(St.) Anger Gets The Best Of Metallica

A little over a week ago, Metallica was set to release their latest project Death Magnetic to the world. Despite their infamous battles with Napster, the band seemed to have a different understanding of leaked albums than before (Ulrich on the possibility of a leak, "If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days"). Kind of hard to believe after they destroyed Napster? I thought so too...

Metallica recently canceled an interview with a Sweedish publication after one of their reporters admitted to downloading it online. Apparently, the reporter like the downloaded version better than the released version; the copy he downloaded had been altered by an online user by trimming songs down to shorter, more potent lengths. The reviewer liked the trimmed versions better and said that is what the real album should have been like.

If Metallica is truly okay with album leaks and the iterations that come with that, they could have used this situation as an opportunity to start a conversation with the reporter and the fans. They could have asked, "why did you like the other version of the album?" or "what could we do different next time?" Even if Metallica still thinks their physical album is the best (which apparently they do), they can still interact with music fans (which is who this reporter is) and media in the appropriate way, especially since the album is doing very well. This kind of reaction to inevitable (and frankly, encouraged) situations will only continue to push away fans, many of whom now use media in every area of their life.

Perfect Pitch: How to be a Journalist's Best Friend

Even a "Cadillac pitch" the first time around doesn't work in this new changing age of print media. Yes, we all know print media is slowly deteriorating; calls to travel reporters and those assigned to tech beats confirm this. Perhaps a business reporter will have some decency and open up your e-mail, but you might want to think about using a pitch as a follow-up to an introduction.

Reporters have about five seconds to open an e-mail and decide from the lead if it's worth a read:

• Your subject line is the first thing a reporter will see (unless of course you decided to bcc those 500 people on your pitch list the same one-size-fits-all message that ends up in SPAM), so make it a praise to their most recent article. It's as simple as "Your CNN.com article, from XXX." Why does this work? Reporters love to hear about how great their stories are.
  
• There you have it--- that's your pitch. Next time, they will recognize you as someone who knows them, especially if you end your initial contact with "I'll keep an eye on your byline."

They are putty in your hands...

Bloggers Rage On the App Store

Since the opening of the App Store on July 11th, developers have had a long-standing feud with the App Store. The ambiguous terms of what is accepted into the App Store has many developers frustrated and annoyed with Apple.

This became a resurfacing issue today with Apples decision to reject a Podcaster App. The reason behind the rejection: "Since Podcaster assists in the distribution of podcasts, it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes." This isn't sitting too well with the developer and fellow developers.

Since the debut of the App Store, I have been hoping for a Podcaster App to come along and now I know why I haven't seen one. Apple needs to clearly define the terms for what is accepted and what isn't. Why did the "I am Rich" application make it, but useful ones like the Podcaster get rejected? You're better than that, Apple.

How Twitter Has Changed the KXAN Newsroom:

This is a really good post on how Twitter has changed how KXAN finds and delivers news.

Highlights of the blog post:

"Twitter helped us get the news to the masses in a new (and faster) way. The first indication that Twitter was an important part of our distribution of the news and how people are consuming media in different ways came in a very local way. The newsroom “tweeted” that a traffic jam on a local highway was the result of a car fire and in less than five minutes three people sent us photos of the car on fire. We then took that photo and placed it on our other platforms of media distribution (Televison/Internet) and it wasn’t until later that we realized the power of Twitter."

"Here’s what we did in the newsroom: We assigned people to post Twitter updates as soon as information was received. We searched out people on Twitter that were “Tweeting” from the area where the hurricane was to make landfall. We introduced ourselves and told them that we were going to follow them and tell the world what they were experiencing. In return, we promised to keep them informed when other forms of media failed. In other words, traditional media was asking the public to make our product better. They responded and did."

"The question for traditional media is how do we utilize tools such as Twitter to enhance and build our product? how do we embrace the “collective newsroom” and the changing ways in which people consume media? You can’t ignore it and hope it will go away, that barn door is opened and there is no going back. I, for one, am excited about how traditional media and social media are building bridges and responding to the changes in distribution channels. I don’t know what is next, but I know that people are engaged and they expect me to keep up."

When is Twittering Inappropriate?

This is a question that is being asked since last Wednesday when a reporter Tweeted updates of a young boys funeral.

The Tweets can still be read here. The last Tweet reads "family members shovel earth into grave." Understandably, the twittering of the funeral has unleashed a firestorm of backlash. It raises the question of: what is appropriate, and what should you not Tweet?

My thoughts:
This is something that should not have been included on Twitter. While many Tweets are pointless, (posts about what you had for lunch or the weather, for example) this mixes pointless and offensive. Common sense should tell you that if the online community is interested in this story, they will want to read an article about it that can give the topic some depth and understanding. Simple Twitter posts, like this, come off as it is just a casual tech convention. This is a time for family and friends to grieve. It is not a time give the play-by-play on how they are reacting in 140 characters or less.

Sensitive topics should be dealt with sensitively. Twitter isn't the platform for funeral updates. This may be narcissistic, but I don't believe anyone wants to read a Tweet like this one: "the father is sobbing over the casket. 'I loved him,' he says. others are sobbing." Use common sense when Twittering.

Newsflash: Employers Check Facebookk

This isn't really surprising or new information, but apparently more and more employers are checking Facebook profiles before hiring candidates.

Currently, 20% of employers check Facebook and another 9% plan on using Facebook to check out future employees.

My thought is: If candidates know their Facebook profiles are going to be looked at, why wouldn't they just create a fake account? Or I suppose the easier option would be to change your privacy options to limited.