5 things Muhammad Ali personified, New Zealand did - and you can do too - to become a world beater6/6/2016  Muhammad Ali's passing should remind us that not only did he redefine boxing, but he was the consummate innovator - a man who provides lessons to anyone who wants to survive and thrive in a dog-eat-dog world. Ali teaches us that innovation is not about iteration - it's about blazing trails. "I don't have to be what you want me to be, " Ali told reporters after the bout against Sonny Liston in 1964 that launched his career. "I'm free to be what I want." Publishers, who have suffered an unprecedented pummelling in recent years, could do with some of that self-belief. One media organisation that is displaying its own brand of magic is Fairfax Media New Zealand. Like a young Cassius Clay, the Fairfax team is willing to do things its own way. For the past 18 months, Flame Tree Media has helped design and implement the company's signature editorial transformation program News Rewired. In May, Fairfax NZ won the award for corporate innovation at the International News Media Association (INMA) awards in London - along with best in show for Asia/Pacific. In all, Fairfax NZ won four first places - more than any media brand. In the world. So, what are the Kiwis doing that others aren't? Five traits are common to those who become world beaters.
0 Comments
 One of the best aspects of running your own company is the ability to put your money where your mouth is by supporting not-for-profit ventures or by performing pro bono work. At the big end of town, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is all the rage. For some companies that makes for a nice feel-good story and pictures for the annual report. Other blue-chip companies take a more serious approach with dedicated staff, programs and KPIs. Running a boutique communications start-up, I'd encourage small companies to identify how they too can donate skills and services. This can be a stretch when pulling revenue in the door is the priority and time is precious. But, in business parlance, the ROI is real. And who wouldn't want to spread some love in this increasingly corporatised world? Here's six tips for making the experience work for both you and the not-for-profit. 5 tips to save your business from Storm Troopers, Orcs, Dementors and, oh yeah, social media Trolls13/2/2016  The trolls are coming, the trolls are coming - and, if they haven't already, they are about to take your social media, turn it back on you and blast you to high heaven.
Think of them as the Storm Troopers who hunt out easy prey and raze Jakku in the Star Wars epic The Force Awakens. Or the hulking Orcs who obliterate everything in their path in Lord of the Rings. Or the Dementors who suck the life and soul from the good hearted in Harry Potter. You get the picture. They're nasty. But it need not be apocalyptic. You can repel them, or in the least mitigate damage by observing five basic tips.  A sad reality about today's digitally driven and metric-obsessed newsrooms is the diminished standing of the never-humble newspaper editor. Less and less, we have editors of newspapers. More and more, we have content directors across platforms. Less and less, editors are kings and queens of their domain - the personification of their masthead's place in the community. More and more, slick marketing of digital assets takes prime position. Oh, well, that's the media business today and let's not get too romantic about it all. That said, I'd like to think there's a little bit of the old editor in all of today's news hounds. Particularly, the good bits, of which there are many. So in a rather dubious salute to my editor colleagues I'd like to unlock the top 10 secrets about them - and what makes them tick.  He looked me in the eye, held out his arm and slowly motioned his hand towards the floor. Here, one of the captains of the publishing world - a Prince of Print - was explaining to me in unequivocal terms where he saw newspapers going. “Down, down, down. It’s just too late for many of them,” he said. Most would agree. As the way society connects has screamed ahead online, the newspaper industry has been left behind. Newspapers are now emblematic of life pre-Apple. But is the show really over? Are newspapers as we know them doomed? Is it too late to save print? Plummeting circulations across much of the western world would indicate so. In Australia, total audience measurements paint a rosy picture of how big media groups are faring across platforms. In isolation, print numbers make for depressing reading. As a former editor of daily newspapers, I was generally confident that hard work in the newsroom could bring a circulation dividend. That was not long ago. But, today, not even Moses could put a dent in the sea of red circ numbers.  This was never going to end well. "I don't care what you tell me, what you show me, I don't believe this is going to work." And with that one statement, Houston, we had a problem. The subject matter was a major editorial transformation project. It was bold, innovative and high risk. It was also absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, this senior executive wasn't having a bar of it. Deep down it rattled her values. In the end, she stepped out of the way of the juggernaut of change that was bearing down on her and her newsroom. She was an editor with deep experience, wide respect - an honourable person. But without her leadership, without her belief in the project, it was destined to fail. This tale is sadly a typical one of why editorial change programs fail - captured here in what I refer to as the Seven Deadly Sins of Transformation. |
AuthorStuart Howie is a communications and media consultant. He runs Flame Tree Media and is the author of The DIY Newsroom. Stuart has worked in media and publishing for more than 30 years as an executive, editor and strategist. 
Categories
All
|
