• Crisis PR: 12 Biggest Mistakes
• No Cost/Low Cost PR News Release Distribution
• CyberAlert Announces SSE OneClip Service
• Blogging & The Law: How to Stay Out of Trouble
• Using Press Releases to Increase Web Site Traffic
• 2007 PR Grants for Non-Profit Organizations
• Media Relations Conference
• State of the News Media 2007
• F.r.e.e Media Monitoring Trial
• Job Openings: PR & Marketing
• PR/Marketing Internship

     All organizations are vulnerable to crises. Lawsuits, accusations of impropriety, safety or pollution concerns, sudden changes in ownership or management, and other volatile situations are almost inevitable for most every large organization. Almost by definition, a crisis in a company or not-for-profit organization is NEWS and as a result the media gloms on HARD.

How best to deal with a crisis? Learn here from others' communications mistakes during PR crises. Jonathan Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management LLC, www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com, author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay: A Media Training Manual and editor of the free email newsletter, "Crisis Manager" has detailed twelve communications mistakes during crises. The mistakes include: playing ostrich; addressing issues, but ignoring feelings; not listening to stakeholders; assuming truth will triumph; and eight others. Full Article >

    Matt Bratschi, Vice President for Marketing and Public Relations, Hollander Consultants, Osewego, OR complied a treasure trove of links to over 20 websites that distribute news releases at no cost ­ or very low cost. He made the list public in a number of PR discussion groups — and we've updated his list.

If you use any of the no cost/low cost PR news release distribution sites, make sure that you follow sign-up instructions. One caution: after you publish your e-mail address on any of these sites, you become a magnet for spam e-mails. You may want to consider creating a distinct e-mail address just for use on the news release — and then dumping the address after a couple of months.

http://searchwarp.com/Login.asp
http://www.goarticles.com/ulogin.html
http://www.broadcastindia.com/user.php?op=register&module=NewUser
http://amazines.com/index.cfm
http://www.pr-archive.com/submit
http://www.e-xl.com/submit
http://www.gappu.com/user.php?op=register&module=NewUser
https://uadm.arrivenet.com/index.php?o=/steps.php&m=nosession
http://www.express-press-release.com
http://ezine.net/modules.php?name=Submit_News
http://www.hotarticles.net/add_article.php
http://www.i-newswire.com/submit_free.php
http://www.press-world.com/add
http://www.free-press-release.com
http://www.prweb.com
http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml
http://www.kazor.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=14&Itemid=93
http://www.mediasyndicate.com/index.php
http://www.usanews.net
http://www.info-articles.com/submit_article.php
http://www.freepressreleases.co.uk
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com
http://www.pressmethod.com
http://www.prleap.com
http://www.malebits.com
http://www.pressbox.co.uk
http://www.prfree.com
http://www.theopenpress.com
http://www.webwire.com
http://www.fivestarpress.com
http://press.xtvworld.com
http://presstrust.com/user.php?op=register&module=NewUser
http://www.isnare.com/login.php
http://presszoom.com/submit_release.html
http://freezinesite.com/articles.cgi/add
http://www.exchangenet.com/superdeal/newpageform.html
http://www.articlecity.com/article_submission.shtml
http://www.clickpress.com/releases/index.shtml
http://webnewswire.com/user.php?op=register&module=NewUser
http://www.przoom.com/login.php?login=editor
http://www.free-news-release.com/Submit.aspx
http://www.bizeurope.com/pressrelease.htm
http://www.prminds.com/submitpr_free/submitpr_free.php
http://www.dime-co.com/submitpress.html
http://www.businesshighlight.org
http://www.bigarticles.com/cgi-bin/add.cgi?d=1
http://www.pr9.net
http://www.addpr.com/addrelease.php
http://www.transworldnews.com/signin.aspx?ref=sn&ReturnURL=PreSub.aspx

If you need or prefer to use a full-service news release distribution service with comprehensive worldwide distribution, we recommend Business Wire. Even if you use a full service distribution service, duplicate placement of the news release on the web sites of the no cost / low cost press release services can enhance your organization's search engine optimization efforts.

    CyberAlert has introduced a new news monitoring, clipping and briefing service dubbed CyberAlert SSE that delivers only one clip each day of any news story containing the client's key words, not matter how many news sources carry the story. The online press clipping service automatically filters out clips of the same article that appear the same day in other news sources. SSE is an acronym for "same story exclusion".

The software algorithm weeds out identical and nearly indentical clips. If a news source re-writes a syndicated article or writes an original version of the story, then CyberAlert SSE delivers the clip.

Traditional news monitoring and clipping services deliver news clips from all sources where the story appears - and levy a separate fee for each and every clip.

"Many clients have requested a one clip per story service - and no other media monitoring organization provides such service," said William J. Comcowich, CEO of CyberAlert.

While public relations professionals usually want to see all news clips from all news sources to measure reach and impact of a story, many corporate functions such as marketing, competitive intelligence, investor relations and market research prefer not to see every last news clip.

Customers wanting to receive every news clip can continue to use the CyberAlert 4.0 news monitoring service that delivers all clips from 25,000+ online news sources worldwide in 20+ languages. Both news monitoring services include a searchable clip archive (Digital Clip Book^TM), enabling users to quickly and easily sort and find delivered news clips.

Compared with traditional press clipping services which charge per clip fees, the new CyberAlert SSE service substantially reduces the cost of news monitoring. The new service charges a low flat monthly fee with no per clip charges. By reducing repetitious clips to near zero, the new SSE one clip per story service also saves user time and increases productivity.

Additional information about CyberAlert SSE news briefing service and a no-risk 14-day free media monitoring trial of CyberAlert SSE and other media monitoring services is available on the CyberAlert website (www.cyberalert.com) or by calling CyberAlert at 800-461-7353.

    Blogging has become a veritable land mine of potential legal issues, especially for U.S.-based bloggers. The situation isn't helped by the fact that the law in this area is constantly in flux. All bloggers need to understand the variety of laws that affect their blogging.

A comprehensive article on blogging and the law is available at http://www.avivadirectory.com/blogger-law/. The article highlights twelve of the most important US laws when it comes to blogging and provide simple and straightforward tips for safely navigating them.

The article is organized around key legal issues and questions in blogging including: whether to disclose paid posts; legality of deep linking ; legal use of pictures and thumbnails; domain name trademark issues; Shield Laws; tax law issues in blogging; the duty to monitor blog comments and liability; handling private data about users; and more.

For each issue/question, the article outlines the applicable law and provides guidance on how bloggers can stay out of trouble.

Most every PR and communications professional in any organization with blogs and bloggers will learn something important from this article. Highly Recommended. Full Article >

    As Publisher and Executive Editor of Web Digest For Marketers (www.wdfm.com), Larry Chase sees teeming hordes of press releases and pitches asking for coverage in his marketing newsletter. Trouble is, 99% of them are useless to him and his readers, he says. In a recent article, he shared his top 10 tips for making news that drives traffic to the organization's web site. Full Article >

    For the fourth consecutive year, CyberAlert has awarded PR Grants to worthy not-for-profit organizations.

More than 400 not-for-profit organizations applied for the grants and CyberAlert announced 24 PR Grants for 2007. The total retail value of the 24 awards approximates $65,000.

The grants consist of one year of free news monitoring service with CyberAlert 4.0. All not-for-profit, educational and charitable organizations in the United States and Canada are eligible for the grants, except previous grant winners.

The award winners for 2007 include Keep America Beautiful, Lance Armstrong Foundation, The Medicare Rights Center, Sierra Club of Canada, World Federation of Mental Health, 100 Black Men of America, C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition, Center for Constitutional Rights, Environmental Literacy Council, Guttmacher Institute, The Immigrant Legal Resource Center, RAINN: Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network and a set of grants to literacy organizations.

The CyberAlert web site contains a complete list of grant winners and grant application. CyberAlert accepts applications throughout the year. Grant applications close on December 31 and are reviewed in the first quarter of the year.

In the grant announcement, William J. Comcowich, President and CEO of CyberAlert stated: "The grant program is a direct, tangible way for our company to give back to the public relations profession that has helped our business grow and expand over the past six years."

    The upcoming Media Relations 2007 conference "Breaking the Mold: New Media, New Messages, New Technologies" will be held June 10-12 in Washington, DC at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

Sponsored by Bulldog Reporter, the conference focuses on enhancing PR skills including such topics as:

	•	New techniques for measuring the ROI of online PR
	•	How to establish your company or CEO as a thought leader
	•	Preparing your CEO for crisis
	•	Handling PR overload in the face of exploding technologies
	•	How to get your boss to listen to you and take your advice
	•	Techniques for more powerful, more confident telephone pitching
	•	Secrets of creating riveting email releases and pitches
	•	How to win media support for tough, unpopular causes
	•	SEO magic‹powerful new PR tool for multiplying coverage
	•	How to make news when there is no news
	•	Exploiting new PR opportunities with social media
	•	And more

In the summit's "meet the editors" sessions, participants can meet and question reporters, bureau chiefs and producers from such media as BusinessWeek, National Public Radio, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Reuters, AARP: The Magazine, UPI, and Washington Post.

For more details and registration information, go to www.bulldogreporter.com or call 800-959-1059.

    The State of the News Media 2007 is the fourth edition of an annual report on the health and status of American journalism. The study is the work of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a non political, non partisan research institute that is part of the Pew Research Center in Washington. The study is funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Totaling more than 160,000 words, the full report is thorough almost to a fault, providing corporate communications professionals real insight into changes affecting all elements of journalism today including newspapers, online, network TV, cable TV, local TV, magazines, and radio.

    CyberAlert is now offering a 2 in 1 no-risk 14-day F.R.E.E TRIAL of both its CyberAlert 4.0 online news monitoring and clipping service and its CyberAlert TV broadcast news monitoring service. The online news monitoring service monitors over 25,000 online news sources worldwide in 20 languages while the TV news monitoring service monitors the closed caption text of all news programs on more than 500 TV stations in the U.S. The F.R.E.E. TRIAL is available by completing a simple online form at https://secure.cyberalert.com/ftpyoorder.html. Service starts the next day. No credit card is required. In its special promotion, CyberAlert is offering a 2 for the price of 1 news monitoring special. New clients who order the news monitoring service at the regular retail price of $225/month for online news monitoring also receive the broadcast monitoring service at absolutely no additional charge for one year.

Public Relations Positions
Senior b2b PR Professional - G.S. Schwartz & Company
Manager Media and Communications - The Salvation Army
Account Director - Hart-Boillot
Account Executive - Scott Public Relations
Public Relations Director - Evans, Hardy + Young, Inc
Sr Advisor - Corporate Communications - Alticor, Inc
Account Supervisor/Public Relations - E.B. Lane Advertising & Public Relations
Vice President, Policy Communications - AdvaMed
Manager of Media Relations - Thomson Corporation
Public Relations Account Manager - O'Keefe & Company
Director of Corporate Communications - Weber Shandwick
Associate Publicist - Ten Speed Press
Advertising & PR Manager - The Chamberlain Group, Inc
Public Relations Manager - Sempra Energy
PR Consultant - Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

Marketing Positions
Marketing Communications Specialist - Boston Financial Data Services
Marketing Communications Manager - University of Illinois
Assistant Marketing Manager - Macy's
Art Director - Mindshare Interactive Campaigns
Interactive Designer - Mindshare Interactive Campaigns
Web Marketing Manager - BoardSource
Marketing Associate - Educate Inc
Senior Graphic/Web Designer - Cology Inc
Affiliate Marketing Coordinator - HighBeam Research
Associate Brand Manager - Unilever Foodsolutions
Senior Account Manager - nFusion Group
Marketing Coordinator - Sterling Glen Communities
Marketing Manager - Santec Inc
Marketing Assistant - Sinclair Broadcast Group
Advertising Services Assistant - Dow Jones & Co.
Vice President of Marketing - Trintech

    CyberAlert (www.cyberalert.com), a media monitoring service, is accepting applications from college students majoring in communications, public relations, journalism or marketing for a summer internship (three months) program in corporate communications. The positions will be at least half time and paid at the rate of $10 per hour (not great, but better than life guarding, and a lot to learn). The intern(s) will work on a wide range of corporate communications including press releases, case studies, pay-per-click ads, web page development, customer service and more. The internship is located in Stratford, CT. Letters of application describing the applicant's interest in the position, qualifications and background should be sent to intern@cyberalert.com.

    Online Videos: PR And Marketing Opportunity

    Optimizing and Measuring News Releases on the Internet

    How to Create a Successful Business Blog: Tips and Pitfalls

    The Truth About Website Analytics

    Media Monitoring Market Survey Results

    Tips for an Effective Online Newsroom

    Preparing Executives for Media Interviews