Seeking PR Case Studies for This Blog

If you frequently work with bloggers and personal journalists as part of a multi-faceted public relations program, please email me. I am interested in running a series of Q&As on this Weblog with both PR professionals (agency or client side) and key influencers.

We're Hiring

CooperKatz, my employer, is seeking to hire one or more pros with 4-6 years of business-to-business public relations experience to join our firm. We are based in midtown Manhattan. If you're interested, please email me your resume and a cover letter. Strong writing and account management skills are a must. Thanks.

What is participatory journalism?

CyberJournalist.net asks: "What is participatory journalism?" and provides links to answers as well.

Newsday published photos this weekend of Billy Joel's Long Island automobile wreck shot by the person who helped the rock star from his car. Some might consider this participatory journalism. Of course, readers have been selling photos to newspapers for generations, so participatory journalism, in this sense at least, is nothing new. What's new is how the Internet has expanded the outlets for participatory journalism and thus helped it spread in so many new ways.

Here's a definition of participatory journalism from J.D. Lasica:

(1) Audience participation at mainstream news outlets.

(2) Independent news and information Web sites.

(3) Full-fledged participatory news sites.

(4) Collaborative and contributory media sites.

(5) Other kinds of "thin media."

(6) Personal broadcasting sites.

For more on this topic, also check out WeMedia and draft chapters from Dan Gillmor's new book, We the Media.

Citizen Journalist Photographs Billy Joel's Car Wreck

Participatory journalism at work...

Newsday.com posted fresh photographs of Billy Joel's Long Island automobile wreck that were shot by the person who helped the rock star from his car.

"When we found out it was Billy Joel, we were like holy cow, this is Billy Joel," said Tom Phillips Jr., who helped Joel out of the car and with other neighbors helped push the vehicle away from the house and off the lawn.

You can view the photo here.

Bloggers as Journalists' Partners

Robert Scoble today wrote that bloggers should not try to compete with journalists, but rather they should work with them as partners. I think we’re going to see a lot more structured collaboration between professional journalists and “personal journalists” in the years ahead, perhaps using wikis.

Scoble writes:

"So, webloggers, stop arguing about whether you're gonna beat Walt or Dan or Steve or Mary Jo. You aren't going to.

Instead, we should see what we could do to work together to help each other.

How? For instance, what will happen during the next major earthquake in San Jose? Will the few hundred journalists who work for the San Jose Mercury News be able to keep up with such a huge story? No. Webloggers, because of our numbers, will be able to cover such an event in a way that traditional journalists would never be able to."

My advice – make regular use of Feedster, Bloglines, Google News and even MediaMap to keep a watchful eye on the bloggers who are cited frequently by journalists who cover your company/clients’ industry. Stay in touch with them regularly, but don't spam them with press releases and pitches. Know how to work with them for mutual benefit.