Inside PR 508: Gini Dietrich wrote the book. So don’t be surprised that she follows it in real life.

• • Show Notes

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On this week’s podcast, Gini Dietrich gives a textbook demonstration of how to start a podcast, we look at one important element of success in managing distributed workforces, and we look at the marketing and advertising hangover from the implementation of GDPR. All this, and news from the CPRS Annual Conference.

Gini’s podcast, Spin Sucks, launched with three episodes. We talk about Gini’s approach to packaging and launching the podcast, and how she hopes to use it to build the Spin Sucks community. Not surprisingly, there’s real method to Gini’s actions. A text book example of how to launch a new podcast.

We also talk about the trend to building geographically dispersed teams freed of the need to show up at the office each day. Automattic, the company behind WordPress, just celebrated their 15th anniversary. And they also gave up their last office. Automattic has built a business that lasts with a team that works from the space that works for then. We see this happening more and more in communications and marketing. But there’s one important lesson from Automattic’s experience. It is important to bring people together at key times.

We all had two years to prepare for GDPR. So, are you surprised that so many organizations were not prepared for its May 25 effective date? Well, it’s clear that many weren’t. It’s also clear that GDPR is having an impact on advertising, with significant drop offs in advertising volumes reported in days following its implementation.

Also, Martin is shares some of the discussions that stood out for him at this year’s CPRA Annual Conference in Charlottetown.

Linkworthy

The Spin Sucks podcast on iTunes

Automatic makes the distributed workforce work, Oliver Staley

A GDPR hangover for the publishing industry, Mathew Ingram

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

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We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.
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Inside PR 508 by Joseph Thornley Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich 659777 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Inside PR 507: GDPR Last Call

• • Show Notes

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We have lots to talk about on this week’s Inside PR podcast.

PRSA Counselors Academy

Martin returned from attending Counselors Academy last week in Toronto. And he tells us about some of the personal highlights. We’ve said it before, Counselor’s Academy is a unique gathering of PR agency principals that mixes both best communications practices with best business practices. A conference well worth attending.

No Klout

The demise of Klout. We won’t spill any tears. And it’s still a precautionary tale about the danger of trusting a measurement of index which refuses to publish the factors and calculations that are used to derive it.

GDPR Last Call

Last call. This is deadline week for General Data Protection Regulations. Final warning. This may be a European law, but it can be applied to any Website that gathers data from Europeans. Be sure that you are in compliance with GDPR.

Don’t give up on constructive conversation on social media

There’s a lot of toxicity in social media discussions and comments. However, not everyone is giving up on the potential of social media to give voice to intelligent and constructive conversation. News this week of a project out of Simon Fraser University to to develop algorithms that would identify the most constructive, well-supported comments and raise their visibility. This type of development offers hope to anyone who is attempting to curate and moderate online conversations. We need more of this.

A course to get you started podcasting

If you’re listening to this podcast, you know how effective on demand media is to reach an audience with specialized interests. And you probably know something that others would like to share. So, why not think about creating your own podcast to share. If you’re thinking about doing this, Martin has a new podcast course on Lynda.com. A great place to start. And if you do start your own podcast, plesae let us know and we will promote it on Inside PR.

Gini Dietrich launches the Spin Sucks podcast

And speaking of new podcasts, Gini Dietrich is launching a Spin Sucks podcast. If you know Gini, you know this will be an outstanding podcast. So, hop over to iTunes and subscribe now.

Linkworthy

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on the podcast app of your choice

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.
Creative Commons Licence
Inside PR 507 by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Yes, you are the product. But you don’t have to be.

• • PR

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Are you the product today? Heck Yeah!

In the past two weeks, many people have jumped on the bandwagon launched by Will Oremus’ article “Are You Really the Product? The history of a dangerous idea.” In a nutshell, Oremus argues that the “If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product,” aphorism doesn’t really apply in the case of Facebook.

Gini and Joe have different perspectives on this. Gini sees a lot of value in Oremus’ arguments. Joe thinks that his arguments are beguiling, but convoluted, bringing us to the same conclusion: “If you aren’t paying for it with money, you are paying for it in other ways.” Ultimately, he who pays for something sets the terms.

Don’t fall into the trap of believing this is an expression of powerlessness. In fact, as Joe sees it, it is a call to action.

So, what can we do about it?

First, don’t think about recreating Facebook or finding a viable Facebook competitor. Facebook has reached dominance and will not be challenged until it is broken up. (Remember the good things that followed on the AT&T break up in the 1980s? Basically, it created the opportunity that became Silicon Valley.)

Instead, think about the more selective, specialized things that we want to do, connections that we want to make, networks we want to create, that reflect our actual interests. Think about why so many people see Slack as their social platform. Why we love using Apple Messages to create groups of friends for sharing. Places that will give us the dignity and respect that we want. That will be geared to us. Not their advertising model. And places that we are prepared to pay for.

Don’t fight Facebook. Go outside of and beyond Facebook.

LinkedIn at 15

LinkedIn. Can it really be 15 years old? It seems like only yesterday we first met.

LinkedIn is not as big as Facebook. It doesn’t sit at the middle of the news cycle like Twitter. And it doesn’t have the love directed at Instagram. But it is older than all of these social networks – and it occupies a unique place for business. We talk about how it has changed over the years and our ongoing love/hate relationship with it.

Linkworthy

Are You Really the Product? The history of a dangerous idea, Will Oremus

LinkedIn Turns 15, Allen Blue

 

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on the podcast app of your choice

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Creative Commons Licence
Are you really the product? Heck Yeah! by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Do you feel better about news media and truth today than you did yesterday?

• • Show Notes

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We often think back to where we were when we first heard about a life altering or world changing event. And as we do, we think about the emotions and thoughts that those events triggered.

A White House Press Corps that falls over themselves to distance themselves form a comic sho spoke truth to power. The remarkable performance of Rudolph Giuliani and the rapid shift in the President’s tweets from “Rudy’s got it right” to “he has to get his facts right.” What is truth? Where is truth? And is the news media even less capable of providing us with the information we need as citizens. Or are they locked in a race to the bottom?

In the wake of these events, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley revisit how we felt in the days after President Trump was elected. We struggled then, as we do now, to understand the new President, the people around him, and the effectiveness of news media outlets weakened by a deterioration in their business and distribution models.

So, after several weeks of reflecting on Facebook and social media, let’s take a step back and replay our conversation from Inside PR 464 about the new Trump administration and whether the news media is too weakened to do its job.

And as you listen to it, we think you’ll find that the questions we asked in January 2017 are as apt today as they were then.

Linkworthy

Will the media ever stand up to Trump? Judd Apatow talks with Mehdi Hasan

Should psychiatrists diagnose Trump? Should journalists? The Weeds podcast with Sara Cliff, Dara Lind and Brian Resnick.

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on the podcast app of your choice

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Creative Commons Licence
Do you feel better about news media and truth today than you did yesterday? by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Going to the Mat[tresses]

• • Show Notes

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What’s the matter with mat stories? Quite a bit, in the absence of full disclosure. We talk about the different approaches to mat stories taken by the two largest providers in North America, NAPs in the United States and News Canada north of the border. We talk about where the responsibility for disclosure resides and we see that there may be failings at all three points in the news chain, PR agencies, mat distributors and publishers.

We also look at Facebook’s curious performance during and after its testimony before a Canadian Parliamentary Committee. Called to testify about its privacy policies, Facebook’s spokesperson first told Parliamentarians that Facebook has its own interpretation of Canadian lobbying laws. An interpretation that resulted in Facebook having no lobbyist registration, despite the fact that Facebook was on record having meetings with several Cabinet Ministers. Curious, said the NDP’s Charlie Angus. But, there’s more. To top it off, Facebook, the distribution platform on which many Canadians receive their news, refused to take any questions from reporters. This, even thought the reporters accompanied Facebook’s Canadian rep down three stories from the Committee hearings to the building exit where he could finally flee them.

Actions speak loudly. And the failure to disclose fully speaks volumes.

Linkworthy

Mat stories

CBC’s Kelly Crowe’s take: Health Canada’s ‘Fake News’? It’s not fake, but it’s not news either

The original story CBC levered off: Blacklock News, Feds’ Fake News Cost $577K

Find the disclosure: News Canada’s home page and About Us page

NAPS site for advertisers is different from its site for publishers

Facebook Canada does a Faceplant

Reuters exclusive: Facebook to put 1.5 billion users out of reach of new EU privacy law

Video: Charlie Angus questions Kevin Chan about Facebook’s failure to register its Canadian lobbying activities and move of users out of reach of GDPR

Video: Facebook’s Kevin Chan acts as if the reporters with their microphones in his face are just an illusion

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on the podcast app of your choice

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Creative Commons Licence
Going to the Mat[tresses] by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Does your business belong on Reddit?

• • Show Notes

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Should you use Reddit for your business communications? Will the Reddit community welcome you or even accept you? Mike Connell’s recent article on the Spin Sucks blog launched this week’s discussion.

And we didn’t need much prompting to talk about Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before Congress. Not surprisingly, Gini, Martin and Joe have very different takes on Zuckerberg’s performance and its impact and potential consequences.

Linkworthy

Here are a couple articles that inspired us to consider theses topics. We recommend them as reads well worth your time:

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on the podcast app of your choice

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Creative Commons Licence
Does your business belong on Reddit? by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Seize the (Social Network) Power

• • Show Notes

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We CAN change the balance of power between people and the social networks. But to do so, we need to be aware that it is our presence that makes social networks economically viable. And we need to look to government and public interest groups to champion and, if necessary, force the changes that will assert our rights and interests as a precondition to social networks being able to operate in our country.

We talk about what might it might take to rebalance the relationship.

  • Applying the concept of informed consent;
  • Time-limiting consent to enable people to reconsider – and to make the social networks have to continue to work to gain our trust;
  • Recognizing that, in accepting our data, social networks have a relationship of fiduciary duty with us as surely as our accountants and banks to;
  • Providing people with a real ability to retract information
  • Providing people with the ability not just to download the info we have given to the social networks, but also the metadata they have generated and compiled about us
  • Finally, making data available to public interest groups and journalists – those who can provide a skeptical public counterpoint to the social networks.

It’s in our power. It’s in the power of our legislators. Ask them to do more.

Linkworthy

Here are a couple articles that inspired us to consider this topic. We recommend them as reads well worth your time:

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on the podcast app of your choice

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.
Creative Commons Licence
Inside PR 502 by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Year of Living Dangerously

• • Show Notes

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Mark Zuckerberg is quiet no more. After a period of uncomfortable silence that saw Facebook savaged by privacy advocates and users like us, Zuckerberg gave a remarkable interview to Ezra Klein, suggesting a Facebook governance structure that would transcend national boundaries. Huh?

And what does 1.1.1.1 mean to you? Thanks to Cloudflare, you now have another means of protecting your privacy from your Internet Service Provider.

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on the podcast app of your choice

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.
Creative Commons Licence
Inside PR 501 by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Inside PR 500: The Web is 29 years old and we still have hope

• • Show Notes

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It’s episode 500 of Inside PR. Thank you for listening to the first 500. And now,we’re starting the next 500. Episode 1,000, here we come!

This week we talk about positive steps by Twitter, Facebook and Netflix to promote authoritative news sources and video news magazines. A new news ecosystem takes shape?

The Web is almost 30 years old. And the Web’s inventor, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, wrote a thought-provoking article about the threats to the Web. Well worth reading and considering. Something about which we all should be taking action.

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on the podcast app of your choice

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Creative Commons Licence
Inside PR 500 by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Inside PR 499: Algorithms are as neutral as the people who write them

• • Show Notes

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This week, we talk about the introduction of ethics into tech education, a move that’s long overdue. Could ethics in Tech turn on the concept, Do no harm?

Also: Facebook users are skewing older as younger people move to other platforms. Can geritol ads be far behind? And Google AMP Stories shows another platform moving to take advantage of the trend to package and present content as stories.

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on the podcast app of your choice

We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Creative Commons Licence
Inside PR 499 by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.