SWMS Deep-Dive, Part 3: The Toxicity of Retention Editing
February 13, 2024
3:48 am
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>> Strategies & Pitch Opps
What Bloomberg Says About Its Own Opinion Section
February 7, 2024
4:29 pm
Bloomberg last fall launched a 60-day marketing campaign with the message, “context changes everything.” In 2024 the “context’ messaging has continued, in the form of promoting Bloomberg’s opinion content.
Analysis: What’s Coming In AI Coverage, Feb.-Apr.
February 7, 2024
8:50 am
What can tech PR expect in terms of AI coverage in February, March and April? As part of a valet consulting request, a subscriber asked us to do some thinking on that. Below is what we came up with.
Layoffs Strike TechCrunch
January 30, 2024
8:24 am
TechCrunch suffered layoffs yesterday. At least five editors were affected
More Narrative Formula Examples
January 25, 2024
5:42 am
Perhaps you saw our Nov. 30 analysis of narrative story formulas that continually appear in Tier 1. The idea would be for PR pros to contour their story pitches to fit one of these formulas, since publications are writing these kinds of stories anyway.
A New Paid Opp at Enterprise Times
January 22, 2024
9:51 am
UK-based Enterprise Times has an interesting proposition this year for B2B agency folks: instead of pitching weak news and hoping for the best, why not pay for prominent publication at an affordable rate?
TechTarget and Informa Merge To Form ‘New TechTarget’
January 11, 2024
12:19 pm
Tech media changed today with the merger of TechTarget and Informa PLC, which calls itself “a leading international events, digital services and academic knowledge group.”
Three Challenges for Fortune In 2024
December 27, 2023
8:26 am
We’ve probably overcovered Fortune this year relative to other publications, but only because the 94-year-old publication outperformed everyone else in the industry. That was then. Fortune may struggle in ’24 to replicate 2023’s success. Here’s why.
Are NYT’s Contributed Posts Better Than VentureBeat’s?
December 5, 2023
7:01 am
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Deep Dive: Eight Narrative Formulas That Still Work
November 30, 2023
10:46 am
Ten years ago last month, we published a list of narrative story formulas that often showed up in Tier 1 publications. Our research back then determined that a small number of edit formulas provided structure for a large number of pitchable, high share-of-voice feature stories.
YOUR ACCOUNT
FRIDGE NOTES
BI, Wired Tricked By AI Freelance ‘Author’
August 21, 2025
This is a must-read article about both Business Insider and Wired being tricked by a phony freelance reporter writing phony stories. If BI and Wired can be fooled, everybody can be fooled.
SWMS ‘Sound Thinking’: David Strom on AI
July 21, 2025
Veteran tech journalist David Strom is working with a couple of AI developers to understand exactly the nature of his writing as it has unfolded over the years. In this edition of Sound Thinking, David shares his learnings and where everything might go.
Catch Up on SDxCentral
July 20, 2025
It’s been tough to keep track of SDxCentral this year, with the sale… management moves… Here’s a podcast and an article that will help you catch up.. thank you, Ben, for the assistance.
Layoffs at Informa Techtarget
July 18, 2025
Newly merged TechTarget and Informa this month laid off 10 percent of their employees. Check out the euphemism in the 8-K: “[the] net reduction [will be] up to approximately 10% of the Company’s current global colleague base.” That just beats all, doesn’t it?
BI Lets You Advertise Against Emotion
July 13, 2025
Using NLP software, Business Insider assesses how readers will react to its content emotionally, and then sells advertising based on that info. For example, an advertiser can choose to advertise against a story (or video) that makes you feel good or optimistic or pessimistic. This is where content is headed; and this trend may someday affect the way that you pitch.