Facttactic

Corporate and technical writers

Journalism

word of the day

Earlier this month we had Friday the 13th. Did it make you worried? You might have paraskevidekatriaphobia, apparently!

Now that’s a far more interesting word than unfriend, recently named Word of the Year. It means the act of removing someone as a friend on social networking sites such as Facebook.

Facebook might be phenomenon of the year but, heck, that word is lifeless.

Luckily, the search is on for Word of the Decade! So get in quick and vote for “chur bro” or “Google” or something; anything other, please, than unfriend.

free at last, free at last

When I first got the internet at home 12 or so years back, I remember the Actrix ISP guy telling me to make the most of it because, sooner rather than later, we’d all have to pay to view anything on the web.

Today, thankfully, I’m still waiting for that, and savvy businesses are making more and more online stuff free – many getting rich doing it.

Wired editor Chris Anderson for one firmly believes things are only going to get freer on the internet. In his new book, Free: the Future of a Radical Price, Anderson says, “In the digital realm you can try to keep Free at bay with laws and locks, but eventually the force of economic gravity will win.”

Tomorrow, though, the National Business Review starts to charge for ‘premium’ content on its website. The move comes as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation also ponders widespread charges for reading its news websites. So far, reportedly, it has more than one million paid up subscribers to its Wall St Journal online service. Which way, if at all, things will tip is still pretty unclear.

And will this trend extend beyond the grumpy old  men of newspapers? It appears unlikely. The free internet has been a huge tool for smart PR campaigns (think the best job on the world) using free content and, of course, for the free spread of ideas and thought, in general.

UPDATE: I visited the NBR site Friday morning. Most of the top stories have Subscriber content next to them, and you must sign-on and pay to access them. Did I do this? No. Do I miss not getting the content? Yes. Is the content crucial for my work or life? No. Has the website now become a bit unhelpful for me? Yes. Does it make the site less worth visiting? Yes. Will the site lose a visitor and NBR advertisers a potential customer? Looks like it.

online newspapers – change or die, says Google

Newspapers moan that Google steals their content and displays it for free. Google points to the fact that it sends a billion clicks a month to newspaper websites and pays newspaper billions of dollars annually for hosting Google advertising.

Google says newpapers would do well in the new world if they learnt from sites such as such as video site YouTube and the online shopping site Amazon that build their content so there is always more to buy or more to watch.

Google says linking to more information, engaging readers in dialogue and making the content more interactive are “web fundamentals” that could be used to build a product much different from news online today.

Find out more here.

when off-the-record is on-the-record

Former, high-profile, newspaper gossip columnist Bridget Saunders appeared on a TV current affairs show recently expressing surprise that comments she had made earlier to other journos, off-the-record she thought, were broadcast – putting her in a pretty unflattering light.

So, if a hard-bitten and experienced hack can’t sort out what’s on- or off-the-record, then maybe it’s not as simple as it seems. But, really, it is: If you don’t want the media to publish/broadcast something – don’t tell them it! Easy.

Having said that if you are not generally in the media glare, journos will likely give you a bit of leeway, if the issue is not major.  But if you are regularly in the media commenting on stuff, you’re ‘fair game’. Reporters are talking to you to get a story not to make friends!

Last night’s Media 7 show had four senior journalists on the panel discussing what is off- and on-the-record. It’s invaluable watching for all people and companies wanting to understand the nuances of dealing with reporters. Find the Media 7 show here.