The odometer on the old Gregorian calendar turned over again.
Salutations and Warm Greetings for the New Year.
What does 2011 offer people and organizations looking for media coverage? Whoa, slow down. What are your resolutions for the new season? Better yet, is making any resolution even a good idea when so many things on the media front are in flux?
There are many crystal balls aglow this time of the new year and most are flickering, because as we all know, the horses at the track will run the race they run. Winners and losers will emerge and few will foretell the real outcome. That said, I turn your attention to David Carr, the man behind the curtain at The New York Times who writes the weekly Media Equation column for the Old Gray Mare of journalism.
The Internet: Destroyer of Kingdoms, Creator of Empires
I have been searching for a suitable first blog for this third day of 2011 and I did not really need to search far. It was, as it were, in my own backyard. Mr. Carr is a former Minneapolis editor, writer, reporter and olde friend, with whom — Name-Dropping Disclosure — I had the endearing privilege and engaging survival skills to work with at a weekly paper here in the Twin Cities back in the ‘80s, the good/bad old days. This was well before the tech wonks in the military saw fit to make the technology transfer to the private sector of this mega-monster, The Internet, destroyer of kingdoms, creator of empires.
The Great Mashup of 2011
David’s piece — linked here — http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/business/media/03carr.html?_r=2&src=dayp to make your life easier, at least this early in the year, since it is surely to become more complicated later — is a must-read. And re-read. We will return to its messages and meaning in future blogs as various media industries strive to deal with the chaos and find a discernable path out of the digital wilderness. And with any wit, luck or fortitude, we may all learn some new ways of relating publically to our constituents, target markets, media contacts, etc.
What do you think 2011 holds for media and PR? Share your brightest — or least flickering ideas with this blog — and win valuable prizes.
Happy New Year.
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For more resources, see the Library topic Public and Media Relations.
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Martin Keller runs Media Savant Communications Co., a Public Relations and Media Communications consulting company based in the Twin Cities. Keller has helped move client stories to media that includes The New York Times, Larry King, The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, plus many other magazines, newspapers, trade journals and other media outlets. Contact him at kelmart@aol.com, or 612-729-8585