This weekend, I visited my parents in Vegas. While my daughter was entertained by Grandma and Grandpa, I settled in to a routine that I’d long forgotten—I read an actual hard copy of the Wall Street Journal. With newsprint dotting my fingers, I read cover to cover.

I usually get my news online and it just isn’t the same. When I got to the Opinion section and this article by Bill Wyman, “What Newspapers Can Learn From Craigslist,” I couldn’t help but think there was some cosmic alignment at this particular moment.

Wyman opines that newspapers need to put readers first and get rid of the unwanted navigation elements, like multiple links to different sections of the site. Instead, newspapers should take a page from Craigslist, which has been criticized for its simplicity. Craigslist gives users exactly what they want and puts very little on the site that isn’t useful to them.

I think Wyman’s right. It’s high-time newspapers think about online readers and what we want. I’d be thrilled to get to the editorial without the other garbage crowding my screen.

All marketers could really do a better job of this. Sometimes, we’re too caught up on what we want to put on the page, rather than what the user wants or needs from it.

Maybe I’m wrong. Could newspapers be making the online experience so miserable that we‘re driven to pick up a hard copy? After all, I flipped through my parents’ copy of the WSJ over a cup of Verona this weekend, and today I’m a returned subscriber.

According to a post I read last week on sfnblog.com, most local news still originates from newspapers. I must admit, with the recent explosion of social media, I was a bit surprised to read this (I confess, I don’t always turn to my local newspaper to get news). However, as someone working in public relations, I was relieved to read it.

I realize that newspapers are shrinking in numbers, size and readership; however, I find it comforting to know that the papers that still exist are publishing fresh news—and news that other communication channels like TV, radio and new media are repurposing and publishing. For PR pros, this means that newspapers are still looking for fresh content!

The post goes on to say, “If the bottom falls out for newspapers, sooner or later, other outlets suffer too.” I don’t agree with this 100 percent but I do think that newspapers are critical to mass media and that if newspapers continue to disappear we’ll see a shift in the type of news that is reported and certainly in the speed of its dissemination.

Do you think local newspapers and their Web sites are still valuable places to get fresh and breaking local news? As a PR professional, are you still targeting and pitching your local newspapers?

Photo courtesy: www.flickr.com/photos/lulupine

On SiliconValleyWatcher.com yesterday, Tom Foremski wrote about the “Killer Pitch.” What Foremski sees next is PR pros being able to drive traffic to news stories ourselves. We’d be able to dangle this carrot in front of reporters to make our pitch more enticing.

Foremski says:
“ ‘… and we have the ability to drive a lot of traffic to your story.’ In a world where reporters are increasingly rewarded not on the quality of their work but on how much traffic their stories attract — this becomes the killer pitch.”

Foremski contends that PR pros don’t yet know how to drive traffic to news stories. I agree to some degree.

But, the bigger point goes back to something that we discuss frequently here at B2BFishbowl. Ding, ding, ding – PR is changing.

Today, it’s in PR’s court to drive traffic to our content. It’s no longer enough to hit homeruns with stellar articles. We not only need to place our clients in articles, we need to publish content ourselves, optimize it for online eyes, and promote it directly to our clients’ customers. PR has more jobs to do these days, and content development is making its way higher on the list.

But, one thing remains the same—media bring third-party credibility that we cannot hope to duplicate. So, our pitch strategies must always address what reporters need. If that means helping to increase pageviews for their articles, then that’s an area PR pros will learn to deliver.

Do you think there is an ethical issue with pitching that PR pros can drive traffic to a reporter’s story?

The BCS National Championship game last night was gut-wrenching. Texas fans were on the edge of their seats; waiting to see if the Longhorns could pull through with freshman Garret Gilbert running the show after Colt McCoy hurt his passing shoulder on the Longhorns’ first drive. And while I was on pins and needles throughout the game, it was for a completely different reason. I was waiting for the post-game interview with Colt McCoy.

I like college football—Go Devils—but, in all honesty, my favorite part is what the losing QB says after the game. It’s the most profound moment that really shows what kind of person he is and what type of spokesperson he will be.

Colt McCoy is a class act. He kept his composure, answered the reporters questions, and, most importantly, he congratulated Alabama on its victory, calling them “a tremendous football team”—twice.

In contrast, I remember Matt Leinart’s post-game interview after the BCS title game where USC played Texas. Leinart commented that despite the Trojans’ loss to Texas, “I still think we’re a better football team. They just made the plays in the end.” All I can really say about that is TACKY!

There is truly a stark comparison between McCoy’s and Leinart’s interviews. So, what can B2B marketers learn from this? It’s simple: bad-mouthing your competition (even in the most perceivably judicious manner) just won’t make you look good. And, of course, great media training goes a long way.

Kudos to Colt McCoy for getting it right!

What do you think?