Welcome to Washington; learn a little while you’re here

Welcome to Washington. I hope you soak up some American heritage while you’re here. If you’ve come to the nation’s capital for today’s “Restoring Honor” rally, I hope you take some time to see the magnificent sights here. Since you’ll be right there at the Lincoln Memorial, climb the steps and read some of the [...]

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A public-relations rookie’s handling of the TBD launch

In the days of my callow youth, I remember referring to journalists who ventured into public relations as having “sold out.” Never mind that many in PR toiled for pay as low as many journalists. Never mind that PR ethics also insist on getting the facts right. We like our world simplified into us and [...]

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Generations in the Desert: A response from one who’s wandering

My friend Sree Sreenivasan made me cringe when he referred to me as a “digital media expert” in his review of TBD‘s launch. The truth is that I’m still fumbling around in TBD’s content management system. The digital natives I work with could sit through one or two sessions of CMS training and take off [...]

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Research shows Twitter’s value in questioning rumors

Readers of this blog know that Twitter is one of the best tools for covering breaking news. But if you listen to and read the Twitter haters, you also hear that Twitter is a place where false rumors spread rapidly. My reply to that is that Twitter is a form of communication, and rumors spread [...]

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Bloggers share advice and links

I led a webinar on blogging this afternoon for the Online Media Campus. My slides are below. I referred participants to the advice I collected from bloggers for a workshop last year. I’m still interested in your help: What are some tips you have for effective blogging? Please add them in the comments, along with [...]

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Time for a new blog name: The Buttry Diary

Mimi has been after me to change the name of my blog. So starting today, with the launch of TBD, my blog becomes The Buttry Diary. I’m still hopeful that many news organizations, including TBD, find and demonstrate the value of the Complete Community Connection. Pursuing the Complete Community Connection was the right title for [...]

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On TBD’s launch day, reflecting on an earlier launch

I remember fondly the first time I felt the excitement of launching a new product. Memories have flooded back as I have spent the last six months preparing for today’s launch of TBD. Hometown was going to provide a new business model for the Des Moines Register. I had the odd title of “launch editor.” [...]

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