JUST WHAT IS NET NEUTRALITY ANYWAY?

Learn about net neutrality - the outcome of the current debate will impact us all.  Image created by Hugh D'Andrade at EFF. 

Just what does "net neutrality" mean and why should you care?   If you've been following this important debate at the margins, it's time to get educated.   How this tussle between telecommunications and tech industries winds up will impact how all of us live our lives and run our homes and businesses. 

"There is a really simple way of thinking of the debate over net neutrality," writes tech blogger Neil Irwin.  Is access to the Internet more like access to electricity, or more like cable television service?"   Courtesy The New York Times.

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BRANSON'S WAY: How to handle a media crisis

Richard Branson: a role model for good crisis communication.   Photo from Virgin Galactic.

The quest for civilian space travel took a huge hit with the tragic crash of a Virgin Galactic spaceplane during a test flight near Bakersfield, California.   But from many tragedies come lessons - and the biggest lesson of this awful event may have come directly from Virgin's founder.

Richard Branson not only promptly acknowledged the pain and loss of those affected.  Nor did he stop with promising to cooperate in the investigation.  He dropped what he was doing and flew straightaway to the scene of the accident.  He ramped up his presence on social media, and he vowed he would continue to work to make civilian space travel a reality.   "With leaders like Branson," writes marketing strategist Michelle Lutz, "there's no need for crisis managers."  Courtesy LinkedIn Pulse.

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HUGE FCC RULE CHANGE PENDING FOR INTERNET TV

Back to the future?  A proposed FCC rule change could level the playing field for TV in a way not seen since this Philco model was introduced in the 1970's. 

Way back in 1934, the government statute establishing the Federal Communications Commission required broadcasters to serve the "public interest, convenience and necessity."  As a practical matter, those considerations seem to have been out the window for a while, as cable TV wielded its gatekeeper power and outlets big and small have had to adapt or die.  But is the tide turning?

In his official blog, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler announced his agency was taking the first step "to open access to cable programs as well as local television" with the help of Internet technology.   "Consumers have long complained about how their cable service forces them to buy channels they never watch," Wheeler says.  "The move of video onto the Internet can do something about that frustration."  Courtesy The Verge.

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MEDIA ECHO CHAMBER: Where never is heard a discouraging word

The late New York senator Daniel Patrick Monyihan, who famously said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts."  AP photo via USA Today. 

All the shouting and screaming on cable news talk shows may seem to passing viewers like a world series of debating.  But listen closely over time, and you'll notice an odd phenomenon: for the most part, the guests aren't really debating at all, because they're largely in agreement with each other.  And so are their viewers. 

A new Pew Foundation study concludes that a sizable, and increasingly influential, segment of the American public lives in a "media bubble" that seeks out only the news outlets whose philosophical slant they find attractive.   That's bad for democracy, argues media columnist Rem Reider.  "We are a nation with a growing number of people who aren't open to debate... They gravitate to venues where never is heard a discouraging word about their take."  Courtesy USA Today.

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COVERING EBOLA: Follow a few rules and "you're going to be fine"

"Pretty much everybody here in the US thought I was crazy," says Lenny Bernstein, a health reporter at The Washington Post who recently returned from a 12-day assignment covering the Ebola epidemic in Liberia. 

Health care workers in Liberia wearing protective gear.  Courtesy NPR/WNYC's On The Media.

With an inherent need to document the story at close range, journalists covering Ebola would seem to be at high risk of contracting the virus.  Out of an "abundance of caution" since his return 11 days ago - Ebola's incubation period is 21 days - Bernstein is keeping out of crowds, avoiding the newsroom, and staying away from his wife and daughter.  But he remains symptom free, and he correctly notes that you can't transmit Ebola when you're not displaying symptoms.

The rules Bernstein and other reporters in Liberia follow for their own safety are simple:  don't touch people, try not to touch your face, make sure you carry chlorine to wash your hands and shoes, and be careful not to get too close when people are visibly sick.

"There's a lot of scared people out there, and they need to tune in to what the actual risk is," and how that risk is managed, Bernstein says.   Would he go back?  "Like, today!" he quickly says.   "It was a life altering experience for me."  Courtesy NPR/WNYC's On The Media. 

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COUCH POTATOES TRUMP TWITTER, TV STUDY FINDS

TV strategists who base their campaigns on heavy social media engagement may be in for a surprise.  According to a new study, only 18 percent of TV viewers with Internet access follow shows on Twitter while they watch them. 

Traditional "couch potatoes" still reign supreme in the typical TV audience, accounting for roughly a third of viewers, according to the study - although their real numbers and share of audience are declining.  

A Twitter-centric strategy could "be a big waste," says the study's principal analyst,  "as it's irrelevant to over 80 percent of TV viewers."  Courtesy The Hollywood Reporter. 

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ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE: "OK to be silly" challenges nonprofit PR plans

You're the director of public relations for a major non-profit.   You have fought for your budget lines in endless internal meetings, achieved buy-in with your colleagues, and planned rollouts over many weeks - or months - for your communications objectives. 

Boston City Councillor Tito Jackson, right, leads some 200 people in the ice bucket challenge at Boston's Copley Square, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014 to raise funds and awareness for ALS.   Courtesy The Associated Press. 

Then out of nowhere comes the seemingly effortless success of the Ice Bucket Challenge, which has raised tens of millions of dollars for a disease with no cure and with a relatively obscure public profile.   Does it send you back to the drawing board?    Courtesy The Huffington Post. 

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MORE CONTENT, NO COST: Online publishers let readers fill space

So you're an online publisher with an eyeball problem: you're trying to direct more readers to the content you generated, but you're finding yourself in competition with your own audience - many of whom blog and post regularly.  What to do?  

Some media outlets are adopting a "publish first" model, in which unfiltered - or perhaps lightly filtered - material moves between readers with minimal control or oversight.  "Some media companies view it as a way to enhance their relationship with readers," reports The New York Times, "while increasing content production at minimal cost." 

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DON'T SABOTAGE YOUR MEDIA COVERAGE, journo warns entrepreneurs

"Often, entrepreneurs shoot themselves in the foot during the interview or as I ask questions afterwards," reports business columnist Elizabeth McBride.  "I end up frustrated, and the story takes a long time to put together, and sometimes the story doesn’t happen at all."

In the interests of better communication and time wasted, McBride put together a list of mistakes commonly made by entrepreneurs seeking coverage.   It rings true - and it's one of the best summaries of the subject we've seen in a long time.   Worth your attention.   Courtesy Forbes Magazine.

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THE DEMISE OF THE DIVA: Selfies transform the art of celebrity "image"

Not too long ago, the main job of celebrity handlers was to preserve an aura of invincibility around their clients.  Now, in a matter of just a few short years, that ethic has been turned on its head.  The advent of the smartphone, and its ability to capture candid moments at whim, has created a whole new category of celebrity photo.   It plays simultaneously on fans' increasing sophistication and impatience with "canned" photo-ops, and their fascination with celebrities as real people, rather than plastic muses. 

A "selfie" of actress and singer Kristen Bell, taken from her Facebook page. 

"Real is where it's at these days," writes entertainment reporter Donna Freydkin.  "Or, more accurately, the perception that you're authentic."  Courtesy USA Today.

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VYING FOR VICE: Old media moguls court new media upstart

"Vice," says the Wikipedia page on the word, is a "practice, behavior, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, depraved, or degrading."  Notwithstanding the meaning of the term - or perhaps because of it - in the media world, Vice has become a very hot property.   Is the outlet that burnished its persona with an insurgent attitude, tattooed news correspondents, and sending Dennis Rodman to North Korea, ready to jettison its je ne sais quoi by partnering with old media? 

"Fox is discussing a deal with Vice... So is Disney. Any agreement is likely to value Vice, which started as a free magazine in Montreal in 1994, at $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion."  Courtesy The New York Times. 

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EULOGY FOR A PARKING LOT: "Deep Throat garage" an iconic site in journalism

Parking lots come and parking lots go - they are among the most forgettable features of any urban landscape.  But when a particular underground garage in Arlington, Virginia, falls to the wrecking ball in the not-too-distant future, more than a few of us will take note. 

The "Deep Throat garage," Arlington, VA.

This particular garage played an outsized role in American journalism and American politics.  It is where Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward secretly met with "Deep Throat," the government source who helped him piece together the Watergate scandal. 

It was largely the reporting of Woodward, and his colleague Carl Bernstein, that put Watergate on the national radar - eventually leading to the 1974 resignation of President Richard Nixon.   Courtesy USA Today.

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IS THE CORPORATE WEBSITE DYING?

Is the signature communications tool for the 21st century corporate world - the web site - on the way out?  "There appears to be a growing consensus that the corporate website as an online brochure displaying 'About Us,' 'Our Products,' 'Latest News About Us,' and 'Speak To A Representative' isn’t working," says SAP's Global Marketing VP Michael Brenner.   

And what will replace it?   "More attention," Brenner writes, "is being stolen away by more progressive brands who have started acting like publishers and displaying content that your customers actually want to consume."   Courtesy Business2Community.com.

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THE SLOW WHITE BRONCO and how it reset our news clock

Twenty years ago this week, Nicole Brown Simpson, the wife of former football great and sports commentator O. J. Simpson, was found murdered in her Los Angeles home, along with her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman.   The Simpson chase, arrest and trial, played out in real time before a live television audience, forever changed how we consume news. 

"Before the killings on June 12, 1994," writes media critic Kent Babb, "CNN was 14 years old and had a foothold in households but wasn’t yet appointment viewing; Court TV was a startup network with a niche of drawing legal die-hards into courtrooms. Fox News and MSNBC were two years from their cable debuts. Prime-time programming in those days consisted of scripted entertainment; no one then could imagine that, two decades into the future, televising the trivialities of daily life would captivate the public."  Courtesy The Washington Post.  Subscription or pay-per-view may be required. 

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THE PEN: MIGHTIER THAN THE KEYBOARD?

Ditch the laptop and pick up a writing implement for comprehension, a new study finds.   Courtesy the Association for Psychological Science. 

New research demonstrates what we've been saying in Dunlop Media trainings for years: if you want to remember what you're learning, take your notes in longhand, not on a laptop.  A new study published in the Journal of Psychological Science indicates that when it comes to taking notes, writing things down - rather than tapping them out - is a more effective method.  

"We believe the processing that occurs during the act of note taking improves learning and retention," said a co-author of the study.  "Laptop users were more inclined to take verbatim notes, which hurts learning."   Courtesy The Association for Psychological Science.

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THE LATEST CRITIC OF "CLICKBAIT" JOURNALISM? FACEBOOK

The Urban Dictionary defines "click bait" as "an eyecatching link on a website which encourages people to read on."  Journalistically, it's an approach to web content featuring sensational headlines that practically compel the reader to "click here."   The more clicks, at least in theory, the better the revenue. 

A composite image lampooning "clickbait."  Courtesy CBC. 

"On Thursday," according to The Huffington Post, "a crotchety man took to Facebook... arguing modern journalism has abandoned real reporting in favor of clickbait headlines and insubstantial listicles only meant to garner traffic."   The man who wrote the scathing critique, says the Post, is none other than Mike Hudack, director of product at Facebook - which the Post describes as "the super-popular website that rewards the clickbait [which Hudack] so laments."

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EMILY POST DESCENDANT UPDATES BUSINESS ETIQUETTE

Emily Post, the original (1872-1960)

The popularity of the AMC series MadMen reminds us how thoroughly the business world's culture has evolved.  Many practices and attitudes that were common in the office a half century ago are viewed as alien, rude, or worse in the 21st century.

Lizzie Post, the great-great granddaughter of Emily Post, America's longtime etiquette arbiter, figured it was time to bring business etiquette guidelines into better harmony with today's societal norms.  (Emily Post, after all, died in 1960.)  One simple piece of advice from Lizzie aimed at today's young professional:  avoid the urge to get all loosey-goosey.  Courtesy The Associated Press.

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HOW A KILLER RABBIT CHANGED PRESIDENTIAL PR

A 1979 cartoon caricatures President Jimmy Carter fending off a "killer rabbit."   Image via wnyc.org. 

Of all the anniversaries we observe in 2014 - the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, the 50th anniversary of D-Day, the 40th anniversary of President Nixon's resignation - one odd anniversary should not be overlooked.  Thirty-five years ago this summer, President Jimmy Carter - armed with the oar of a rowboat - fended off a so-called "killer rabbit" while vacationing in Georgia.

The 1979 incident, captured by a White House photographer in April of that year but not made public until August, "changed the presidency," claims this audio retrospective.  While Watergate showed a chief executive losing control of his narrative in a constitutional crisis, "Rabbitgate" demonstrated the same could happen when the incident was trivial but symbolic.  "[It] crystallized an emerging sense that Carter was a man in over his head."  Courtesy WNYC News.

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VICE EMERGING AS PLAYER IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA

Last year, Rupert Murdoch called hipster-styled Vice Magazine a “wild, interesting effort to interest millennials who don’t read or watch established media.”  His News Corporation then proceeded to buy a 5 percent stake in Vice, a leading outlet for the highly controversial "immersionist" school of journalism.  

At a conference in Belfast last month, London-based media professor George Brock predicted that one of what he called three “laboratories” of journalism – Vice, Vox or Buzzfeed – will in a decade be regarded as a fully respectable “media institution.”  Vice is well on its way: having partnered with CNN in 2010, it is now producing segments for the once-staid BBC program Newsnight.  Courtesy The Irish Times.

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KANGKUNG-GATE: Malaysian prime minister's gaffe goes viral

For Malaysians suffering from escalating food prices, prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak didn't have sympathy.  He had a complaint.

Why is it, he asked, that people blame the government when prices go up, but they never give it credit when prices go down?  For instance, he said, the price of "kangkung" (the Malaysian equivalent of spinach) has dropped.   The remark went viral among the region's netizens, who are remixing his comments on YouTube and wearing t-shirts proclaiming, "Keep calm and eat kangkung."  The BBC chimed in, "be careful what you say about spinach." 

Najib initially tried to defend his remark.  But after his economic czar was quoted as saying people should "stop eating chicken" if the prices are too high, Najib ordered mandatory media training for his mInisters.   Courtesy The Malaysian Chronicle.

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