CASACOM’S FAVOURITE COMMUNICATIONS NEWS, STORIES & TIPS OF THE WEEK

This week a couple of big companies made announcements; one that affects social media and the other traditional media. You can learn more about them in our favourite communications news and stories of this past week.

Facebook:

What was the big Facebook news this week? Facebook’s co-founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced during a question and answer session that they are currently working on a  ‘dislike’ button and are very close to shipping a test of it. There is obviously concern about the dislike button because what the word represents and the negativity that can come from using it. However, Zuckerberg said the goal behind the “dislike” button is to make it a tool to “express empathy.” There are a lot of things that need to be worked out and what the function would be, as well as how Facebook would keep it from turning into another weapon for social media bullies.

To read more about this announcement and quotes from Mark Zuckerberg, please see article below.

“Zuckerberg announces Facebook ‘dislike’ button” (PR Daily)

Media Relations:

Glenn Gillen, senior account manager at S&A Cherokee, shares some thoughts on what works when developing contacts in the media. Media connections can definitely help you get a story out to audiences and exposure for your client/brand. Here are some of his tips and described in detail in the blog link below:

• Be respectful. Be kind to them in all your dealings and they will look forward to talking with you in the future.
• Be responsive. Provide a way to be reachable at all times with journalists.
• Be reliable. Deliver when you say you will deliver, and apologize when you can’t.
• Be realistic. Not every phone call with a journalist will lead to your story being published.
• Be a resource. This means you are someone who can be counted on for reliable information, something all journalists crave.

“5 Ways to Build Relationships with the Media” (PR News)

Digital:

Quebec daily, La Presse announced this week its intention to stop printing a Monday to Friday print edition, effective January 1, 2016, but will still print Saturday editions. The decision to abandon a weekday print edition represents a major milestone for the 131-year-old publication, as it’s the first major daily in the world to go 100% digital on weekdays. You can read more on the why and some other interesting facts in the article link below.

“La Presse to stop publishing weekday print edition” (Marketing Magazine)