"Newsweek" May Be Dead In The USA, But Its International Edition Keeps Political Coverage Alive [Abbott Media Group]

It's not commonly known that magazines in the US have European or international editions, often with totally different material.

While Americans get "news" magazines that are busy pandering to one side of the political spectrum, or pop culture slop about fads or TV and movie entertainers, the Europeans at least get some coverage of actual personalities and issues that are changing their political lives.

Take, for example, Newsweek, which has in recent years become a shadow of its former self, which is to say, a magazine more obsessed with attacking the political Right than reporting "news."

In their October 26th International Edition, they featured a story on Austria's young Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. While not entirely "fair" (and arguably inaccurate, at least in the description we could find, below) the eight-page cover story at least introduced readers to this fascinating political leader:

"In May 2017, when Sebastian Kurz took control of the center-right Austrian People’s Party (OVP), he remade it in his image. Lest the world underestimate the significance of this, the thirty two year-old rebranded the OVP as the Sebastian Kurz List–New People’s Party. Seven months later the conservative populist became Austria’s youngest-ever chancellor, in addition to the world’s first millennial head of state and, according to some analysts, the future of Europe. 

Like other right-wing populists ascending to power in the European Union, the ambitious Kurz has pushed a hard-line immigration agenda in response to economic stagnation and the Syrian refugee crisis. But his youthful persona and political happenstance have elevated his status and his ideas far beyond Austria’s borders."

While the truth is out about Kurz's full conversion to the "right wing" (some on the actual right wing in Europe say he's starting to cave in to European bureaucrats on a few issues, including mass migration into Europe) kudos to Newsweek's International edition for at least covering a political leader of significance. Austria's public broadcaster, ORF, took note of the coverage, as well (In German. Use Google Translate to read in English.)

Now, if only most Americans knew who he was. Or who Angela Merkel or Emmanuel Macron are, for that matter.

Don't the media elites think we can handle such meaty discussions about politics? Do they not think we DESERVE to have those discussion.

Abbott Media Group does.

To get a broader picture, be sure to read World Politics News daily. And please support Abbott Media Group's latest venture, the Abbott News Service.

Abbott Media Group can be found online at www.abbottmediagroup.com.

Candidates: What Is Your #PoliticalVoice?

What is your "Political Voice"?

A Political Voice ^(TM) is what I call the vital component of a Message - the WAY in which that message is conveyed to relevant publics. It isn't necessarily the words that are said (though it IS that) it's also the value of the message to the group toward which it is directed, and the tone and tenor at which it is delivered. The message is composed of the policies, plans and promises a candidate or business leader has to convey. The Voice is the MANNER in which the message is conveyed, and how much of the content of that message is conveyed to them.

For instance, with Pres. Trump, his Political Voice is cluttered, but approachable and casual, often having no regard to complex policies or even core beliefs. His speeches are short, brief, and aimed at "average voters."

When in office, Pres. Obama, by contrast, always had a Political Voice that was extremely structured and uplifting, approachable, but with soaring rhetoric, filled with weighty policies but also descriptive of why those policies were relevant, from a philosophical point of view. He was long-winded at times, often losing his audience, which were often upper middle-class city-dwellers.

Pres. Reagan, the "Great Communicator," had yet another style of Political Voice, one that was at times structured and uplifting, but also approachable and casual, often with humor and kindness as his tone. His rhetoric could be uplifting, and he never failed to convey his policies and core values in what he said. His speeches were of average length, never too long, and were aimed at "average voters" without seeming to exclude anyone.

It's extremely important for candidates who intend to seek public office to work with a professional communications consultant to develop a Voice. This will enable them to approach and appeal to not only to relevant future voters, but also - and perhaps even more importantly - to early donors and thought leaders.

Failure to do this, and to develop the right messaging that will be delivered, results in a failed campaign effort. And with the cost of today's political campaigns, deciding to "wing it" means to fail to sound like a viable candidate, and to come up short on election day.

I can help you develop a message and a Voice to convey it the RIGHT way. Contact me immediately if you plan to seek higher office in 2017 or 2018.

Stephen Abbott
#AbbottPR
#AbbottMediaGroup
www.abbottmediagroup.com

"Earned Media" And Why You Should Seek It [Abbott Media Group]

I was discussing earned media with a local business owner today and thought I'd share what I shared with him.

Businesses tend to know about paid advertising. They buy an ad, people see it, and then they come and do business with them. But that is a greatly simplified explanation, and doesn't tell the full story about what advertising is, what it can do, what it often CANNOT do, and what can help supplement its shortcomings.

Ads are paid for, by their very nature. Even if those who see them don't consciously think it, they know it's been paid for, and that the buyer (you) has an agenda: that you want them to see it and feel good about your business or the product being advertised.

Unsurprisingly, this tends to undercut the message you're trying to convey. Sure, your product might be good, but the fact that you paid to tell them this fact actually decreases its effectiveness.

Earned media can help solve this problem. Exposure for your brand, business or products can be "earned" from newspapers, magazines and online media sources without the costs associated with paying for an ad.

This is usually accomplished through news releases - documents prepared by public relations professionals who understand how to write about news-worthy items that will attract the attention of the media, and be placed where readers see them usually without changes. Sometimes, the news release sparks the interest of  reporters to do a more in-depth story about your business, product or cause.

And while paid media - advertising - is blatantly paid for, earned media carries with it the credibility of being freely chosen by the owner of the media source. Again, almost subconsciously, the fact that the paper or magazine is doing a "news story" on your product or business is seen as far more credible than if you had paid for it.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
Paid media makes sense when you want 100% control of your message - and a PR pro can make sure that your advertising is consistent with all your other messages. But seeking earned media makes sense when you have something new, unique, and interesting that sets you apart from competitors or other similar businesses, and want greater credibility by getting news coverage to promote them.

Contact Abbott Media Group if we can help create compelling messages!

By Stephen Abbott, Principal of Abbott Public Relations, a division of Abbott Media Group, which creates written messages which inspire, inform, educate and engage, in mass media, publishing and public relations. On twitter and Facebook.

Is Print #Media Dead? (Not Another Obituary) [Abbott Media Group]

Is print media dead? I just read yet another post online saying just that. It's not difficult to draw that conclusion, given the decades-long slide into oblivion by many major and minor players in the field of print journalism.

Print publications large and small have long struggled with rapidly diminishing ad revenue, fewer eyeballs, and stiff competition from online media sources.

Public Relations consultants for business and political clients have more and more utilized and relied upon online media and social media to the detriment of print publications.

In politics, especially, print media has shot itself in the foot by failing to consistently offer balanced and responsible journalism. Given the slash and burn nature of the economics of the newsroom, it's not surprising that coverage has suffered. But there's literally no reason why this must necessarily result in shoddy, unbalanced coverage of political candidates or mere "horse race" and process stories.

In business, too, pay-to-play (stories for payment) have become the norm in many cash-starved papers. I recently went to the press release submission page of a prominent Florida newspaper, only to find that it offered publication for a "subscription." Whatever that is it's not journalism. It sure isn't "earned media."

So print media, if it's not dead, exactly, may be on life support. There's actually no solution to this problem except a complete re-dedication to journalistic excellence in the print media profession.

Papers, however cash-strapped they may be, must recommit to sending out reporters to actually cover the business community, political leaders, elections, and the people and places that are committing hard news within the readership area. Fluffy feel-good stories and police blotter stories have their place, but over-reliance on these tends to cheapen journalism.

I have seen political candidates who either have gotten perfunctory coverage, or none at all, because the newspaper had a favorite candidate or party, and decided on its own to filter out all candidates who did not meet their standards or biases of its editors. If they believed this would prompt ad sales, this has actually had the opposite effect, in many cases.

Many political campaigns, for example, have simply ignored the dead tree media and have focused almost entirely on new, online media, especially social media, which is becoming increasingly popular among voters as a source of both news and political information.

Businesses and the consultants representing them are also less enamored with the negative changes in print media, and are turning to alternate ways of reaching out to present and future clients and customers. And of course, ad revenues spiral ever more downward as a result.

And instead of "pay to play," which is ethically revolting as well as defeating the idea of earned media, news releases that are sent on behalf of candidates and businesses (and are actually timely and news-worthy) should actually prompt news stories that are balanced and fair.

Does Print have a future? Sure. But it can only have one if it re-dedicates itself to the fundamentals of journalism, including fairness, balance, and equality of access by all parties involved in an issue.