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Can you believe it's mid-December and another year is almost done? That can only mean one thing ... it's time for our annual episode where we gaze into the proverbial communications crystal ball ... OK, it's not that dramatic, really. But Gini, Joe and Martin do talk about three of the trends we'll be watching over the next 12 months: Natural language generation and AI writing assistants Values-based communication and leadership counsel Impact and consequences of social media algorithms Check it out and let us know what you think and what other trends you may be seeing on the horizon. This is our last show of 2021 and we'd like to say thank you for listening and for supporting us again.

On this episode of Inside PR, Martin Waxman, Joe Thornley, and Gini Dietrich discuss the importance of protecting your intellectual property, even for new business decks and website verbiage.

In the wake of Facebook's bad news month, we discuss the communications challenges the company faces. A blip? Or a step on an irreversible path toward becoming the new MySpace? The necessary impetus to increased regulation? And would a company with an army of lobbyists ever see a regulatory regime that actually curbs its freedom of action in any meaningful way? Is it really becoming the new Tobacco? And, most importantly, is its community decaying from the inside?

Have you noticed your brand is no longer getting the type of engagement on organic social posts? How about ranking for search or interactions when you publish new content on your website or blog? Perhaps the digital world has become even more pay-to-play and is expecting a higher price from organizations in order for them to achieve decent business results. That’s what Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley and I talk about on Inside PR. Our conversation is based on a post by digital thought-leader Rand Fishkind called, 'The Incentives to Publish No Longer Reward Web Creators'. TL;DR version: Your content marketing strategy needs a balanced and integrated approach. Have a read, then have a listen and let us know what you think.

In this episode of Inside PR, we talk about the PR Writer's Code of Conduct and ethical communications. An evergreen topic.

It's fall—well, almost—and there's a hint of excitement in the air. At least it feels like there should be! Kids are going back to school. College and universities are offering more in-person classes. And people are getting revved up for the busiest season of the year. But are you ready to go back to the office or would you prefer to work remotely or in some type of hybrid situation? And how will you communicate what you decide to your team? Of course, there are no easy answers, but if you're interested in our take, check out this episode of Inside PR. Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley and Martin Waxman talk about: The importance of having a communicator in the room when workplace decisions are being made. Why organizations need to listen closely and pay attention to people's reactions. Giving employees an opportunity to voice their opinions and know they're being heard, rather than simply feeling they're being talked at. Creating a culture of empathy by understanding people's situations, anxieties and fears. Being flexible and letting people know nothing's set in stone and that you're prepared to adapt if need be.

OK. Before you get defensive, I want make something clear right from the start: We are NOT saying all PR people are evil. Far from it. In fact, most of us are simply trying to do the best jobs we can for our organizations or clients and behave in an honest and ethical manner. But let’s just say, there are some less than scrupulous individuals and companies whose approach and choices reflect badly on the industry. And it’s not just PR pros who are guilty of this. Certain bloggers, journalists, media outlets and influencers are also not as honest or transparent as they could be when it comes to conflicts of interest. And because social media has given us all a voice, we need to make sure we think through the consequeneces of how we use it. That’s what we talk about for this week’s podcast. We got the idea from a Washington Post story about a site that bills itself as an investigative blog. Turns out, it has financial ties to a PR firm and seems to focus on stories where the agency’s clients have a vested interest. In our opinion, this contravenes many PR codes of ethics and standards including PRSA, CPRS and the Global Alliance to name a few. Have a listen and let us know what you think. And if you want to dig deeper, check out Gini’s Spin Sucks post on the subject. Subscribe to the Inside PR podcast We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps. Subscribe to Inside PR on Apple Podcasts Subscribe to Inside PR on Spotify Subscribe to Inside PR on Google Play It’s your turn We’d love to hear what you think and if you have any subjects you’d like us to cover in upcoming episodes. Leave us a comment on the blog. Send us an email or an audio comment to insideprcomments@gmail.com, Connect with us on Twitter. We’re @inside_pr or connect directly with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman. Please rate us on Apple Podcasts We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts. Thank you to the people behind Inside PR Our producer is Jacob Waxman, a talented musician, producer, and recording engineer. Jacob produced the episode and is also the composer of our new theme music. Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR 548: What I want isn’t important. It’s about what you want by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.  

Once they've tasted freedom, it's hard to take that away. It's not what I want as an employer; it's what you want as an employee. Has your boss told you that you have to return to the office fill time? Part-time? Have they talked about flex work? Or even held out the prospect of working remotely on an ongoing basis? And how do you feel about this? Do you want to return to the office? Full-time? A few days a week? Or do you want to continue to work remotely? What are the things that you liked and valued about working from the office? What are the benefits of working at home? Gini, Martin and Joe talk about mistakes that employers are making in the post-lockdown period. High-knowledge, high-skill workers have discovered the freedom of being able to choose where they work - and with the end of the lockdown, many of them will be thinking about what they want to do, and realizing that they have choices. So, the employer who informs their staff that they must return to the workplace full-time may discover that many of their workers not only don't return, but actually leave. As with many other key decisions, success in bringing employees back to the office will turn on effective communications. And effective communications starts with listening, understanding others' interests and objectives. And then speaking to their concerns, not just blustering forward with what you want and care about. So, this week, let's talk about effective communication for the post-pandemic return to the office.

Hello … Helloooo … Check 1, 2 … Is this thing on? OK, cliches aside, I’m happy to report that after a hiatus of around 20 months and all the things that have happened between then and now, Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley and I are back recording Inside PR. Why? To be honest we missed talking with each other about what’s new on with PR, social media and digital marketing. We also missed hearing from you. Our one big change is we’ve moved to a biweekly or fortnightly format, which fits better with our schedules and commitments. That way, you can expect to hear from us on a regular basis. (OK, given our recent history, my fingers are crossed on that.) In our first new episode, we catch up and discuss what we’ve been doing. We also talked about how to establish boundaries when you don’t stray too far from the home office and ways to spark creativity. It’s great to be back! Thank you for sticking with us.

Yes, it's been a long time coming, a long time behind episodes. But we're back with Inside PR for another year. And we're getting back into the groove by discussing the things that we are looking at in the waning months of 2019.

On this week's Inside PR, Gini Dietrich provides practical advice to the PR practitioner on the importance of SEO to media relations and earned media. PR practitioners understand much more than algorithms. And we must combine our media relations expertise with SEO best practices to ensure that we maximize long term exposure for our clients' content. The cost of failing to do this will be the incursion of SEO experts into media relations. Also this week: Open Government, open engagement and open data activists from around the world gathered in Ottawa. So did the grand committee of countries looking at the practices of the social platforms. But it doesn't matter how many countries come together in one place -- Mark Zuckerberg responds to no flag but his own. He was, once again, a no-show. Linkworthy The Open Government Partnership OGP Summit 2019 Ottawa hearings show there is a political will to regulate big tech - but will it spur change? Media Relations: Increase your search engine optimization, Gini Dietrich

This week, we consider the implications of an Algorithmic Accountability Act, rebalancing the freedom of companies to capture and use our data with our right to informed consent. Plus: Protect your privacy against hidden cameras during your next business trip. Linkworthy Booker, Wyden, Clarke Introduce Bill Requiring Companies to Target Bias in Corporate Algorithms A new bill would force companies to check their algorithms for bias, Adi Robertson Democrats draw up bill that would require tech platforms to assess algorithmic bias, Taylor Hatmaker MIT Technology Review The Algorithm Newsletter It's Time to Panic About Privacy, Farhad Manjoo The Big Nine, Amy Webb How to find hidden cameras in your AirBnB, and anywhere else, Michael Grothaus

Dan York joins the IPR Team   We have big news this week: Dan York is joining the Inside PR team. Dan is well known to Inside PR listeners for his tech segments on Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson's FIR podcast. And, if you didn't know, his day job is as Director, Web Strategy, at the Internet Society.   Gini, Joe and Martin are big fans of Dan's reports. He provides a perspective that combines expertise in communications and marketing with strong technology underpinnings. When Shel and Neville announced that FIR would be moving to a monthly format, Gini, Joe and Martin immediately put out a call to Dan to ask if he would be willing to contribute to IPR on the other three weeks of the month. And, happily, Dan said yes. So, you may hear Dan less often on FIR (and we encourage you to listen to FIR monthly), you'll be able to hear him the rest of the time on Inside PR.   So, that leads us to this week's debut of Dan's Two Minutes of Tech for Communicators segment. We know he's going to teach us a lot.   Tell your friends. There's another reason to listen to the Inside PR podcast - and his name is York. Dan York.   A digital charter for Canada   Canada has long taken privacy and consumer rights seriously. And as public concern about the unseen use of our personal by social networks data increased following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, calls for change have mounted. Now, the Government of Canada has made its next move with the announcement of a Digital Charter for Canada. While the Charter sums up established values and points to aspirational goals, it also takes two real steps toward action with references to Canada's Privacy Commissioner and Competition Bureau. Both have regulatory muscle that they could flex in the near term. And both are in a position to scrutinize the social networks.   Europe, California, and now Canada. Momentum to reign in the previously underscrutinzed use of our data by the social networks is gaining momentum.   We really never are alone   As if we needed another reminder of where the early optimism of the open web and the social graph has taken us, the New York Times offers a thought provoking look at our relationship with Google.   Linkworthy   Dan York on Twitter ISED Minister Navdeep Bains announces Canada's Digital Strategy Canada's Digital Charter: Trust in a Digital World Minecraft Earth goes a step beyond Pokemon Go to cover the world in blocks, Tom Warren WordPress 5.2 "Jaco" You're not alone when you're on Google, Jennifer Senior

A change of pace for FIR The FIR Podcast is one of the longest continually-produced podcasts for communications pros. Since 2005, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson have been providing insight into the communications trends and developments that are important to communications practitioners. But now they are dialing back their production schedule to once a month. And as podcast producers who have followed in their footsteps, we're glad that they are continuing. Because if you are a communications pro, you're sure to learn something useful with each and every FIR podcast. So, kudos Shel and Neville for finding a way to keep it going and keep it fresh. GarageBand: Creating dreams It's been fifteen years since Apple first offered GarageBand with Macs. Since then, it's become available for PCs and iOS as well. And that means there's a whole generation of musicians and podcasters who have brought their ideas to life using Apple's free software. In fact, we use GarageBand to mix and produce the Inside PR podcast. And it couldn't be easier to do, thanks to the simple, intuitive interface. So, here's to GarageBand. And here's to the community of creators who have grown up around it. And here's to Apple for giving us this incredibly useful software. You're just not important enough for us to take action The abuse of social media by foreign or malevolent agents is not just confined to the United States. It is a global problem. But that doesn't mean that the social and search platforms are giving it the same attention in countries other than the United States. Indeed, you need look no farther than across the border to the north to Canada to see Facebook and Google taking very different approaches to the responsibility that national legislators and regulators say they should take on. In this tally, Facebook gains a point. Google loses a point. If you're not part of the solution Facebook's local news support project, Today In, underlines the news deserts that have been created by the diminution out of the display ad economy that local newspapers relied on. And in doing so, it drives home that the social and search platforms efforts to "support" journalism are not adequately addressing the problems they have created. It's time for radically different thinking. Gini is on holiday this week. So, Joe and Martin are alone together. Linkworthy FIR Podcast, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson Inside GarageBand, the Little App Ruling the Sound of Modern Music, Amy X Wang Facebook introducing measures to prevent election disruption, Elizabeth Thompson Social media giants don't take Canada seriously, say MPs, Joan Bryden Facebook's local news project frustrated - by lack of local newspapers

Is Mark Zuckerberg's concept of privacy your concept of privacy? Probably not. And this week we discuss Zuckerberg's ongoing repositioning of Facebook as "private."   One more thing: Thank you to Emma Haddad for including Inside PR in her list of podcasts PR pros should listen to.   Linkworthy   A Privacy-focused vision for social networking, Mark Zuckerberg Mark Zuckerberg discovers privacy, Taylor Hatmaker Roger McNamee thinks the pivot to "privacy" helps Facebook, not you, Hanna Kozlawska Facebook just shoplifted Snapchat's best idea, Kara Swisher Facebook lost 15 million users? Marketers remain unfazed, Amy Gesenhues 30 podcasts PR Pros should listen to, Emma Haddad

Google takes a pass on carrying political advertising in Canada. And there are reports that Cision is up for sale.   Linkworthy   Report: Cision Explores Sale PR Newswire Owner Cision Explores Sale - Sources Google to ban political ads ahead of federal election, citing new transparency rules

This week, we take a deep dive into Roger McNamee's Zucked. McNamee, an early investor in Facebook and an erstwhile advisor to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg has provided us with an insightful consideration of how Facebook and social media have changed over time. It is an account that throws light on questions of responsibility and accountability. And while it pulls no punches, it also presents a vision of what might be done to create a healthier relationship between the giant entities that dominate search, social and tech.   This should be a a must-read for anyone who deals with social media and search, with marketing and online advertising, with community building.   Also, on this week's show, we pay tribute to Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson's FIR Podcast, which just hit the 1,000 episode mark. Sometimes weekly, sometimes biweekly and now monthly, Shel and Neville are the seminal PR podcasters. And they're still going strong and providing insight that we can't do without. Keep it up guys.   Finally, a shoutout to Martin on the completion of an important milestone. Huzzah Martin!   Linkworthy   Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe, Roger McNamee The Virtual Self, Nora Young FIR Podcast, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson

Joe had a moment of surprise when he realized that, not only does he no longer listens to radio, he doesn't even own a radio! Over the past few years, he had transferred his listening time from linear radio to on-demand podcasts. And he hadn't even noticed the shift in his media consumption - until his wife threw out the last radio in their house.   A recent report out of the UK suggests that Joe isn't alone:   Since 2010, around 840,000 15 to 24-year-olds have switched off for good, according to research from Enders Analysis. And among the 6.5 million or so who do still tune in, the amount of time they spend listening has plummeted 29% between 2010 and 2018. Is streaming killing the radio star https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/feb/08/is-streaming-killing-the-radio-star   Both Martin and Gini also have noticed a shift in their media consumption. Not just one that adds to their daily information diet. But a shift that has replaced one medium with another.   So, if podcasting is constituting a greater portion of many people's media consumption, you just know that advertisers are eyeing it and entrepreneurs are looking to provide them with a new medium to reach consumers. We've seen Spotify's big move, acquiring Gimlet and Anchor. This is unlikely to be the last move of this sort.   As others follow, what does that mean for the open podcasting system that has let enthusiast and professional podcasters coexist? Will services like Spotify start to push the enthusiasts off to the side, out of sight, as they promote their own professionally produced podcasts so that they can maximize revenue? Sound familiar? Substitute the words blog and Facebook for podcasts and Spotify.   So, is this end? Not necessarily. It may be possible for two systems of podcasting to existing together, thanks to things like Patreon, which didn't exist during the rise of Facebook and the decline of blogs, along with membership-oriented initiatives life that being advanced by outlets like Slate.   If you're a listener to Inside PR, it's probable that you too have made room for podcasting by reducing your consumption of other media. Have you done this consciously or has it crept up on you. Do you see a future for enthusiast podcasts like Inside PR -- or will we soon go the way of MySpace?   Linkworthy   I just realized that I don't have a radio anymore, thornley Is streaming killing the radio star?, Mark Sweney Spotify. It's not just for music anymore, Ben Sisario and Michael J. de la Merced With Supporting Cast, Slate wants to build the paid-membership layer of podcasting, Nick Quah

We have our own news to break on this week's Inside PR. Gini and Martin are going to be working together. Martin has joined the Spin Sucks team. Gini has been building Spin Sucks as a community for a decade - and growth has reached the point in which she needs help leading the content team. Enter Martin. Gini and Martin talk about the Spin Sucks editorial approach, in which Joe hears some traits of Jay Rosen's community-interest-driven alternative model for journalism. We also talk about the role of the Spin Sucks Slack community. We also talk about the acceleration of job losses in journalism. In one way, it might be like that old saying that, "I went broke very slowly for a long time, and then very quickly very suddenly." So, there's no doubt that the journalism job losses this year have been massive. But even more remarkable is where most of those losses have been this year -- in digital media. Digital media, which only a couple years ago many investors and entrepreneurs were betting on as the platform that would replace traditional media. Clearly, online journalism has proven no less immune to the hoovering of advertising support by Google and Facebook. So, in 2019, we're still waiting for the new model that will save journalism as we know it. And talking about PR in a world of disappearing and shrinking newsrooms, Martin and Gini argue that PR pros must stay true to the core value of relationships while making the search for the new influencers and news brokers with whom they must establish working relationships. Having said that, are we in a world in which we are playing for time. Do we need to find a new core to PR to replace the central role that media relations once played. At one time, we thought it would be social media. But that has fragmented. And it seems that the pace of change is accelerating. So, we continue the search for the next key leverage point. Linkworthy More than 2,300 people lost their jobs in a media landslide so far this year, Benjamin Goggin 2009: The internet is killing (print) journalism; 2019: The internet is killing (internet) journalism, Jeff Israely NYU’s Jay Rosen says 2020’s political journalism will be even worse than 2016’s, Eric Scott Johnson

In late January, Facebook launched a PR initiative that, on its face, appeared intended to reframe in 2019 the issues that got away from them in 2018, AKA Facebook's privacy offences that dominated the year since the Cambridge Analytica scandal became public. This week on Inside PR, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley talk about this first phase of what by late February was unmistakably a concerted effort by Facebook to reframe the issues swirling around it. Martin doesn't buy Facebook's argument that we are getting Facebook's service for free? Not for a second. We're paying -- and the currency is our data. Gini argues that we are the product when it comes to social media. However, she accepts Facebook's argument that they are not selling our data. Instead, she focuses on the need for each of us to make our own calculation about whether what we receive is a fair exchange for our attention and what Facebook learns about us. And Joe? Well he's not buying Facebook's arguments that they don't sell our data. They do sell the intelligence and insight that comes from possessing our data. And, as far as he's concerned that makes them "Data Launderers," the digital equivalent of money launderers. Martin picks up on this and says that we can see Facebook as not necessarily selling the data, but being the agent by which our data is used and obtains the value of using it. And they can do this because they are so big. Perhaps too big. And, says Martin, all you have to do is look at what Facebook is doing with WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram -- rolling up the data each has about us. Different data from what we view as different platforms gives them an even more granular portrait of us that they can draw on to the benefit of advertisers. What of the trust we established with these platforms when they gave us the reassurance of remaining discrete and protecting us from being rolled into an even bigger data bank? Gini brings it back to a pragmatic reality. Facebook has become so effective, so pervasive, so dominant, can an advertiser ignore them? And that leads us to accept their assertions of good intent. Linkworthy Understanding Facebook's Business Model, Mark Zuckerberg What Kind of Internet Do We Want?, Sheryl Sandberg A Discussion with Nick Clegg The Facts About Facebook (paywall), Mark Zuckerberg An Anti-Facebook Manifesto, by an Early Facebook Investor, book review by Tom Bissell The Digital Winter Turns Apocalyptic, Alex Pareene