Safe easy secret sex (and other PR placement tips)

PR types struggling to get their news releases read should take heed to this New York Times report about the magic words that best pique a journalist’s interest.

Strategic word selection can catapult an announcement about a study, a product or a “breakthrough” onto the evening news instead of to its usual destination — the spam folder or circular file.

“P.R. people want to invest time in things that are going to get picked up, so they try to put something to the ‘who cares?’ and ‘so what?’ test,” said Kate Robins, a longtime public relations consultant. “If you say something is first, most, fastest, tallest — that’s likely to get attention. If you can use the words like ‘money,’ ‘fat,’ ‘cancer’ or ‘sex,’ you’re likely to get some ink in the general audience media.”

Good to know.

Link via PRWeek’s The Cycle.

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Now playing: Patti Smith – Free Money
via FoxyTunes

Contextless links: June 30, 2008

It’s a Monday, the last day of the month, and the end of a fiscal year. What better day than today to wrap tie up some loose ends? Here are some links I’ve been keeping in the newsreader and del.icio.us account just for this occasion.

Brand tags: a collective experiment in brand perception.” And a great way to waste time.

The website is down. Another great time-waster. Share with your IT folks. They’ll love it. Or hate you. Um, maybe you’d better watch first.

Great college TV ads from Wilkes University, as presented by College Web Guy.

A question for college website creators, posed by Mark Greenfield.

The employable web designer
.

Media analysis, Google Maps-style. This is a brilliant mashup. PR folks, take heed. Via @bobledrew tweet.

8 disruptive technology changes.

Webcentricity and the future of print designers.

Anthropology Professor, Now a YouTube Star, Says Web Video Can Help People Craft Their Identities

Jeff Jarvis on the crowdsourced life.

Down with Helvetica: design your own font, a New York Times piece about Fontstruct, via @ADenson‘s recent tweet.

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Now playing: Various Artists – eMusic – Lights & Music – Cut Copy
via FoxyTunes