K Street Cafe

Wikipedia to Add New Level of Editorial Oversight (Mashable)
The largest free source encyclopedia is about to become more traditional by forcing user-editors to get approval from traditional editors over content changes to articles about living persons. Is this a fundamental shift to the Wikipedia philosophy, or a necessary step to assure that quality reigns over misinformation?

Advancing Reputations When Every Organization Is a Media Company (PR News Online)
In the absence of a traditional media filter — a reporter, an editor, a journalistic standard — the likelihood of damaging your companies reputation increases. Companies that can successfully harness social media though, can find it to be the ultimate reputation enhancer.

If your boss ever expresses skepticism about using social media, sit them down and show them this video:

Here’s the list of sources where they get their numbers.

By Chris Battle

In this month’s PRWeek, the oddly named monthly magazine, an article examines why “marketers struggle to gain consumer trust and interest with branded content.” First, let me offer a shout-out to the new monthly format of the magazine (if not the now-dated name). Having been a reader of both versions, when PRWeek was actually a weekly, the stories often seemed rushed and obligatory rather than thoughtful and analytical. The new version of the magazine – perhaps because the writers have more time to develop their stories – is a far more insightful, digging into tactics and strategies rather than merely publishing the latest news releases from PR firms touting a new business win. (more…)

Everyone these days wants a blog. Blogs are known to be the most frequently updated—and thus most visited—facet of Web sites, and often form the crux of an organization’s online impact. Few, however, realize just how time-consuming and difficult blogging is.

Indeed, running a blogging consists not only in penning posts, but also in corralling them from colleagues and possibly guest contributors, editing them, and promoting them—not to mention moderating and responding to comments. As such, when considering a group blog for your organization, the following questions may facilitate a decision. (more…)

Cross-published on e.politics

Plenty of people are already looking ahead to the outcome of the 2010 elections, in particular what happens to the Democrats’ control of Congress. The party of an incumbent President almost always loses seats in Washington in an off-year election, and with the Dems having just enough votes to stop a filibuster in the Senate, Republicans have a powerful incentive to stall Barack Obama’s agenda as long as possible: they know full well that these few months are likely the high point of his influence in his (presumably) first term.

But if you really want to see a shift in power in Washington for the next decade or longer, pay attention to who wins the STATE legislatures next November. The state representatives and state senators elected 15 months from now will preside over the rawest political act in America: the redrawing of congressional and legislative district lines based on the results of the decennial census. Redistricting is legislative sausage-making at its finest, with members jockeying to preserve or extend their own power-bases at the expense of enemies. In the process, they usually try to forward the overall interests of their particular party or faction as best they can.

(more…)

Huffington Post + Facebook = the Future of Journalism (Slate.com)
Huffington Post and Facebook recently announced a new feature called HuffPost Social News. This joint venture tracks what Huffington Post articles you and Facebook network are reading, commenting on, and voting on.

PR Advisers: Must-Have Components of an Effective Social Media Policy: Executive Sponsorship, Authenticity, Wiggle Room (PR News Online)
While the Marines have decided to ban all social media for one year due to security concerns, a group of PR experts recommend a few ways to make your social media policy rock solid.

Cultivating a Culture of Engagement That Translates Externally (PR News Online)
Social Media has not only become crucial for external communications, it is now an effective tool for internal communications.

Reality Check: Obama Launches Health Care Reform Website (Mashable)
As more and more health care rumors circulate, the Obama Administration has decided to become involved. The Whitehouse web site, called “Reality Check”, tackles six alleged health care myths.

Contests and Giveaways Move To New, Fast Terrain of Twitter (Wall Street Journal)
Contests have always been a reliable source to drum up interest in a company. Now, with social media becoming mainstream, businesses are taking advantage of free advertising and building brand awareness with Twitter campaigns.

The New Search War: Google vs Facebook (Mashable)
With Facebook’s purchase of Friendfeed, they are now positioning themselves as the leaders in real-time and social data search options. Should Google, which just announced a new infrastructure project aimed at speeding up its indexing time, be worried?

As you might have guessed from the big graphic to the left, the “Learning from Obama: Lessons for Online Communicators in 2009 and Beyond” article series (which ran here on K Street Cafe) is finally edited into convenient e-book (PDF) format, just in time for last week’s Netroots Nation panel discussion on the same topic.

The promo campaign’s kicking into high gear now, and I’m trying to get this sucker into the hands of as many journalists, bloggers, Twitterers, texters, smoke-signalers and flat-out political junkies as possible. I’d owe y’all bigtime for anything you can do to help get it in front of interested eyes. Makes a great beach read for your entire communications department!

The useful thing about doing it as a PDF is that OpenOffice (which I used for the layout) neatly kept all the links in place, so it connects instantly to supporting materials around the ‘net and on the e.politics site itself, giving the thing a lot more depth. Plus, I picked a font that’s easy to read on the sand…

– cpd

Public Relations Leads Social Media Engagement At Most Organizations (Fox Business)
The 2009 Digital Readiness Report, a study conducted by online newsroom provider iPressroom, shows that social media savvy is gaining ground on traditional media expertise as skills coveted by clients.

Small firms rake in big business along K Street (The Hill)
Small, boutique lobbying and public relations firms are having an easier time finding new business than the larger shops by offering a larger bang for your buck and having all staff work on accounts, including senior management.

For Companies, a Tweet in Time Can Avert PR Mess (Wall Street Journal)
As more and more consumers join social networks, businesses are finding that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are good ways not only gauge consumer interest, but to also “avert potential public relations problems.”

Washington’s Lobbyists Change Their Tactics (Business Week)
The Beltway Lobbyist is not disappearing, they are just evolving. Lobbyists are turning into “Strategic Advisors”, a position that does not force them to register, but maintain their influence on policy and politics.