Paramount Public Relations, Inc. would like to wish you and your families a happy holiday and a wonderful new year.  We can’t deny it has been a memorable year, so here are our picks of the 10 most unforgettable media stories of 2012.

1. Election 2012 – With headlines consisting of Big Bird, binders full of women and an empty chair, this election was all over the place! What began as a nail biter ended with Obama walking away victorious again.
2. London Olympics – Michael Phelps made his last Olympic appearance and young women everywhere were ogling Ryan Lochte’s “swag.” The biggest take away, though, was the USA winning the most medals; out of a total of 104, 46 were gold!
3. Facebook Goes Public – Facebook is still going strong even after its shaky start in the IPO scene. Stockholders just don’t “like” the company as much as they were hoping!
4. Newsweek – Only electronic?! This shocked everyone and is another example of how the print media is evolving. Even more shocking was their 50 Shades of Grey cover…
5. Fifty Shades of Grey – Not since Harry Potter has a British author caused such a stir, only this time with middle aged women across the world.
6. TomKat Divorce – The majority of the public felt that the demise of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes was a long time coming. But with the image of Tom jumping onto Oprah’s couch burned into our brains, we can’t help but miss the good old days when these two were still in marital bliss.
7. Marijuana Legalized in Colorado – Adults 21 and older can possess up to an ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants privately. “Colorful Colorado” just became a lot greener.
8. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 60^th year on the throne as a whopping one million British subjects cheered her on in front of Buckingham Palace. And with the newest Royal on the way, who said monarchy is dead?
9. Whitney Houston – The diva’s fight with drug addiction concluded in her devastating death. However, her legacy lives on as “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” became the bar anthem of the year.
10. Call Me Maybe – What was thought to be a “One Hit Wonder” has become the pickup tune for girls (and guys) around the world. Now that 2012 is ending, time to find a new jingle!

With the Presidential election shortly behind us, the media is already analyzing how this election has differed from those previously. Regardless of party politics, social media and the internet played a substantial role in the 2012 election—from viral sharing to a wider access of political content. Although some praise it and others curse it, the social media landscape no doubt will shape the way people view their candidates in the future. PRDaily.com sheds some light on the three biggest social media takeaways from the 2012 election:
1. Tumblr is a viable platform to activate a younger demographic.
Obama’s team was active on the microblogging platform, taking advantage of memes and celebrity endorsements—highly shareable social elements. A look at his Tumblr (barackobama.tumblr.com/) shows gifs, a Lady Gaga tweet, and a kitty cat graphic. Was Tumblr the reason Obama won and Romney, whose Tumblr wasn’t nearly as interesting, lost? Probably not. But it certainly leads us to our next point.

2. Strong, shareable content may be becoming as effective as advertising.
Just as with companies, politicians have to fight through a ton of noise to be heard in social. Battleground states were inundated by TV ads, and they became white noise, blending together and inspiring people only to resent the election.

However, a well-timed graphic, such as the Obama team’s response to Clint Eastwood’s Republican National Convention appearance, titled This Seat’s Taken, can break through this clutter. The proof is in the numbers: The Eastwood image drew 63,000 retweets and 25,000 favorites—and that’s just on Twitter.

For brands all times—corporate and political—it comes back to the content. Strong content is highly shareable and will take on a life of its own. Weak content becomes part of the noise.

3. We may never have another ho-hum election.
Check your Facebook News Feed from the last 24 hours. Look at the latest offerings from your friends on Instagram. And Twitter? Fuggedaboutit.

Political opinions used to be something you kept to yourself—one of the big three topic you’re supposed to avoid at a dinner party. If social media is the world’s daily dinner party, we’ve thrown that rule out the window. Perhaps you unfriended those whose opinions were, shall we say, a bit extreme. Maybe you were sick of it all by the end. But one thing is certain: The chatter was insanely contagious, and we may never escape it as social media appears here to stay.

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/13113.aspx

After over 80 years of service, prominent print magazine, Newsweek will end all print publishing by the end of this year. According to NYTimes.com the news came from the Editor-in-Chief Tina Brown in an online message posted on The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast and Newsweek made headlines in 2012 when the two merged. In her message, Brown stated that staff would continue to publish a digital magazine called Newsweek Global, which customers would pay for and The Daily Beast would continue to be a free website.

Although the news of a print publication going under is hardly surprising, Newsweek is a major publication and the fact that it will no longer be available in print speaks volumes for the ever changing landscape of digital media. More and more publications are choosing to eliminate their print editions entirely because of the severe amount of money they are losing. For example, Newsweek has an estimated $40 million in losses annually. Something they hope to turn around with the elimination of printed editions.

In its heyday Newsweek would often compete with Time magazine weekly for breaking stories and eye-catching covers. Now that Newsweek’s print has been given the ax, the biggest question to be asked now is what will become of “Time” print editions?

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/newsweek-will-cease-print-publication-at-end-of-year/?ref=tinabrown

It is apparent more than ever that social media plays an important role in society, even for businesses. A recent article by Mashable announced that 50% of consumers value a brand’s Facebook page more than its website. While websites are commonly created to drive traffic and entice online shoppers, it seems that consumers are also turning to a brand’s Facebook page for information as well.

Possible reasons for this statistic could be that Facebook pages often make a brand seem more reachable and personable. According to the study, 75% of participants feel more connected to a brand on Facebook. Also, Facebook offers businesses an outlet to showcase discounts that reach a large audience.  Mashable reports that as a result of liking a brand on Facebook, 77% have saved money.

Although stores may hang “50% off” and “Final Sale!” signs in their windows for those passing by to notice, the sales world is changing. While in-store sale signs may go unnoticed, with social media, sales as well as other information is available with an easily navigated click of the mouse.

http://mashable.com/2012/09/24/facebook-brand-page-value/

Public relations is all about presentation and perfection.  Your resume serves as a writing sample, not just a reflection of your employment history.  One typo or grammatical error negates your credibility as an artist of public influence through the written word. PRSA Blogger Richard Spector offers a trove of tips to whip your resume into a perfect one-page resume that will get your foot in the door.

1. Brainstorm: Take a piece of scratch paper and make a list of accomplishments. This process may take a few days but it will prove to be useful when crafting that one-page biography.

2. Feedback: Invite a second pair of eyes to review the resume and check for grammar and formatting mistakes. Make sure to not take any feedback personally, their job is to help you draft a resume to retain the limited attention span of a very harried and overworked recruiter.

3. Brag a little: You have three sentences or four bullets to capture the attention of a recruiter. Make sure to include clear and succinct talents you posses in relation to the job you are applying for. Devote the most thought into this part of your resume — it’s that important.

4. Be Brief: Keep each thought to only one sentence. If it’s longer, it’s too long.

5. The Proof is in the Pudding: What did you accomplish? It’s not enough to say that you pitched stories to the media. Where did you land those stories?

6. Research the Possibilities: Do some groundwork on the types of jobs you’d like to apply for before meeting with your friends. What keywords are employers using? Are there certain keywords all the job descriptions have in common? Make sure you incorporate these keywords into your resume along with your action verbs.

7. Divide and Conquer: Depending on where you are in your career, you should have at least four different resumes – and that’s just the beginning. After sitting with one of my friends, we determined she had enough qualifications to tailor her resumes as an office manager, executive assistant, nutritionist, art and antiques curator and bookkeeper. Considering the diversity of public relations industries and the various skills required, having many versions allows you to highlight key information for targeted jobs.

8. Rest and Reshare: Like any good writing piece, there comes a point where you have to step away from it and have a day or two of breathing space.

9. Irrevocable Damage: What’s the best way to anger a recruiter? Apply to a job that’s not relevant. One job seeker applied to so many jobs through the same recruiter (whether relevant of not) that they crashed the system every time their name came up. As a result, the resume had to be red-flagged from being opened by the recruiter. You’re much better off applying for 100 relevant jobs than 5,000 irrelevant ones.

10. Rejuvenate: You’re going to need all the strength you can muster in your job hunt. Getting enough sleep sounds like common sense – but it’s more important than you can imagine. You’ll be grilled on your resume and asked to elaborate on each point. Be sure you can explain every skill set listed on your resume. Practice with your friends and stay alert.

Consider these tips when crafting your next resume and land your dream job!

For more information about the PRSA and to view the entire article, visit PRSA.org or click http://comprehension.prsa.org/?p=4780.

In an increasingly digital world, job recruiters are turning more to social media to find potential job candidates.  In an interview with Smart Blogs, Monica Pons, head of executive recruitment for NBCUniversal, discussed how vital social media is for NBCUniversal’s recruitment.  According to Pons, NBCUniversal uses their social media to engage with possible employees and ultimately draw them to their career websites.  NBCUniversal has posted videos of what is like to work at a particular business (such as Bravo) and has even gone as far as to tweet job openings.

They don’t only utilize their own personal social media tools, though.  Pons relayed a story of finding currently hired employees solely through a search on LinkedIn.  While Pons did not comment on whether or not NBCUniversal utilizes Facebook for recruitment, she did note that recruiters are using it more as a screening tool. 

“We are witnessing the blurring of boundaries between professional and personal through social media,” Pons said.  “Potential candidates need to acknowledge this new branding of the self that social media generates and adapt their profiles to the new reality.” 

To put it simply, if you’re applying for jobs consider who is viewing your Facebook page and move those bar crawl photos to a separate folder.

For the full interview with NBCUniversal’s Monica Pons visit: http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2011/10/31/social-media-powered-recruitment-how-nbcuniversal-builds-its-employerbrand-online/

It’s hard to imagine a world without laptops, iPhones and iPads.  These gadgets have become as central to American culture as baseball and apple pie.  It seems everyone has an iPhone or some protype of one spurred on by the original.  The genius creative force behind these products was none other than Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

The Apple innovator passed away Wednesday, leaving behind not only a slew of products and devastated admirers, but a legacy that changed the face of media consumption across the nation.  With their laptops and iPhones on hand, people have increasingly turned to online media outlets instead of their paper counterparts for the latest news.

This change didn’t happen overnight, though.  It was a long journey, beginning in Jobs’ garage.  Him and a colleague built their first personal computer there in 1976, pricing it at $666.66.  The Apple II was launched a year later at the West Coast Computer Faire to overwhelming praise, leading to the first true Macintosh computer in 1984.  Since then, Jobs has continued to revolutionize the technological world with new, innovative products.

“Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives,” Apple said in a statement.  “The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.”

For more information about Steve Jobs: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-10-05/us/us_obit-steve-jobs_1_jobs-and-wozniak-iphone-apple-founder?_s=PM:US

Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook has partnered with Skype to enable video chatting in Facebook’s Chat platform.  Though this partnership of giants should not come as a huge surprise, it is still fun to ponder what this holds for the future of communication.  Facebook has over 750 million users and Skype is extremely popular for across the globe communicating via the Web and is even used by businesses to conduct meetings thousands of miles apart.  Is it possible that in a few short years all the social media utilized every day, from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn to FourSquare, could all join together into one super-site?  It certainly appears that way.  This would make life that much easier and that much more interconnected.

While it remains to be seen how well the Facebook-Skype merge works, and how much users take advantage of it, it’s sure to be a pretty popular addition to the Facebook platform.  One thing is for sure: Facebook seems to be on a quest to prove there’s nothing it cannot do.  Expect this newest merge to affect all areas that social media reaches: advertising, public relations, marketing, business, social interaction, etc.  It’s too early to tell exactly in what ways it will affect those areas, but it should make a pretty big splash.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20077771-92/face-time-with-facebook-week-in-review/