Slice Media

Weekly media index: 27 June - 3 July 2009

2009-07-06T14:33:00.004+10:00

Michael Jackson: Since the public announcement of the death from cardiac arrest of pop superstar Michael Jackson last Friday morning Australian time, the story has received three times the coverage of any other issue on television, with continuing speculation over the circumstances of his death, the state of his health in the lead up to his death, the custody of his children and the size of his estate.

Wimbledon: While Samantha Stosur could not replicate her French Open run, Lleyton Hewitt made it through to the quarter finals at Wimbeldon and in the process lifted his world ranking considerably, but otherwise the tournament has looked very similar to most recent years, with Roger Federer and the Williams sisters prominent.

Swine flu: With at least nine deaths now linked to the influenza strain widely known as swine flu, coverage of the issue has continued, with authorities still warning of possibly more dangerous mutations of the virus appearing and the Health Minister reassuring parents that most cases remain mild following the death in Victoria of a three year old with the virus.

Utegate: With the start of the winter recess for Federal Parliament, the Utegate furore died down considerably, although pressure remained almost entirely on the Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull in the wake of opinion polls showing a crash in his approval ratings after they had been trending upwards for several months, while speculation about a shadow frontbench reshuffle continued.

Lote Tuqiri: The media was still none the wiser at the end of the week following the announcement on Monday night that one of the highest paid football players in Australia, rugby star Lote Tuqiri, had been sacked by the ARU for unspecified contract breaches. There has been little further information on the basis for the sacking, but Tuqiri’s representatives have confirmed he will be taking legal action.

Quote of the week:

“He asked me to come and look at his ute” Sacha Baron Cohen (as character Bruno) suggests a bond developed between him and PM Kevin Rudd after a TV appearance together

About the index
This list reports Australia's weekly top news stories by volume across thousands of newspaper, magazine, television, radio and Internet news sources monitored by Media Monitors, including international and domestic, business, sport and entertainment news.

Data and analysis provided to Slice Media by Media Monitors Australia

Media monitoring

Weekly media index: 20 - 26 June 2009

2009-06-30T12:58:00.005+10:00

Utegate: The political debate over alleged improper influence favouring a car dealer in Brisbane by the Treasurer and Prime Minister, that has almost inevitably become known as Utegate, ended up being seen by virtually all the media as a major tactical blunder by the Leader of the Opposition and a win for the Government after one of the key emails upon which he based his claims against Kevin Rudd was shown to be a forgery. This revelation also led to serious doubts about the evidence of Treasury official Godwin Grech, while separate claims against Wayne Swan have been completely overshadowed by the forged email.

Wimbledon: After a strong performance by Australians at the French Open, the traditionally most watched foreign Grand Slam has achieved plenty of coverage across all forms of media in its first week despite there only being one Australian male in the singles draw for the first time in 70 years, with Samantha Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt once again sailing through the early rounds, while Jelena Dokic lost in the first round amidst coverage of her father’s serious illness and her rejection of any reunion.

State of Origin: Queensland wrapped up an unprecedented fourth series victory in a row with a solid if uninspiring win over New South Wales in the second match at ANZ Stadium. After racing out to an early 18-nil lead, the Maroons held on for a 24-14 victory, with the match winning the ratings and receiving wall-to-wall coverage in the rugby league states but far less interest outside Queensland and NSW.

Swine influenza: Swine flu coverage has dropped down the list again this week, despite claims of the first deaths in Australia from the virus, disputed in one case. The death of a 25 year old indigenous man has led to concerns over the comprehensiveness of the response to the potential spread of the virus in remote communities and amongst groups more susceptible to respiratory illness.

Iran: After a week of largely peaceful but widespread protests, the Iranian police and militias have cracked down hard on public protests, with footage of people being shot in the streets being accessed via social media sites and shown on mainstream media across the world. The U.S. President Barack Obama condemned the violence against protesters, following criticism from Republicans and parts of the media that his response had been weak, while the Iranian government blamed British and American influence for the unrest.

Quote of the week:

“I wanted to have a place that I could create everything I never had as a child." – Michael Jackson tells why he built his Neverland ranch

"When I saw him move, I was mesmerized, I knew that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life because of James Brown." – Michael Jackson discusses what made him want to be an entertainer

Media monitoring

Weekly media index: 13 - 19 June 2009

2009-06-22T11:19:00.006+10:00

Massive differences in the leading issues covered by each medium this week, with Des Moran’s shooting the number one issue on television, while Moran did not make the top five in press coverage, which was dominated by swine flu and emissions trading. Radio covered all the top five issues strongly.

Swine influenza: Swine flu was still getting a large amount of coverage across all forms of media this week as cases continued to rise, both in Victoria which now has one of the highest rates of infection in the world and across all other states in Australia. At the same time the threat level of the epidemic was lowered, with officials conceding that the severity of the strain is similar to that of other influenza strains, but warning there was still a danger of a significant number of deaths amongst those highly susceptible to infection or suffering from other ailments.

Des Moran: The shooting of Melbourne underworld figure Des Moran, the fourth member of his family to be killed was the number one news story on television last week, also being strongly covered on radio, with his sister-in-law Judy Moran charged in relation to the shooting, along with her daughter in law Suzanne Kane and Geoffrey Armour, who has been charged with murder.

Iran: Easily the largest international story of the week has been the continuing protests across Iran against the announced re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, with some claims of bloodshed but also many large demonstrations occurring without police intervention. The Government has attempted to shut down most media forms and has revoked journalist visas but use of social media websites has kept a strong flow of information in and out of the country

Emissions trading: Confusion reigns in Canberra on the main topic of debate, the emissions trading legislation, with claim and counterclaim of tactical games being played, while the Liberal Party, Nick Xenophon and Steve Fielding all called for either further delays or further inquiries, with the Greens wanting fundamental changes and the Nationals against any legislation.

Peter Costello: Australia’s longest serving Treasurer Peter Costello finally signalled he was bowing out of Federal Politics permanently, after keeping his options open on renominating for his seat of Higgins for 18 months. His announcement brought words of praise from the current Prime Minister and Opposition Leader, with Malcolm Turnbull being seen by most commentators as the main beneficiary of the move.

“As I’m lying there at my funeral I would hope to hear somebody say, “Look, he’s still moving!” – Peter Costello quotes Woody Allen

Media monitoring

Weekly media index: 6 - 12 June 2009

2009-06-15T09:30:00.004+10:00

Swine influenza: As swine flu started to affect sporting fixtures across the country, with a swimming meet cancelled and several football matches in doubt, media coverage focused on these sporting disruptions and continued to debate the severity of this form of influenza, as health authorities watched for any signs of the virus mutating into a more dangerous strain.

Twenty20 World Cup: Despite Australia falling at the first hurdle in the Twenty20, it still received plenty of coverage across all forms of the electronic media, with discussion of whether the team were properly prepared and whether Andrew Symonds sacking from the squad at the last minute affected their performance.

Ministry reshuffle: Following the resignation of Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon last week, Kevin Rudd announced a wider reshuffle of his ministry, with John Faulkner moving to the Defence portfolio, Joe Ludwig taking his Special Minister of State position, promotion for Chris Bowen and the promotion of NSW right wing powerbroker Mark Arbib and left wing powerbroker Greg Combet into the ministry.

Indian student attacks: Several attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide over the past two weeks has led to street protests by Indian students calling for greater protection and continued coverage of the issue in Indian and other Asian media. State and Federal government leaders have deplored the attacks and attempted to reassure students that Australia is a safe option for education.

Socceroos qualify: In a much less dramatic fashion than last time, the Socceroos have sailed into the 2010 World Cup with a draw in Qatar on the weekend, reasserting their dominance with an unexciting but easy two-nil win over Bahrain in Sydney during the week. The Socceroos were the second team to officially qualify for the tournament, just hours behind Japan.

“fair shake of the sauce bottle” – Kevin Rudd tries (incorrectly) to channel Dad Rudd

Media monitoring

Slice of Life: Jenni Beattie, Director, Digital Democracy

2009-06-12T09:24:00.000+10:00

We'd love you to meet Jenni Beattie, Director of Digital Democracy. Jenni recently launched her consultancy which combines social media with her expertise in public relations, communications, knowledge management and market research. Not only does Ms Beattie know her stuff, she's has one of the most impressive shoe collections around...

So what's your story?
I grew up on the South Coast of NSW lived across the road from the beach so it was fantastic. I moved to Sydney many years ago to do my degree at UTS (Information Science and Mass Comms) and I now live in the inner-west of Sydney. I have two children 8 and 12 which keeps me busy as well as a feisty cattle dog that demands two walks a day! I recently resigned my roles as Director of Digital Consulting and opened up my own social media consultancy called Digital Democracy.

Can you tell me a little more about Digital Democracy?
Yes. Digital Democracy fills a gap in the market by looking at Social Media very wholistically. As I have a background in pr, communications, knowledge management and market research. I view Social Media with those eyes and help organisations get the most from the tools. I am passionate about basing creative ideas on tangible research foundations.

Where did the name Digital Democracy come from?
Now that many people have access to the web we all have the ability to comment, create and review media online. Technology today has given consumers the ability to have a voice whether it is about politics, brands or services – hence digital democracy.

You mentioned working in varying fields can you tell us more about that mix of sectors?
Yes, over the past 20 years I have worked with a great range of organisations and across the marketing field. For example, I worked at News Ltd as a research manager, with McCann Erickson Advertising as a researcher, worked at Media Monitors as a Communications Manager and at Network PR as a Online Research Manager developing their online engagement methodology. More recently I worked at the Digital Edge as the Director of Digital Consulting where I developed and managed online research communities.

What clients have you worked on in the past?
While at Network PR I worked on Paramount Pictures social media strategy for their films – that was very entertaining! At the Digital Edge I set up online communities for Kelloggs, Weight Watchers, Sara Lee, Kimberly Clark and others.

What type of work are you doing now?
Six weeks in and I am working with companies on sales collateral, running social media courses for pr agencies, developing social media strategies for a film currently in development and doing research projects for agencies. Lots of variety!

Right now I'm:

Reading... too many blogs and also a few guide books on Japan

Eating.... mandarins – I love this time of year.

Listening... to Brian Eno

Planning.. a trip to Tokyo for three weeks in September (hope North Korea behave themselves)

Buying... birthday presents for my 8 year old son – it’s a sleepover party so it’s going to be …energetic!

Enjoying... seeing my business grow even in recessionary times.

Drinking... strong coffees in the morning and herbal teas in the evenings (and a few glasses of wine in between)

Media monitoring

13 June - Facebook URLs become available!

2009-06-10T11:37:00.008+10:00

AVOID FACEBOOK URL SQUATTING for your brand (personal or company related!).

Book it in your calendar now - Facebook URLs will be available for the grabbing on Saturday 13 June 2.01pm (Melb/Syd time). Check out this from the facebook blog:

"Starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Saturday, June 13, you'll be able to choose a username on a first-come, first-serve basis for your profile and the Facebook Pages that you administer by visiting www.facebook.com/username/. You'll also see a notice on your home page with instructions for obtaining your username at that time.

Facebook usernames will be available in basic text forms, and you can only choose a single username for your profile and for each of the Pages that you administer. Your username must be at least five characters in length and only include alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9), or a period or full stop ("."). While usernames are currently available only for Romanized text, we're looking at how we might support non-Romanized characters in the future.

Think carefully about the username you choose. Once it's been selected, you won't be able to change or transfer it. If you signed up for a Facebook Page after May 31 or a user profile after today at 3 p.m. EDT, you may not be able to sign up for a username immediately because of steps we've taken to prevent abuse or "squatting" on names."

Having a proper Facebook URL will also add weight to your search engine optimisation efforts - so make sure your brands don't miss out - first come, first served!!

Check out full details on Facebook blog here: http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=90316352130

Media monitoring

Weekly media index - 30 May - 6 June 2009

2009-06-10T09:28:00.002+10:00

Swine flu: Swine flu remained easily the most reported story across the country, although with significantly lower volumes than last week, as the number of cases headed quickly towards four figures, most of those still in Victoria, although most other areas of the country have been affected to some degree. Predictions in the media of how severe the outbreak would be continued to vary, although many experts are now likening the outbreak to a regular flu season.

State of Origin: Despite the recent bad publicity received by rugby league, the State of Origin was a ratings and publicity success, also achieving strong crowd figures at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne. The NSW media tended to focus on controversial refereeing decisions while the Queensland media were basking in another win by their team, looking for an unprecedented fourth series victory in a row.

No recession: The Government were cock-a-hoop about the quarterly GDP figures showing the economy had grown in the first quarter of 2009, confounding most business and political commentators who felt sure the figures would confirm a second quarter of negative growth, the common definition of a recession. The Prime Minister immediately claimed the positive figure was due to the stimulus payments and first home owners grant while the Opposition claimed they showed that less could have been spent.

French Open: Samantha Stosur’s run at the French Open finally ended in the semi-finals against Svetlana Kuznetsova in a tough three set match, Kuznetsova facing Safina in the final, while interest was strong in who would earn the title on the men’s side of the draw following the early exit of Rafael Nadal.

Indian student attacks: There has been widespread concern of a possible drop in international student numbers after a series of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, with the Government being heavily criticised in Indian media reports, while Victorian police maintain theft rather than ethnicity was the motivating factor in the attacks.

Quote of the week:

“I have at least two or three Judases in my midst and they had the drip on me” – Former Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon

About the index
This list reports Australia's weekly top news stories by volume across thousands of newspaper, magazine, televion, radio and Internet news sources monitored by Media Monitors, including international and domestic, business, sport and enterainment news.

Data and analysis provided to Slice Media by Media Monitors Australia

Media monitoring

The A-Z of Australian and NZ PR Blogs - for MarketingMag.com.au

2009-06-09T16:42:00.008+10:00

Hot on the heels of our list of Aus/NZ PR peeps on Twitter, here's a list of Aus/NZ PR and comms related blogs compiled by me and Trevor Young. Kate Kendall, online editor of MarketingMag.com.au came up with the idea and asked Trevor and myself to make it happen (top idea Kate). Voila!

You can find the list on Marketingmag.com.au here. Kate will keep the list up-to-date, so if you're not on the list and think you should be, leave a comment at Marektingmag.com.au. If you are on the list and would prefer not to be, or would like your listing updated/corrected, ditto.

Big shoutout to all the fab tweeters who responded to our calls for assistance with this post - you guys give good tweet!

We've tried to make sure these are blogs specifically about PR issues/campaigns written by flacks. While we did find more blogs than listed, if they hadn't be posted to for more than six months, we didn't include them. Even so, we are a tad surprised that we didn't find more PR comms blogs? Are Comms people too busy helping clients with their blogs to do their own? Is blogging seen as to time consuming for the perceived return? Hmm... interested to hear thoughts from the frontline...

Regardless, there's lots of great stuff listed - dig in and enjoy!

Australia

A
Andy Lark's blog by Andrew Lark

B
Behind Digital PR A Hill and Knowlton blog
Better Communications Results by Lee Hopkins
Black Watch by Tony Blackie

C
Caffeine blog by Espresso Comms
Clever together - PR explained by Horizon Communications
Corporate Engagement Trevor Cook on Crikey blogs
CP Communications blog by Catriona Pollard
Creative Territory by Tracy Jones
Creativity in Public Relations A Hill and Knowlton blog

D
Dennis Rutzou PR's blog
Dummy Spit by Dr Tom Watson

F
Fresh Chat blog for Network PR

H
Hill and Knowlton collection of blogs

I
Influencing the influencers A Hill and Knowlton blog
I scratch my mind by Renee Creer, New Media Director, Stellar*
In silico blog by Paul McKeon

J
Just another PR blog by Karalee Evans
Just another 24 hours by Daniel Young

K
Kimberley Lee

L
Louise Convy Media
Lexy Klain's blog by Lexy Klain

M
Marketing is Us blog
Mumbrella Tim Burrowes, previously editor of B&T magazine

O
On the write track blog by Roger Christie

P
Porter Novelli Adelaide
PR Disasters.com by Gerry McCusker
PR Lab blog by Greg Smith
PR Warrior Trevor Young
Public Relations Sydney by Catriona Pollard, CP Communications
Publicity Queen Sally Romano
Pursuit Communications blog

S
Shoot the messengerblog for Kinectics Comms
Stand Out! Tips by Candy Tymson
Stellar* blog
Strawberry Communications blog

T
Tale Spin Lukas Picton
The Communications Room
The Media Pod Edited by Ross Monaghan'
The Perth Files by John Cooke
The Professional Communicators' Coach by Heidi Alexandra Pollard
Traffic on Maine Bob Crawshaw's blog
Trevor Cook

Y
Young PR Paull Young

New Zealand

Michelle Boag
Bullet Points blog for Bullet PR
NZ Voice Public Relations Institute of New Zealand
Pursuit PR blog

Also check out the PRIA page of resources for other sites on blogging, social media, RSS, social media releases and international PR blogs.

Media monitoring

BooneOakley - edgiest agency around?

2009-06-02T20:53:00.007+10:00

So hot right now?... Charlotte (North Carolina, USA) based ad agency BooneOakley.

They've ditched a traditional 'corporate' website and built a series of interlinking videos posted on their youtube channel to create an incredible (viral and social) showcase of their work and orginality. Watch this video NOW and give your grey matter something to smile about.

(if you're getting this post via email and can't see the video click here)

The execution of their own web presence, coupled with the creativity of their work for clients such as HBO, MTV2, Bloom grocery store (jumbo muffins falling from billboard sized muffin tins) can't help but make you sit up and take notice (and want to tell others about it). V nicely done.

RIP Billy.

(via Gemma Crowley on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/gemcrowley, via AmensiaBlog.com)

Media monitoring

Slice of Life: Jason Murnane, Communications Manager, AFL Players' Association

2009-06-02T14:00:00.000+10:00

Jason Murnane is the Communications & Publications Manager, for the Australian Football League Players' Association (AFLPA). But more than that he's a veteran Slicer, an avid reader, Collingwood support, rockin' Dad and cous cous eater! Right now he's working on a youth homelessness initiative with AFL players so listen up and read on...

You work for the AFL Players Association. How do you land that kinda gig?
What, other than being brilliant? No seriously, it’s about identifying where you would most like to be, throw in a little persistence, combine with a healthy dose of keeping your ears to the ground and voila. Working in the AFL industry is something a lot of people aspire to, but like Ron Barassi says, “if it is to be, it is us up to me.”

What are some of the key communication messages the AFLPA are working on right now?
At the moment we are doing a lot of work with ‘Ladder’ – a youth homelessness initiative, created by the AFL Players’ Association and AFL Foundation to help tackle youth homelessness. The idea is not to solve youth homelessness – Bob Hawke gave that a go and well, he came a bit of a cropper. It’s more about bringing the AFL industry’s pressure to bear on an issue that really shouldn’t exist in such a great country as ours. The initiative has seen the launch of two sites, one in Adelaide the other in inner Melbourne which will see the housing, mentoring and training of young people living at the site – all driven by AFL players.

Is the AFLPA using social media tools to assist with communication strategies?
We do. With much of our membership under 25 we use social media, such as your Facebook and Twitter et al, as they provide us with tremendous opportunities to get our message out to our members, but also to engage directly with the wider community, free from the on occasional negativity from some of our friends in the paid media.

Tell us something about the AFL players association we would find surprising...
We are not a department of the AFL and we’ve been around since 1974 - 35 years strong.

What has been your personal career highlight so far?
Working with and learning from a wide variety of really great people.

Have you found monitoring the media changes the way you communicate with the media?
Yes and no. The AFL industry is so driven by the 24 / 7 media cycle that it’s hard for some, sometimes to see the forest for the trees – to live and die by the media cycle. What’s a front page headline for a day disappears without a trace by the following day. With the growth of 24 hours sport news, there’s been a great tendency by some to concentrate solely on being first with the news, at the expense of being accurate. With well over 1,000 journalists’ accredited to cover AFL football (way more than cover Federal Politics), it’s a competitive gig – one I don’t envy.

Why Slice over other monitoring services?
The simplicity and cost effectiveness of the service.

Right now I'm:

Reading...
A lot of football journalism, good – (Martin Flanagan, Tim Lane, Rob Murphy) and bad. Fiction wise Cormac McCarthy (again and again), Peter Carey, Ben Okri, Richard Flanagan and many others but on the bed side table at the moment its a book called Standard Operating Procedure – a cold eyed first hand account of what happened at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison and what occurs when a country’s military loses sight of what its’ supposed to be fighting for

Eating....
Cous Cous salad with chicken, sultanas and cashews

Listening...
Heaps of stuff – Bon Iver, Scud Mountain Boys, The Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, The Black Keys, The Middle East, AC/DC, plus my mighty Collingwood game calls on good old ABC 774 radio

Planning...
On getting to the beach, one day

Buying...
Trying to save (thanks Kevin07)

Enjoying....
My life with my beautiful two girls and partner

Media monitoring

Twitter makes it outdoors...

2009-06-01T16:40:00.005+10:00

Loved this billboard by Wholefoods in the States... although I think it should say 'tweeting'... but, meh... you get the message. Would have been a nice touch to add the Twitter URL perhaps?

(via Brian Gieson on Twitter http://twitter.com/bdgiesen and cotweet http://twitter.com/cotweet)

Media monitoring

Weekly media index: 23 -29 May 2009

2009-06-01T10:49:00.003+10:00

Swine Influenza: As the number of confirmed sine flu cases moved swiftly past 100 in Australia, the story returned to complete dominance of radio news in particular, with almost hourly updates on the status of the epidemic. Health authorities across the country have warned that there will be many more confirmed cases with some reports predicting up to 20% of the population could eventually catch the virus.

Emissions Trading: Once again the media is reporting an impasse in the Senate on the Government’s proposed emissions trading scheme, with the Nationals and Greens both firmly against it for opposite reasons and the Liberal Party attempting to delay a vote for another six months. Political commentators have focused on the likelihood of the issue being used to force an early election.

NSW Floods: Three major rivers in northern New South Wales broke their banks and caused millions of dollars of damage, with large town centres such as Kempsey, Grafton and Lismore hit by floodwaters along with extensive damage to surrounding farm land. Emergency centres have been set up to assist with the clean-up but the full damage bill may not be known for several weeks.

French Open: Australians performed well in the first week at the French Open tennis, with Jarmila Groth and Smantha Stosur winning through to the third round along with Lleyton Hewitt, who will face world number one Rafael Nadal. Jelena Dokic was forced to retire with an injury while leading in her second round match.

North Korea: There has been almost universal condemnation of a further nuclear test by North Korea, with media commentators describing the move as the first major test of Barack Obama’s presidency, with the UN Security Council quickly condemning the test and warning of further action if testing continues.

“Its all in French so you don’t know what’s bloody going on…then everybody stands up and claps, and its like ‘oh my god we’ve won something’”
Warwick Thornton describes winning the Camera D’Or at Cannes for his first feature film Samson and Delilah

Media monitoring

Slice like a pro: Adding past clips to your Slice account

2009-05-27T14:18:00.010+10:00

Cooked to perfection and just out of the Slice oven comes a new 'Add' clip feature for Slice subscribers. That's right Slicers, you can now add news clips from the last 30 days into your Slice tracking folders... delicious!

OK Slicers, here's how to sink your teeth into it...

Creating a new tracking folder and adding past clips

1. Enter all tracking folder details Step 1 - 4
2. Go to Step 5 'Test, Add, Save & Start'.
3. Click 'Test and Add'
4. Clips from the last 30 days that match your tracking criteria will be presented to you in a table.
5. Review these clips to ensure your search string and media scoping options are picking up the right type of articles you're looking for. If the list contains irrelevant articles, review your search string and media options to prevent irrelevant clips being delivered into your account.
6. To add any of these clips, simply tick the check box next to the clip details.
7. Add as many clips as you like and then click 'Save'.
8. These clips will be added towards you package clip count and may take up to 30 minutes to be delivered into your account.
Tip: ensure you have email alerts for this tracking folder enabled - you'll then receive a message when these new clips arrive in your account!

Adding clips to an existing tracking folder

1. Go the tracking folder you'd like to add clips to.
2. You'll notice Step 5 is now called 'Test, Add, Save & Start'.
3. Click 'Test & Add'
4. If there are clips from the last 30 days that match your search, you'll see a list of articles presented by date and media type, with details of publisher/broadcaster.
5. You can reorder your list by simply clicking the table headings. By default clips are sorted by date.
6. Clips previously delivered into your account will have grey text and the check box for it will already be ticked(see fourth clip listed above). You can not add clips already received by your tracking folder.
7. To add clips, simply tick the check box next to the clip details.
8. Add as many clips as you like and then click 'Save'.
9. These clips will be added towards you package clip count and may take up to 30 minutes to be delivered into your account.
Tip 1: Ensure you have email alerts for this tracking folder enabled - you'll then receive a message when these new clips arrive in your account!
Tip 2: If you are adding a clip that was missed, review your search string and media scoping options to prevent the miss happening again.

We hope you enjoy this new addition to our pantry of Slice DIY ingredients. Eat up!

Media monitoring

Slice of Life: Casey Macneil, Director, Macneil Marketing & Communications

2009-05-27T09:53:00.001+10:00

Casey Macneil knows how to squeeze a good time out of work and play... She lives on the Sunshine coast, has clients like the Noosa Longweekend and is mum to two bubs. She's also is a nifty Slice subscriber and doesn't mind a G&T every now and then...

Tell us a little bit about your good self...
Brizzie born and bred, and related to half of it (catholic – 40 first cousins – actually 41!) Went to school, uni then left for London, as we all did in the late 80s. Worked in Brisbane and Melbourne in my 20s and early 30s on fab projects like the Brisbane International Film Festival. Am now spending my days on an idyllic property near Coolum Beach on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. I run my own marketing agency (Macneil Marketing & Communications), I have a few little pip-squeaks at home, I work with some really clever people and my daily commute is very small. Life is rather good actually! G&T anyone?

What campaign are you working on right now?
We’re promoting the Noosa Longweekend festival (19 – 28 June) but also one of our favourite clients distributes fantastic European-designed products for babies and kids including the Bebedelice, a steamer/blender for baby food and a head support called Lovenest which prevents flathead in babies (otherwise babies end up having HELMET therapy – not a good look). You want babies fat not flat.

Are you using social media as part of its communications toolkit?
I yam! A friend of mine is a social networking specialist and owns an agency in London. The Queen is one of his clients! He’s been teaching me the ways of the web world and so has an associate Brad Howarth, great guy. I am working on a seminar event with this London-based guru in November in Brisbane – would love to hear from people if it’s something they’d want to go to and what they’d like covered. Also planning a smaller workshop style format for more intimate learning.

What's the biggest challenge facing professional communicators right now?
Crowded marketplace; social media stuff is very time consuming; everyone thinks they are a communicator. The list goes on, but I’ve been doing it for 20 years and I still love going to work, so something’s right.

Are you feeling the fallout of the GFC?
A little bit, yes. Things aren’t as fast and furious as they have been these last couple of years. Frankly, I really needed a breather, so am not unhappy about it!

Why Slice over other monitoring services?
Price; love the self-serve (but you need someone to help download it all).

Tips on using Slice for other subscribers?
Nail a tight string. (now that’s talking the lingo!)

Right now I'm:

Reading... the Noosa Longweekend program – full of juicy stuff!

Eating.... chocolate when I shouldn’t be

Listening... to my baby trying to talk and my toddler never stopping!

Planning... a trip somewhere…

Buying... nothing, saving for my trip! Sorry Kevin!

Enjoying... Twitter. And watching MAD MEN! Loving it. Also loved Entourage.

Drinking... green tea in the day and G&Ts on Fridays (martinis on Saturdays)

Media monitoring

Weekly media index: 16 - 22 May 2009

2009-05-25T14:36:00.006+10:00

Swine flu: Swine flu has returned to prominence in the media with a number of confirmed Australian cases across several states, including three children in Melbourne, leading to the closure of the Primary School attended by two of the children, as the number of global swine flu cases went over 10,000.

Queensland storms: South East Queensland is yet again suffering through an extreme weather pattern, with massive storms and the worst flooding in thirty years taking one life and causing millions of dollars of damage, while several dams are overflowing less than a year after the breaking of the area’s worst drought on record.

Sri Lanka: There were celebrations in the capital of Sri Lanka after the government announced it had killed the Tamil Tigers leader and taken the final rebel stronghold in the north of the country, although international aid organisations warned of the massive humanitarian effort required to protect and rehome refugees from the thirty year long civil war.

Annice Smoel: Melbourne woman Annice Smoel received a huge amount of coverage across all traditional media after she was arrested for stealing a bar mat in a bar in Phuket. After pleading guilty she was released with a good behaviour bond and fine.

Cronulla Sharks: In the wake of the group sex scandal involving Matthew Johns and another ten unnamed Cronulla players in 2002, a current player has tested positive to a banned substance, the media uncovered a payment to a former employee injured in an incident involving the Club CEO and the club’s major sponsor announced they would not be renewing their sponsorship at the end of the season.

Quote of the week:

“Let's see if it ever happens” – Sol Trujillo’s view from San Diego on the Australian Government’s planned National Broadband Network

Media monitoring

Slice of Life: Jillian Bowen, Director, Entertainment PR

2009-05-20T19:17:00.005+10:00

Jillian Bowen is one busy gal - entertainment and fashion publicist, creator and writer of Urban Style File, a Dog Whisperer devotee and long time Slicer. We love a girl of many talents... especially one with tips on where to buy designer fashion at budget prices... read on to find out where!

Can you give a brief bio?
I've worked in PR and marketing for more years than I cares to admit publicly on a website. My experience has been gained with some of the most familiar consumer and entertainment brands and names in Australia. My current clients include Matthew Newton, Sigrid Thornton, GRLmobile, Moonlight Cinema, Tammy van Wisse, Crisis Support Services, El Comico and Fashion+Aid.

How's the market out there right now? What strategies are working for you during these GFC times?
Maybe I’m lucky, maybe I work hard, but since starting my own company in 2000 I’ve always had business come to me. It goes to show that nothing beats good word of mouth.

You work in the entertainment PR space - are you using any social media platforms (facebook, myspace, twitter) as part of your campaigns? If yes, how do you feel it's working for you?
My client GRLmobile is big on social networking. We load all their event pics on a Facebook fan page which in turn helps generate bounce back to their own website. Loving Twitter for the sheer senseless sharing but it is early days on making it work well from a business perspective. But as with all social networking opportunities, watch this space.

Why Slice over other monitoring services?
Slice is the ultimate service for closet computer nerds who are control freaks. I’ve always been a DIY fan and using Slice seems to satisfy that need – and it is a lot less time-consuming than painting the outside of my house.

Tips on using Slice for other subscribers?
The email alert service is a great time saver and it is well worth learning how to create free search string text – it really helps to ensure you get exactly the clips you are looking for.

Right now I'm:

Reading... The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly and flicking through InStyle, Vogue and Grazia

Eating.... dinner at France Soir tonight – because I love the food and the cheeky waiters are an added bonus

Listening... to peace and quiet in my house because I’m using tips from Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer to get my naughty ‘children’ to stop barking

Planning... a holiday, but I’m holiday-challenged, so who knows

Buying... from the www.theoutnet.com – the new sale site from the clever crew behind www.net-a-porter.com

Enjoying.... series link on my Foxtel IQ – the perfect way to capture a truckload of trash that you can waste a weekend watching

Media monitoring

120 Australian & New Zealand Public Relations peeps on Twitter (and counting)

2009-05-18T16:01:00.046+10:00

OK, we've seen lists of Oz journos on Twitter (thanks Dave Earley and Laurel Papworth), so I thought we'd even up the score a little and post tweeting Aussie & Kiwi PRs. Hopefully, we'll all get along just nicely in the Twitter sandpit...

I realise that this list may be a mere drop in a proverbial sea of twitterers, but hey, you have to start somewhere.

If you're on the list and would prefer not to be, please let me know and I'll remove you ASAP (I've only used publicly available information, and references from other people on the list to put this list of names together). Also, if you are on the list and would like your description updated, please leave a comment and I'll clean it up.

If you're NOT on the list and would like to be, please leave a comment and I'll attempt to get you on it. Finally, if you have suggestions on improving the list, let me know that too.

Thanks to everyone who retweeted my request for help and DMed me with additional names for the list. Special thanks to PR Warrior Trevor Young for supporting the idea and RTing all over the place!

Australia:
A
Sarah Allen Sarah Allen Consulting Marketing, Comms, PR, Social Media, Sydney

B
Johanna Baker Dowdell Strawberry Communications, Central Coast NSW
Natascha Balducelli Cookie Creative
Jo Balfour Tech/online PR running Progressiva
Jenni Beattie Director, Digital Democracy
Emily Birks PR Consultant Pulse Communications
Laura Blasdale from WordStorm PR, Sydney
Jillian Bowen, Director Entertainment PR, Melbourne
Bonnie Bullock Director of Saranac PR

C
Will Clark Tech PR, Melbourne
Michelle Carter Spectrum Comms, Sydney
John Cooke Perth
Bob Crawshaw Maine Street Marketing, Canberra
Sarah Creelman PR & Marketing Manager, CBS Interactive, Sydney
Renee Creer New Media Director, Stellar* PR
Jen Crowcroft Upstream Australia, Sydney
Gemma Crowley Dennis Rutzou, Sydney
Roger Christie Sydney

D
Melissa Dark Internal comms consultant, Melbourne
Julie Delaforce Network PR, Sydney
Keith De La Rue AcKnowledge Consulting, Melbourne
Dennis Rutzou PR
Kya de Rome PR Consultant, Kinetics Sydney
Kelly Drew General Manager, Haystac

E
Jenny Eather Sydney-based consultant
Scott Eathorne Entertainment Publicist, Melbourne
Peta Ellis City Publicity
Geoffrey Emerson Head of Digital PR @ Zing, Sydney
Tim Entwisle Madrigal Communications, Sydney
Cassandra Erbs - Marketing Manager, St Aidan's & freelance consultant, Brisbane
Karalee Evans Communications & Partnerships Manager, Melbourne

F
Simon Fitz Taurus Marketing, Sydney
Ofa Fitzgibbons Tech PR gal, Sydney
Corrina Frankham PR at WriteAway, Sydney
Con Frantzeskos Social Media Strategy Consultant
Campbell Fuller Ex-News journalist/dep-ed,Head of corporate/financial communication with Porter Novelli Sydney

G
Richelle Gillett, Spectrum Communications Account Director, Sydney
Ang Graham Digital PR manager, Amnesia, Sydney
Brian Giesen Director of Digital Strategy, Ogilvy Sydney (fresh import, happy to claim him as our own for this list!)
Tara Grimshaw V/radio journalist working in PR, Sydney

H
Mat Hardy In-house NetComm PR manager Wanted Digital, Sydney
Michael Hendo MD, Spectrum Communications & Max Australia
Donna Hogan Sydney
Jocelyn Hunter Director BenchPR

I
Rob Irwin Media & Online Specialist, Network Communications, Sydney

J
Sharmin Jassal Biz Tech Comms specialist, Sydney
Polly Johnson Sydney tech PR flack for Kinetics
JoJo at Dennis Rutzou PR

K
Christine Kardashian DashPR
Keep Left PR Melbourne
Stella Katsaros Little Miss Stella PR

L
Drew Lambert Publicity Director, Mark Communications, Sydney
Kim LaRochelle at Dennis Rutzou PR
Derek Lau PR guy, Sydney
Jemma Lee Verve Communications, Sydney
Kimberley Lee Sydney
Hayley Lettoof, Account Manager, Stellar* Concepts
Gareth Llewellyn Oracle Flack, Sydney
Anthony Lowe Principal of Porter Novelli's Sydney technology practice

M
Catroina McGauchie The PR Group, Melbourne
Kenny McGilvary Sydney PRer and Dry Julyer
Lindsay McHugh Philly girl in Melbourne
Casey Macneil Director, Macneil Marketing & Communications, Queensland
Fleur Madden-Topley MD, RedPR Brisbane
Dylan Malloch Sydney
Phoebe Mapperson Primary Communication, Sydney
Andrea Matthews Corporate Affairs Manager, GM Holden, Adelaide
Shannon Molloy ex-journo, Brisbane
Susan Moore Asia Pacific PR for Gartner
Carrie Morgan PR Consultant, Melbourne

O
Jane Outen, Senior Account Manager, Stellar* Concepts

P
Emily Patterson The Unknown Citizen, Perth
Lani Pauli Account Manager, LapePhelan Marketing Communications
Tracy Pendergast Pentica PR, Sydney
Lukas Picton Text100, Sydney
Janine Pittaway Director Bright Communications, Perth
Catriona Pollard Director CP Communications
Melinda Porteous, Account Director, Stellar* Concepts
Clare Preskett Freelance consultant

Q
PruQ Einsteinz, Sydney

R
Louise Roberts Director, Sphere Public Relations, Sydney
Jacqui Rudd
Scott Rhodie Online PR specialist, former-journalist, Senior Account Manager, Zing Sydney

S
Teri Sawers Communications for Insights, Sydney
Tara Schwarze Spectrum Comms, Sydney
Johanna Scott, Account Executive, Stellar* Concepts
Victoria Sennitt Sydney
Melissa Shawyer Director, The PR Group
Caroline Shawyer Owner, The PR Group Melbourne
Saxon Shirley Associate Director, Spectrum Communications, Sydney
David Sims Howarth, Sydney
Brooke Simmons Pursuit Communications, Central Coast NSW
Annette Slunjski GM at Lucidity Marketing Communications (B2B marcomms)
Dr Greg Smith PRLab, ex print journo
Becci Stalker consumer PR specialist, Melbourne
Stellar* PR
Tanya Steinbeck Director Limelight Communications, Perth
Jo Stevens Kramer Head of Corp Comms Microsoft Australia, Sydney
Sarah Stokely Tech journo turned PR, Melbourne
Susan Swan

T
Peter Taliangis Perth
Rebekka Thompson PR practitioner at Zing, Sydney
Marissa Tree Brisbane Team Leader, Red Agency

V
Dena Vassallo Professional Public Relations (PPR), Adelaide
Lars Voedisch Asia Pacific PR for Dow Jones

W
Annalise Walliker Haystac in Melbourne
Martin Walsh Group Manager Digital Marketing @ Microsoft, Sydney
Wes Ward PR, social media, virtual reality at ExitReality and Wadimedia
Emily Wearmouth, Executive director at Kinetics PR
Graham White MD Howorth, tech & business PR firm, an Ogilvy PR company
Lesley White Head of Consumer Digital, Network Communications, Sydney
Emma Wiliams Opera Australia's inhouse publicist

Y
Trevor Young parkyoung, The PR Warrior

New Zealand:

A
Hamish Anderson Creo CEO, Auckland
Catherine Arrow Auckland

B
Sharon Buckland Auckland
Jennifer Boyes Intermediary PR, Auckland
Peter Boyes Perception management counsellor & PR adviser, Auckland

C
Simon Clark Account Manager at Network PR, Auckland

D
Joss Debreceny Communications Advisor at Ministry of Education, Wellington
Jane Dodd GM, Network PR, Auckland
Donovan Boyd Communications Auckland

E
Michela Enna Creo

F
Sam Farrow
Solange Francois

G
Steve Grbic Auckland

H
Campbell Hodgetts Tech PR consultant Auckland

J
Jacky James Director of Shine PR, Rotorua
Anna Jobsz PR

K
Stephen Knightly Auckland

L
Julie Landry, PR consultant in Auckland

M
Paul Matthews Bullet Points, Auckland
Angela Moriarty Wellington

N
Network PR Auckland
Nicholas O'Flaherty BulletPR

P
Paul Pursuit Pursuit PR, Auckland

S
Toni Skiffington Harcourts NZ Communications Manager, Auckland
Jordan Small Network PR,Wellington

And for good measure:
Public Relations Institute of Australia (National) managed by Lloyd Grosse
Public Relations Institute of New Zealand - Events

(Credit for the tweet image above here)

Media monitoring

Weekly media index: 9 - 15 May 2009

2009-05-17T09:58:00.001+10:00

Budget: While the coverage was wall-to-wall last week, there was not a huge amount of new information in Budget coverage, with almost all of the major initiatives and even the deficit figure itself being leaked well beforehand. Even the one major surprise of a lift in the pension age to 67, phased in from 2017 to 2023, did not receive a huge amount of ongoing debate across talkback, blogs and other social media.

Matthew Johns: Matthew Johns made two public mea culpas on Channel Nine this week, one very brief and the other 20 minutes long, after ABC program Four Corners revealed he had been involved in a group sex incident while playing for Cronulla in 2002. The issue sparked off a massive debate over consent, the culture of rugby league clubs and treatment of women by sportsmen in general.

Bushfires Royal Commission: The Black Saturday Royal Commission into the Victorian bushfires once again received strong coverage throughout the week, the Commission hearing differing views on what level of threat the CFA were expecting on the day and claims of serious deficiencies in Victoria’s 000 emergency call system.

Alcopops: Immediately after the Budget the Government reaffirmed its commitment to send the Alcopops legislation back to the Senate unchanged in what some commentators claimed was an attempt to create a trigger for a Double Dissolution election.

Jumps Racing: The Victorian Racing Board once again delayed a decision on the future of Jumps racing in that state after claiming it needed more time to consider all of the submissions to its Jumps Review Panel.

About the index
This list reports Australia's weekly top news stories by volume across thousands of newspaper, magazine, televion, radio and Internet news sources monitored by Media Monitors, including international and domestic, business, sport and enterainment news.

Data and analysis provided to Slice Media by Media Monitors Australia

Media monitoring

Weekly media index: 2 - 8 May 2009

2009-05-11T11:12:00.003+10:00

Swine flu: Remarkably, discussion of swine flu was still at number one last week, despite a huge amount of speculation surrounding Tuesday’s Federal Budget and the announcement of major changes in the Government’s emissions trading plans. Both infection rates and confirmed deaths in Mexico were revised downwards during the week, although concern continued that cases may be confirmed in many more countries in the coming week, while some commentators accused the media of damaging its own credibility with the amount of coverage given to the outbreak.

Budget speculation: Leaks aplenty were seen across the media, with the Government succeeding in presenting the Budget as a Robin Hood exercise, with commitments to raise the pension certain to be kept while superannuation tax benefits introduced by the previous government seen as most likely to come under attack in an attempt to limit what all business commentators say will be a record deficit.

Emissions trading: The Government announced it would be breaking a key election commitment to introduce a carbon emissions trading scheme by 2010, with the scheme now to be phased in from 2011, with full trading from 2012. Support was gained from a number of business and environmental groups for the move, which also committed to a higher cut by 2020, dependent on international agreements, although both the Greens and Coalition maintained their opposition to the scheme.

Unemployment figures: Many commentators expressed amazement and some pure disbelief as latest job figures from the ABS reported a drop in the unemployment rate to 5.4%, while most were expecting a figure heading towards 7%. Even the Government urged caution over the figure, maintaining that it expects unemployment to rise considerably, but unsurprisingly putting the current figure down to the affect of the stimulus packages.

Logies: While it didn’t come close to making the top five in any other media, very strong coverage on television of their own awards night pushed the Logies up to number five for the week, with most coverage related to the frocks and the performance of this year’s host Gretel Killeen, although gold Logie winner Rebecca Gibney did get to share some of the limelight.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I told reporters that I would fire a "wasp" (rocket launcher) at her (the ambassador) when I was upset and as a joke.” - Damir Dokic tells a Serbian court he was only joshing about firing an RPG into the Australian Embassy in Belgrade

Media monitoring

Media release: Slice Australia now includes downstream

2009-05-07T00:01:00.001+10:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday 7 May 2009

As from today, Slice Media (www.slicemedia.com) will include downstreaming copyright as part of its fixed fee media monitoring packages.

Australian Slice Media subscribers will now be able to lawfully distribute news clippings by email, or post on an intranet to a maximum 350 users within their organisation(*). News clippings will continue to be able to be retained for up to 90 days.

Slice Media will now pay downstream fees for up to 350 nominated users to the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) on behalf of their subscribers for each press clipping received.

Internal distribution of news clippings is governed by the Downstreaming Terms and Conditions of CAL which may be viewed here (PDF).

*The downstreaming terms and conditions do not allow distribution of press clips to third parties, including clients. PR and marketing firms wishing to forward clips to clients require the CAL News Access Licence (PR and Marketing firms). For more information visit www.copyright.com.au and follow the links to Licensing. Press clippings may be retained in digital form for no more than 90 days.

For further information contact:
Kylie Lewis, General Manager
kylie [at] slicemedia [dot] com | Phone from New Zealand: 0800 1 75423
Phone Mobile: +(61) 439 446 468 | Phone Direct: +(613) 8327 6461

About Slice Media
Slice Media has been operating in Australia for two years. Slice is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Media Monitors Group (www.mediamonitors.com.au). Media Monitors is the leading media intelligence company in Asia-Pacific. With the most comprehensive media monitoring coverage in the region, innovative products and great people, Media Monitors provides over 4000 clients relevant media content and independent media analysis to enable effective communications strategies.

Website: www.slicemedia.com
Blog: www.slicemedia.blogspot.com
TV: www.youtube.com/slicemediamonitoring
Facebook: Slice Facebook Page
Twitter: www.twitter.com/slicemedia

ENDS

###

Media monitoring

Slice of Life: Andrea Kerekes, Managing Partner, Access PR

2009-05-06T09:45:00.000+10:00

We'd like you to meet the very gorgeous Andrea Kerekes, Managing Partner, at Access PR. When she's not staving off her teenage son's ever increasing appetite, Andrea is leading her team to provide PR counsel for some of Australia's top brands. Oh, and she also happens to be one very sassy Slicer.

Since launching just over 12 months ago, Access PR has grown incredibly fast. What has been the key to your success?
Paranoia is a wonderful thing.

Access PR has been finalists in many PR awards recently. Is there a campaign that you're particularly proud of?
We do less campaign work and more ongoing counsel and reputation management. Having said that, the Starlight Children’s Foundation Christmas campaign generated a ridiculously huge amount of media coverage as well as reaching fundraising targets – all PR led. We are also very proud of our Pizza Hut ‘Pasta Hut’ launch.

What do you think are the biggest challenges for the PR industry right now?
Nothing new I reckon. There’s the perennial ritual of having to read about publicity ‘professionals’ making announcements they are going to guarantee media coverage or that “PR as we know it is dead” (blah, blah, blah…). The main challenge is really keeping on top of the rising tide of digital media and opinion leaders online.

You've used other monitoring services. What gives Slice it's edge?
The self service aspect is great and it’s very simple to use.

Any tips for other Slice subscribers?
As Kath & Kim would say, be pacific.

Right now I'm....

Reading... How to Kill Your Husband by Kathy Lette (sorry George)

Eating.... a stupid carb-free diet that is killing me

Listening... to my teenage son tell me he’s hungry. Again.

Planning... to teach my son how to cook for himself

Buying... Food

Enjoying.... anything that doesn’t involve bloody food.

Media monitoring

Weekly media index: 25 Apr - 1 May 2009

2009-05-04T10:06:00.004+10:00

Swine flu: Australian and global news has been totally dominated by the outbreak, initially in Mexico, of a new influenza variant, now widely known as swine flu. Concern over the possible rapid spread of the disease and significant confusion about its current impact and death toll characterised the media coverage. Political leaders around the world have been touting their preparedness for any widespread outbreaks and the availability of effective medication, while also warning that the effects could be significant.

Richard Pratt: Melbourne billionaire Richard Pratt lost his battle with cancer during the week following an eventful few years in which the head of the huge cardboard manufacturing and recycling company Visy, well known for his philanthropy to the arts and involvement in football, was involved in price fixing investigations by ASIC which were then followed by criminal charges, dropped only hours before Mr Pratt’s death.

Bduget speculation: Budget speculation continued to ramp up in the last two weeks before what is expected to be a record deficit, with the Opposition continuing to strongly attack the amount of Government spending in the last six months, while women’s advocates have warned the Government against going back on its commitment to introduce paid parental leave.

Border protection: Media discussion of the asylum seeker issue and border protection dropped off significantly last week, although the swine flu concerns and claims of government payments going to asylum seekers in detention on Christmas Island kept the issue in the news.

Bushfires Royal Commission: Coverage of the Bushfires Royal Commission has focused this week on the perceived lack of early enough and prominent enough warnings, in particular through state wide and local broadcast networks, while the Government announced bushfire relief was set to be extended.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

This is the freedom ride, We will not go and hide
We have just come over here, To keep the public occupied
We are going to ride, Around the Adelaide Hills
We are hardworking people, Who pay the bills

SA bikie leader Alex Vella revs up the troops with some poetry before the “freedom ride” to protest anti-bikie gang laws

Media monitoring

PRIA: ReputationTV on YouTube

2009-05-01T12:24:00.006+10:00

The Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) have just launched a PRTV YouTube channel called Reputation TV.

The first episode showcases a series of interviews with senior Australian PR professionals, discussing the topic of online engagement. Take a peek below.

(if you're getting this post via email and can't see the video, click here)

The approaches to social media by the various practitioners featured is mixed from 'yep we need to be amongst it' to 'no, I advise my clients against it'. Hmm... if nothing else, this video is a temperature gauge for the PR industry right now.

Kudos to PRIA for walkin' the walk and getting there hands dirty in this space - heck, they've even sold an ad in the middle of the video. Subscribe to the channel for next month's instalment on ethics. Hold onto your hats for that one.

Oh, and how did we found out about this channel, which launched yesterday? Why Twitter of course! www.twitter.com/PRIANational

Media monitoring

Slice like a pro: Using the 'test' function for a sneak peek

2009-04-30T11:14:00.001+10:00

Slice subscribers have access to a fantastic 'test' function, that allows you to see brief summaries of the news for the past 30 days based, on a specific search.

This feature was originally designed as a guide to test how accurate your search string is for a given tracking folder. Doing a test before you save a tracking folder helps decrease the likelihood of irrelevant news being delivered to your tracking folder once it is saved and running in live environment.

But have you thought about using it simply as a research tool - a way to take a sneak peek at what happened in the last 30 days? 'Test' will allow you to do a quick and dirty search on your competitors, industry thought leaders, key spokespeople and past campaigns. What about doing a quick 'test' to see how the brands and potential business that you are trying to win have performed recently? Why not investigate industry issues, potential employers, evolving trends?

To do a 'test' simply:

Login to slicemedia.com
Go to My subscription > Tracking folders
Select the 'Add new folder' folder button
Enter in your search string, select your media scope
Go to Step 5 and hit 'test' and you're on your way

The 'test' function gives you a brief window into the past, so you can be on track in the future.

Media monitoring

Weekly media index: 18 - 24 April 2009

2009-04-27T12:22:00.004+10:00

Border protection: There remains some uncertainty about the exact details of the incident near Ashmore Reef 10 days ago that lead to the deaths of five people onboard the boat now known as SIEV 36, although intense debate has continued in the media about Australian border protection laws and whether they are having an effect on the number of attempted illegal entries into Australia, with the Opposition maintaining strong criticism of the Government, while news of another boat detained during the week added to the level of coverage.

Recession: The Prime Minister finally mentioned the “R” word just a day before the IMF confirmed it believed Australia was already in recession, markets showing absolutely no surprise, although the further downgrading of most growth figures led to media speculation of further interest rate cuts and another increase in government spending.

ANZAC Day: ANZAC Day on Saturday continued the trend of increasing coverage of the 25th of April, with marches and events across the country, as well as announcements from the Government of improved facilities for those visiting battle sites in Europe, while some organisations were criticised for using Anzac Day in marketing campaigns.

Bushfires Royal Commission: Submissions have commenced at the Royal Commission in Melbourne into the Black Saturday bushfires in February, with some initial concern in the media over who is able to provide submissions and how they will be treated and the Commission itself hearing criticism of the early warning system from first submissions.

Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan Government forces appeared to be closing in on the last strongholds of the Tamil Tiger rebels in the north of the country, with fears that civilian casualties could be high in Tamil dominated areas after many years of fighting.

About the index
This list reports Australia's weekly top news stories by volume across thousands of newspaper, magazine, televion, radio and Internet news sources monitored by Media Monitors, including international and domestic, business, sport and enterainment news.

Data and analysis provided to Slice Media by Media Monitors Australia

Media monitoring