberg recently launched its opinion section called “Bloomberg View” to great fanfare. However, it is now generating a lot of controversy. Many wonder whether the editorials will just be the opinion of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the owner of the company. Executive Editors of the section are Jamie Rubin and David Shipley. Economist Peter Orszag will be a contributing writer.

Glenn Beck’s syndicated talk show has been dropped by WDRC talk network which includes WDRC 1360, WMMW 1470, WWCO 1240, and WSNG 610. Replacing him starting April 4, on the 9:00 a.m. – Noon time slot is Mary Jones, sharing one hour from 9:00 -10 AM with Brad Davis.

Sarasota Florida’s Herald-Tribune was awarded the Scripps Howard Foundation award for top award in business coverage. The daily covered a series focused on problems with Florida’s property and causality insurance industry. The series, “Florida’s Insurance Nightmare,” was written by Paige St. John.

CNN news team Senior Producer Hunter Waters, has recently passed away.  Waters is remembered for his long time work and dedication with the Larry King Live show as a Producer. He has also done national coverage producing shows that featured former President Bush H.W. Bush, former Vice President Al Gore, and Rev. Billy Graham.

Jim Murphy has announced  that he will join Anderson Cooper’s new talk show titled “Anderson”.  Murphy has left his post at ABC News where he served as Executive Producer at “Good Morning America”. “Anderson” is set to air sometime next fall but no set date has been announced.  The show will be distributed by Time Warner and syndicated nationally. Anderson has announced he will continue to host AC360.

The Los Angeles Times is selling a 52-week subscription to the Sunday edition of the paper for $10 on the social media deal website, Groupon. Subscriptions are selling like hotcakes.

KRLA-AM late-night host, Kevin James has announced his candidacy in the 2013 race for mayor of Los Angeles. James feels that the city desperately need new leadership and that he’s the man for the job.

KTVT-TV’s Karen Borta and Doug Dunbar were the most-watched anchors at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. during the last Dallas sweeps. This is the first time in the station’s history they have out ranked WFAA-TV’s anchors in the same time slot.

The University of Colorado at Boulder will cease its journalism program. The program will be replaced with a new school, to be determined.

Colorado Public Radio (CPR) earned top honors from the Colorado Broadcasters Association’s 2010 Awards of Excellence. The categories include local news reporting and producing.

The Chauncey Bailey murder trial has begun in Oakland, California. Bailey was a well-respected journalist and Editor of The Oakland Post before he was tragically murdered in August 2007. Investigative journalists have been collaborating to continue Bailey’s important work as part of the Chauncey Bailey Project. Read more about it at http://www.chaunceybaileyproject.org.

Karola Saekel Craib, a longtime journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle, has passed away. Saekel was known for being a trailblazer for women in journalism. Her most recent work had been in the Chronicle’s food section, a department she led before retiring in 2007.

Our condolences to the family and colleagues of former KCBS-TV Managing Editor, Pat Casey who recently passed away after a year-long battle with brain cancer. Casey was 54.

Check out more media updates by region here:

http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/April2011MEDIAtlasUpdatesbyRegion.html

About MEDIAtlas: Create, edit, save and distribute to media lists 24/7 with this easy-to-use web-based global media database and automated distribution system. Updated continuously, MEDIAtlas™ contains fully searchable contact details of hundreds of thousands of journalists and bloggers worldwide.  Tens of thousands of Pitching Tips from Bulldog Reporter help you learn exactly how and when to send your story for the greatest likelihood of pickup.

Authored by Kevin Frey, Senior Audience Researcher/Mid-Atlantic Region, Audience Research Group,  PR Newswire

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Brand Journalism: Ethics, Opportunities & Outcomes

Posted on March 13, 2011 by | 13 Comments

Brand journalism discussion at SXSW: notes captured on a white board

Brand journalism was the topic of two packed sessions at SXSWi yesterday, and common themes – including umbrage at the use of the word “journalism,” the imperative for brands to engage in reportage and storytelling as part of their content marketing strategies and concern around how brands and content would be policed – were repeated by both panels.

The panelists, and the related hashtags:

#curatedebate

#brandjo

The sessions were both moderated by powerhouse journalists from NPR – Tom Ashbrook and Bob Garfield – and both were strong, passionate and exquisitely well prepared moderators, picking up the conversation by the scruff and challenging the speakers along the way.   Tom and Bob, as well as panelist Lora Kolodny, also provided important perspective from the fourth estate, and all were universally skeptical of brands’ ability to tell all sides of tough stories.

This concern was met head on as panelists noted that in order to build credibility and trust, brands need report from an industry-wide perspective, which means giving competitors and unsavory stories air time in the branded channels.  As the audience quailed in their seats, panelists noted variously that someone would tell the story, so it might as well be the brand shaping the conversation and informing the reporting of the story.

(Sidebar: one story of how a brand shaped the messaging around a competitor’s announcement.)

Brian Clark of GMD Studios told a compelling story of how brave and unvarnished stories from Ford helped the company weather its darkest days during the recent recession.  He described how the company reported the stories from within, providing visibility into the tough conversations happening at the company.  Using a variety of media, including video, images and text, Ford stripped away its corporate veneer, using what Clark called “real language and real people” to tell the stories of the companies struggles and successes.  One key outcome Clark noted was the attention professional media paid to the stories coming out Ford at the time.

The conversation took an interesting turn when the discussions in both panels turned to policing the content brands publish.  Despite healthy skepticism from the journalists on the panels (Lora Kolodony in particular), the panelists from the content marketing side agreed universally that social networks will out untruths and punish brands that cheat.

Several participants didn’t fully accept that assertion, noting that  brands can and do influence negative word of mouth by promoting good deeds and offering freebies, tactics which can inspire customers to hold their tongues.  At the end of the discussion, however, there was general agreement that the truth will out.

The impact of influence – of both the brand and the audience – was also debated. Brands have signal strength, which gives them an advantage in the publishing arena. Information seekers now are in better position to be manipulated than informed by brand-sourced content, but manipulation and informing both happen, which sparked a discussion about whether or not brands were effectively buying trust.  The panel was universally dubious, readily giving credit to audiences.

“Signal strength of brands is a problem,” noted Gary Kim, “But an active citizenry with tools can defeat it.” He pointed to the fact that people still hold BP responsible despite spending on clean up and reimbursement of damages by the company.   And a great comment on the Twitter backchannel during the discussion underscored the power of social media:

“With regimes falling around us, why would journalists think a social Internet can’t call b.s. on brands!” @OliSnoddy

As might be expected, both panels spent time answering the question, “What is brand journalism?”  The panelists offered a variety of different ideas, which together form a comprehensive description:

  • An editorial approach to brand building
  • A nonfiction attempt at advertising
  • Thinking more like publishers
  • It’s not a choice, it’s a clear imperative
  • It’s all about real time marketing, brands acting as media in real time, as life happens
  • It’s the responsibility of companies to help their customers succeed

The role of content in marketing is undisputable, and both panels stressed the advantages of developing content marketing strategies focused on producing excellent content that tells stories and builds trust.

“No one will give 3 seconds to a brand today, but they’ll give you 30 minutes to listen to a good story,” noted Joe Pulizzi.

Whether or not we call it ‘brand journalism’ is still up for debate, but really, that’s just semantics.  Bob Garfield (who started out his panel discussion by saying “Brand journalism.  Really???”) summed up the discussion nicely, saying, “It may not be actual journalism but it can be revealing, informational, and can use journalistic platforms and formats.”

Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president-social media

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Media Moves & News for March

Posted on March 2, 2011 by | Leave a comment

PR Newswire’s audience research team makes thousands of updates daily to MEDIAtlas, our easy-to-use, all-online media database.   Following is a selection of noteworthy recent updates – plus key media moves on the horizon, and a synopsis of interesting media news.

TBD (which is short for “To Be Determined”) was the new kid on the Internet newsstand in Washington last year. It had solid backing from Albritton Communications Company (WJLA-TV) too. But it recently announced layoffs and the breakdown of most of its site’s offerings. TBD will now be a DC area arts and entertainment site only now with news feeds from outside sources. The news, sports and social media reporters were all let go. TBD was a site that was an interesting live media lab experiment. It was an attempt to be a financially successful local news site and after early promise and splash the cord was pulled by its owner Albritton. You can check out the A&E only version here: http://www.tbd.com

Hit the Kill Switch! Who knew there was an off switch for the Internet? Egypt’s former leaders used it to cut the communication cord for the demonstrators. But luckily the power of the people prevailed in their overthrow. This “kill switch” is an interesting bit of news though and obviously can be used in different ways of course if a “Fearless Leader” so chooses. Check out The New York Times story.

MSNBC has replaced Keith Olbermann’s Countdown with The Last Word, a new program hosted by Lawrence O’Donnell. Meanwhile, Olbermann has announced plans to join Current TV as Chief News Officer and Host in late Spring. The move will help raise the profile of Current TV, a San Francisco-based cable and web outlet founded by Al Gore. A former sportscaster, Keith blogs about baseball at http://keitholbermann.mlblogs.com/. Follow Olbermann on Twitter at http://twitter.com/keitholbermann and O’Donnell at http://twitter.com/lawrence.

After much speculation of unconfirmed rumors, CNN Cable News Network confirms that co-host Kathleen Parker splits from the four month show “Parker Spitzer”. Beginning early March, the show will adapt its new name titled “In the Arena” which will continue to feature Elliot Spitzer as its primary host and have an ensemble format with newsmakers, guests, and contributors joining Spitzer each night. Prior to CNN’s decision to drop Parker from the show, it was reported that ratings increased at a 68 percent jump in 25-24-year-old viewers in the month that Spitzer hosted the show on his own while his co-host was reportedly out sick. However, the network has also announced that its decision to drop Parker was mutual, stating that she has decided to refocus on her syndicated column and would occasionally continue to appear on CNN as a contributing guest. “We have decided to take the show in a new direction,” states CNN’s President Ken Jautz. Set to join “In the Arena” are two conservative contributing panelists former Fox News Channel host E.D. Hill and National Review Columnist Will Cain (Will.Cain@turner.com).

Boston.com launched a Health & Wellness section that focuses on fitness nutrition, health, and the medical industry. Health Reporter Deborah Kotz also writes “The Daily Dose” blog in this new section. You can contact her at dailydose@globe.com and you can access the new section here: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/

As the situation in Egypt deteriorates, many journalists are braving conditions to get the story out. Among them is Western New Yorker Brian Hartman. Hartman is a Producer for ABC News. He and his photographer were kidnapped by a group of men. Fortunately for the duo, the cameraman, Akram Abi-hanna, is Middle Eastern and was able to defuse the situation. Both men were let go unhurt.

Landmark Community Newspapers in Shelbyville, KY has just announced that its three locally owned newspapers, The Roane County Press, the La Follette Press, and the Morgan County News will soon make the switch to subscription-based internet content.  “A major portion of revenue for our news and information efforts each month is derived from subscription revenue…We feel as we improve our services to our readers that they should help pay for them, whether it’s in print our online.”, stated Johnny Teglas, publisher of the Roane County News. Customers are required to sign up for an online account or sign to receive delivery to be able access unlimited content of these publications.

There’s a new magazine in the city of Syracuse. It is called Syracuse Woman Magazine. The monthly magazine is aimed at professional woman in the Syracuse area. The Editor is Farah Jadran while the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief is Barbara McSpadden. Send any story ideas to info@syracusewomanmag.com or follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SyrWomanMag

KCBS-TV reporter Serene Branson had what some thought was a stroke during a live broadcast after the Grammy awards. Ms. Branson has return to work after suffering a condition called a complex migraine which can mask the signs of a stroke.

KNBC-TV’s assistant news director, Keith Esparros was instrumental in having a stretch of freeway named for popular traffic reporter, Paul Johnson who passed away several months ago. A stretch of the 55 freeway in Orange County has been named the Paul Johnson Memorial Freeway.

WPRO-AM changed its lineup. A new morning show debuted hosted by Tara Granahan, who previously produced the morning show hosted by John DePetro, and Andrew Gobeil, former Weekend Anchor for WLNE-TV. John DePetro moved to the 9:00 a.m. – noon slot.

Tom Abate, who previously wrote about technology and biotechnology for the San Francisco Chronicle, has left that paper to head North Coast Journal, a Eureka, California-based weekly publication he helped found in 1990. Reach Tom at tomabate@northcoastjournal.com.

Check out more media updates by region here:

http://www.prnewswire.com/knowledge-center/mediaware/March2011MEDIAtlasUpdatesbyRegion.html

About MEDIAtlas: Create, edit, save and distribute to media lists 24/7 with this easy-to-use web-based global media database and automated distribution system. Updated continuously, MEDIAtlas™ contains fully searchable contact details of hundreds of thousands of journalists and bloggers worldwide.  Tens of thousands of Pitching Tips from Bulldog Reporter help you learn exactly how and when to send your story for the greatest likelihood of pickup.

Authored by Kevin Frey, Senior Audience Researcher/Mid-Atlantic Region, Audience Research Group,  PR Newswire

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