Is the News at 6 Defining Your Community?

By John McGory

If it bleeds, it leads.  This mantra of local television news organizations comes from market research that suggests stories of crime and violence increase newscasts’ ratings.  This finding drives news directors to deliver more crime-related stories to their audiences.

How do these news stories impact your community or neighborhood?  Are potential homebuyers and investors scared away by the nightly news?  It’s likely.

Here are two studies that illustrate problems facing local communities:

A Baltimore study suggested that local television crime coverage is related to a heightened fear of the central city and that this fear translates to reduced travel there.

A study in New Orleans showed that reports of homicides made up 0.4 percent of all crimes but represented 50 percent of all reported crime stories.

 How can communities fight back?  By sidestepping traditional media to seize the opportunity to tell their own stories through the use of both social media and old school tactics such as word of mouth and newsletters.

No one is going to invest in a community that is feared.  If all people know about your neighborhood is what they see on the six o’clock news, then many of the wonderful stories will never be told.   Telling others what your community is about, the citizens who make it special and your neighborhood’s potential, are the ingredients for success.

There is hope for the future.  Social media is providing communities with the opportunity to change the way we view ourselves.  A Pew Research Center for Excellence in Journalism reported in September that the younger generations are turning away from television when getting their local community news. 

The report also showed that people use three to six different sources for local community news.  Television is viewed for breaking news, traffic and weather.  Newspapers are read for news about local government, housing and taxes.  The Internet is for restaurants and local businesses.  Old school forms such as word of mouth and printed newsletters still have a place in getting the word out about events.

The report shows that communities need to be strategic in communicating with the public.  Using a variety of sources can increase the chances that good stories will be a part of the discussion.

Crime scenes, grim-faced detectives and yellow tape will not disappear from the evening news’ leads.  Communities can help balance the public perception of urban neighborhoods by being proactive and telling the good stories that take place much more frequently than violent crime.    

The evening news is a business built on creating emotion, much of it fear.  Don’t let that business define your community.  Tell your story by getting strategic and using the tools of today.

John McGory is a partner at Webface, www.web-face-solutions.com.   We help communities and neighborhoods tell their stories through social media, video and community engagement strategies. 

Women Make the Social Media World Go 'Round

By Martha Wilson

Men have long lorded over the remote in the home, but move over Rover, there's a new in-house sheriff when it comes to social media.

Arguably women have always been the better networkers, so a recent Digital Year in Review whitepaper that showed females making leaps and bounds in time spent on social media was not exactly a bombshell.

Link that with Pew Research Center findings that men make choices in only about 26 percent of all couples, and you're left with one conclusion--women make the social media world go 'round by being the deciders. That bodes very well for businesses doing social media marketing to the X chromosomes gender.

For most women, social media is a fabulous tool to connect with like-minded individuals, to locate needed products and to speed up multitasking in order to gain more time with the people they love.

“Companies looking to reach women — whether as consumers, entrepreneurs, employees, or advocates — have an unprecedented opportunity through social media to engage them,” says Jessica Faye Carter, author of the Technicultr blog. “For women, social media presents abundant opportunities to lead, effect change, innovate, and build relationships across sectors, locally, nationally, and globally.”

Conversations between companies and female consumers are moving beyond “what do you want?” types of questions to getting real-time feedback from women on products, services, and marketing campaigns—sometimes before they go to market.

For instance, in China, Unilever, the makers of Pond’s Age Miracle moisturizer, asked bloggers to try the cream and share findings. That risk paid off. Consumers gave the moisturizer a big thumbs up, leading to the adoption of social media strategies by other Unilever offices in Asia.

And Kmart launched a new program, Smart Shoppers Unite, which mixes deals with shopping advice and lifestyle discussions. Features include tips from The Frugalista, a popular bargain-shopping blogger, coupon section and games. This network is interest-based — anyone interested in budget-conscious shopping can join.

No doubt, social media is becoming a major tool for women of all interests, says JoAnn Bamberger, author of Mothers of Intention: How Women and the Social Media are Revolutionizing Politics in America.

“I think we love our villages and we love reaching out to the people we know and interacting with them and sharing our stories and experiences,” Bamberger says. “I think that's something that the world of social media has allowed women to do in a way as never before.”

So, what’s the bottom line? The research is clear. Go after the deciders – women buyers – using social media platforms to boost your bottom line.



Social media helps women spend more time with the ones they love.

 Martha Wilson is an associate at Web Face, www.web-face-solutions.com