Julie Moos offered up here views on the “Was the hurricane coverage hyped?” debate that seems to be unstoppable.  See The 6 criteria for hype & why Hurricane Irene coverage does not meet them.

So, I’m offering up my take on the coverage. I feel Ms. Moos failed to address some painfully glaring realities in the “what passes for news” determinations by media outlets today.

Ms. Moos fails to adequately address the key element of proximity.  That is what made the national cable news coverage so unrealistic.  Yes, a large portion of the nation’s population were at risk.

But, what may have made the national media outlets pay so much attention may well have been — the proximity was their own backyard, the northeast.  Specifically, we’re talking about the US media mecca – New York City.

I can almost hear the newsroom conversations now (can’t you) … “Oh, my gosh … the hurricane is coming up here … and we just had a freak earthquake.  Is this Armegeddon?”  And then, can you hear the upper management conversations (the suits).  ”If not, let’s make it look like it.  I smell a ratings bonanza!”

Further, Ms. Moos neglects to adequately address the consequence of the story.  Yes, the damages caused by the hurricane were large.  However, the string of tornadoes earlier this year caused an almost equal amount of monetary damage.  They also killed hundreds more people.

Were the tornadoes over covered … or hyped by cable news?  No … and why?  In part, it was because they were hyping the Royal Wedding when the most devastating string of storms occurred.  Yes, a foriegn wedding was more important than death and destruction in the US.  Why?  The cable channels had already committed their resources.  In days long gone, they would have bitten the bullet and covered the national tragedy despite their prior commitments.  You know, that little thing called journalistic integrity.  Today, money rules!

Face it.  The hurricane coverage on cable channels was over the top.  It was all about trying to hold eyeballs, increase ratings and NOT reporting news.

The hurricane and subsequent flooding was a major story. That’s true. Did it deserve wall-to-wall coverage? No. Hey, I’ve been through plenty of hurricanes. This one, to me, was more akin to another nor’easter than a hurricane. Do nor’easters usually warrant national wall-to-wall coverage? No. Do they get it? No. Please, people. We have picnics in category one hurricanes. Sheesh!

Finally, as far as context is concerned, there were (and are) other ongoing stories that impact more people, cause more damage, cost more money and concern the deaths of more people.  What are they?  The wars the US is currently still fighting.  Famine in Africa.  Drought in the US south and southwest. There are over 30 insurgencies, civil wars and outright wars between nations underway around the world today.  (See globalsecurity.org)

Even if we quibble over the number of wars, the consequences of any one of them likely exceeds the impact of that one hurricane.  That is particularly true for those news outlets that pretend to be covering the world.

Oh, but those stories are too complex to cover and maintain the attention of viewers.  Hey, we’ll commit the money for a Royal Wedding, but in-depth coverage on more important issues — what, are you kidding?  They don’t drive ratings.  So, we are stuck with the continued tabloidization of news.  Revenues and profits play too large a role in what gets defined as news today.  Revenues and hoped for profits played too large a role in going with wall-to-wall coverage of the hurricane.

After all that … at least sometimes you can find humor in weather coverage.

Always love my students and very proud of them. This group was particularly fun and put in a lot of work on these projects. So, give them a look and offer them a job or internship.

OK, I finally got all the screen shots of each site into the slideshow. ;o)

Jack O'Dwyer

Meet the Don Quixote of PR.  Jack O’Dwyer.

O’Dwyer has been tilting at the PRSA windmill since 1994.  He mounts Rozinate for regular jousts with the PR association.

Recently, Jack O’Dwyer was visited by what O’Dwyer might call demons. He’s called them a lot of other things.

Gary McCormick & Bill Murray

His visitors were from the PRSA.  Meet “chair Gary McCormick and president Bill Murray.”

They went round and round, as usual, and likely all fell down.  Does it bring to mind images of the Black Death?

Well, the visit actually seemed to bring great joy to Jack, as he was able to embark upon another joust to Close the PRSA Kangaroo Court!

OK, I’ll cut to the chase and bottle the egg. (Had to work those in, ya’ know.)

Perhaps it is time for Jack O’Dwyer to let this quest go.   His quest for Dulcinea’s embrace and defending the best practices of PR, in this instance an apology and reparation from PRSA, was once a truly noble quest.  Today, if it hasn’t turned into a foolish and ignoble one … it is most surely a fantasy.   It may well be akin to the madness of Don Quixote’s quests.  Jack, come on.  It ain’t gonna happen!

We are all (eh, maybe just most of us) Sancho Panza in this version of the story.  Yes, I’ve surely been inclined to watch and cheer for Jack.   At times, I may have even wandered into his world of PR transparency (fantasy) when it comes to the whole ordeal he’s faced.

Perhaps it is time we called upon the Knight of the White Moon to help Jack out.   Who would that be?  Is there a White Knight in PR that can step forward and help a friend?

The knight stepped in to aide his friend step away from his futile journey and return to the settled life he once enjoyed.

“My name is Samson Carrasco,” said the knight, “and I am a friend and near neighbor of Don Quixote. All that I wished in this combat was not to harm my friend, but to make him promise to return home. I think that if he can be induced to rest there quietly for a year, this madness about knight-errantry will be cured.” (Source)

To be true, it may not be madness, lest we forget that…

…Don Quixote suddenly declares himself sane at the end of the novel, we wonder at his ability to shake off his madness so quickly and ask whether he has at least partly feigned this madness. On the other hand, we can read Don Quixote’s character as a warning that even the most intelligent and otherwise practically minded person can fall victim to his own foolishness. Furthermore, we may see Don Quixote’s adventures as a warning that chivalry—or any other outmoded set of values—can both produce positive and negative outcomes. (Source)

Please, someone step forward and blow the clarion horn to bring the White Knight to the rescue.  I just can’t bear to watch this anymore.  So,  who are we going to call?

OK, go ahead … beat me up for using cliff notes.  Hey, it made it easy to share the context. ;o)

By the way, check out the Don Quixote Virtual Museum for more fun.

Over at PROpenMic we’ve been continuing our growth. I like the way we’ve been reaching more and more students from around the world. Today, PROpenMic has students from about 70 countries and over 400 colleges and universities.

Auburn Family is another project. It recently brought the students a silver medal from SIAA. Auburn University also rewarded the students with a front page (top right hand corner) link to their project. That’s pretty cool recognition of a project well done. I’m proud of the students.

We still post at The Loveliest Village and our joint project with The Corner News has seen about 300 features and videos posted on those sites.

Last summer, I helped Auburn Works (ATAC), the Auburn Technical Assistance Center, launch their own social network. Building the Auburn Works Network is proving to help them better present just what it is that ATAC does. They teach Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma and other other management programs.

I haven’t done a complete tally of The Corner News posts & videos, but here is the total from Auburn Family, ATAC and The Loveliest Village: 1,847 Videos & 1,592 features in only 3 years! With the number from The Corner News, I believe we’re actually up to over 2,000 videos and about 1,900 feature stories. I’d call that experiential education … wouldn’t you?  Students post 10 stories and videos a semester, at minimum.

I have other news I’ll be sharing in the days to come. Among that news, you’ll see how we discovered the reach our my students and their social network connections.

But now, on to the video … with a reminder to check out PROpenMic. From the front page of PROpenMic, here’s the video and more.

I like this video.  It’s from the “Indiana University Master’s in Public Relations (program) in Indianapolis.  Professors Bob Dittmer and Julie Vincent, both APRs, address the definition of PR, the types of jobs PR professionals can do, stereotypes of PR, and other PR-related subjects.”

If You’re Spinning, You’re Lying
Bob Dittmer and Julie Vincent, Indiana University’s Master’s in PR Program

Latest News

NEW! Read PR Faculty Magazine. It is a mashup from the RSS feeds of 20+ PR educators around the world. If you have a suggested blog you’d like to see added, please write to me at PROpenMic. Happy to add new blogs.

Since that is a site requiring registration, those posts aren’t representing my online activity in search engines. You’d think that I’ve been rather quiet for some time, judging by my post level here.

So, I’m going to cross-post some of the things I’ve been thinking about over at PROpenMic here at infOpinions.

I get so busy, I forget to cross-post here. I’ll try to remember to share here, too.

A good group of students, in a couple of classes from Spring semester 2009, created these as their final project.

Hope you enjoy their work. Please feel free to hire them. Good students & people!

Cross-posted at PRProspects.com and the future home of that site, too.

• www.melindabowens.com
• www.kelliecelia.com
• www.ammccoy.com
• www.katijones.com
• www.annaetucker.com
• www.johnroberson.net
• www.katlinmulvaney.com
• www.jahnnahall.com
• www.margieevans.com
• www.monicaafanador.com
• www.rachelmmurphyonline.com
• www.sjbivins.com
• www.pbdebow.com
• www.kelseyware.com
• www.kcduffyonline.com
• www.carolinecassidy.com
• www.amandamiles.com
• www.marycstewart.com
• www.mbwaltononline.com
• www.klaurenchandler.com
• www.akjonline.com
• www.hillaryegibbs.com
• www.brookbentley.com
• www.faithpalmer.com
• www.elizabethmahaney.com
• www.rebeccabedsole.com

My preference is to ignore these things. But, every once in awhile I feel compelled to respond.

This one, I actually couldn’t help following while on a business call. I know. I should just ignore it, right? But, if we always ignore these silly claims the myths can become accepted truths. That bothers me. So, I respond.

HubSpot, pulled out the something is dead meme, in a sad effort to drum up interest in a book, Web site and Web TV program.

I left a comment on their post. Michelle Honald (@my_chelle), of The University of Ohio, followed up with an excellent comment, too. You should read Michelle’s comment. It’s great.

I also commented on Twitter.

• I had such high hopes for @hubspot … but this post is, IMO, the “Single most clueless post I’ve read in awhile. ” http://bit.ly/cumSe
• @hubspot thinks of PR as primarily media relations … nope, and it hasn’t been for years! Also, they fail to realize that most PR is local.

After all that, there is an attempt by others at HubSpot to clarify their stance. You’ll find it at about 22:45 of their HubSpot.tv podcast for October 9th. No, their clarification does not do the trick. They are still too quick with broad generalizations. They are still in their own walled garden of SEO, etc. beliefs. They seem solely focused on broad national and global brands, yet suggest (as best practices) ideas that do not serve the best interests of many PR practitioners – even today.

Tiffany Sellers, from Clemson (Web and Twitter), posted a request that I write about my feelings on the topic. She writes, “@rdfrench Would you consider a follow-up post to explain your position? As a PR student, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.”

So, in the spirit of PROpenMic and PR higher education, I’m sharing some new and old thoughts. This meme has reared its ugly head before, so I have posts about it already here on infOpinions.

My problems with Brian Halligan’s post on HubSpot are as follows.

• Link bait memes are not good content. That phrase, good content, is the clarion call of HubSpot. They repeat it over and over. What a shame, they don’t follow their own advice.
• The lead in of Halligan’s post belies either a lazy author (unwilling to spend the time to be specific) or someone with merely a pedestrian knowledge of the breadth and depth of PR practice.
• The practice of PR is so broad that most people, in my experience, do not grasp just how broadly it is practiced.
• Most PR is relatively invisible. It is mostly local. It is that local reality that makes so much of what HubSpot and other self-proclaimed gurus dole out as sound advice actually serve no good purpose for client or practitioner.

Certainly, you will want some attempt at evidence to make the above claims worthy of debate. So, here is a bit from some previous posts.

First, I offer this rewrite of a comment I made responding to a reader on previous post.

Too often, people tend to use the universal “PR” tag to describe a practice they clearly do not understand. (Remember the CBS lawyer on the CBS Sunday Morning program?) Why don’t they take the time to do some research and speak with at least a tiny bit of knowledge.
 

Using O’Dwyer’s list of the top 192 PR firms, we learn that a reported total of $129,9885,316 in revenues is generated by only 8,361 PR practitioners. (That’s, of course, provided these self-reported numbers are correct.)

 
It is most often these 192 firms (actually, the top 20 or 30) that people associate with PR. Why? Because popular media has rather firmly implanted that belief via news and even entertainment programming. Think about national news coverage and how often they use PR to describe everything from lobbying to marketing. I’m beginning to think they get it wrong more often than they get it right.

 
The 192 agencies referred to above are the ones that get mentioned and covered in such dust ups as Rachel Madow’s slam against Burson-Marstellar and other controversies. Repeatedly, these people tend to show their cluelessness with regard to the scope of PR practice and the number of different types of PR practice going on in the US, let alone the world.

 
Guess what? Those 8,361 large/medium/boutique agency practitioners represent a mere sliver of the overall PR practitioners in the US, alone. Oh, they rake in some pretty major dollars, but they are not – repeat NOT – the best representation of who and what PR people and PR practice are today. Anyone that would just take 20 or 30 minutes to do research would understand this. But, it rarely happens.

 
A previous post of mine points out how there are easily 100,000 PA (public affairs) officers in the US, as they are required to comply with the 30,000+ public disclosure laws, among other things.

 
Now, that pretty much assures that the large agency PR practitioner population is dwarfed by (many/most) all? the other types of PR practitioners in the US, alone. People just don’t take the time to research and think before they speak, sometimes. Madow’s rant is a perfect example.

 
Some feel they must use that broad brush. It is sad to watch.

Another bit of rant on the topic comes from this post back in 2007. The numbers are still probably close, IMO.

I took some students to a geek dinner with Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson, a few years ago. The following re-write of what we discussed further defines PR’s broad practice by a myriad of people in local, county, state and national/global markets.

As we discussed at the dinner, there are some tasks that cannot, as of yet, be replaced solely with a blog or any form of social media/network.

 
A lot of them, actually.

 
One area is the many public notice laws that business and government must comply with in daily practice. This is beyond the usual SEC Reg FD example often referenced.

 
At the dinner, I shared that “there are more than 30,000 public notice laws in the U.S. that require the distribution of a news release” or some form of public notification. Some of them are represented at the Public Notice Resource Center, “founded in 2003 by American Court and Commercial Newspapers, Inc.(ACCN). ACCN is the professional organization of court, legal and commercial newspapers.” (Source) I do not know anything about the organization, but I can easily imagine all sorts of public notice laws – particularly stating that the notice is required to be in a newspaper, on TV or radio, and be shared in a specific format.

 
Other examples? There are “18,000 state and local police agencies” that have specific reporting standards. Do we expect them to use a blog to issue crime reports and statistics updates? How about BOLO warnings and Amber alerts? No, I mean do we realistically expect them to use a blog – all of them? OK, perhaps you get my point.

 
Yes, I know that some are using content management systems, Twitter and more to share information. But, the number is so low – so inconsequential in this debate about social media efficacy – that I believe rational minds will see how it doesn’t work for all.

 
How about the approximately 20,000 “incorporated places” in the United States? See, I used a politically correct blog-speak term. Those places (not mediums) are places where people still rely upon print and broadcast. Those are cities, towns … and that doesn’t even count the counties and parrishes. Just imagine the health departments, school districts, planning commissions, and all the other entities that must make public notice of various types. Now are you getting an idea for the vast amount of information that must be shared with newspapers and other media outlets – often in specific manner prescribed by law?

 
Yes, I know internet use and availability has grown in the past few years. See Pew and Pew and Pew for details.

 
It still doesn’t fulfill requirements to inform the public when we realize that “56% of adult Americans have accessed the internet by wireless means” and “in the interior of the country, especially in the Midwest and the South, Internet use lags greatly behind the national average.” Online is not the answer for all communities. Period. Even today. This Pew report highlights some instances where government use of online communication fails.

 
Remember. Most PR is local. Most PR is informational in nature, not necessarily persuasive in intent. Look at the whole world, please. Anecdotal references may cause you to be myopic in your beliefs about the power and reach of social media.

 
So, I’m all for social media. I’m all for the discussion and debate. But, until you get those laws changed to address the use of social media for public notice purposes, I’m not going suggest that they be used. Remember, many of those laws state – specifically – the manner and target audiences for these notices, or releases. They don’t mention blogs. They mention newspapers, television and radio. And, those “audiences” aren’t always people. They can be software and computers. Think search engines, link rank, page rank and more. Now those might find blogs useful.

 
This isn’t to say I don’t read and embrace all the conversations about social media I can find. An interesting post, from way back in 2005, can be found at Creating Passionate Users, regarding the Koolaid point. Kathy Sierra wrote, “You don’t really have passionate users until someone starts accusing them of ‘drinking the koolaid.’”

 
OK. I can see some clarity in her views. But, I’m one of the passionate ones speaking up for social media. Too often, I see detractors of the total buy-in to social media explained away as antagonists that – “just don’t get it.” Oh, how that phrase has become such a lame cop-out for those that seem unable to provide clarity, and practical explanations, for their dogma.

 
OK. Rant off. I feel better. Do you?

So, that’s my ongoing mission to (one day) get people to stop and think. I want them to understand the breadth and depth of PR practice. I want them to stop and think before they use the lazy broad brush illustrations about what is, and is not, PR practice.

Yep, I keep writing it … and it keeps coming up. Go figure. You surprised? I’m not.

Related posts: A Clarion Call or Chicken Little’s Sky Is Falling and Blogs are Soma to So Many.

Kelly Adams

Ansley Black

Jill Bledsoe

Emily Canan

Kelly Cargill

Alison Christenberry

Kelly Coffed

Carey Beth Elder

Ragan Gibson

Emily Horne

Caroline Inman

Karen Jones

Lianne Lopez-Ceparo

Evie Maddox

Mikey Mahone

Kimberly Meyers

Mallory Middleton

Emily Petree

Whitney Prothro

Maria Prysock

Elizabeth Reynolds

Merry Whidby

Jacob Wilder

Jordan Woo

So, what have we accomplished? Your thoughts? Here are some observations.

Out of 4,135 members (as of this writing), we have:

• 1,843 students
• 343 faculty
• 2,103 practitioners

Yes, I know that adds up to 4,289. Well, that’s because we have some people selecting two options (practitioners that teach, for instance).

Numbers are ok, but I’m happier about the diversity of those numbers. We’re about 50/50 academic and practicing pros.

Add to that, the realization that the latest scouring of our member date reveals that PROpenMic has members from over 50 countries and over 300 colleges and universities around the world. Imagine the possibilities with that kind of membership! We even have two members that have actually done PR work on, or for, Antarctica. No kidding. So, we have PR people representing all 7 continents. I find that to be both funny and cool.

I fear thanking individuals, because I know I’ll leave someone out. That said, I do want to at least acknowledge and thank a group of people that have helped me both behind the scenes and actively on the site.

We have a volunteer group of site administrators that both watch the site and allow me to bounce ideas off of them throughout the year. I am very grateful for their kindness, patience and wisdom. I owe them a great deal. The site does, too. (God help me if I leave anyone off. It’s 3 a.m. and I’m sort of spinning now.)

They are, in no particular order: Phil Gomes, SVP Edelman Digital; Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu, Clemson University; Dr. Karen Russell and Dr. Kaye Sweetser, University of Georgia; Dr. Barbara Nixon, Georgia Southern University; Professor Kelli Matthews and Dr. Tiffany Derville Gallicano, University of Oregon; Dr. Ginger Carter Miller, Georgia College and State University; and Dr. Corinne Weisgerber, St. Edwards University.

Dr.s Miller and Weisgerber are our most recent volunteer administrator/advisors. I’ve been bad about getting back to them, by the way. My apologies for that. I do appreciate what all of you have done for me and PROpenMic. I already respected each of these educators a great deal. Having now been able to interact with them more, that respect and appreciation has only grown. They are remarkable people. Thank you!

Also, I want to thank just a sampling of people that have taken it upon themselves to help the site by contributing via blog posts, forum topics, videos and more.

Phil Gomes’ “A Minute with Phil” is the largest group devoted to such content. Peter Shankman hosts his video series, “What’s Hot on HARO” and “Buy Peter a Sandwich”, on PROpenMic. They have brought great attention to the network. In fact, Peter has likely brought in more new members (maybe 500!) than any other supporter of the site, too.

There are many others that have contributed over time. Leo Bottary has shared 31 blog posts. Anna Osgoodby has posted the most photos, 39. Students from Leeds Metropolitan University and Bournemouth University have likely been our most active and prolific contributors from Europe. The list goes on … I will try to add to it later today. Please comment below with the glaring omissions I’m sure I’ve made.

We have a Facebook and LinkedIn group, too. We’re on Twitter. PROpenMic has a presence.

Have we realized our full potential? No, of course not. As a volunteer social network with an organic focus (let the network be what it wants to be), we’ve really just watched the site grow and adapt. I actually like the aspect of creating the site, then letting it go where it wants to go. Yes, I’ve tried to provide some guidance, but really … as a volunteer endeavour, not that much.

Aside from a brief experiment, for class purposes, using ads in Facebook, we really have not done any organized promotion or advertising. This semester, for example, is the first time all year that I’ll really let the students take it over for about three weeks and do that “social network management” function. I want that to be an ongoing aspect of the site, and even want to involve students from other students around the world.

The organic (put the site up, watch it and see what happens) kind of philosophy has worked for PROpenMic. This one year activity report shows that PROpenMic either comes close to, equaled or surpassed (in traffic and ranking) sites like MyRagan.com, Communitelligence.com, PRSSA.org, and HolmesReport.com. We even come very close to O’Dwyer’s PR/Marcom news site.

By the way, I don’t mean to pick on those sites. I merely tried to find similar sites (at least dealing with public relations) that had similar traffic numbers and search ranking. Trust me, no one was as surprised as I was to realize that we were so comparable to those sites. It stunned me, really. They are, in some instances, part of million dollar businesses. Hello? And we’re matching their traffic/activity/rank numbers?

Admittedly, some months those sites beat us. I’ve noted that our activity seems to follow college terms. When students are in school, we’re quite busy. When they’re out of school, not so much. However, over the breadth of a year, we’re equal to or better than the other sites’ traffic/rank performance.

What does this all mean?

I take it to be an indicator that niche social networks can work, even without a budget. Imagine what we could do if we had the budgets of those for-profit commercial sites.

I’ve seen more and more schools begin to embrace the idea of a private internal social network for their own students and alumni. We started one at Auburn University this summer. Georgia Southern is launching one now, too. Others have privately mentioned it to me, as well.

I believe that, with effort, PROpenMic and other niche social networks can become positive additions to classes in college PR programs around the world. In fact, an international PR class could be taught using the resources to be found in PROpenMic.

Here is just a small recap of activity on the site. Hope it helps you get a feel for how active we’ve been.

• There are 4154 members on PROpenMic
• 164 new members joined during the past week
• euzinha_lindinha … is the most popular photo to date
• There are 629 photos on PROpenMic
• Minneapolis Mayor… is the most popular video to date
• There are 262 videos on PROpenMic
• The Hobson and Holtz Report, For Immediate Release, is the most popular audio/podcast to date (see the frong page audio player)
• There are 323 audio files on PROpenMic
• Digital Dirt is the most popular forum post to date
• There are 438 forum topics on PROpenMic
• There are 56 events on PROpenMic
• Want People to Find Your Blog .. is the most popular blog post to date. And, since I’ve been so bad about keeping up that list, I’m grateful to Adam Lewis for his new Wiki of Student Bloggers.
• There are 872 blog posts on PROpenMic
• There are 60 groups on PROpenMic

Well, that’s the best I can do, so far. I hope this helps you get a feel for what’s happened throughout the year.

Thank you all for your interest, patience and contributions. Here’s looking at a second year!

So, what are your thoughts about the network and where would you like for it to go in the future?

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