Stories by Matthew Schwartz

Our Water Cooler item the other day regarding some of the words to avoid in press releases generated instant feedback. However, a few communications professionals asked us to flip the notion, and offer some words that will get journalists to read your press releases rather than delete them.

Sure, creating killer content is essential for communicators looking to boost their brand’s awareness via Google. But there are nuances for how to shape the content so it caters to Google’s algorithm and generates better rankings.

Depending on how the games unfold there may be a direct or even circuitous way for companies to affiliate themselves with the World Cup.

Score one for analog? Sure, social media is all the rage right now among companies of all stripes. But print media was cited as the second most trusted media source, according to a recent study conducted by PR News and Cision, right behind traditional media venues online.

One of the inherent strengths among PR professionals is writing. Nothing like, good, clean copy, in which the message is crystalline and jargon-free. But we all succumb to clichés, particularly when it comes to how to describe the PR industry.

I love Yelp. Not because I’m a foodie or a big restaurant goer, but for its reviews. Whatever the establishment—whether it’s a new Bobby Flay creation or garden-variety diner—you can easily find wildly divergent views of the same restaurant, which makes for some entertaining reading. For one person, the meal is so deliciously good that […]

When celebrities apologize for bad behavior or hateful language, sometimes it seems like they’re more sorry for getting caught. Not so Jonah Hill. Last weekend, Hill was caught video using a gay slur
directed at a paparazzo, and on Tuesday the actor went on “The Tonight Show” to face the music head-on.

“Nobody reads anymore.” The comment was invoked Tuesday morning during PR News’ Social Media Summit (with a Taste of Tech). And while the statement betrays a slight exaggeration, there’s little doubt that visual storytelling is starting to encroach on the written word when it comes to the most effective way to get your messages out.

Don’t lose the day job, 50 Cent. The rapper, also known as Curtis Jackson, tossed out the first pitch at Citi Field Tuesday night. If you can call it that. But it was all in good fun, a circuitous reminder for communicators and PR pros on the right way to, er, “pitch.”

It’s a perennial in the PR field: If you want to stoke any interest in your media pitches, you have to think more like a journalist. But the theory doesn’t always translate into practice.