December 19, 2024
In this final edition of the year: the new rules of media, the strategic power of storytelling, reputation in the age of AI, who is posting on social (spoiler: hardly anybody), and much more...
The new rules of media - “20 lessons for digital media’s present and future” This speaks to me. (One Thing)
The Year Creators Took Over - “The attention economy has dominated the Internet for more than a decade now, but never before have its protagonists felt so central to American life—or had such direct access to the levers of power.” (New Yorker)
The Strategic Power of Storytelling: How Narratives Shape Identity, Drive Investment, and Influence Policy - “The power of story-telling must be considered and is critical for senior decision-makers in government, the C-suite, and the investment community to understand and invest in.” (Reputation Matters)
Reputation in the Age of AI: how Large Language Models (LLMs) influence perceptions of Quality, Trust, Innovation, and Value in brand communications - “AI is supercharging editorial media's influence on corporate reputation, driving 61% of content about brands, new research shows.” (Hard Numbers)
You Know Who Posts on Social Media? Hardly Anybody - “The commentary that you’re reading isn’t indicative of the majority. If the X example holds, what’s trending on social media, and what opinions gain traction, are only really reflective of around a fifth of the population in any given region.” (Social Media Today)
“Communicate from a place of power, not fear,” communications strategist Eleanor Hawkins tells organizations headed into the new year - “Everyone should reexamine their stakeholder map and then figure out exactly where you need to go to reach the audiences that will help your business achieve its goals.” (McKinsey)
The average reputational crisis lasts just over a week - but those first 24 hours are critical - “New data from PublicRelay's analysis of 100+ crises across 40 companies reveals a fascinating pattern in how corporate crises unfold.” (Azhar Unwala)
How Are Attitudes Toward News Coverage of Immigration Related to General Trust in News Media? - New research “examines how hostile media and credibility perceptions about specific issues, such as migration, affect general trust in news media.” (USC Annenberg)
Forbes is cutting ties with freelance writers, citing Google spam policies - “One explanation for the change: updated Google Search rules around “parasite” SEO.” I will not shed a tear. (The Verge)
Time unveils new AI chatbot - “The Time AI chatbot allows users to ask questions about the story, summarize it into digestible bits of different lengths, translate the text into different languages, or play audio versions of the copy. It can translate the article into German, Spanish, French, Russian, Ukrainian and Mandarin.” Corporate communicators pay attention. (Axios)
Who owns the AI tools journalists use? A new study exposes a dangerous transparency gap - “More than two-thirds of 100 companies behind the AI tools most commonly used and recommended by journalists are insufficiently transparent about their ownership, finances and other critical data, according to a new report published by the Media and Journalism Research Center.” (Reuters Institute)
The Myth of the Sustainable Consumer - “Companies that understand the different kinds of consumers for sustainable products can market to them more effectively.” (MITSloan)
Breaking Down Jay-Z’s PR Strategy In His Statement Denying Allegations - I’m no expert in celebrity PR (nor very much interested), but this analysis of Jay-Z’s response to allegations he was involved in some horrible crimes is, if nothing else, intriguing. (Forbes)
These emoji and acronyms are no longer cool, says social media analysis - “Sentiment analysis on social media suggests that certain emoji and internet acronyms are now falling out of favor, either being used less frequently, or attracting negative comments.” (9TO5Mac)
And for the final time in 2024, the most popular link in last week’s Miscellany was Predictions for Journalism, 2025 by Nieman Lab. Try not to miss me and see you in 2025.