In For Immediate Release #437,  contributor Eric Schwartzman interviewed Los Angeles Times veteran, author, LAObserved.com blogger and UCLA online newsroom editor-in-chief Kevin Roderick.

Roderick’s role is interesting.  He spent nearly 25 years at the LA Times and now follows the paper, among other journalism-related activities on his blog.  In a recent post, he cites Kinsey Lowe, former of the paper, as emailing:

Sorry ladies and gentlemen, but after nearly three decades I’m giving it up.

I support all your efforts but this latest affront is just too much to let it pass. Not the notion of selling advertising on Page 1, but the nature of the ad itself. What a desperately, astonishingly tired idea. It makes the Staples debacle look absolutely brilliant.

I’ve already strung along for far longer than was even convenient.

I still pay for the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, and maintain Variety and other paid online-only subscriptions.

I know this is a betrayal, and for that I’m sorry, but “they” won’t understand anything less.

There used to be a sort of truism about newspapers, that you could ruin a reputation overnight but it takes 10 years to build a new one.

So Georgetown students, here’s this week’s assignment.  Listen to the entire podcast, and post your comment or question on our blog.  And for that extra added element of intellectual curiosity, you may want to listen to the whole of Eric’s interview as well.

Posts are due no later than 5:00pm on Tuesday April 14th.  Those panicking about not filing their tax returns may want to start this one early…

Mark

Hi Georgetown students.

This week’s assignment is to listen to the “For Immediate Release” episode number 434 and comment on one of the topic below:

• Follow-up discussion on Robert Scoble and PR is dead;
• Comcast’s Twitter team coaching Saleforce.com,
• Gartner identifies four ways in which enterprises use Twitter.

Mark

Here are some select jobs from Ned Lundquist’s “JOTW” or “Job of the Week.” Here’s more from the Web site version of this excellent, free resource:

Ned Lundquist’s “Job of the Week” free e-mail networking newsletter and website for professional communicators has a cult following of more than 10,000 readers (the 5-digit milestone was reached October 6, 2006). The job leads are just one reason his faithful followers begin their Mondays (and sometimes Tuesdays through Fridays) with a cuppa and JOTW.

So here’s a few that I found that may be of interest to my peeps in the Washington, DC area — with a big thanks to Ned to keeping this up all those years:

1. MANAGING DIRECTOR, Collaborative Communications Group, Washington, D.C.
2. Youth Justice Communications Associate, Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ), Washington, D.C.
3. Public Affairs Manager, DC Public Charter School Board, Washington, DC (#14)
4. Vice President, Public Relations, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Washington, D.C.
5. Communications Specialist, NOAA Fisheries Service, Silver Spring, MD
6. Internships, communications, advocacy, constituency relations and research, CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS, Washington, DC
7. Marketing Communications Manager, National Lutheran Home, Rockville, MD
8. Manager, Marketing Communications, DELTEK Systems, Herndon, VA
9. Communications Associate, Voices for America’s Children, Washington, DC
10. Sr Marketing Officer, Communication & Partners, Amtrak, Washington, DC
11. *EXOTIC* POST: Science Communicators (2 positions), Science in Public, Melbourne, VIC, Australia: sarah@scienceinpublic.com.au

My caveat – I know nothing about the jobs, the organizations, the salaries, etc., but encourage you to check them out. The job market is not dead, it’s just really tired.

Happy hunting G’Town grads.

Mark

Hi everybody and welcome to MPPR-750, “The Intersection of Online and Offline Public Relations.”  Here’s a little video message below.

Looking forward to meeting everyone on January 8.  And feel free to post a comment, introduce yourself, say “hi” to your new peeps – whatever you like.

Mark

For all of Georgetown students, below is a sneak peak at this Wednesday night’s lecture.

See everyone at 7:40 in Walsh.

Mark