A recent NY Times article discussed journalists’ caution when writing on financial matters. Amid the turmoil, journalists have been walking the fine line between accurately reporting the days’ events and not causing complete panic. For example, such words as “meltdown” or “free fall” or rarely used, and if so, they are quickly followed up with a discussion of the matter. People recognize the psychology that lies behind Wall Street, and confidence in the system is vital.

This was why I was partly surprised when reading President Bush’s speech from last night and read, “Our entire economy is in danger.” Did I read that correctly? I realize the reality of the situation needs to be conveyed, and I recognize his purpose was to gather support for the $700 billion bailout; however, I was surprised these words were chosen. This word choice is likely to cause extreme panic among Americans, particularly when it is coming from the President! Or, perhaps people have been hearing these words thrown around so much already, what is another ‘danger’ to the pot.

Regardless, the media has often been blamed for the collapse of Bear Stearns and IndyMac; all public figures need to watch their words, particularly during this time of such upheaval.

Reacting to John McCain’s statement, “the fundamentals of our economy are strong,” TAPPED, a blog written by the team at The American Prospect researched the question of, ‘what are the fundamental of the economy?’ An interesting post, no matter what side you are on.

I can’t help thinking this morning that these words we’ve created, ‘newspapers’ and ‘television’ will likely not exist in 10-15 years. While people are fighting to save the newspaper industry (which, as a lover of the morning paper, I deeply respect), I keep going back to this idea of ‘content provider.’ NBC Universal President and C.E.O. Jeff Zucker recognizes NBC’s purpose as a content provider, and reading Newsweek’s story ‘A No-Paper Newspaper,‘  about how e-ink may have the ability to save the newspaper industry, I think it is not the newspaper industry that will be saved, but the convergence of the NBCs and the New York Times that will be the way of the future. I don’t speak of convergence as the large GE and media owners of the world gobbling up the little guys (though, that already is and will likely continue to happen), but, more so that all content providers will provide information on multiple platforms, so this distinction between ‘television’ and ‘web’ and ‘newspapers’ will not exist.

Corporate PR Blogger Elizabeth Albrycht suggests that brands are the new media companies, providing content consumers want while engaging in this web 2.0 participatory communications model. It does make me a bit unsettled, to think that information will be presented in the form of a constant stream of opinions and view points, as opposed to objective facts and viewpoints; however, at the same time, it is providing an opportunity for many voices to be heard. This is wonderful news! And, with the convergence of the NBCs and the New York Times of the world, these voices will/are not confined to simply television or print, but rather all possible platforms.

(I don’t mean to beat the dead cow, but, the importance of niche is worth repeating…)

Reading Mark’s Harris’ article, ‘Saving TV,’ in this month’s Conde Nast Portfolio, I often paralleled the advice given with that of both my personal brand (which, I am still building), as well as the public relations industry, overall. Harris suggests, ‘accept the fact that niche is the new normal,’ citing the successes of TBS as the ‘home for comedy’ and TNT as the ‘network for drama.’ In contrast, the networks are struggling to be all things to all people and have not found success.

Further suggestions included ‘know your brand,’ ‘don’t count on ‘flow’ unless all your programming is aimed at the same audience,’ and ‘content counts.’ These are arguably the present marketing rules of most any company, though I particularly thought of the public relations industry after reviewing a tongue-in-cheek article by John Greer on bnet.com entitled, ‘Bankruptcy PR is the Newest Agency Market Niche.’ While I’m curious how well bankruptcy PR will do as a niche, I do believe that niche is going to be how many companies succeed as competition grows, both domestically and abroad.

I apologize for the hiatus…moving in the most recent weeks from Boston to New York. I am currently settling into my summer position with Fleishman-Hillard’s Healthcare Group…so far going very well. I foresee myself in ‘absorption’ mode for quite some time, but it’s been honestly wonderful. I’m learning a great deal, and I’m very much enjoying public relations. I will write more soon! Enjoy the day.

This week, Business Week’s Burt Helm highlights R/GA, a company that is truly revolutionizing the world of marketing. The article, ‘Attention-Deficit Advertising,’ discusses how brands are providing services to customers.

One example is Motorola’s campaign in the Hong Kong International Airport, where soon-to-be passengers were able to view pictures and messages from the friends and family members they had just waved good-bye to. Intermixed with the messages of love, luck and best wishes were ads of various brands. By providing customers with one last message of home, advertisers were given a truly captivated audience.

I believe that advertisers need to get smart. They need to offer consumers something more - touching their humanity and exceeding their expectations.

An Ad Age article discussed Apple’s recent comments regarding NYC & Co.’s use of an apple (the fruit) as part of their logo for their “Green NYC Campaign,” began last summer 2007. Apple is concerned that consumers will get confused.

Personally, I would think Apple should be in favor of this. While I think Apple has a strong enough brand to differentiate itself in consumers’ minds, I also think this would be a positive association, if one was made. ‘Green’ is the trend, now, and Apple Computers would be seen as a part of this trend. Also, if anything, simply seeing the ‘apple’ logo around New York could be free advertising for the computer company, whether it was a true conscious thing or not.

It takes the brain seconds to comprehend the meaning of a paragraph of text. However, hundredths of a second to process that same message through a picture or visual image. I recently came across this agency, La Comunidad, which answers the question, ‘why la comunidad?’ through the use of stick figures. Check it out! (You need to click on ‘the way we think’ and then ‘why la comunidad?’)

The BBC today reports DNA testing companies’ increase in popularity in recent months. Companies such as 23andMe, DeCODEme and Navigenics are able to decode an individuals’ DNA, providing consumers with an idea of how prone they are to various diseases and more about why their body is the way it is.

While controversy exists within the field, some arguing it is a waste of money and others touting its potential uses for both individuals and pharmaceutical companies, I have to wonder about the  ramifications this may have on the overall health industry if the information should be accessible to the public. 23andMe has said they would not sell the data, though I do wonder how insurance companies, or even employers who pay for insurance might react if they would get their hands on this information.

Might there be a lower cost for individuals who are considered “healthier” than others? Similar rate differences exist today between men and women when we purchase car insurance at the age of 16. Different rates exist for men than women, as men are considered more aggressive drivers at this age, yet, gender is something we cannot control, much like the DNA results from these tests.

Regardless, I think great potential lies in the practice of more and more individuals discovering more about their DNA and then acting upon those findings in order to live a healthier lifestyle. Preventative care would safe the health industry billions of dollars, so insurance companies would be wise to assist with paying for tests, such as this.

One final note that crosses my mind is  companies using this information during the hiring process. While laws  greatly diminish this type of discrimination, I wonder if that would be at all an issue, 40-50 years down the line.

Today I had the distinct honor of attending several events at Emerson College, which provided me the opportunity to meet and learn from some amazing individuals. First, there is Chris Montan, President of Walt Disney Music. After realizing he no longer wished to pursue a career with his Western History undergraduate degree, he decided to strap on his guitar, write music and has never looked back. He offered us a number of wonderful suggestions when pursuing our degrees, including the need to have passion, create that personal unique vision of who we are as an artist, and to be prepared and take every opportunity that comes our way.

He accounts for much of High School Musical’s success with the reach and distribution of the Disney Channel, a channel that ’superserves’ the tween age group. In an age where so many distribution media platforms exist, High School Musical was able to start on the small screen, spread its music through Radio Disney and the Internet, to end up as a full screen movie, now, several years later.

I also had the opportunity to hear Dr. Gayle Carson and Steve Shaw speak. Dr. Carson is known for being the ‘Spunky Old Broad,’ and she is not kidding! I have never seen a 70-year old woman so passionate and active. She told us about how her career (and she, herself) has evolved, her current membership site goals and the keys to her success. Steve Shaw also talked to us about his career evolution and his constant focus as a broadcast journalist in his young 20s, only to be burned out by the age of 26. However, he has since started his own business in Corporate Communications, proving that the ‘next best career’ can be just as good as that ‘dream job.’

The day ended with a truly memorable experience of bringing together Thomas Schumacher, Roger Allers, Chris Montan and Mark Macina to discuss the making of the movie, The Lion King. Whether it was discussing Elton John’s ‘the cheese sandwich’ song, Allers’ desire not to work on the movie, or telling us about the recent (very recent) start to the creation of The Newsies stage performance, the entire evening was entertaining and informative, though, above all, consisted of story telling. Although The Lion King had not hit it of with the ‘analytical’ executives at the time, its emotional draw and depth has pulled at family’s heartstrings for nearly 13 years.

In one of his talks today, he mentioned that a lot of individuals at Disney are the combination of business and creative. They wish to be that bridge, that link between the two. I believe I am one of those individuals, strattling both sides, desiring to belong to both ‘camps.’

I would absolutely LOVE to work for Disney! This is a truly innovative company brimming with driven, creative individuals, and at the end of the day, their goal is a smile…a laugh…a tear…and what better use of our time, then to evoke such emotion and resonate with others through the medium of storytelling.