news

Tik Tok Boom.

This is the day I shake my head and graduate to full-on old fogie. Read this report by Reuters (a trusted, legacy media source) about how a growing number of young people are turning to TikTok for news and information. The platform launched by the Chinese company Bytedance has graduated from dancing videos to delivering the news and, as one user reported, “…where it lacks in trustworthiness, it excels in presentation.”

Ok, all together now: face palm.

Why should you care? Because tomorrow’s voters and tomorrow’s wage earners are getting “news” that is increasingly created by individuals and organizations that have a high potential for dis- and misinformation. Never mind that venerable organizations like the BBC, the Washington Post, and the 4-Cs (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN) have all entered the fray, it’s the creators who are not journalists that should make you cringe.

“…others fear that the ‘TikTok-ification of news’ risks trivialising important stories as well as undermining business models that depend on referral traffic from social networks.”

Journalists are trained to present information in a vetted, objective format. There’s a certain trust that legacy media outlets are telling the truth and have checked their sources. Unfortunately, other producers on TikTok are masquerading as real, live reporters.

I’m not proposing that all journalists are trustworthy, but repeated surveys by Reuters, the Pew Center for Journalism, and other platforms regularly rate the bias of legacy news organizations. You’d be surprised to learn that most well-known outlets are ranked in the middle of the pack in terms of bias.

That’s why they’re looking for fresh, young content creators to bend the rules of journalism in a balance between objective reporting and humor-filled TikTok reels. Fifty years ago, television was the new medium hiring journalists who actually looked attractive to deliver news on the air. Broadcasters were criticized for hiring pretty people to deliver the news. Now hoodie-wearing millennials are cheerfully presenting information to attract the elusive  younger market—a market that is increasingly more difficult to target.

TikTok as a news platform? Where’s that “freedom of the press thing” in China?

If you’re interested, find me at mkathrynschmidt@gmail.com.

Attention PR Skeptics: read this!

HCBBIf you think PR is a warm, fuzzy effort that you can do without, read what just happened this morning.

My brother is a partner in Healthcare Bluebook, a company founded on transparency. It functions much like the Kelly Bluebook used by car buyers for decades: the firm combines cost and quality data to provide consumers with price ranges for typical health costs by market. Want to know the going rate for a laparoscopic hysterectomy in Green Bay? The website healthcarebluebook.com will give you an average fair price and allow you to drill down into the details. Finally, consumers know what a medical adventure could cost.

This morning, the TODAY Show did a segment on “knowing your health care costs” and mentioned Healthcare Bluebook. It was about 15 seconds of content and was wrapped in with other consumer information, but it was succinct and informational. I stopped my workout and applauded my brother’s PR team, then immediately texted him.

His response: they didn’t know why there was a huge spike in traffic on their website. The segment ran just before 8 am, but the spike continued.

For those of you who think PR has no bottom line value, this 15 second mention drove consumers to his website to learn more. Consumers made the decision to seek out valuable content and hopefully engaged with the website for a period of time. Did this happen overnight? No. Meaningful press coverage is the result of a great idea, tailoring an existing message to a journalist’s audience, connecting with producers to pitch a relevant story and follow up, follow up, follow up. That 15 seconds could drive more eyeballs to your website than any one ad, but it requires planning and establishing relationships with real journalists.

My brother’s firm has an excellent PR team that has been with them since their inception. They are part of the strategic group and have developed a communications strategy hand in hand with the business strategy. This is a critical element of success because it allows the PR team to be responsive and flexible with the media, yet manintain a consistent message that upholds the organization’s mission. As a result, Healthcare Bluebook has been featured in national business publications, major U.S. daily newspapers and the holy grail of business journalism, the Wall St. Journal. For millenials out there, the content was also on the digital platforms!

billyMeet my brother, Bill Kampine. He is co-founder and senior vice president for Healthcare Bluebook and I am off the charts proud of him!

If you’re interested, find me at mkathrynschmidt@gmail.com.

Tornado, Ice and Storms: oh my!

tv attackWelcome to Spring in Wisconsin where a cocktail of ice, snow, rain and winds could knock us off the grid at any time.

Most businesses don’t consider man-made or natural disasters in their annual planning, but ignore at your own peril. Not only do we live in a world of instant business, we live in a world of instant news. If disaster hits your business, there’s a good chance it will be on a media website or blog before you notify your employees or key customers.

The people who are in the business of covering disasters have crisis plans in place. When 9/11 stopped Americans in their tracks, most newsrooms across the country had “plan A” and “plan B” in place and put reporters and editors on 24/7 call. When storms hit, local TV stations are live from multiple locations immediately. The media is ready to cover you if you are the center of a disaster—are you as ready as the media?

The worst time to plan for a crisis is when you’re knee deep in one. There are a few common sense things to plan for—and a few things you might not readily think of.

Define your crisis: Before an emergency hits, determine what types of crises require you be ready for media response. Tornadoes and fires are an easy call—but does a robbery or an employee theft warrant a full-scale crisis response?

Prepare your team: Identify a first response team, usually key executives in your business and a communications or PR professional. If you don’t have PR counsel on staff, consider outsourcing this function during a crisis

Plan your communications: Determine what you will say to your employees, your customers and the media. Identify a spokesperson, but make sure all members of your crisis team are briefed.

Be up front with your team: Make certain all employees know where they can call or check in if there is a disaster so they can stay informed with factual, up-to-date information. In a disaster or crisis, a good reporter will not politely call the receptionist and leave a message for your spokesperson. A good reporter will wander around to the loading dock, start talking to your drivers, call surrounding business neighbors and put your janitor on camera.  How do I know this is true? Because I did each one of these things to get a story.

I wouldn’t advocate adding a “disaster” column to your monthly spreadsheet, but a little pre-planning can avert some big problems. And for those of you who are still saying it’ll never happen here; just remember that Noah built the ark before it started to rain.