Sean Michael Kerner is a B2B tech reporter, and according to his LinkedIn profile, is an “Internet consultant, a strategy and developer/writer and sometimes entrepreneur.” While Sean no longer writes for eWeek, he recently picked up freelance work at Business Insider and still writes for Enterprise Networking Planet, eSecurity Planet, ServerWatch and ITPro Today.
Security researcher Brian Krebs this month published an analysis that only he could create. It’s an exhaustive explainer on recent DNS hijacking attacks, purportedly conducted by Iranian hackers. How does a tech PR pro get the attention of this man? We asked around. Below is a compendium of what we heard back, both on and off the record.
Threat-and-breach coverage is by far the biggest topic in security editorial. It’s got the Armageddon thing going for it, which always breeds high numbers of page views and social shares. We once heard a veteran security PR pro refer to covering security as “the crime beat” and he’s not far off.
I’d love to say that every single time I’ve worked on a major announcement or campaign, things went perfectly – but that’s unfortunately not exactly how things go in PR. One of the most crushing let-downs is when an exclusive falls through. How do you react? What do you tell your client?
YOUR ACCOUNT
FRIDGE NOTES
While the NYT pursues its suit against OpenAI, the Financial Times has chosen to license its content to help OpenAI train current and future LLMs. The NYT seems to be on the wrong side of this issue, with the Associated Press and Axel Springer also choosing to see OpenAI as a source of income, rather than an enemy.
Here’s the opposing view, from Press Gazette’s Dominic Young, who advises publishers to play a game of chicken with OpenAI and its LLM competitors.
… and it has no problem disclosing how. Reporters still run the joint, but they are getting AI assistance.
The Atlantic’s Karen Hao, in conjunction with the Pulitzer Center, is designing a course in AI for journalists. Classes begin next month. Details here. Might be something to alert your friendlies about. Karen hopes to help train 1,000 journalists in AI over the next two years.
Joshua Topolsky‘s edit project for Robinhood is optimized for mobile but you can peruse it here. The design seems crazy. Context from Axios’s Sara Fischer here.
‘The Prompt” is not out yet, but you can sign up for it here.
That’s the strategy as expressed to NYT’s Katie Robertson by Axios CEO Jim VandeHei. First up: Eleanor Hawkins, Sara Fischer and Dan Primack.
