What a shame it is that the documentary “Living in Emergency” (www.livinginemergency.com) did not receive an Oscar nod. Given the situation in Haiti, this film that follows the lives of four doctors in the Doctors Without Borders organization is perhaps the most relevant documentary of 2010. The media understands how relevant this film is and interest in the film has never been greater. “Living in Emergency” Director Mark Hopkins Interviewed on Fox News

Is there a premium for good old fashioned print?

With fewer ad dollars being earmarked for MSM (mainstream media, specifically print media), there are fewer pages for articles in the slimmed-down print editions of business magazines (Forbes, Fortune and BusinessWeek) and leading daily newspapers such as the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. This makes it increasingly difficult for media relations experts to score a MSM print story. I don’t think this trend is going away.

Forrester Research recently released a report citing “60% of marketers surveyed will increase their interactive budgets by shifting funds from traditional media.” The White House has accredited digital-only media outlets such as Huffington Post and Politico. 

Even as marketers recognize the increasing power of digital – clients still clamor for print media. Is there a perception that print media is more powerful? Is there a prestige factor? Is it because it’s tangible? 

It begs the question for print outlets: if there is more perceived value in a print story – how can media outlets cash in on that perception. Or will marketers shift their views?

As Mike Myers says, “Discuss amongst yourselves”.

Topping Media is celebrating its first anniversary! After a full year of working with a variety of clients in financial services, media and technology, we have learned a lot. I know you’re thinking: “Way to pick some terrific sectors, Sam”, but it’s actually been great. That’s because all of the companies that we work with are continuing to thrive. Some of our clients have found this to be a great time to scale their businesses. Others have overcome challenges. Overall we agree that this is a fantastic time to take a creative approach to communications and to be bold and innovative.

Earlier this year, I was asked by Forbes to comment on best practices for communicating with employees. While communicating internally is key, we’ve found that there is no longer a clear distinction between internal and external communications. The digital age has blurred the lines.

With the advent of social networks, it’s increasingly difficult to prevent information from making headlines or reaching the “blogosphere” before a company formally announces information. With social networks and blogs constantly gaining more popularity and credibility, corporations are struggling to figure out how much information they should share with their employees, when they should share it and how to share it. In addition, they need to consider the legal ramifications of sharing too much information too soon. The problem becomes one of a striking a balance between informing its most important constituencies: employees, clients, partners and investors, and the media.

Consider a scenario where the CEO of a company faces a critical situation that will impact the company’s employees and its clients. The executive team considers how to inform key constituents and how to announce the news to the media. Using the media to break the story usually results in employees and clients reading the news and wondering about the impact. The CEO is now challenged with worried employees who are not prepared to respond to client concerns. The decision to inform the media instead of creating a synchronized rollout plan has resulted in a further breakdown and creates instability amongst employees and clients.

With the introduction of digital media, this scenario can result in news being spread even faster. Recently, a major corporation eliminated one of its divisions. While informing that division’s employees, news leaked out to other divisions within the corporation. One employee updated his Facebook status to state that the division folded. A friend of his saw the news and sent it to a reporter. Within a half an hour the story was broken via Twitter. Any messaging or rollout plans that had been created were thrown out the window: the damage was done.

In the Forbes article entitled “How Much Should I Tell My Employees?” the journalist investigated best communications practices, taking into consideration today’s media frenzy. Her take was to tell the press last. That is far from what I recommend. In my opinion it is critical to create a cohesive, synchronized approach to rolling out significant information – communicating relevant messages to the media, employees, clients, and investors at the same time. If you share information with your stakeholders too soon before you share with the media, there is a huge window of opportunity for a news leak.

Topping Media’s Best Practices
1.    Incorporate a digital strategy in your rollout plans. Using digital media, rather than fighting it can be beneficial.
2.    Synchronize your plans to ensure that your key constituents are informed at the same time. As I said before, if everything is timed correctly, there’s little room for leaks, or miscommunication among the different entities.
3.    Understand that your employees are your best spokespeople. By equipping them with a strong Q&A they will feel confident and will be able to better respond to questions from clients. If you empower your best employees to become “brand ambassadors” they will be able to sell the company’s message more confidently and effectively.
4.    Tell employees to direct all media calls to the press office and maintain a log of all calls.
5.    If you allow your employees to access to social media networks like twitter and Facebook, give them a link to the news so they can share it if they choose. Monitor blogs, twitter search and traditional media. If there is inaccurate information being posted, review the information and respond to it (when appropriate):

In summary, communications must be open and direct. In order for a company to run smoothly, an employee has to be able to trust his employer and vice-versa. When company trust is built up and loyalty is gained, far fewer media leaks are created and communication flows naturally. A company succeeds best if it works together like a well-oiled machine. In order for a machine to produce successfully, all of its parts must work together cohesively.

Follow me on twitter: toppingmedia.

“gen gr8″ is the term coined by Topping Media used to describe our high school and college interns who “abrv8 evrtng”. Abrv8ng is catching on with Gen X, but will “gen gr8″ move to twitter?

Note: this headline was *barely* approved by our interns.

I remember writing my first story about the IPO of Yahoo! in 1996. Back in those days of yore every story we wrote had to explain that the “World Wide Web” was also known as the “information super highway”. To this day, I am still not sure what that means.

In the late 90′s my Dad told me about Google. He said that once it was out of Beta it would trump Yahoo! Umm, ya, think he was on to something (minus the whole Beta thing)? Today, I wonder what he would think about the media fueled rivalry between Facebook and twitter. I, for one, didn’t think anything could tear me away from Facebook. Then I joined twitter and got tweetdeck.

The minute I joined Facebook I became a status update junkie. I find instant gratification in announcing anything and everything to my friends at all hours of the day. I realize that maybe some updates can go unsaid – but who wouldn’t want to know when I am “Catching Fireflies”….

For me, reading status updates is an escape that allows me to find out what my friends are doing and thinking. I find amusement in my friends’ postings: “Looking for a good housekeeper who doesn’t steal Ambien” and “Throwing hotdogs down a hallway”.  It’s amazing what people will post. That said, some of my friends joined Facebook to read and view their peeps profiles (you know who you are). They may post the occasional photo, but not much else. It’s a passive pleasure that lets them keep up with old friends.

When I first  heard about twitter, twittering and tweeting seemed redundant to me: I already had that instant status updating power – what could twitter offer? Plus it didn’t have many of the other things I had come to like about Facebook – photo albums, Fan Pages and let’s face it – Scrabulous (before it got canned).

But after a day, I discovered the joys of tweeting. I can follow anyone – no need to be friends. Anyone can follow me – no need for limited profiles. This service is about knowledge sharing. For me, it’s about hearing from the influencers in the industries that matter most to Topping Media and our clients.

While there are updates that provide me with traffic instructions: “MObama n nyc avd lx”; other tweets are breaking news, talking trends and keeping me informed. The power of tweeting has changed the way we issue news about our clients. We can supplement traditional methods by tweeting headlines and stories. People who care to follow Topping Media also care about our clients and WANT to be kept informed. Like that old shampoo commercial goes: if someone likes the news they will “tell two friends who will tell two friends, and so on, and so on and so on.”

When Us Weekly announced they were using our client’s technology to become the first publisher to develop a revenue stream on Facebook, Topping Media and our client, Involver, tweeted the headlines. By the end of the day it was one of the top ten topics tweeted on twitter.

That said, will tweeting or updating be the way we communicate in the future – or is it already passé with “gen gr8″? My God daughter who just graduated from University doesn’t have a twitter account. She barely uses status updates. I can tell she thinks I am kind of a loser for updating my status updates so frequently. She says, “Just update when you move locations. When you’re in London – write London. People who want to see you, will be in touch – if they want to.”

Similar views, although somewhat better masked – are shared by Topping Media’s summer interns (now called twinterns). They are old school communicators: BBMing (blackberry messenger), Facebook messaging, IMing and texting (all 1:1 communications). They certainly weren’t twinterns before we asked them to join. They still don’t get it or like it. This makes me wonder how “gen gr8″ will communicate and if they will embrace mass communications. Stay tuned.

Note from twintern: I had never heard of tweetdeck, “gen gr8″, Google or Yahoo!. It’s ALL about the Bing baby! (Even bling is out in this economy). Kdng abt ggl.

Thank you for visiting top in media. A former employer and friend inspired the name of this blog. He sent me an email: “How is ToppingMedia going? The name could not be better – top in media.” As you may have noted from our home page, inspiration is what drives Topping Media. Stay tuned.