NevOn

Mainstream media knows more than you think

BBC News: Newspapers are far from dead, despite the challenge from online news and blogs, media executives have been told. [...] The challenge now for established newspaper groups is not just to respond to changes in the consumption of electronic media, but to start profiting from the new ways that audiences access their media.

I've deliberately truncated the full BBC story, reporting on the annual meeting of the World Association of Newspapers, as I want to highlight a point - that new-media channels like blogs are not a dire threat to established mainstream media if mainstream media embraces these new channels, and not resist them.

It's become literally self-evident that blogs in particular are here to stay and those members of the mainstream media - whether print or broadcast - who embrace them will find that they will help open up new channels to build relationships with readers, viewers and listeners in new and different ways.

They are evolutionary and will help mainstream media make the jump through hyperspace (I think that's an apt Star Wars metaphor) to reach a new plateau of loyalty-creation with those readers, viewers and listeners.

It's still embryonic and some of the statistics about newspaper circulation growth quoted in the BBC story (see below) could maintain some of the complacency and denial exhibited by some media when it comes to the subject of blogs - read this story in USA Today, for instance, for such an example. Actually, best to see it as absolute cluelessness by the journalist and his editor, as Don Giannatti so beautifully points out.

Anyway, the BBC report shows the sign of the current mainstream media times.

On the one hand, things aren't looking too bad:

• global newspaper sales hit a new daily high of 395 million in 2004
• the five largest markets are China, with 93.5 million copies sold daily; India (78.8 million); Japan (70.4 million); the United States (48.3 million); and Germany (22.1 million)
• the audience for newspaper websites grew 32% last year, and 350% over five years from a very low base
• 2004 saw the best advertising performance in four years, with a revenue increase of 5.3%

And on the other hand:

"Newspapers are clearly undergoing a renaissance through new products, new formats, new titles, new editorial approaches, better distribution and better marketing," [Timothy Balding, WAN director-general] said. "Despite the incredible competitive challenges in the advertising market, newspapers have more than held their own and their revenues are strongly on the increase again."

But he warned that although newspapers' online revenues were on the increase, this did not mean the internet posed no threat to the industry.

Speakers [at the WAN meeting] cautioned against complacency, predicting that free papers, online news sites, and the spread of blogs and other non-mainstream news sources would put growing pressure on the readership of traditional newspapers.

I think the point's clear. And I also think more journalists and editors  'get it' about blogs than many bloggers think. Take a look at editorsweblog.org to see what I mean.

The consequences of email blacklisting

During last weekend, Shel and I learned that the domain of For Immediate Release, our podcast blog, was included in a couple of email blacklists. These are databases that include the addresses of domains known to be the source for spam email. And on Monday, I learned that my domain, the domain of this blog, was also on a couple of such lists.

As you can imagine, we were flabbergasted. Thankfully, both these issues were speedily resolved.

Yesterday Shel documented the story in some detail. We devoted a major part of yesterday's edition of our bi-weekly show to talking about our experiences and questioning how such things happen and how to resolve them.

The reason I'm posting about this is to draw your attention to Shel's post and the very interesting conversation that's now developing there - as I write this post, there are 26 comments in 24 hours. That's quite a conversation going on.

If you have a comment or opinion on the thorny issue of email spam, blacklisting and whitelisting, email policies and related topics, head on over to Shel's blog and join the conversation.

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #37: May 30, 2005

Content summary: Listeners' comments (on podcast vertigo and rich media search; full-content RSS feeds are the way to go; garbled ID3 tags); getting on an email blacklist - and getting off it; more Naked Conversations; tips on presentations; Flash-based RSS aggregator; good and bad business podcast listening; Flash-based media players and MP3 files; Desert Island Discs; the challenges of communicating the EU Constitution.

Show notes for May 30, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 73-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Download the file here (MP3, 29.2MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need software such as the FeedDemon RSS aggregator, or the free ipodder or DopplerRadio).

In this edition:

Intro:

• 00:28 Shel introduces the show; what this show's about; how to give your feedback; show notes

Discussion on listeners' comments:

• 02:09 Scott Solomon on podcast vertigo and developments in rich media search
• 05:26 Mike Strock likes full-content RSS feeds, not extracts, which enable you to read everyting when you're offline
• 10:10 Stuart Bruce has some problems with garbled characters in the MP3 file on his Tungsten T5 - is it the ID3 tags?

Features:

• 15:10 Email blacklisting and whitelisting - what do you do when your domain gets on an anti-spam blacklist? It just happened to us.
• 26:43 New blog book chapters on Naked Conversations; how Trevor Cook's savaging of the chapter on PR resulted in content changes; Trevor's 500 words to redress the balance; how online content critiques help the book's credibility
• 34:52 From Our Correspondent Down Under: Lee Hopkins - tips on presentations; update on Media Tuner Flash-based RSS aggregator and receiving podcasts; business podcasts: what makes good listening and what doesn't; Flash-based media players and creating MP3 files that work
• 42:47 Shel's and Neville's Desert Island Discs

Short Take:

• 60:25 European Union Constitution - the French vote 'no'; the challenges of communicating a mammoth and complex topic

Outro:

• 67:42 Neville outros the show; how to give your feedback; show notes
• 68:52 Shel intros the music and the band; outro music

Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show:

Intro - PR Week, Neville's interview in PR Week.

Listeners' comments discussion - Scott Solomon, Chad Dickerson, Open Text, Google, Podscope, Copernic, Blinkx, Mike Strock, FeedDemon, Stuart Bruce, Dan York, Tungsten T5, iPod, iPodder, Pocket Tunes, Windows Media Player, London geek dinner, Robert Scoble, Hugh McLeod, ID3 tags, Stuart Bruce: Why blogs are an essential part of the democratic process.

Features - Steve O'Keefe, IAOC, surbl.org, blackhole list definition, Outblaze, Don Dunnington, Spam Soap, Cloudmark Safetybar, Naked Conversations, Robert Scoble, Shel Israel, Chapter 12, Chapter 2, Chapter 7, Trevor Cook, Trevor rebuts the PR chapter, Wiley, O'Reilly, We The Media, Michael Hyatt, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Lee Hopkins, Seth Godin, Beyond Bullet Points, Media Tuner, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Pan-Galactic Gargleblaster, Big Contact, PodcastNYC, Audacity, LAME MP3 encoder, Jeroen Wijering, example playlist of FIR shows in a Flash MP3 player, Wimpy Player, Geek News Central.

Desert Island Discs Special - Music: I Want You (Beatles), Crystal Frontier (Calexico), Lonesome Fiddle Blues (String Cheese Incident), You're So Vain (Carly Simon), Chocdust Torture (Phish), Without You (Harry Nilsson), Gypsy Fire (Hot Tuna), Feelin' Good (Nina Simone / Joe Claussell Remix), Beethoven 9th Symphony 2nd Movement (Berlin Philharmonic), Get Over It (Eagles), Tangled Up In Blue (Bob Dylan), Rudy (Supertramp), The Roadhouse Blues (The Doors), It's a Sin (Pet Shop Boys), Dark Star (The Grateful Dead from 1969 Live Dead EP), Calling All Stations (Genesis). Books: Altered Carbon (Richard Morgan), One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez). Luxury Gadgets: Barcalounger, solar-powered music player powering an ever-lasting battery with dual-listening headphones plus great speakers. [Most items should be available for purchase from your nearest Amazon. Except the luxury gadgets. Probably.]

Short Take - European Union Constitution, French 'no' vote, Dutch vote on June 1, Dutch Referendum Commission, EC Communications Commissioner Margot Wallstrom.

Outro - Daily Source Code, Podsafeaudio.com, RIAA, Laundr-O-mat (launches player), Samantha Murphy, For Immediate Release, A Shel of My Former Self, NevOn.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at comments@forimmediaterelease.biz, or call the Comment Line at +1 206 984 0931. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We'll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Thursday June 2...

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel's and my podcast blog.)

Who understands the EU constitution?

So the French voted 'non' yesterday to the proposed European Union constitution. That shouldn't be a surprise, really, given the broad lack of general understanding in Europe about what the constitution means and what all its effects would be.

You can't say there's not plenty of information about the constitution - take a look at A Constitution for Europe, for instance, the EU website that has an enormous amount of information. That link is to the English-language site: the same info is there in 19 other languages.

Yet if you do wade through much of that information, it raises lots of questions in one's mind that are pretty hard to find clear answers to. That isn't helped when you listen to all the politicians' jaw-jawing from every different and conceivable point of view, all of them with different axes to grind.

So what's the average EU citizen to do? As with most things, if there's something you don't fully understand, the safe route is to not go with it. That looks like what 55% of French voters did, mixed in to be sure with lots of other French issues which undoubtedly played a role.

This Wednesday, the Dutch go to the polls to vote on the constitution. There's been official communication about it - I've had two booklets delivered during recent weeks - and the Dutch Referendum Commission has detailed information on their website. Most Dutch media are pro-constitution, though, so the reporting has hardly been impartial.

In spite of all that, many observers here expect the Dutch vote to be 'nee' as well.

Here's an interesting statement on the Dutch government's news website last month:

A government survey has found that 74% of voters consider it important that the EU have a constitution. It has also found that voters who receive information about the constitution are more likely to vote in favour of it.

Heh! Do you think they might be on to something?

Getting information is one thing, though. Understanding what it means is another. The BBC News site has a simple but pretty good analysis of the constitution's major points with some explanations on what they mean.

As I mentioned earlier, it still raises lots of questions. I'd say it's time to go back to the drawing board, not so much on the draft constitution itself, but more on looking again at what's needed to help more people gain a fuller understanding on what it all means.

EC Communications Commissioner Margot Wallstrom really has her work cut out.

Related NevOn posts:

• EU signs new Constitution
• Making the EU relevant

Boeing takes second step with 777 blog

Aircraft maker Boeing launched a new blog ten days ago - Flight Test Journal, a place where the engineers and test pilots of Boeing's new 777-200LR Worldliner talk about their work in getting the world's longest-range commercial airplane ready for commercial service.

Only two posts so far, but it looks like the scene has been set by Joe Kranak, Chief Engineer, Test and Validation, 747, 767, 777, for for how this blog will develop:

As chief engineer for testing and validation for the 777, I’d like to welcome you to an inside look at the testing leading up to certification of the Worldliner. This journal is your ticket aboard. [...] In the coming weeks you’ll hear from some of our crew at Edwards AFB — people in the cockpit and people who ensure that everything is in place each morning when it’s time for “wheels up.” [...] So, we’re hoping you’ll find it a fascinating ride. I think it’s really going to open your eyes to the remarkable people and machines that make up the Boeing flight test program.

Even with just two posts so far, this blog conveys a refreshing informality and insight into some aspects of the work of some pretty skilled people that you'd likely never get a glimpse of otherwise. Just take a look at this example, posted a few days ago by Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann, Chief Project Pilot, Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner:

[...] I've been an experimental test pilot for Boeing for more than seven years, and I will tell you that very few things catch us off guard because as a team we prepare so throughly. I've been involved with this particular airplane for more than a year-and-a-half. I took part in early engineering meetings when designs and specifications were being formed. That gave me the opportunity to take the information from those meetings back to our team of test pilots. In that way we're able to give the program recommendation from the pilot's perspective. As the airplane was being built, I visited the factory regularly and watched the pieces come together. It's always a thrill to see ideas and designs become a reality!

Suzanna's post includes her photo. That's a perfect touch, which adds greatly to her post to help make a real connection with Boeing. Would you get that just from reading the dry description about the new plane, or even watching one of the videos?

The blog has RSS feeds but not direct commenting - if you want to comment, you have to email them in from a link on the blog's main page. Interesting, though - if you visit the guidelines page, there's a link there to the comments page on Randy's Journal, the blog by Randy Baseler, Vice President Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, that was launched in mid January.

The new blog is a terrific step in sharing commentary and opinion on a subject that most people would only find out about through traditional communication means (TV, print media, etc). And without any of the informality.

As for Randy's Journal, that can no longer be accused of being just a tarted-up press release as it's undergone a design refresh, with a similar look and feel to the new Flight Test Journal, and has direct commenting.

It looks like Boeing now has more of a plan about blogs and where they fit into their overall marketing and communications.

(Hat tip: Blog Business Summit via Constantin's Delicious Digest)

Solving PDF irritations in Firefox

Don't you find it really irritating when you click on a link on a website or blog and then discover that the link is to a PDF file? That usually happens after you've clicked the link. The PDF starts loading and takes forever because it's a big file, or has loads of graphics, it's a slow connection, etc.

Part of the irritation is the unexpectedness of it. Too many sites just don't tell you there's a PDF at the other end of that link (and, increasingly, other file types - big MP3s, for instance). Poor site design, in my view, with little thought for the "user experience."

If you use Firefox, there is a great solution - PDF Download, an extension for Firefox by Denis Remondini, which lets you choose whether you want to view the PDF file inside the browser (as PDF or HTML) or download it.

So with this extension installed, when you click on a link that's to a PDF file, you get a dialog like this -

No more surprises. Thanks, Denis, very useful.

When travel isn't pretty

Regular listeners to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report will know that my co-presenter, Shel Holtz, travels a lot. Much more than I do at the moment. In fact, during the past month, Shel's co-presented our show from the road on six occasions. And there's more travel for him coming up in June.

So I'm not surprised to hear why Shel's started Road Weary, his new blog:

[...] I need a place to vent, to kvetch, to complain. This is it. Welcome to my life on the road. If you need to know any more than this, I have a business web site and a blog dedicated to the work I do, and you're welcome to visit either or both. But this blog, this blog is just about business travel. And it isn't pretty.

If you want a good source of blunt comment and opinion on a road warrior's life, this is the place.

Shel, I'm looking forward with a kind of morbid fascination to reading some horror stories!

Star Wars is simply a great story

Ten days after it opened, I finally managed to see Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith yesterday. And what a phenomenal film it is! If you haven't seen it yet, do go. And if you do plan to and don't want any spoilers, then don't read the rest of this post.

There are plenty of film reviews out there, and plenty of different individual opinions about the film, the acting, the dialogue and the special effects - try these, for example. I thought all of it was simply terrific.

Two things struck me especially strongly about this film, both to do with acting and characterization.

The first is the brilliant portrayal of Anakin Skywalker by Hayden Christensen. This is an actor who without doubt has grown substantially in ability since his first appearance as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones three years ago. In this latest film, he is believable and makes for compelling watching as the tortured and lost soul who is Anakin Skywalker and who becomes Darth Vader.

Watching him progress from confusion and doubt (about himself, primarily) to warped denial and the awful catalyst for the eventual death of his pregnant wife Padmé Amidala (acted by Natalie Portman) was quite something. Deep and dark, definitely not a film for small kids.

The second thing is the relationship and inter-reactions between the characters of Anakin Skywalker and Chancellor Palpatine, played equally brilliantly by Ian McDiarmid. Seeing one human being consistently manipulating another in the pursuit of raw and absolute power was quite breathtaking.

Great acting means acting a great story, and this film is that. Yes, I've read some reviews and commentaries that talk about wooden acting and lame storylines. I don't agree at all, but that debate will have no end. For me, this film - and all the Star Wars films - are simply a great story, a variation on a timeless theme about good and evil, love, trials and tribulations, having dreams and vision, and so on. It's a winning formula, every time.

I thought the final part of the film, following Anakin's conversion into Darth Vader, set a pretty seamless transition to Episode IV, the original Star Wars film released in 1977. How the newly-born Luke and Leia were separated to protect them from their father, Darth Vader on the bridge of a star destroyer, the crew below in uniforms that were those in the later (original) films, the partly-built Death Star visible through a window - all elements that bridge the gap between this last of the new trilogy with the first of the original trilogy.

The circle is now complete, to quote one of the oft-said lines in this film series. It makes me want to watch the original trilogy again...

[Technorati tag: starwars ]

Nokia's rap on the knuckles

BBC News: Phone maker Nokia has been reprimanded by Finland's financial market watchdog and stock exchange for not releasing positive earnings news quickly enough. Listed in New York and Helsinki, Nokia followed US rules but did not abide by Finland's, the regulators said. Nokia should have told investors about the improved fourth-quarter earnings and sales on 14 January, and not have waited until 27 January as it did. Nokia shares jumped more than 6% when the good news came out on 27 January.

From reading this concise BBC News story today, plus other news reports on the net, it's hard to see how Nokia could have made such a high-profile error like this, given their knowledge and significant experience under the regulatory frameworks of multiple jurisdictions.

It looks like Nokia got off lightly, a rap on the knuckles, with the Finnish regulators giving them the benefit of the doubt (read the statement from the Helsinki stock exchange). A one-time benefit, no doubt.

Now this from Nokia's spokesperson quoted in the BBC report:

"We are a multi-listed company and we are obliged to follow the laws of all countries," spokeswoman Arja Suominen said. "According to our understanding, rules gave us time to communicate. Of course in the future we will take the decision into consideration."

I'd say the communicators need to be 100% familiar with the exact disclosure requirements in each jurisdiction, even if no one else in the company appears to be.

Yet having said that, I know from my own experience that it can sometimes not be an easy task to correctly interpret the sometimes vaguely-worded disclosure requirements of stock exchanges.

In The Netherlands, for instance, the Euronext exchange in Amsterdam had a helpful and useful booklet at one time that sets out the matter of disclosure by listed companies - when, how and under what circumstances. (That booklet doesn't seem to exist any more as I can't locate it on the Euronext website.)

But the over-riding factor on disclosure and when to disclose relied on what to many people was too vague a criterion - in essence, you had to make a public announcement on anything that might affect the share price, up or down. As to what 'anything' might be, that was left to corporate common sense - if you have reason to believe that a given event or circumstance could affect your share price, then you disclose. You err on the side of disclosure, not the other way around.

While I can imagine that narrowing such a seemingly-vague condition isn't easy, with so many variables, it would lessen anyone's misunderstanding - and, hence, aid their understanding - if it were a lot clearer.

So to help communicators get fully in the picture on disclosure requirements, whatever the stock exchange, regulators need to ensure their requirements are clear so that the communicators get a chance to actually understand them.

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #36: May 26, 2005

Content summary: Listeners' comments (on Autodesk's blog and podcast combo; which non-tech companies use blogs; how to structure Desert Island Discs); podcasting in the news: going mainstream; Blogebrity and reality or not; looking for writers via blog posts; the virtues of print; RSS comes to Microsoft's Knowledge base; the London geek mega-dinner next month.

Show notes for May 26, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 55-minute conversation recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and San Antonio, Texas, USA.

Download the file here (MP3, 22MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need software such as the FeedDemon RSS aggregator, or the free ipodder or DopplerRadio).

In this edition:

Intro:

• 00:29 Neville introduces the show; Shel's hotel coffee desire; how to give your feedback; show notes

Discussion on listeners' comments:

• 02:19 Robin Capper on the first corporate CAD software blog/podcast combination
• 04:48 Dan York asks about the top 5 non-tech companies who use blogs, wikis, etc; an overview of some resources with information
• 10:07 Lee Hopkins with advice on structuring our Desert Island Discs show (coming on Monday)

Feature:

• 12:02 Podcasting in the news again - Chad Dickerson's podcast vertigo; the value of comprehensive show notes; a podcast as a conversation developer; intranets for delivering podcasts internally; audio as an aid to comprehension and retention; mainstream media take up of podcasting; music is the big growth driver; tech developments, hardware and software

Short Takes:

• 37:10 See who's on the A, B and C lists in Blogebrity magazine. But is it real or fake?
• 39:39 "Writers wanted!" blog posts - how the search is going
• 42:15 Reminding us of the virtues of print - the US Print Council's traditional campaign
• 44:30 Microsoft's Knowledge Base content now available via RSS feeds
• 48:38 London geek dinner on June 7 - 154 signed up so far!

Outro:

• 49:37 Shel outros the show; getting today's show online and doing the show notes - timings; how to give your feedback
• 50:40 Neville intros the music and the band; outro music

Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show:

Listeners' comments discussion - Robin Capper, Autodesk's Realize Your Ideas Tour blog, Dan York, IBM bloggers, Microsoft bloggers, General Motors executive blog, The New PR Wiki, CEO Blogs List, CorporateBlogging.Info, CEO Intranet List, Intel, Disney podcasts, Ragan Communications, The Tinbasher Blog, Kodak, Lee Hopkins, Desert Island Discs, iPod.

Feature - Chad Dickerson's podcast vertigo, InfoWorld, Technorati, PubSub, Podscope, Darren Barefoot, Potkast, Google, Dave Winer, Doc Searls, Raytheon, Jonathan Marks, Apple, iTunes, Winamp, Winamp iPod plugin, BBC, Newsweek, NPR, ABC, NBC, The Observer blog, Business Week Online, Adam Curry, Adam Curry's Podcast Show on Sirius Satellite Radio; KYOU Radio, Kazaa, RIAA, Garageband, Propaganda, Mixcast Live, Boku, Skype, Constantin Basturea, FeedBurner.

Short Takes - Steve Rubel, Blogebrity, People, National Enquirer, Contagious Media Showdown, Crying While Eating, seeking freelance writers: Neville's post and Fredrik's post, IABC Memberspeak, IABC Job Bank, US Print Council, Pressbox, Microsoft, Microsoft PressPass, Nooked Directory, London geek dinner, Robert Scoble, Hugh McLeod, Stuart Henshall, Bill Campbell.

Outro - Daily Source Code, Chance, Garageband.com, Say What You Will, For Immediate Release, A Shel of My Former Self, NevOn.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at comments@forimmediaterelease.biz, or call the Comment Line at +1 206 984 0931. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We'll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Monday May 30...

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel's and my podcast blog.)