How Organizations can Get Human and Credible with Blogs, Podcasts, and Journalism (audio)

Here is another audio edition of CONTENTIOUS. In this show I discuss how organizations (companies, nonprofits, institutions, agencies, etc.) can communicate more effectively and credibly in the age of online media. The secret is abandoning the common belief that your organization should speak with a single, monolithic voice. Nobody believes that. Organizations are made up of people. If your organization wishes to participate in the public conversation, start communicating like human beings.

You can give the people within your organization a public voice (inside and outside your organization) through a weblog or podcast. This enhances your credibility, connections, and reach. In addition, applying journalistic practices to your communications (especially in a weblog or podcast) can further strengthen credibility.

LISTEN NOW! Right-click that link to download or listen to the MP3 audio file. It’s about 3.3 MB and runs about 14 minutes long.

Show Notes: Links to articles and resources mentioned in this show…

Yesterday I published two “grab bag” compilations of items related to the topic of professional blogging: Part 1 and Part 2.
Get Human! Monolithic Voices Aren’t Credible, Especially Online. CONTENTIOUS, June 25, 2004.
Blogging and podcasting can expand your reach via webfeed search engines such as Feedster, Blogdigger, and Technorati. Also, if you podcast, you can extend your reach through directories such as Podcast Alley and listings such as audio.weblogs.com.
FastLane, the new company blog from General Motors.
Recommended book: Beyond Spin: The Power of Strategic Corporate Journalism, by Markos Kounalakis, Drew Banks, and Kim Daus. 1999.
Big Thoughts on News and Power. CONTENTIOUS, Oct. 8, 2004.
Need help? I help organizations communicate in human, credible ways – including weblogs and podcasts. Just e-mail me to discuss how I might enhance how your organization communicates. (More information on my experience and services.)

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This entry was written by Amy Gahran and posted on January 18, 2005 at 1:08 pm and filed under Audio Show, Content Style & Business, Voices: Blogs, etc.. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Comments are closed, but you can leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

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2 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

Dave wrote: “I fear the command and control structure is so firmly entrenched in corporate minds that very few will risk not having everyone singing from the same hymnal.”

Precisely — and that’s fine. The organizations which do realize the advantage that acting human offers in the emerging media landscape are going to win.

- Amy Gahran

1. Amy Gahran on January 27th, 2005 at 8:04 pm
My god, Amy, are you actually proposing in item 2 that corporations shall set their people free to say whatever the hell is on their minds? What a godsend to reporters that would be. But I fear the command and control structure is so firmly entrenched in corporate minds that very few will risk not having everyone singing from the same hymnal. Even with the tech now available, perhaps in reaction to it, I see corporate communications becoming more scripted. Try calling up a corporate type for an off-the-cuff, on the spot interview. Spontaneity is out, Amy. Packaging and brands and socially responsible imagery is in. More and more I have to schedule interviews in advance. “Can you send me your questions first?” Then there’s more pressure than in the loose old days to have quotes read back to sources, “Can I see the story before print”, etc. Seems everyone’s been burned by the media, or so I’m told. Then there’s the fear that some employee will spout something to trigger an investigation or a drop in the stock, god forbid. And there’s also a closer, cozier relationship between reporters and sources and publications and advertisers which seems to have resulted in I’ll watch your back, you watch mine. All this weighs against the decentralization and democratization of corporate-speak. Attached is a column I wrote on this corporate paranoid urge to control everything. Scary, I had readers responding, hmmm, not a bad idea.
Cheers,
Dave Johnson..

2. Dave Johnson on January 25th, 2005 at 6:19 pm