MSNBC staffer fired over Super Bowl commercial tweet

The latest lesson on social media for legacy news org's comes from MSNBC, where a staffer has been fired over a tweet about a Super Bowl ad that included at shot at the political right.

The initial tweet said: "Maybe the right wing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family."

After predictable backlash, MSNBC removed and apologized for the tweet. 

But here's the lesson. The shot at the "right wing" was entirely unnecessary - a common instance where someone trying to be "clever" strays from the straight news value of the story and strays over the line.

Journalists should heed the lessons shared by the New York Times Social News Desk. This @NiemanLab post details lessons learned from the past year of socializing the news, including this core nugget: Straight posts are more effective at generating engagement than "clever" ones.

So, at the end of the day, playing it straight isn't just good journalism, and a good way to keep your job - it's also more effective at engaging the audience.

Are We All Just iBots?

I do love my iPhone.

And the Mobile Shift is undeniable.

But smartphone worship can be taken too far, as illustrated so well here, in "iDiots":


IDIOTS from BLR_VFX on Vimeo.

Presentations by Frank Mungeam

Here is a partial list of Presentations, Speeches, and Panel appearances by Frank Mungeam

3-5-14       "Crafting Compelling Social Content" - KGW Client Presentation

12-4-13     "Secrets of Social Media" - KGW Client Presentation

10-28-13   "Will Digital Kill PR?" - Public Relations Society of America, Portland Chapter

10-23-13   "Meet the Pros" Media Panel - Social Media Club of Portland

2013 Belo Content Summit: "Social Media Best Practices for Broadcast"

6-18-13     "The Power of Social Listening" - PDX DMC, Portland Digital Marketing Conference

9-18-12      "Mobile Marketing" - Panel, PSU Digital Marketing Breakfast

6-13-12      "The Mobile Toolkit: Best Practices for Mobile Journalism" - Online News Assoc Oregon

5-2-13       "Next Gen Social" - Lunch Panel, eMarketig Summit / Innotech Conference Oregon

5-8-12       "Redefining the Media Mix: Digital Shift" - NACCDO/PAN Annual Conference

4-19-12     "Social Media for Business" - Rotary Club of Portland

4-3-12        "Social Media Tools for Business" - WSU Vancouver Tech 101 Workshop

2-6-12        "Mobile Media Strategy" - Panel, Univ. of Oregon Turnbull Center

1-17-12      "From TV Station to Media Group: A Case Study " -
                   NW Food Manufacturing &      Packaging Conference

12-12-11    "You Work for the Audience Now" - Keynote, PDX Digital Marketing Conference 2011

9-19-11      "Traditional vs. Social Media" - panel, NW Communications & Energy Innovations Conf.

Half of Twitter, Facebook users get news on social

Less than half of people say they get news on Facebook http://t.co/770RCoimEF pic.twitter.com/rdmnItPTm1
— Mashable SocialMedia (@mashsocialmedia) November 20, 2013

CNN Multimedia mashup tells story of Atlanta Airport

For every hand-wringing veteran print reporter who opines on the Death of Journalism, there is an off-setting example of the bright future of digital news storytelling.

This multimedia treatment by CNN.com goes beyond the tired 'slideshow' format, mashing up data, stories and images in a visually compelling way.

ATL24: A day in the life of the world's busiest airport