The Vancouver Sun Archives - AHA Creative Strategies

Are You Listening?

There is a very interesting article in The Vancouver Sun today that cites a survey done by 6S Marketing. According to the survey, 61% of companies using social media are tracking what is being said about them while 39% don’t pay attention.

Social media is hitting critical mass – and as I mentioned in previous posts, one of the underlying themes at the Ragan Social Media Conference in Vegas last week was that social media is now a part of everyday life for the majority of people. My question is to that 39% not paying attention – why aren’t you? There may be conversations happening online at this very moment about your brand – don’t you want to know what is being said?

Every negative comment provides a chance to learn what your clients/customers/stakeholders/communities are thinking and saying about your organization and it allows you to understand their expectations and needs in an authentic way. There is so much to learn from what is being discussed openly and honestly online. It surprises me when I hear that some organizations and people aren’t listening. Active listening has always been one of the key tools in a communicator’s belt – so why not use this super powered tool that we have been given?

I was watching the late news on Friday night and saw a story on the challenges that CTVglobemedia is facing. The Vancouver Sun has a good article on what the media giant is dealing with. Being a media junkie and a communicator, I have been watching the shift in the media for quite some time – but on Friday, it really hit me that the news business is in trouble and not just in Canada. Denver’s Rocky Mountain News closed its doors on Friday. According to many reports, there are a lot of other print papers in economic trouble – including the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune.

The recession has certainly hurt all of these media outlets. The big advertisers aren’t buying what they were and everyone is being affected by cut backs in spending.

For some of these media conglomerates, like CTVglobemedia, there are other issues that are facing, including the cost of doing business in the face of growing cable networks. These are big issues and ones that these companies and the CRTC need to find a way to solve to everyone’s satisfaction and benefit.

There is another point that I think isn’t being covered as much and I believe it has had a huge impact on mainstream media – it’s the online world. The Internet has changed everything. People want to be communicated with differently now and this is a challenge for some of the big news organizations. When we had Kirk LaPointe of The Vancouver Sun in as a guest speaker to one of our Conversation Over Coffee sessions earlier this year, he spoke quite candidly on the topic. I think Kirk really “gets it” and is focused on finding a new paradigm for media. But they aren’t there yet, in part because the audience is still evolving and discovering what and how we want it – when it comes to receiving and sharing information online.

While it has taken more than a decade, the majority of us turn to the Internet for news, information and connection. There are more opportunities now for an organization to share information. Your story might not make it onto the television broadcast or in the newspaper, but it might be covered online. And of course, it isn’t just mainstream media that puts out news and information now – bloggers, people on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube are all sources that people turn to. There are great opportunities to reach out and tell a story through other channels, often channels that provide an opportunity for feedback, conversation and an authentic connection.

I read a lot of blogs and I love them. But I can usually tell if a blog writer has a journalism background without reading their bio. There is a recognizable approach to reporting and writing that trained journalists bring to their work.

Journalists are an important part of how we hear about what is going on in the world and they are crucial in our society. A great journalist can bring clarity to a complex situation. Well researched articles that are thought out and provide an unbiased context are invaluable.

I worked at Maclean’s for a long time and while I still look forward to receiving the hard copy magazine each week, I don’t wait. I am online checking it out, along with about a dozen other mainstream media, a whole lot of blogs, and other online publications. My Twitter feed (I use Twitterpod) sits on my desktop and I watch information roll as I work. I think it is going to take people like Kirk to help lead mainstream media into a sustainable business model – and I hope it happens sooner than later. Good journalism is an important component of an informed society. And as a communicator, I am a big fan of a community that has access to a range of information from a variety of sources.

Yesterday we hosted the first of what we hope will be a series of events focused on social/online media topics. We were very fortunate to have Kirk LaPointe, Managing Editor of The Vancouver Sun, as our guest speaker. (If you didn’t get an invite to this one, please don’t worry. Because of the small size of the events, we aren’t able to include everyone…but we haven’t forgotten you, I promise. We will invite you to the next one. If you want to make sure you are on the next invite, send me an email at ruth@ahacreative.com.)

Kirk participates online. He has a blog, he has been engaged and involved for quite some time and is a driving force at the Sun in their online evolution. Kirk is insightful and his experience as a media executive (he has worked in print and broadcast) gives an interesting and highly valuable perspective on how media and journalism are changing in response to Web 2.0.

We had a group of about 25 senior communicators and their CEOs in attendance – a bright and early morning with a 7:30 am start, I might add. It was a room full of smart, experienced business people that are genuinely interested in understanding how our professional (and personal) lives are changing.

Kirk has a healthy balance of skepticism and a desire to authentically communicate, peppered with a solid sense of humour and an appreciation of the absurd. He has embraced social media, but he sees its challenges, its flaws and its potential, and he is realistic about it. I found his candor inspiring and refreshing – and his presentation and the following group discussion provided me with some great food for thought.

The discussion continued long after Kirk had headed back to the newsroom and our guests had left. We thought it would be interesting to share the points that Kirk made that resonated with us. For those of you that were able to attend, please feel free to tell us what you found of interest or of value and what you might like to hear about in future Bridging Two Worlds Conversation Over Coffee. (Or, as some of you suggested, calling it Connecting Over Chardonnay, Meetings Over Merlot, Brainstorms Over Bourbon…really, we got it!)

Some of the points that hit home for us:

– I was excited when Kirk touched on the opportunity in the future to “customize” news and information for specific audiences. This is an approach that makes sense to me. Rather than reach out to a huge audience and hope that someone in there is interested, creating a reason for those that are interested to connect seems like a much more effective, efficient – and valuable approach. Along with this is another point that Kirk made, it all comes down to content – interesting content. Whether it is entertaining, informative, controversial or inspiring, it has to be accurate and authentic and it needs to be well written, no matter what the medium. When I think about the opportunity that organizations have to open a conversation with individuals or groups; to extend their communities; to create a connection with people that provides an open, interactive, two-way discussion; or in the case of Twitter – more than a two-way discussion, it energizes me. (Ruth Atherley, AHA)

– I particularly liked his recommendation to communicators “don’t spin – be transparent.” I also liked his view on newspapers of the future (hard copies) – that they are already evolving into a medium that provides more analytical views versus just presenting the news (because it is not new to most readers by the time their newspapers land on their door steps)! Newspapers will become “viewspapers.” (Patsy Worrall, QUAY)

– I was very interested in their plans for using a wiki to let readers help report on some specific news items in the future. When I put that into context around how we work with clients to help them to engage their stakeholder communities both internally and externally, I think that it supports the idea that there is great value in inclusive and collaborative approaches. There is a great deal of talent and knowledge out there (in the world and in organizations) that goes untapped and unacknowledged. Wiki technology allows us to connect with this expertise and create a positive and valuable experience through collaboration. (Paul Holman, AHA)

– I was very interested in hearing Kirk’s perspective of the future of newspapers online. Specifically, the pay-per-use feature where people could have access to all the information that gets sent to media (I’m an information junkie). Or rather than pay-per-use, the possibility that certain companies could sponsor a specific section (i.e. Nike and the sports section). Another interesting point was the possibility of wiki-articles online where experts in a certain field would be encouraged to “add-on” to an article. And finally, I was surprised to hear that newspapers write their content for the web first and then for the hard copy. (Fareedah Rasoul Kim, QUAY)

– I think that the part that resonated with me most was how Kirk spoke of the evolution of the online world. As he said, we are hard-wired to read paper. Looking at a computer screen all day is not conducive to our nature and he feels that in the future we will be reading from digital ink. I thought that this was a really interesting juxtaposition between what we are traditionally used to and what we have become accustomed to. It will be interesting to see, in a couple of years, if such a thing comes to fruition.

I loved the term he used in reference to linking to other sites – Link Economy. The name says it all and as online media continues to become more prevalent, we will want this easy access to other sites to help reference the topic of interest. (Julie Owen, QUAY)

– I really enjoyed how Kirk spoke about the opportunity journalists have to become a reliable and collaborative source for reporting online. Bloggers can be motivated by their own interest or a rumour they heard “somewhere.” I am reassured knowing that journalists who write online adhere to the highest standards of reporting and are being encouraged (by people like Kirk) to link and collaborate with other news agencies and reporters. It will result in a higher calibre of reporting and information available online. (Julia Cameron, QUAY)

– Kirk’s point about recognizing other media (your competition) and sources for good information resonated with me. You can only do that if you come from a position of confidence and strength. Sharing of knowledge and information is the way of the online world and is now transcending into mainstream. It reminded me of the old movie – Miracle on 34th Street when the Macy’s Santa starts recommending customers go to the competition and how that led to more business and a good reputation for Macy’s. That movie was made in 1947. We have always believed in friendly competition. Life is too short to live any other way.

I also was intrigued by the movement of media into the world of databases. Public sector salaries, parking tickets….what could be next?

It is great to have people like Kirk at the helm of our major daily papers. He truly demonstrates the transparency, candor and forward thinking the business needs to survive. (Della Smith, QUAY)