EXCLUSIVE!

ABC News touted an "Exclusive" on my Twitter feed this morning. It had US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner telling George Stephanopoulis that unemployment could actually rise as the recovery continues. I'll let you draw your own personal conclusions as to how the administration is handling the economy but does this statement come as any surprise? To anyone? But apparently it's "Exclusive" because that's what it says on ABC's Website.

While I'm singling this example from ABC News, (I used to sit on their Affiliate Advisory Board) everyone is promoting "Exclusive" so much that it really has no meaning.

OK, it's a competitive news environment these days but it seems that the promotion departments are driving news rather than the other way around. Today's story was about the same as saying the sun rises in the east.

There were lots of breathless "Exclusives" in past months talking about....oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. All of which left me completely whelmed.

Good journalists work hard for exclusives. Bad promotion departments promote exclusives when they really aren't. A perfect example is this morning's "Exclusive" when a morning news anchor talks with a government official putting their spin on what condition our condition is in.

It's not exclusive, it may not even be news because news is what's new. Political spin is just that. Spin. But please, don't call it exclusive and don't call it news.

Brian Olson
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The difference between a Pipeline and a Pipeline

Pipelines carry stuff from here to there and vice-versa, depending on your location. Most associate the term with oil and gas. But pipelines also carry water, in fact any liquid asset.

Pipelines also carry information. A website is a pipeline of information. So is Twitter and YouTube. Your favorite local radio or television news station is a pipeline. Ditto for a newspaper, if you still have one where you live.

A generation ago we had a limited number of pipelines. If you're old enough to remember it, think of the Iran Hostage Crisis. Far fewer sources for news compared to today. You actually had to wait for news. The crisis in fact, created a pipeline, an ABC broadcast called "America Held Hostage." Today you know it as Nightline. You can watch the show off-air, via satellite or cable and of course the show has its own website. Which connects to numerous other pipelines.

Much is made of the ever growing number of communication pipelines. Each day it seems, comes a new one. Better, bolder, hotter than the others.

"My pipeline is cooler than your pipeline!"

Sadly, lost in the conversation is the conversation itself, i.e. CONTENT.

To be blunt, crap is crap, regardless of how it's delivered. Crap in, crap out.

Holy crap.

Creating impactful content for your pipeline(s) is what we do at Conversation Starters. Your message has to be meaningful on Main Street. Let us help you do just that.

Brian Olson
CEO and Founder
Conversation Starters LLC