Search platform TechNews last month introduced features that let users spot trends deep within tech editorial. Launched as IT Database in 2007, TechNews is widely used within tech PR to learn who is writing what.
We’ve decided to go ahead and publish selected slides from a presentation we made to a subscriber several weeks ago. We hesitated because some of the slides leaned toward “preachy”; subscribers typically like it when SWMS stays in its lane, delivering cheat sheets and tech media analysis.
Bloomberg reporter Matthew Boyle Tweets: “Another hour lost to rooting around a startup’s ‘newsroom’ page, looking in vain through the fawning case studies and trite
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A recent edition of the new Axios Communicators newsletter offered pitch advice from five Axios reporters and a co-founder. Newsletter author Eleanor Hawkins polled her colleagues on what PR folks need to be told.
On Feb. 28 we received an inquiry from a subscriber (vendor, not agency) asking whether journalists were bristling at being pitched in light of the crisis in Ukraine. The subscriber said “proactive pitching” had been paused. Here was our response…
SWMS contributor Bob Scheier writes: A company’s Wikipedia entry is often one of the first to come up in response to a Web search, and might get more exposure than its Twitter, Facebook or other social media account.
With 2022 a month away, it’s time to imagine next year’s trends, in a way that lets our subscribers take action whenever possible. Here’s our list.
I’m finding that a surprising number of vendors have removed or hidden the “media contact” links on their sites. They’ve been replaced by lead-snagging “bots” asking if I’d like a demo or what “digital transformation” challenges I’m facing, and generic “Contact Us” pages that may or may not lead to someone who can respond to a media request.
Tired of writing pitches and press releases? AI writes copy these days. This month we used Copy.ai to promote the fictitious Wazoolie Pro, “a hypnotizer that convinces prospects to buy products and services they don’t need.”
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The average age of a WSJ reader is 59. That’s just one of many insights in this terrific piece from The Daily Beast, published this week in its gossip column. EIC Emma Tucker is said to be asking all WSJ reporters to contemplate these questions before proceeding with a story:
— Who is the target audience?
— What do they want to know?
— How can this piece broaden the WSJ audience?
— What format is best for telling this story?
Which musical artist, over the course of his still-active career, played sold out shows at both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium? Sirius/XM is broadcasting a channel celebrating his music, for “a limited time.”
From today’s TC+ Newsletter: “No one I met said they were looking for ‘thought leadership’ or scorching hot takes,” wrote TC’s contributed content gatekeeper. “Almost everyone wanted actionable advice that would help them fundraise, build and scale.”
Good guidance indeed.
Somewhere along the line, Cambridge, Mass.-based Devo Technology rebranded as Devo. Warner Music Group apparently has no objection.
Here’s how Mike Isaac presents himself. A single perfunctory paragraph doesn’t cut it anymore in a world of disinformation and synthetic, AI-generated content where no one really knows the agenda. The NYT wants to get out in front of that, especially before the 2024 elections heat up. Read the background behind this in Vanity Fair.
Legendary journalist Louise Story reveals how the smartest edit shops are using AI. Here come the flexicles.
