Monica Guzman

My early takeaway from PRSA Oregon #CommCon2024 is that the public is facing a real trust issue when it comes to innovations like AI and other emerging tech (and in general). Which raises the question: how do we address the trust crisis in a way that is both authentic and effective? #communications #publicrelations

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"Articulating the value of your journalism takes more than just sharing links. It’s about showing the impact of your work so far, describing your relationship with your community, and putting together a proposal that allows you to execute on this work." the latest on revenue building from Penny Riordan, Local Media Association If you’re looking to grow your work with philanthropic support, here is how to get started: https://lnkd.in/dVQVYQBy

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Journalism job alert and some personal news. Want to lead an excellent team doing impactful enterprise reporting in Washington state? Check out this job opening at Cascade PBS (formerly Crosscut). Isn’t that my job? Yes, it is. I’ve lead the news team at Crosscut for the past five years. I’ve enjoyed a great run and have decided to retire at the end of the year. I’m looking forward to watching the future of this great nonprofit newsroom from the sidelines. Our coverage focuses on government and politics so do not apply if you’ve been hiding in a cave this past year, hoping the election would go away. Do apply if you have a passion for giving the people the information they need to smartly engage in our democracy. A big part of this job: mentoring our journalists to do their best work. My team and our network of freelancers are among the best I’ve ever worked with. We’re going to be picky when hiring their next team leader. Editors who rewrite every story: apply somewhere else. The great journalism at Cascade PBS is the result of thoughtful collaboration, not editors who control the narrative. Ask me anything, including if I have time for some contract editing work. I’m not going to retire to the pickleball courts, but I am going to slow way down and be very picky about any work I take on. https://lnkd.in/g_bFje4z

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National and regional brands should take a good look at this as trust in media is highest with LOCAL media! And now that good contextual targeting is available at scale, there hasn't been a better and more efficient way to get your message delivered.

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This is similar to my own experiences while running the Panorama Project, where some individual publishers — and even more individuals within their organizations — were willing to explore ways to collaborate, but most hid behind trade associations that refuse to seriously engage libraries as valued partners. While CDL has often been misrepresented by publishers and some library-adjacent organizations with their own agendas, it can be a mutually beneficial option in specific instances. That'll never happen as long as publishers' default stance is that libraries are the enemy. Meanwhile, next week, dozens of publishers will be in San Diego declaring their love for libraries, which really just means all the free marketing they provide despite regularly being treated like pirates. #libraries #publishing #ebooks #cmonson

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If you're a local or trade news publisher and want to reignite your readership and reinvent the way you source and generate news, check out the Newspage News Desk. News Desk is a white label editorial solution for publishers, powered by Newspage, that enables publishers to turn their readers into an extension of their news teams. Our proven and proprietary tech helps publishers unlock their subscribers’ intel, derisk their content, streamline their editorial processes and drive ad revenues through increased relevance, engagement and shareability. Imagine that. We'll be offering progressive publishers, both vertical and local, exclusivity on our tech — and an opportunity to own their sector rather than churn out the same old crap that nobody cares about. Read all about it on the link below. If you want to discuss, message me. When I'm sober, I'll message you back. If you're a percentage player, message Jonny Stevens. He's a lager top so will get back to you in 30 seconds flat. #newsavoidance #newsmedia #media #publishing #newspublisher https://lnkd.in/eD3FC4H5

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NPR and PBS should be on their own. The Public Broadcasting Act, the LBJ era media ecosystem is long gone. They take 8% from Corporation of Public Broadcasting, 10% from colleges, 8% from state and local budgets. PBS takes 15% from the feds, 13% from states, 3% local governments, 8 % colleges- that's 39% before folks and rich foundations. What they provide is balanced in some places, like Amanpour and Firing Line, and bias in most other places. NPR is a mouthpiece for the MSM , and the current long list of advocacy from Roe v Wade to pro - Palestine coverage. The design during the great society was needed, now in our vast array of media sources, the federal government does not need to fund any of it. C- Span can carry the record keeping load , with their truly unbiased , long form coverage. If you want NPR and PBS ( nee American BBC) you can pay for it.

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"I already have a communications team." Is there a scientist among them? PR, social media, and UX/UI folx expertly build awareness and, depending on your product, bring consumers to your door. But when it comes to stakeholders -- I'm talking funders, regulators, policymakers, community groups, affiliates, enterprise clients -- they want to dig deeper. To check your math, so to speak. These are the people you create reports, briefs, white papers, and proposals for. The ones who want a sophisticated, persuasive document that show you're worth your salt. The ones whose impression of you will determine the impact your initiative will -- or won't -- have. Don't ask your Marketing Lead to proofread your white paper. She's trained in communications, not science and engineering. She'll do her best. But she'll end up skirting around the technical explanations. Or watering down their robustness. (And honestly, she has enough work already.) Don't miss the chance to make a lasting impression on those all-important stakeholders. Get a Science Interpreter. When you see the results (and the TIME you'll not be spending eeking out a report over the weekend) you'll be glad you did.

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As I approach my third month at The Baltimore Banner, I have been thinking a lot about defining success. A mentor offered the following thoughts: For reporters, it is much easier to define success. Editors often need help seeing that their goals should be quite different than their reporters'. They need to see each of their reporters as individuals with different strengths and weaknesses. So editors need to meet each reporter at a different place and help them improve, and hopefully, thrive. Sometimes that means focusing on reporting or writing skills, sometimes it is helping a reporter figure out how to cover a beat, or how to distinguish their work from the competition. Editors of course are key to guiding coverage, whether it's breaking news or a more conceptual beat, when the goal has to be finding the front edge of the topic (for an education reporter, that might be new trends in teaching and for the city hall reporter it might be who are the emerging power brokers.) When it comes to editing copy, editors have to avoid rewriting stories, which can completely demoralize reporters, but they also can't send along stories that are confusing or take too long to get to the point. It takes awhile for editors to figure out that sweet spot between improving copy but not just rewriting it the way they would have written it. The hardest part of editing is probably dealing with difficult reporters and there is no easy answer for that. The only part of running a newsroom that I could advise on is running the coverage and for me, that was always driven by focusing on the big news of the day. You have to make sure that editors have put enough staffers on the big stories and are looking across the news cycle, e.g. what will we have to publish first thing tomorrow, and make sure some people are trained on the bigger, deeper questions that take a few days to report. If you are clear on your top priorities each day and the newsroom aligns behind those, then the smaller stories will take care of themselves. You will be judged by how the Banner did on the big things, not the small things.

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Interesting research piece from The Conversation US shows that readers typically prefer simple and clear headlines, and are more likely to click on stories that are expressed in an obvious or straightforward way. Increasingly, clarity and simplicity seem to be valuable tools in helping get your message across, especially in a crowded digital space. What do you think – could “simple storytelling” be the new “creative storytelling”?

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Why #digitalliteracy matters: as I scrolled through all the Juneteenth content this past week, one viral post in particular caught my eye for all the wrong (or right?) reasons. Part of why misinformation and disinformation spreads so easily is because it exploits our references for truth. While the content of this image is believable, in line with artifacts from the days of slavery, there are substantial anachronisms that indicate this is not an actual ad from 1848. This is not to shame anyone - unfortunately we all fall for something, sometimes - but to raise awareness of how to spot misinformation and keep it from spreading. Can you spot the reasons this is fake? Some are obvious, but some aren’t - drop a comment and let me know.

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When the American Journalism Project launched five years ago, our mandate was to create the conditions for community-led nonprofit news organizations to sustainably provide the journalism our democracy requires. Today, I’m pleased to share our 2024 Impact Report, a look at the progress we’ve made since our inception. In the five years since our launch, we’ve raised $175 million from national and local philanthropy, and built a portfolio of 44 nonprofit local news organizations —  diverse in size, scope, reach and leadership. Some highlights from the report: -In the last year alone, our portfolio of 44 grantee organizations generated $86 million in revenue — a 36% increase over their 2022 revenue. -Year over year, the organizations in our portfolio are seeing a 58% median growth. -And this growth is leading to more journalism – last year, our portfolio of grantees employed 568 editorial and newsroom staff – an 18% increase over 2022. Organizations are growing, diversifying their revenue, adding journalists, and strengthening their communities. I’m proud of the progress the portfolio has made, and remain clear-eyed about the future. This report sheds light on how far we’ve come and sets the stage for what’s ahead. I hope you'll take a moment to read it. https://lnkd.in/eipwwhxN

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A few messy thoughts on what beehiiv's new media collective (aka financial and operational support for journalists joining the platform from legacy media outlets) means for communicators: 1. "New media" like newsletter and podcasts is increasingly just...media. 2. Substack has effectively branded itself as an online salon, a place for culture and conversations. beehiiv has felt like its swashbuckling younger brother, more saloon than salon. Does this represent a shift in the audiences beehiiv is trying to attract? Will it work? 3. Over-reliance on ads is what's killed the legacy media that's causing journalists to move to newsletters. So can ads underpin this new era, or is Substack's subscription-based model more sustainable?

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Reading Harari's recent book Nexus. Excellent text to anyone interested in knowing how we got here, in this world full of toxic information, fake news and absurd conspiracies.

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Bravo to the Museum of Public Relations for hosting this discussion. https://lnkd.in/g_Nec7Xp Register for this free Zoom event on May 9th, 6 pm ET. - https://bit.ly/3UfxPhK Appreciation to Shelley Spector, Barry Spector, Aaron Kwittken, Mark Weitzman, Rachel S. Kovacs, Daniel Roberti, Dr. Charles A. Small, Ronit Herzfeld The PRMuseum plans to investigate how communication has been used throughout history and is used today to instigate acts of hatred and how communicators might effectively respond. Upcoming programs include Xenophobia: Fear of the “Other” (Islamophobia, Asian Hate, Racism); Weaponized Language: When Words Become Triggers of Divisiveness; What to Do When the Public Square Becomes A Battleground; and Transphobia: the Growing Fault Line in Sexual Politics. We believe the "Language of Hate" series is the first-ever in the PR industry.

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Interesting POV for all stakeholders interested in the information disorder ecosystem.

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CALIFORNIA

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A course I really need to take: This is a deeply comprehensive strategy and skill course on how journalists should apply for grants from Alanna Dvorak and Arina Lekht at the International Fact-Checking Network: Highly recommend! It's free! #GrantWriting #nonprofitnews

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