Hundreds of members from the public came to Roxbury’s Hibernian Hall Jan. 16 to donate relief items that would be sent to earthquake victims in Haiti. The benevolence of the people coming through the hall shined through all day.
While most of the donors were Haitian American, there were also a good number of African Americans and black Africans in attendance. It is on very rare occasions that intraracial tensions amongst the different ethnicities in the black community can be put aside for a greater cause.
John Thompson, founder and publisher of Journalism.co.uk came up with a top ten list of what journalists need to be doing in 2010 to stay competitive in the ever-changing news media landscape.
A topic on the list that sparked my attention was what Thompson said about branding. As more journalists consider the next steps in their careers, online marketing is becoming a major component to success.
…You need to build yourself an online persona, one that earns you a reputation of trustworthiness and one that allows you to build fruitful relationships with your readers and contacts. You can no longer necessarily rely on having a good reputation by proxy of association with your employer’s brand. And your reputation is no longer fleeting, as good as your last big story – there is an entire archive of your content building online that anyone can potentially access. Obvious ways to do this: Twitter, Facebook, personal blogging, but you can also build a reputation by sharing what you are reading online using social bookmarking sites like Publish2 and delicious.
This reminds me of a quote someone emailed me about recently: “Internet users aren’t destination focused–stop trying to drive people to your site and start driving them to your content.”
This is so true! Whether it is a potential new employer or gaining a fan base, in recent years, I have found out quickly that having a strong online presence can really make or break your career today.
Journalist and AIDS activist Kai Wright was the keynote speaker at a town hall meeting on black men’s health and sexuality put on by the AIDS Action Committee during its World AIDS Day commemorations Dec. 7. Wright has been writing about sexual health for over 10 years, and spends much of his time going around the country, speaking before both people of color and LGBT communities.
Hundreds of members from the public came to Roxbury’s Hibernian Hall Jan. 16 to donate relief items that would be sent to earthquake victims in Haiti. The benevolence of the people coming through the hall shined through all day.
