By Bob Bailly
Mistakes were made, but not by me, a book by Carol Tarvis and Elliot Aronson, explores the very human tendency to deflect blame, to admit error begrudgingly and to avoid responsibility. They explore the notion that too often we hear the self-justifying, “There was nothing else I could have done.” Consider the American presidents who in the face of overwhelming evidence to the opposite have proclaimed, “I did not have sex with that women” or “I am not a crook.”
Why do we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions and hurtful acts? How is it that as individuals we have so much difficulty admitting error and responsibility? And why are we always looking to convince ourselves that we did the best thing?
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By Leo Valiquette
There’s a quote that I am fond of from journalist and author Gene Fowler, who passed in 1960:
“Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.”
I could only wonder what he would say if he were alive today about making a living from writing. Content is king. It is fresh and original content, as Katie Parsons wrote the other day, which remains the strongest draw to pull in readers. And yet, we live in this contradictory age in which the ability of almost anyone to easily and affordably be a global producer and distributor of content has undermined the definition of what constitutes quality content and fostered a growing disrespect for the time and craftsmanship required to produce it.
Nonetheless, I wholeheartedly believe that a quality writer has a substantial advantage in today’s marketplace by virtue of the fact that their skillset is the basis of a premium service that is highly transferable between disciplines. The classic example is the journalist who jumps the fence into other fields, such as public relations or marketing.
I use this example because I live it. After working for eight years as a business journalist and editor, I made the leap into a PR/marketing role. Here are my lessons learned along the way.
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By Alexandra Reid
Mitch Joel sparked an interesting conversation recently on his blog when he argued that podcasts could make a comeback.
Joel runs the popular podcast Six pixels of separation and admitted that the podcast is a guilty pleasure for him to ask interesting people his burning questions. He also confessed that he had no data to back up his claim that podcasts could be on the rebound, but listed a handful of successful podcasts which are acting as indicators that consumers do in fact have an appetite for longer, in-depth and content-rich audio programming. These podcasts are:
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By Katie Parsons
In an earlier post, Leo Valiquette wrote about the rise in incidents of plagiarism among high-profile journalists. Leo contends that the timing of this increase is no accident; forgetting ethics that were learned in Journalism 101 is part of a larger cultural shift stretching professionals too thin. With newspapers, magazines and broadcast entities operating with skeleton staff and individuals being asked to do more online, it is no wonder that facts appear to be falling through the cracks.
Many journalists are not happy with the current state of things. Dozens of staff at the Chicago Tribune recently sent a petition to newsroom editor Gerould Kearn asking him — begging him — to do what he could to convince executives to discontinue the use of the content creation company Journatic. The Tribune had farmed out nearly all of its suburban coverage to the data mill, whose own executive talked publicly about how reporters simply do not need to live in the communities that they cover. He offended a few journalists in the process and then proved his own statement wrong.
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By Caroline Kealey
One of the things that often drives communicators crazy about their jobs is the Superhero Consultant syndrome. You’ve been advocating for months — maybe even years — in favour of a course of action your organization should take to step up its communications. You know it’s the right thing to do, and you’ve got research and consultation findings to bolster your case. But still you’ve been hitting a brick wall, time and time again. Then one day a consultant is hired, flying in wearing a fancy suit (and carrying a hefty per diem rate to match) and presto! The senior leadership magically sees the light, endorsing precisely the approach you’ve been urging all along.
Sound familiar?
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By Bob Bailly
