That’s the point from last week’s Wall Street Journal column, “The Way Trump Talks,” by Daniel Henninger. Henninger believes that language, specifically conversational language, could turn the election in Trump’s favor and that people have responded to Trump’s blunt language to the point of being oblivious to the content. “Many people today think food isn’t …more
Journalism — particularly newspapers — has been trying to shift to video for years, often sputtering like a ’57 Chevy with a bad carburetor. And for good reason. The inverted pyramid still figures prominently in J schools across the country. If you’re pounding out news stories for the Daily Planet, the inverted pyramid serves you …more
On a charitable day, I would characterize most company videos as dreadful. Consider what happens when you go to an event, meet a new person and that person launches into a soliloquy of “me, me and in case you missed it, here’s more about me.” Right. You walk away. Why would a company video be …more
When Tim Cook took the reins of Apple after Steve Jobs passed away, I suggested that replacing the narrative cultivated by Mr. Jobs would be tougher than the product roadmap. More than understanding the classic arc and how to tease out drama in the Apple story, The tougher it was to know what was going …more
As a student of business writing, I don’t turn to obituaries for inspiration (probably a good thing). The typical obit adheres to a formula that goes something like this: He or she passed away Source of fame Key achievements Surviving family There’s a reason that newspapers assign the “obit beat” to newly hired college grads. …more
Mantra for the Digital Age: Judge a Book by Its Cover By Nicole Rideout, The Hoffman Agency It’s true when they say that you never get a second chance at a first impression, and it’s no exception in visual content marketing campaigns; according to researchers at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, it takes …more
Yesterday marked the three-year anniversary since VentureBeat and Jolie O’Dell’s focus group of one correlated expensive toast to the decline of San Francisco. The O’Dell discourse came with jagged edges, damning the tech industry for a cycle that goes something like this: Someone creates a business for consumers with too much money and pretensions of …more
You knew it was coming. Today Ryan Lochte issued the requisite apology for making up a story that he was robbed at gunpoint during a night on the town with his pals during the summer Olympics. You can’t really chalk up the bad behavior to impetuous youth. Lochte is 32 years old. Still, adults can …more
When months of investigative reporting by The New York Times produced the story, “How Think Tanks Amplify Corporate America’s Influence“ and the companion piece, “Think Tank Scholar or Corporate Consultant? It Depends on the Day,” I wondered how Brookings would respond. The wondering didn’t last long. The same day the stories came out, Brookings published “Brookings …more
