 Local government is the poster child for a sector hiding its light under a bushel – and it’s time for it to shine. Many residents and ratepayers rate their councils lowly. We know that because even the councils say it. I have checked in on some of the community engagement statistics for various councils, and there is nothing to write home about.
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 When someone signs up to your email newsletter regard it as one of the biggest compliments you will receive in business. But watch out, winning people’s trust and business via email is getting harder. Greater regulation, concerns about privacy and our frenetic Attention Economy means you will need to deploy all your communications nous to cut through the media noise.  Authentic communication is a noble and righteous endeavour. But being authentic has to be more than a company catch phrase. There needs to be a real connection between how an organisation speaks about its endeavours and what it does in practice. How do you feel, for instance, when you see a stunningly shot commercial with a moving story, only to find the ad is flogging insurance? It jars. Be it corporate social responsibility or social purpose, connecting brands with deeper meaning has become a busy marketplace. As such, there is a widening gulf between those companies that are making a heartfelt connection with audiences and those that are essentially engaged in a cynical marketing exercise. Risks run high for schools and those in education sector that do not have a communications strategy25/3/2018  Education professionals are our unsaluted warriors. Politicians, C-suite executives and celebrities moan how hard their jobs have become because of these busier and more complex times lived under the spotlight of social media. I wonder how they would fare on the front line of education. Consider our headmasters, teachers and staff who are increasingly under siege as they try to shepherd Generation Now through a battery of internal and external attacks. Not too long ago, communications and marketing teams at schools could focus on building a school’s brand and delivering basic messaging. Now, every day presents a challenge.  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: algorithm changes say "like me". Picture: pestoverde Have you noticed the world spinning a tad slower since the Facebook algorithm changes? My feed has more personally relevant posts now and less noise from those outside my inner circle. That was the intention when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that users’ posts and engagement would gain greater prominence at the expense of “public posts from businesses, brands and media”. Facebook wants to favour content that prompts conversation and users’ active participation rather than stuff that just gets liked for the heck of it, including previously popular video. Sounds like less cats and more discussion touchpoints. Already, time on Facebook has dropped marginally - and Zuck seems fine about that. At times, my news feed resembled more an eclectic mish-mash of news and product information than a space for personal interactions with buddies. But these changes have challenged the approach of many content marketers who had crafted strategies for clients around social media, especially Facebook, as well as media players who embraced distributing news via the platform. To be fair, though, users will be asked to indicate media they trust, which may improve the ranking of those outlets.  Power of print: despite media fragmentation, small publishers are buoyant about the future. Big media has defined the public impression about print - closures, sell-outs, layoffs and dwindling profitability. But in the world of small publishers it is actually a far more positive scene. Community newspapers, which comprise the overwhelming number of newspapers across the world, tell a different story to the big media’s narrative of How Digital Killed Print. The small newspaper market faces similar challenges from media fragmentation, but the strong appetite for hyperlocal news means the local paper continues to provide a great sales and marketing environment. Take New Zealand.  When quarterly circulation figures next ping the email boxes of newspaper publishers, it is likely to be another sea of red. I am old enough that I recall those days as an editor when you could experience the adrenalin rush of a circulation spike. No such thing today. In the past five years, moderate decline, say negative one to three per cent, is as good as it gets. The romantic in us wants to believe newspaper decline will plateau. There is no evidence of this. However, there are seven big mistakes that newspapers regularly make that are killing them. Avoid them, and you can make print stronger for longer.  The good news: Donald Trump has given publishers, including The New York Times, a renewed sense of purpose. If you are in media and feeling light-headed, take a deep breath - you have been working in the most disrupted of industries. You deserve a beer or something harder. Now sit down. Because I have encouraging news for you - as well as same trends to consider from my recent sabbatical in New York. What you do not want to hear is that the pace of change will continue as it has been. It won’t. It will multiply - that’s according to everyone at the forefront of change. The good news for media is that clear paths have emerged. The fog of uncertainty has lifted around paywalls, on how best to fund journalism and on where Facebook and Google fit into the media equation - well, sort of. Media folk also have a lot to thank Donald J Trump for - because he has re-stoked the fires of quality journalism. In short, for the first time in years, the media has reason to feel optimistic. I spent two weeks in New York visiting established and new media players, as well as attending the International News Media Association (INMA) world congress. During an INMA-run study tour I visited iconic media, including The New York Times (NYT), Dow Jones, Bloomberg and Google. I visited start-ups Playbuzz and established digital companies such as Chartbeat and Nativo. Some of the deepest insights came from talking with media executives. I spent time with delegates from the US, Germany, China, India, Latin America, South Africa, Finland, Norway, Sweden. Gee, even Australians and Kiwis. What were the themes? I shared a bunch in a blog aimed at communications teams and those wanting to craft their own DIY Newsroom™. Here I zone on what is of relevance to the news industry and those keen for solutions. So let’s roll. |
AuthorStuart Howie is a Canberra-based communications consultant. He has worked with organisations, private and public, in Australia and New Zealand, helping them to discover, shape and tell their stories. He is the author of The DIY Newsroom, which won Social Media Book of the Year at the Australian Business Book Awards. Stuart has worked in media, publishing and communications for more than 30 years as an executive, editor and strategist. 
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Stuart Howie | Canberra's most insightful communications consultant
