Resources supporting “Success With The Media,” a groundbreaking new book on media relations, organizational dysfunction, and marketing from national award-winning media relations specialist Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.
Contact me at leonardsipes@gmail.com.
Why This List?
If you are like me, you have limited time, but you need access to the best sources and materials. There are a limited number of sites devoted to interacting with the news media thus the reason for this site and book.
Resources will be amended as necessary. The vast majority of links provide either free or reasonably priced services or information.
If you have suggestions or additions, please contact me at leonardsipes@gmail.com.
What’s below is what works for me, and it’s taken years to develop. It’s not exhaustive nor is it meant to be. It’s my “go-to” guide for resources I either use, recommend, or find indispensable.
Please note that I’m not reimbursed in any way for the inclusion of any site. They are here because they are relevant to our needs.
Media Relations Has Changed
Media relations has taken on a greatly expanded definition. We now create our own content and control our own destinies. The days when we were subject level experts, spoke to the media, and did a bit of marketing are over.
We need to understand emerging technologies and new ways to communicate. The landscape is changing rapidly and it’s up to us to change with it. Content creation is now the heart and soul of public communications. Social media doesn’t exist without great content to support it.
The problem is that content creation (audio, video, photos, writing, websites, social media, graphics) and marketing can be exhausting. We need quick and simple tools to get the job done. Most products are created by public affairs staff and subject level experts, not trained content professionals. Like our friends in the media, we now have to do it all.
A few organizations have analytics, content creators, and marketers by the score. But for the vast majority of companies, government organizations, nonprofits and charities will find the resources below immensely useful.
How the List is Divided:
The list is divided into five categories:
- Daily Reading and Reliable Resources
- Content Creation
- Social Media
- Emergency Management
- Sites of trusted associates.
Yes, there is an overlap for all five.
Daily Reading and Reliable Resources
Resources For Dealing With or Understanding The Media
I wrote this article because materials on media relations are sparse. Surprisingly, when it comes to talking to reporters, there are few great resources.
Most “media” related resources spend the majority of their time focusing on social media or the PR disaster of the day, not mainstream media relations or tips on interacting with staff or reporters.
Recommendations
Sources focusing on interacting with the news media are few. My recommendations include:
The Public Relations Society of America is America’s premier media relations and PR site. Their newsletter is part of my daily reading.
There are organizations that provide media assistance to individual sectors. For example, I belonged to the National Association of Government Communicators, and I found their resources both welcomed and useful. Similar organizations represent health care, colleges, businesses and other institutions. Search “public affairs” or “public relations” and the sector you represent to see if an organization exists for your sector.
Additional documents and groups to consider:
The Federal Communicators Network is a wonderfully useful group for government communicators.
The Barcelona Principles is a set of seven principles that provide the first overarching framework for effective public relations (PR) and communication measurement.
The Federal Communicators Guide (it’s dated but remains useful).
If you are interested in emergency management, or media relations in general, the website at the Federal Emergency Management Agency has useful resources. Search “public affairs” or “media guide” or related terms to access a variety of materials from style guides to emergency plans (see “public affairs support annex”) to a media event planning guide.
Best Sources for Information on the Media
If you want to understand the news media, there are useful resources. In my opinion, the best are:
Newman Lab at http://www.niemanlab.org (on my daily reading list)
Pew Research Center Journalism Project at http://www.journalism.org/ (on my daily reading list)
Encyclo, the future of news from the Neiman Lab at http://www.niemanlab.org/encyclo/
The Columbia Journalism School at https://journalism.columbia.edu/
The Journalist Toolbox from the Society of Professional Journalists (sources for reporters) is available at http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/
Media/PR Code of Conduct
The Society of Professional Journalists’ latest code of ethics is linked here. It’s is voluntary and not all journalists are aware of it. I have found it useful when I have issues with individual journalists, see http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp.
Best Daily Reading on Media Relations, Technology, and Social Media
The choices regarding daily reading on media relations, technology, and social media are overwhelming and the list below represents a small fraction of what’s available.
I’m unaware of a daily publication solely devoted to media relations, but I’m sure that the publishers of a variety of newsletters will object to my observation.
For news about the media, I read the Neiman Lab and the Pew Research Center Journalism Project daily newsletters (mentioned above).
My everyday list includes Marketing Charts for simple, up-to-date research on professional marketing and Search Engine Land for digital communications.
Marketing Charts at http://www.marketingcharts.com/ (on my daily list)
Search Engine Land at http://searchengineland.com/ (on my daily list)
Favorites:
CNET at http://www.cnet.com/
PC Magazine at http://www.pcmag.com/
Mashable at http://mashable.com/ (home to the best basic guides on social media)
PR Insider at http://www.prnewsonline.com/category/topics/pr-insiders/
Google Alerts for Speciality Topics
Develop Google Alerts for every topic you are interested in, see https://www.google.com/alerts. Google Alerts is part of my daily reading and I use it for mentions of the organizations I represent and when I’m interested in specialty topics.
Just note that Google Alerts is not going to “alert” you to every mention of your organization. It has a habit of notifying me as to mentions in a small newsletter but misses an article containing my name on the front page of the Washington Post. Daily searches for what interests you is necessary.
Google Alerts is, however, wonderful for alerting me to topics I’m interested in. You have the choice of daily or less frequent notifications.
Best Source for Online News/Journalism
Online News Association at http://journalists.org/
Best Tech Podcasts
The best podcasts on technology are from “This Week in Tech” at http://twit.tv/ . TWIT brings you into contact with some of the best subject level experts in technology and emerging media. It also provides us with examples as to how we should conduct our podcasts with a focus on being entertaining as well as being informative. The TWIT network provides approximately 30 television and radio (audio and video) shows a week. There are hundreds of additional tech podcasts.
Best Sources for Daily Reading on Social Media
The section on social media is below but I’m addressing daily reading here. Requesters ask for guidance as to social media reach, audience, demographics, and insight. The best source for everything mentioned is the Pew Research Center for Internet, Science, and Tech. You can spend a lifetime with other publications but the majority of the lessons you need to know come from the two links below from Pew.
Don’t forget the previously mentioned Marketing Charts and Search Engine Land publications; they can provide insight that may not be labeled “social” but provide powerful perspectives when comparing one source of communication to another.
The Pew Research Center (provides a broader perspective) at http://www.pewresearch.org/
Social Media Today is a favored spot when I have time at http://www.socialmediatoday.com/
Content Creation
Purchase Success With The Media at https://web.archive.org/web/20230215123618/https://www.amazon.com/dp/151948965X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_KYA2TF9EHZNAJ6790PS5
Content creation has become a mandatory part of our jobs. The good news is that we are creating websites, taking great photos, and making better-than-average audio and video with smartphones and simple tools. We are truly part of a revolution that does not involve years of specialized study. It’s not easy, but with instruction, remote courses (see Lynda.Com or the Mac University or YouTube) it is doable.
Sources of Training
Most of us in media relations are subject level experts who migrated into public relations and marketing years ago, or are transplants from the media. To be effective at media relations via content creation, we need training. You can wait months for your organization to foot the bill, or you can spend endless hours teaching yourself, or you can go to LinkedIn Training (used to be Lynda.Com).
LinkedIn Training is a great, reasonably priced service that’s wonderful for those learning their platforms, see https://www.linkedin.com/learning/me?trk=lynda_direct_learning. Their video courses are designed for people with and without technical backgrounds.
For Apple products, courses are inexpensive and superb through The Mac University via the Mac App Store. I taught myself FinalCut Pro from these videos.
I used YouTube for learning about my new Canon digital video camera and I was able to find a variety of useful resources.
Best Source for Information on Blogging
ProBlogger at http://www.problogger.net/
Best Source of Information on Writing for the Web
Copy Blogger at http://www.copyblogger.com
Best Source for Designing Promotional Materials
Try Canva (yes, the link works) for flyers, brochures, banners, letterhead, and everything else, https://www.canva.com/
Best Video Production Sources
YouTube has been described as the world’s second-largest search engine. They have a wealth of products on video.
Video Maker is your best source for video creation at http://www.videomaker.com/
Moviola is another good resource at http://moviola.com/
Steve Garfield is a personal favorite; he’s a consultant but he’s one of the best in the business at making video simple at http://stevegarfield.com/Site/Welcome.html.
Vimeo provides a reasonably priced place to store and share videos and has a nice film school, see https://vimeo.com/
Best Audio/Podcast Production Resources
I was offering radio and television shows on the internet before the term “podcasting” became part of our media lives. I created the first state and federal podcasts with multiple national and regional awards.
There are a considerable number of articles addressing the rise of the popularity of audio podcasts.
Transom is a great resource for doing audio “right” (think National Public Radio). See www.transom.org.
Great basic checklist from Transom for doing audio interviews at http://transom.org/2013/the-basics/
Good article from Transom on audio equipment at http://transom.org/2015/podcasting-basics-part-1-voice-recording-gear/
A great resource for setting up a studio and learning about recording is available from ACX (associated with Amazon) at http://www.acx.com/help/video-lessons-resources/200672590 . The site focuses on audio book recordings but the lessons are universal. See the site for great and simple guides to audio recording.
Adam Weiss is a personal favorite, he a consultant but he’s good at http://www.podcastconsultant.net/.
iTunes offers guidance on podcasts at https://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html
Creating a podcast with Audacity and ITunes is available at http://www.bumc.bu.edu/medicine/files/2010/06/CreatingAnMP3WithAudacity.pdf
The Podcaster’s Studio is at http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=5e3a957534e59ad5f2e832688&id=d732f28435&e=c223cfed74
Fixing messy audio at http://www.videomaker.com/article/c4/17125-five-ways-to-fix-messy-audio?utm_source=enews&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article2_2016_wed_03_16&utm_campaign=traffic
A respected source is the Podcast Answer man at https://www.cliffravenscraft.com/
Analytics
Figuring out the impact of your digital efforts challenges many major corporations, so why shouldn’t it drive you crazy as well? From my reading of Marketing Charts, it seems that most PR executives are not overwhelmingly pleased with their very expensive analytical tools as to judging the impact of their efforts. Efficient ROI, or return on investment, still escapes most.
For the vast majority of us, we use Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics/), WordPress, or other blog data and server statistics.
Just note that there is a considerable difference between the numbers Google Analytics provides and what server statistics offer. Server statistics always seem to return much higher numbers even when subtracting robot data. There are articles explaining why.
News Media and Social Media Monitoring
We used to get copies of newspapers and physically clip articles, package them, and mail them out. I started a service using women inmates in a maximum-security prison to do our newspaper clippings and analyzing news coverage and bringing items of importance to our attention. They were very good. Commercial services once taped television shows in your market and offered physical copies by mail. We also copied news shows via DVR. We listened to radio news during our morning drives.
For an overview of media monitoring, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_monitoring_service. Today, monitoring is a digital process that includes newspapers, television, radio, and website-social media analysis.
A good, basic guide is available at http://www.cyberalert.com/downloads/media_monitoring_whitepaper.pdf
Most of us use Google Alerts and search engines for media stories and social monitoring. Above, I stated that Google Alerts is only moderately accurate and the use of daily search is recommended. Twitter has a variety of applications (including hashtags) that will allow you to keep track of your tweets and those mentioning your organization. Hashtags are now a common resource for most sites. Same with ‘what’s trending.”
There are a multitude of media and social media monitoring services available, simply search the term. But like the opening paragraph to Analytics Software, many in PR do not see them as comprehensively effective; there is slippage, and they are expensive.
Stock Photography
There are now dozens of sites offering stock photography and video and I suggest that you Google “stock photography” or “stock video” and make your own decisions. All I can suggest is that iStockPhoto is probably the best of the bunch. Yes, you can get visuals cheaper elsewhere but the time that it takes to sift through multiple services will make you wish you just stuck with iStock at http://www.istockphoto.com/.
Some additional resources to consider:
http://www.digitalimagemagazine.com/featured-article/25-free-stock-photo-sites/
Stock Video
Same as for stock photos (above). My current favorite is VideoBlocks at http://www.videoblocks.com/
Some resources to consider:
http://www.videobrewery.com/blog/9-splendid-sites-for-stock-video
Where to Put Your Video
YouTube, the world’s second-largest search engine at https://www.youtube.com/
Vimeo provides a reasonably priced place to store and share videos without the restrictions on YouTube, see https://vimeo.com/ You can share to multiple platforms.
WordPress can handle your audio and video, see https://wordpress.com/ and https://wordpress.org/ but note that they have to be hosted on a server you pay for.
iTunes can distribute your audio and video podcasts at https://www.apple.com/itunes/ but again, you have to store them on a service or server.
Note that social media sites are challenging YouTube for video dominance. There are an endless array of new services for video, and dozens of new sites incorporating video into their everyday offerings plus apps that aggregate video feeds based on your location. Video and video news is exploding and few know how it will play out.
In the social media section, you will notice new video and live streaming platforms. Some suggest that video “is” the new social media.
Where to Put Your Audio
Soundcloud is reasonably priced for unlimited uploads, see https://soundcloud.com/
WordPress can handle your audio and video, see https://wordpress.com/ and https://wordpress.org/
iTunes can handle your audio and video podcasts at https://www.apple.com/itunes/
Note that some are placing their audio on YouTube and incorporating photos or video.
Best Place to Buy Equipment
You can buy equipment from anywhere and the Apple Store has a great reputation (https://www.apple.com/contact/) but if you need to talk to experts who will tell you what you need to buy, and more importantly, what you don’t need to buy, B&H Photo and Adrama are your best bets for both service and price.
Adorama (yes, the link works) at http://www.adorama.com/
B&H at http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
Best Blogging/Website Platforms
The world’s largest source for blogs and websites at https://wordpress.com/ and https://wordpress.org/.
Blogger from Google is at https://www.blogger.com
SquareSpace promises an easier experience for the price of regular website hosting at http://www.squarespace.com/.
Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com
There are additional resources, search for blogging and website platforms.
Best Source for Promotional Material
If you need business cards, signs, banners or coffee mugs, see Vista Print at http://www.vistaprint.com/
Best Sources for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Your best source for SEO is the previously mentioned Search Engine Land at http://searchengineland.com/. Just realize that every time I examine SEO, the rules seem to change. Be prepared for a wild and confusing ride.
Google’s Matt Cutts at https://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ suggests that creating great content is the key to getting your materials noticed. Matt is correct but there are other things you can do (mobile, key words, sitemaps, site load speed) that can enhance the possibility of your material being found and shared.
There was an article in Search Engine Land stating that ninety percent of all websites get thirty or fewer unique views a day. If true, it suggests that gaining visits and page views can be immensely difficult if you operate a site not connected to traditional advertising or established sites or issues.
E-Mail Services
There are multiple sources for e-mail services (Google the term) but for most of us, we use Mail Chimp or Aweber. Mail Chimp will let you create lists for free and populate with your e-mail contacts. You begin paying their fees when you start using the service to do mailings.
Some use Microsoft Outlook for mass e-mail distribution but it’s buggy and cumbersome.
Mail Chimp at http://mailchimp.com/
Aweber at http://www.aweber.com/
Book Promotions and Publishing
Get Your Word’s Worth (free book from Amazon as to publishing and marketing-amazingly useful regardless as to its age) at https://csp-mw-landing.s3.amazonaws.com/BookPromotioneBook.pdf.
Amazon Kindle Publishing at https://kdp.amazon.com/
CreateSpace at https://www.createspace.com/
Note that just about every book I’ve read on self-publishing indicates that it’s very hard to make a profit.
Social Media
Purchase Success With The Media at https://web.archive.org/web/20230215123618/https://www.amazon.com/dp/151948965X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_KYA2TF9EHZNAJ6790PS5
Basic Guides to Social Media
It seems that every dog has its day when it comes to social media. It’s impossible to create guides because it changes every day. It’s never the same. What works today will be challenged tomorrow.
If you are looking for data on social media, Google the term, just be prepared for things to change.
You don’t have to be on all platforms. Some sites are more attractive to targeted demographics than others. Don’t develop a social media presence without having the ability to create content; lots of it.
The social landscape is changing rapidly with demographics favoring one site over another. Per Pew, you can get a significantly different social experience on the same topic so if you are analyzing public response to issues, it pays to review multiple sites.
Facebook organizational pages are distributing a small percentage of posts to your audience for free. If you want full distribution, you have to pay.
The lessons? Don’t put all your eggs in one basket and continue to develop your e-mail lists while making the best use of multiple social media platforms. If you have a budget, consider paid advertising. Facebook works remarkably well for many businesses.
My social media strategy is to focus on relevant groups that reside in every platform. A focus on groups has increased referrals to my websites considerably.
In the list below, I rely on Mashable because they provide the best, simple guides.
Suggested Introductory Articles
75 social media sites you need to know in 2020 is available at https://influencermarketinghub.com/social-media-sites/
A basic guide to social media from Mashable at http://mashable.com/2012/06/12/social-media-beginners-guide/
TicTok
A beginners guide to TicTok from Mashable at https://mashable.com/article/how-to-use-tiktok/
Hashtags
A guide to hashtags from Mashable at http://mashable.com/2013/10/08/what-is-hashtag/
Mashable’s basic guide to Twitter at http://mashable.com/2012/06/05/twitter-for-beginners/
Tumblr
More than a basic guide to Tumblr from Mashable at http://mashable.com/2012/06/03/the-beginners-guide-to-tumblr/
StumbleUpon
A beginners guide to StumbleUpon at http://mashable.com/2013/02/27/stumbleupon-for-beginners/
Mashable’s basic guide to Facebook at http://mashable.com/2012/05/16/facebook-for-beginners/
Redditt
Mashable’s guide is available at http://mashable.com/2012/06/06/reddit-for-beginners/
YouTube
YouTube at http://youtube.com/yt/playbook/guides.html
Snap Chat
SnapChat at https://www.convertwithcontent.com/quick-dirty-guide-snapchat-marketing/
LinkedIn at http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-things-linkedin-wont-tell-you-2015-01-30?page=1
How to Use Pinterest for Beginners from PC Magazine at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2418047,00.asp
How to use Instagram for beginners from Mashable at http://mashable.com/2012/05/29/instagram-for-beginners/
A beginner’s guide to Whatsapp at from the Huffington Post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/20/what-is-whatsapp_n_4822727.html
Sites From Trusted Associates
Purchase Success With The Media at https://web.archive.org/web/20230215123618/https://www.amazon.com/dp/151948965X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_KYA2TF9EHZNAJ6790PS5
Cherry Bonachita created the cover for “Success With The Media,” she is at https://cherrybonachita.wordpress.com/. Cherry is a virtual assistant who does everything you need as to conducting business in the digital world.
Rob Winehold and The Fallston Group specializes in PR, training, marketing and crisis management at http://www.fallstongroup.com/
Kitty’s Wooley runs Senior Fellows and Friends, an innovative think tank for performance change within government. She previously held senior positions leading innovation and change at the US Department of Education. Her LinkedIn site is https://www.linkedin.com/in/kitty.
