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Why This Site Was Created
Since 1989 Community Media Workshop has worked to bring local voices and news into the mainstream media. Democracy depends upon freedom of expression and a plurality of voices. We believe that not only do all have the right to be heard—guaranteed here by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution—but all should have an equal opportunity to shape public debate. We believe that diversifying the voices in public debate leads to a dialogue that portrays society more fully and accurately, and such diversity in turn enriches democracy.
This site was created for both practical purposes for our organization to extend our mission into the new capabilities of the social web, but more importantly provide a space online for grassroots leadership, journalists and nonprofit communicators to keep informed about local news, acquire helpful tips and resources, and to participate in developing a community online that promotes the work we all do on the ground.
We hope you find this special spot on the web helpful and welcome your feedback on how we can continue to improve its functionality and its content. Email us at cmw@newstips.org to tell us what you think!
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You’ve Got a Blog. Now What? A Survey of Online Tools & Tips
September 26th, 2007
by Elsa Wenzel
More than 70 million blogs clamor for attention on the Internet, and it can be easy for yours to get lost in the noise. Some elite blogs attract more readers than the New York Times. But as blogging has become more popular, even the best-crafted blog post may be about as effective as shouting beneath a helicopter.
Blogging is the cheapest form of publishing in human history, and it’s only beginning to change the world. A blog can build your brand and social network, getting the attention of reporters on the prowl for sources.
Once you get the hang of it, writing a blog entry is no harder than sending an e-mail message. Yet the key to building a buzz and making an impact involves more than merely writing. Every blog entry that you publish should have these key ingredients.
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Seven Success Strategies for Pitching to Bloggers
September 26th, 2007
by Mike Doyle
The days of waiting for New Media to mature are over. In 2006, the Pew Research Center showed that 31 percent of Americans turn to the Internet as a regular source for news, with more people turning to the Web than watching the network evening news (source: http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=282), and bloggers are a key part of the mix.
But pitching a blogger is a different animal than pitching a print or broadcast reporter. On the blogosphere you can’t leverage your verbal agility to establish a working relationship before sending along your press release. And you certainly can’t spam bloggers with the same, mass email—not if you want to make it past their spam filters.
On the Internet more than anywhere, reputations are built around endorsements from others, especially from opinion-leader bloggers. If your blogger pitches hit the mark, a buzz of third-party vouching can develop, where bloggers and their readers begin to debate your message among each other, with little additional effort needed by you. When that happens, you can even start pointing print and broadcast reporters to the Internet hubbub surrounding your message, if they haven’t found it already.
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Search CMW Blogs & More
Other Tools to Consider
More Tools for Advanced Communications Work
For those with more time than money, most of the resources described here can be replaced or created with work on your own, for example by visiting the Web sites of publications you wish to pitch. But the outlay of time is often prohibitive. These resources help public relations professionals to:
- determine whom to target and how to reach them;
- distribute news releases;
- monitor and evaluate results of communications campaigns, including getting print and broadcast ‘clippings,’ and
- keep current on developments in the field or learn new tips and ideas.
It’s worth noting that as these firms have diversified, most offer more than one of these four services. Please feel free to contact gordon@newstips.org with suggestions additional resources for this page.
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(Coming Soon) How This Site Was Built...
Choosing Our Server
Why the blog format?
Installing Custom Wordpress Blogs
Feeds and Syndications
Resource Links: Tools We've Used and More
Electronic Newsletters: CMW's "eNotes"
Creating the Google Search engine
2007 Media Landscape
By Robert Goldsborough
Originally published for the 2008 Getting on The Air, Online & Into Print media guide
We don’t pretend to be able to forecast even one year into the future, much less ten. However, we can tell you what has happened to the Chicago-area media landscape over the last year or two, and it isn’t pretty. The bottom line: there clearly are fewer traditional print news outlets than there used to be. And, at the print and broadcast news outlets that remain, there most definitely are fewer reporters to cover Chicago stories.
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Chicago’s Media: Big, But Not Diverse
A Report of the Benton Foundation for the Federal Communications Commission Media Ownership Hearing
Executive Summary
Chicago has a rich media history, having been the center of the emerging broadcast industry in the early 1920’s, home to the first radio station to broadcast the World Series, the “Chicago School of Television,” and the city that pioneered the daytime-talk show format. Chicago has been an innovator and provider of high-quality content when new capacity demands new content. The question now is: As media migrate toward digital technology – in radio and television broadcasting, in cable and satellite, and on the Internet – is Chicago media situated to be an innovative leader again?The Tribune Company dominates the Chicago media landscape, owning the area’s most-read newspaper, most listened-to radio station, popular TV stations, the area’s only 24 hour local cable news channel and more. Past the Tribune, Chicago media outlets are mainly owned by other large conglomerates like News Corp, GE, CBS, Clear Channel and Bonneville International.The city will play a new part in media history on September 20, 2007 as the Federal Communications Commission holds its fifth of six planned public hearings on media ownership rules at the headquarters of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition on Chicago’s South Side. At this hearing, the FCC is seeking public input on whether it should make changes to rules that determine how many media outlets any one company can own.
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