I came across a “feel good” story that made sense, as my last blog of 2010.

The Christmas season is traditionally a time for giving.  Clearly annual corporate charitable donations are planned and, as such, happily millions of dollars are donated to worldwide needy causes such as hunger, poverty, aids and more.

But children’s playgrounds as a needy cause?

That’s right. Now companies such as Kraft Foods, MetLife, CVS and Dr Pepper/Snapple Group, have recognized a need, in face of plummeting local tax revenues that support schools, and are pitching in to build new school playgrounds or re-build the decaying ones – literally.  It’s not just about a check, although that too, but about thousands of employee volunteers (as is the case with Kraft) that are actually getting into the nitty-gritty of the construction work, such as putting together a climbing wall, shoveling gravel onto walking paths, spreading a mountain of mulch beneath play equipment, or sanding newly-constructed picnic tables.  Even Kraft’s chief executive, Irene Rosenfeld, pitched in with the actual building of 13 playgrounds.

There are others, of course. Dr Pepper/Snapple Group has pledged $15 million this month to build or fix 2,000 playgrounds over the next three years. The insurance business, clearly another good fit, joined in. Foresters, the Canadian life insurance provider, recently pledged $1.5 million to build 20 playgrounds in the United States and MetLife continues to regularly finance playgrounds to promote physical fitness.

It’s smart. The companies’ savvy marketers are picking up Michelle Obama’s lead in the fight against childhood obesity and with it, the need for children to exercise.  Moreover, with charitable cash in shorter supply, volunteers can take up the slack and companies get to add volunteerism and community engagement to their giving.

If providing play spaces is a winning cause for the food and beverage companies that have come under fire for high calorie snacks and drinks, so be it, for it is a win-win situation for all.  If the companies are embracing the playground as an opportunity to make their names better known – and better liked – locally and to encourage employees to volunteer in their communities, so be it.  And if companies sound self-serving and a bit smug in doing so, as when Foresters CEO, George Mohacsi, said, “…we get more bang for the buck when we build a playground,” that, too, can be forgiven.

If the melding of charity, philanthropy and marketing helps children, then I say – It’s the American way.

Happy New Year to all…

As part of our 25^th anniversary celebration, we invited 12 thoughts leaders from diverse industries to participate in our guest blog monthly series, which was posted on the 25th of every month. The blog posts covered a wide scope of topics that included forecasts and trends surrounding social media, business solutions, communications, among others. We present our guests’ thoughts, which in turn, might trigger other thoughts and ideas… –compiled by Noemi Pollack

The Transformation Decade Written by David Houle on January 25, 2010. David Houle, author of The Shift Age is one of the top futurists in the country and a much-sought after speaker. Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment having worked at NBC, CBS and a member of the senior executive team that created and launched MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1 and CNN Headline News. “We are entering the first full decade of the Shift Age, even though it has already taken root in the last 4 years. This new age has launched incredible shift and upheaval already. This current Great Recession can only be fully understood when seen as the reorganizational recession between two ages, the Information Age and the Shift Age.” Read More–>

What’s So Social About Social Media? How Social Are You? Written by Jeffrey Gitomer on February 25, 2010.Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Selling and president of Charlotte-based BuyGitomer, gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service. “Social media is fluid – it moves and changes daily. It’s text, audio, photo, and video. It’s every media and it’s every second. It’s current and it’s constant. Ever see a section of a website labeled “latest news” and when you click it, the last update is from 2004? Not good. The Internet is instant. Social media is instant. And you have to be ready to participate consistently, and in a meaningful way.”Read More–>

2 Letters Make All the Difference Written by Jay Baer on March 25, 2010. Jay Baer’s Convince & Convert social media blog is consistently ranked among the top business blogs. Founder of five companies, he’s a digital marketing pioneer that started online in 1994. He’s worked with more than 700 brands since then, including 25 of the Fortune 1000 (Nike, Pepsi, Sony, Cadbury, Conoco/Phillips, Procter & Gamble). “The difference between “selling” and “helping” is only two letters, but the gap is in reality, much larger. The best – and most effective – social media programs aren’t based on promotions and message distribution. Instead, they revolve around removing friction and uncertainty for potential or current customers.” Read More–>

Living Naked Written by Tom Searcy on April 25, 2010. Tom Searcy, co-author of “Whale Hunting: How to Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company”, author of “RFPs Suck!” and founder of Hunt Big Sales, is a sought after business solutions expert for small to mid-sized companies. “YouTube™, Flickr™, Digg™, Twitter™, Facebook™, LinkedIn™ and the rest of the usual suspects of the social media revolution are creating a naked world. Each touchpoint in the chain of your business is open for scrutiny and discussion. So what is your strategy?” Read More–>

How Not To Market on Facebook Written by Kathleen Kaufman on May 25, 2010. Kathleen Kaufman is the author of environmental fiction and an inner city educator. She is well known in the social media community as a Facebook influencer and entertaining blogger. She can be found on her publisher’s website, The Way Things Are Publications.” “Facebook marketing is a dirty word. No one wants to feel like they’re friends with a person who is trying to sell them a product, be it a book or a copyedit. The most successful Facebookers, the ones who have converted their page into actualized business, are not marketing, rather they are participating.” Read More–>

Linking PR to Business Results Written by Paul Holmes on June 25, 2010. Paul Holmes is editor and publisher of The Holmes Report, which provides knowledge and insight to public relations professionals, and manages the SABRE Awards, recognizing Superior Achievement in Branding & Reputation. “I believe PR is uniquely positioned to create brand advocates. It is hard for me to imagine an ad campaign that would make me more likely to recommend a product to others, but there are plenty of PR campaigns that have done this: communicating a commitment to CSR, linking products with causes, special events that touch people directly.” Read More–>

A Business Journalist on PR: Business is a Human Story Written by James Flanigan on July 25, 2010. James Flanigan is a business columnist for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and other publications and has covered national and international business and economics for 46 years. “I didn’t write and declined offers of interviews because reporting is not stenography and interviews, even with CEOs, and they do not necessarily a story make. The point is that business is a human story and the most important quality a company can convey in any PR campaign is integrity.” Read More–>

The Need For Speed Written by Michael Pranikoff on August 25, 2010.Michael Pranikoff, is Global Director of Emerging Media at PR Newswire. Prior to joining PR Newswire, Michael worked for MacNeil / Lehrer Productions which produces the PBS NewsHour. “Communications professionals today must be empowered to communicate quickly. In order to do that, we must earn the trust of the corporation.” Read More–>

Unsettled Times for Journalism and Public Relations Written by Geneva Overholser on September 25, 2010. Geneva Overholser is director of the U.S.C. Annenberg School of Journalism.  She is former editor of the Des Moines Register, ombudsman for the Washington Post and editorial board member of the New York Times. “Those who partner with others, link to others, aggregate the material of others, concentrate on what they alone can do best and point their news consumers to those who can offer them the rest – that’s what’s coming. Those who participate and collaborate are likeliest to thrive.” Read More–>

The Next 25 Years (If We Do It Right, Now) Written by Kathy Cripps on October 25, 2010. Kathy Cripps is president of the Council of Public Relations Firms, the U. S. employer-based trade association. Kathy worked with multinational public relations firms and had her own firm for many years; she and the Council are strong advocates for PR firms and the value they bring to clients around the globe. “While the continued economic uncertainty has led to slower-than-hoped-for industry growth, public relations is more relevant and integrated than ever.” Read More–>

Pssst, Did You Know Most Word of Mouth is Offline, Not on Social Media? Written by Ed Keller on November 25, 2010.Ed Keller, CEO of the Keller Fay Group, a specialist market research firm focused exclusively on word of mouth marketing.  He is a Board member and past President of the Board of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), and a board member of the Advertising Research Foundation, among others. Keller speaks frequently to business audiences about word of mouth marketing, and is quoted frequently in the trade press. “Marketing success in the 21st century requires new approaches.  But just because the pace of technological innovation is often dizzying, don’t overlook the power of basic human connections to drive your brand success.” Read More–>

How the ‘New Citizen’ Consumes News Written by Amy S. Mitchell on December 23, 2010. Amy S. Mitchell, Deputy Director for the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) is involved in all as pects of the PEJ, with a primary focus on designing, managing new projects and in writing the Project’s in-depth research reports. Ms. Mitchell, who has been with the Project since its inception in 1997, speaks frequently to groups ranging from journalists of all types to press relation professionals to heads of various organizations. “The social component in the flow of information today – the sharing, passing along and adding to reports – leads to another critical concept for all information providers in that they have much less control over what happens to information once it is released. Understanding information in the 21st Century means understanding, the ‘new citizen’, the function news plays in our lives and the multiple types of audience & content.” Read More–>

We introduce our final guest blogger of our monthly series, in celebration of our 25th anniversary this year, Amy Mitchell, Deputy Director, The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Amy S. Mitchell is Deputy Director for the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. She is involved in all aspects of the PEJ, with a primary focus on designing, managing new projects and in writing the Project’s in-depth research reports. This includes the Annual Report on the State of the News Media, more specific studies such as the new ecosystem of news, the development of the New Media Index and earlier the News Coverage Index. Ms. Mitchell, who has been with the Project since its inception in 1997, speaks frequently to groups ranging from journalists of all types to press relation professionals to heads of various organizations.

As we close out 2010 and hunker down to prepare for 2011, I offer a few thoughts on the news consumer of today and what that means for you as information providers. These are based on research done here at the Pew Research Center’s PEJ and our sister organization, the Pew Research Center’s People and the Press.

First, people today are consuming more news than a decade ago.  A Pew Research Survey conducted in June, 2010 found that people spend on average 70 min’s with news each day. This is one of the highest totals since the mid 1990’s – and it does not include time spent with news on mobile devices like cell phones or tablets.

As was the case in 2000, people today spend 57 minutes a day getting news from TV, radio or newspaper. They then spend another 13 getting news via the Web.

As Tom Rosenstiel points out in a commentary about the survey, this reinforces something our research from earlier in the year revealed – the notion that news consumers today are what we refer to as News Grazers — cutting across different platforms and outlets over the course of the day.  Fully 92% use multiple platforms daily (platforms, not just outlets). Close to half use four to six platforms daily.  And they are turning to multiple outlets in doing so.

So their methods and means of accessing news are expanding, not narrowing.

But how conscience are people of these choices, of why they turn to different platforms and outlets? Do they recognize why they turn to Keith Olberman at one point in time and the local television broadcast or newspaper website at another?

To try to get at this, we worked with the survey group to ask a new series of questions on the June survey regarding why people turn to certain news programs or outlets. What we see is educated selection.

Consumers understand differences among the various platforms and outlets within those platforms.

People go to CNN for the latest news and headlines, the Wall Street Journal mostly for in-depth reporting, NPR for a wide mix and the Daily Show for Entertainment. This may sound elementary, but it is a powerful finding.

What does this mean for communication managers and press relations people?

Content produced should not be platform agnostic but platform specific.  News Organ’s are beginning to understand this –using different voices, different styles and methods for telling the story. This applies to organizational communicators as well — being prepared to adapt your information, your news, to multiple platforms. A traditional print account might include a more in-depth explanation of the information while a PC-based version may have links to raw data or background information and a mobile version will be shorter with fewer graphical elements. Really, how many of you put together multiple releases for any one news item?

Just as you have multiple platforms today, information providers also have multiple audiences – the loyal followers that join your listerve or your e-letters, those that check in now and then and those that find your information or organization while searching the Web.  It is important to understand the value of what audiences can add. One development in the news media this year was a realization of the potential value embedded in those dreaded “comments sections” on the Web sites.  More news organizations are now devoting resources to digging into those comment to find the ones the value – and then using them for sources, story ideas and added insight about areas of coverage.

Finally, the social component in the flow of information today – the sharing, passing along and adding to reports – leads to another critical concept for all information providers: Information providers have much less control over what happens to information once it is released. This makes it all the more important for that information to be correct, verified and complete the first time it goes out.

In sum, understanding information in the 21^st Century means understanding, the new citizen, the function news plays in our lives and the multiple types of audience & content. We have a first level of understanding now. These are all areas that we at PEJ will continue to explore in 2011 and certainly beyond.

Happy holidays and wishing you all a wonderful 2011.

On February 9, 2009 I wrote a blog in which I cited the good: as in the courage shown by Captain Sullenberg in choosing to land his US Airways Flight #1549 in New York’s Hudson River, rather than risk the lives of his passengers; the bad: the poor taste shown by Dave Letterman in allowing impeached Governor of Illinois a national platform to rant about his innocence; and the madness of it all: the now infamous, Octuplet Mom.

Now come the new players in those categories…

The Good:

Trying a case in the media has most certainly been frowned upon, if not become downright illegal.  Well, a lawyer did just that in trying to save a single foreclosed home. Recognizing that fraud had been committed along the way of the foreclosure, she filed a suit against Bank of America with the hopes of exposing the fraud.  But she did not stop there.  She had the gumption to seek out media interest for the case.  She succeeded with NYT columnist Joe Nocera, who was equally outraged and got behind it.  So because of a dogged lawyer and a committed columnist with a heart, the fraud was exposed and the owner gets to stay in her home of 25 years. Hmmm, a feel good story and the power of the media…

The Bad:

Having a printed advertising section, fall out of a printed publication, has been around for a long time and is clearly recognized as an advertising supplement.  Not so with the latest iteration of it online. The venerable newspaper, The Washington Post, succumbed to a “content-as-advertisement strategy,” as seen in a specially paid advertising section, China Watch, on its site. However, it is so seamlessly embedded into the broader publication that it blends in and can be taken for straight news, since the structure is the same as other Post sections with its own sub-categories of content, like business, politics, opinion, and multimedia. The bylined stories can also be shared like all others, on Twitter or Facebook. The fact that China Watch is presented by China Daily, which is a government entity, which selects what it wants American readers to know regarding the latest and in-depth news and analysis about China’s business, society and culture, makes this section pure government propaganda, loosely disguised as news.  Tell that to the oblivious readers….

The Madness Of It All:

The madness of WikiLeaks… Not much more needs to be said, except to continue to wonder at how the outing of secret government cables was even possible, in the first place. It has put a chink in the trust and safety armor of the US Government. The embarrassment of it all is that this falls under the Freedom of Information Act, leaving the US Attorney General Eric Holder mulling over what possible laws exist that could accuse Assange of a crime – anything, maybe as strong as espionage, treason or whatever, but certainly not sexual assaults for which he is now incarcerated.  The real damage is yet to be assessed. The exposed cables have allies scurrying around to deny or disclaim diplomatic exchanges that are normally “behind the scenes” interchanges, but that are never open to public discourse.  I see the exposure of those secret cables as similar to the eavesdropping on diplomatic exchanges that are taken out of context, causing problems of enormous global proportions. Remember Ian McEwen’s Atonement novel/film where an eavesdropper causes disastrous results?

Of course, Assange has his defenders. Operation Payback is now on the prowl hacking into sites, threats of cyber wars are making headlines, as are promises of the release of more incriminating leaks if Assange is harmed. I do not believe that when our founding fathers gave us our constitutional inalienable right of free speech (now also information) that they ever considered the possibility that this very right could be turned against the very country that gave it as a gift to its people.

New laws need to be enacted or there will be more madness…