PR and Politics

PR Strategist magazine this month talks about what the PR industry has learned so far from Election 2008. In an interview with Garrett M. Graff, editor-at-large at Washingtonian Magazine, PRSA discusses the transformation happening in this year's election cycle.

The article draws parallels to the Nixon/Kennedy debates in 1960.

Up until seeing this article, I hadn't seen anyone drawing on the similarities between the 1960 election and what is going on in Presidential politics today. If you examine the "Clinton Machine" the campaign is set up for a 1990s-type campaign. Clinton clearly started targeting her Democratic base, meaning those that are over the age of 50.

While this strategy may have worked in the past, a recent Pew Internet study has shown that there is an increasing generational divide in how people are getting their news. You can see in the diagram to the left that nearly 50 percent of those 18-29 years old are getting their political news from the Web. Interesting that Obama has a huge online support network and that his strongest supporters are coming from the 18-29 year-old demographic.

In contrast Clinton and Mccain were slow to enter the online market and their support is coming from those over 50 years old. Fifty percent of 50-year-olds are getting their news from their local television news.

As Clinton and Obama make their final pleas to voters it is clear that we are witnessing history in the making for many reasons. Not since Howard Dean screamed in 2004 have we heard this much noise around Presidential candidates. Lets watch the numbers role in tonight.

MinnPost.com launches on November 8, 2007

For those of you that haven't heard, there is a new online newspaper coming to Minnesota on Nov 8. MinnPost is a publication started by Joel Kramer, former editor of the Star Tribune.

Last night I was invited to an open house where Joel talked a little about his vision for the paper, this is what I learned.

MinnPost is a 501c3, so much like Minnesota Public Radio or Television they will be primarily supported by readers, although they will have advertisements on the site as well. To-date MinnPost has received $120,000 in reader contributions.

The paper's new cycle will be to publish Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. The look of the site will change on weekends, but because of limited resources there will not be any new information. They will have a PDF version for download and printing on their homepage and a small number of printed copies (2,000) will be distributed for free in high traffic areas around the metro area.

The paper's focus will be on delivering high-quality journalism to people that like news. While the focus will be readers in Minnesota, the paper will not be provincial, they WILL cover world news. There will not be sports coverage and they will take a more New York Times approach to crime coverage focusing on trends rather than daily events.

The site will link to additional resources for more information and the site will feel, in some ways, more like an online magazine like slate.com or salon.com.

The paper has a wide array of freelance journalists already signed up to write for the paper. Many of these writers are familiar faces to the Minnesota journalism world, so it will make it easier for those of us in PR industry.

Joel said it is time for journalists to adjust to the new way of journalism and that takes a new attitude. MinnPost will encompass the best of the news business.

Paul Potts and the quest for authenticity

Trend watchers have been talking about “authenticity” for several years now, and the mega-trend shows no signs of slowing down. Broadcast and cable TV were quick to jump on the bandwagon with their interpretations, namely reality shows and various sorts of talent contests. The latter have proven themselves to be an amazingly successful formula: The “American Idol” juggernaut shows no signs of slowing, and the entire genre has quickly become Simon Cowell’s oyster.

But even the A.I. enterprise has exposed a few cracks, with professional and semi-professional singers and outright frauds swelling the contestant ranks. Still, every once in a while there is a breakthrough performance by a true amateur on one of these shows that stands out and demonstrates the real power and impact of authenticity.

So it is with Paul Potts on "Britain's Got Talent." A cell phone salesman by trade, Potts sings opera (that's right, opera). A somewhat shy, not necessarily camera-friendly man who, by his own admission, struggles with self-confidence, Potts makes for a great story.

Three separate clips of his performances have been viewed on YouTube more than 5.6 million times and have elicited more than 10,000 overwhelmingly positive comments — itself an amazing feat in the often nasty Web 2.0 world.

Potts went on to win the contest on Sunday evening, earning a cash prize and, of course, a recording contract. He will also perform in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance later this year. Watch the clip below of his tryout for B.G.T. and prepare to be blown away.

Then maybe ask yourself: How can my company or client connect with its target audiences in a way that leverages the power of the authenticity trend?