For product news stories in particular, many publications like (and some prefer or even insist on) a quote from an industry analyst (e.g., from Forrester, Gartner, IDC, Yankee, or one of the independents and smaller groups, like ESG), or other third-party expert. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: November 2010
Great Moments In Unnecessarily Misleading, Off-Point Headlines
A recent press release on PR News wire had the headline:http://infolio-rg.ru
Small Businesses Agree: The Web is Dead
and led with “Wired had it right; the web is dying. [REDACTED]s small business customers have shown a distinct preference for managing their documents in the cloud with downloadable applications – both on the iPad and on their Windows desktops – vs. using their browsers.”
So, a, one company’s “opinion” (or its interpretation of one thing their customers are doing) equals this “fact”? (Here’s another possible interpretation of the data: “Our browser access is badly done.”) Continue reading
My New Rule For Multi-Source Phone Briefings: Give Names When Speaker Changes
In writing up a news article based on a (vendor) phone briefing where there were three sources — all male — I’ve added another rule, or at least guideline, to my Best (well, Good Enough) Practices:
When there’s more than one source involved in a (phone) conversation, each time a different person speaks, they need to pause and re-ID who they are, so I can keep track, for quote attribution. Continue reading