As I moderated this year’s annual media roundtable for Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR), I heard a number of familiar themes – keep pitches short, keep pitches relevant, know who you’re pitching. Some things will likely never change as public relations professionals look for better ways to engage traditional media.
What’s newer is the relative importance of press releases, social media engagement and paid versus earned.
Do you want to change behaviors for the benefit of society? You have some options. You can educate or inform people (“show me”). You can regulate or intervene legally (“make me”). Or to be effective with a much higher share of people, according to Nancy Lee at this weekend’s Social Marketing Conference, you can use social marketing approaches (“help me”) (see the Changing Citizen’s Behaviors infographic).
I had the pleasure of moderating the Media Relations in a Digital Age panel at Capitol Communicator’s PR Summit DC on June 10. Editors from USA Today, National Public Radio, The Washington Post and The Associated Press shared their perspectives on the growing challenges of reporting the news. Our discussion revolved around many aspects of news gathering and coverage from the very beginning of their news day to how social media impacts decision making.
There’s much more than social marketing expertise that drives Hager Sharp’s new CEO Jennifer Wayman. Find out more in this profile by Capitol Communicator: Getting to Know Jennifer Wayman
By Catherine Brown, MS, RDN, CDE
For those of us following the trends in health care reform, it seems like we have been discussing new models of care for years. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 had many provisions to allow for a health care system more focused on wellness than disease. The shift to patient-centered care has challenged old models of authoritative health care providers. Reimbursement is becoming more focused on quality and outcomes, rather than usage. However, like most things, change comes slowly. We are all still frustrated with aspects of our health care system: access to our providers, billing, communication among our specialists, and so on.