Telling lies in the age of transparency

Social media, Google, and Wikileaks – not to mention prying government and big business – were supposed to make us all a lot more transparent. The thinking goes there’s very little about our lives that is secret anymore – or is likely to be secret for long.

So why tell your new date that you’re a company CEO when a search engine can easily reveal that you’ve just gotten out of prison.

Decide it would fun to take your top off in a bar and a score of cell phone cameras will send images of your bare breasts across the web. Forget about keeping that Miss America crown.

These days it’s easy for a company to search public records and Facebook accounts to ferret out the truth and lies hidden in resume and job applications. In fact, the only reason the dark secrets of your past stay out of sight is when others don’t really try to find them.

With so much information so accessible to so many people why does anyone think they can get away with anything?

Now let’s be clear. We all lie at one time or another. Usually it’s to avoid conflict with someone or fudge the truth so that our behavior looks a little better. Sometimes we simply convince ourselves that events transpired a certain way when they really didn’t. Police and prosecutors are well aware that witness memories can be notoriously unreliable.

But how do you explain some of the more outrageous lies that have been part of the public consciousness in recent times. Why does a public figure tell a personal story that can be easily proven false by the public record?

A few months ago Connecticut Attorney General (and U.S. Senate candidate) Richard Blumenthal created a fictional Vietnam War record.  In speeches he said: “I remember the taunts, the insults, sometimes even physical abuse” endured by returning vets. Problem is he was one of those fortunate sons who took advantage of the draft law to secure a series of deferments so he could attend college and even do an internship with DC publishing magnet Katherine Graham. When it looked as if his luck might be running out he wrangled his way into a Marine Reserve unit that wasn’t going anywhere.

We tell small lies designed to keep us out of trouble and avoid conflict. We fudge the truth about our accomplishments to impress someone and even if we know what we’re doing in the beginning soon we accept the lie as whole truth. That seems to be what happened with Blumenthal. He repeated the story so many times and embellished it so much it probably began to believe it himself. Believing didn’t make it so.

More recently, Shirley Sherrod, an African-American woman, was fired from her job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture when a video appears in which she seemed to say she hadn’t helped a white farmer as much as she could. After being held up as an example of black racism a different story emerged.

She was the victim of a truly shabby lie propagated by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart and swallowed whole by the media and public officials. The video was carefully edited from a speech by Sharrod that told a story of redemption and changed attitudes. The white farmer spoke up for Sherrod declaring that she had fought successfully to save his land from foreclosure.

Why did Breitbart believe he could get away it? Didn’t he realize someone would bother to look a little further? Didn’t he think it might tarnish his own reputation?

Maybe he just knew that his audience wouldn’t really care one way or another.

The public is quite gullible when it comes to false stories that seem to fit with their deeply held beliefs. Think of the fictional “death panels” or a thousand other conspiracy theories such as Obama wasn’t born in the U.S.

If a story reflects a “larger truth” such as black racism directed at whites, then it doesn’t really matter whether it actually happened or not. And, perhaps that’s one of the biggest reasons that lying is still so common and so obvious.

Steal my story, please!

Usually writers don’t consider the taking and reusing of their work without permission and compensation a good thing. Although there are many people who have a hard time understanding the concept, it’s much like walking into a store, picking up a purse and thinking you can take it without presenting a credit card to the cashier. Besides, with the low rates many outlets pay these days you may feel as if you’ve already been robbed.

That’s why the move by the non-profit ProPublica site to make  its investigative reporting freely available for republication just a little bit startling. In fact, they even provide advice on how to use their  content under a section entitled Steal Our Stories. If you want something, there’s a handy “republish” button to the right of the byline on every story.

Obviously they want their brand of public interest journalism to get as a wide a play as possible. With the internet so fragmented it’s hard to build an audience and gain readership.

Unfortunately, it also reflects the continuing trend of making creative work available for free on the internet and in the process cheapening the work done by its creators.

This is nothing new and it’s been a source of continuing debate. It speaks to the lack of a viable business model for online publications, as much as, the willingness of writers to work for nothing or next to nothing (think content mills and $5 assignments.)

As freelancers, we’ve all worked, at one time or another, for someone who placed little value on the materials we created. Rather than professionals we were regarded as something akin to unskilled field hands. Sometimes they were businesses, but probably just as often they were editors and publishers who should know better.

People given to shock at the images of desperate people breaking into a New Orleans Wal-Mart for food, think nothing of lifting and republishing an article they didn’t pay for.

I came across magazine articles I had previously written being sold on Amazon. When I pointed this out to the magazine’s editor, she was baffled. They had no idea how the material  had found its way in downloadable electronic format to the “world’s largest bookseller.”

Obviously, I don’t have an answer to this problem. In a world where information is so freely available and few consumers are willing to pay for access, earning a living writing is getting more difficult. Yet, since there is no free lunch somebody has to pay for the stories you read. Maybe the payment comes in poor writing and shoddy reporting. Maybe the author is really working for the business or politician being profiled or the product being touted. It probably isn’t a disinterested party seeking the truth.

Have you found your work used without permission? What did you do about it?

Writers are you addicted to PR?

Anyone who thinks a travel writer’s media tour is just a vacation or an all expense paid junket has never been there. It’s a non-stop early morning to late evening procession of businesses, attractions, and places lusting for favorable media exposure.

Sure there’s a lot of eating, looking and more eating, but after awhile it begins to take on the character of a forced march. Last week I shared a van with a half dozen other freelance writers as we toured the Tennessee town of Oak Ridge and environs. Nicknamed the “Secret City” by locals, it’s a once high security lab that became the birthplace of the atomic bomb.

We were all there looking for potential stories and this east Tennessee town just west of Knoxville has more than its share. All of us came away with ideas and interviews that we can develop and sell.

Of course that’s the whole point of the travel writer’s tour. This trip was hosted by the inexhaustibly pleasant and efficient Oak Ridge CVB communications director Nicky Reynolds. She and travel PR maven Georgia Turner kept the tour rolling along, producing sources and experts on what was for us an extremely useful experience.

For me it was also a reminder of just how dependent journalists – whether full time or freelance – are on the services of public relations practitioners. Many of the news stories I and others write always begin with calls to agencies looking for sources. Their cooperation – or lack of it – shapes how stories get written to a far greater degree than most readers suspect.

Is this good or bad? Georgia’s agency makes it easy for writers to connect with good stories. Communities like Oak Ridge get positive coverage and likely more tourist dollars. It’s a win for both.

Dependence on PR practitioners for access to news sources also limits stories as well. They have a vested interest in ensuring their client’s views are represented and negative or dissenting comments are excluded.

Shaping stories has become more of an issue as the ranks of PR people have swelled and the number of journalists declined  One survey found that 80% of news stories are repackaged from other sources. There’s also been a corresponding increase in the number of news stories that reporters base on press releases – even to the point of pulling quotes rather than conducting interviews.

What do you think? Is this trend the end of “real” journalism or just a further evolution of reporting that we really shouldn’t be too worried about?

Finding some holiday cheer that really lasts

The holidays are just about over and most of us are already thinking about the coming year, work, new clients, taxes and all the labor that goes into making our lives as freelancers.

For me I’m still thinking about the holiday just past and I think I’ve come to something of a revelation – for me at least.

I have sweet memories of childhood Christmas mornings when I leaped out of bed early and went tearing full speed to the living room. There the big tree with its colorful lights was now transformed into a an banquet of carefully wrapped boxes containing who knows what wonderful gifts. And, the slice of cake and milk I had left for Santa were now gone and a note of jolly thanks sat on the empty plate.

It was a marvelous magical time that only a child’s mind could perceive. The passing of those years and the loss of innocence has made those holiday memories distant. They’ve been replaced by the realities of parents who weren’t very wise and dependable and a world that isn’t very jolly. Life has tainted the joy of childhood for me much as it has for many others.

Don’t get me wrong. I do like the parties and the music and the chance to watch – once again – How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Christmas Carol. I still get choked up over Tiny Tim, but my favorite Dickens’ character is Scrooge. Sure, he’s not very likeable, but I can understand his honest point of view. All this Christmas stuff seems like a waste sometimes. Have you ever tried to get anyone at the office around December 25th? Without fail they’ve just left or they’re at some office party.

The holidays are also the time for visiting and being visited by friends and relatives. And, for many people, that’s where the holiday rub comes in. All of us have some people whom we see during this orgy of familial good times that – if we weren’t in the same family we would have no reason to seek out their company. Many people look to family visits with dread because they know that conflicts will ensue and they’ll come back not just with a few extra pounds, but some hurt feelings as well.

Over the years I’ve participated in those situations more than once. Nobody can push your buttons quite like family. The worst part of it is that even when you see it coming – just like last year and the one before – you’re still hit between the eyes with those barbs as if it were a well executed ambush.

I had that experience myself. Sitting at dinner listening yet again to a relative’s unendingly negative take on the world. In past years that would have pushing me over the emotional edge. But, I decided, not this time.

I smiled and nodded and changed the subject. The words continued to come. I didn’t respond. Without really thinking about it, the mood passed and we moved on to other topics.

Your antagonists don’t change until you do and you won’t change until you stop being a willing participant in the dance. For me the first step was giving up the all consuming desire to be right. The second, was learning that even when you win in this game, you lose.

When the irritation starts growing because of the direction a conversation has taken, I’ve come to realize that I’m seeing myself in the words and faces of my relatives. And, with that realization has come a new ease and a new empathy. Just like me they’re doing the best they can with the cards they’ve been dealt.

That’s some holiday cheer that can work all year.

How to deal with an addiction

Recently I’ve been going through a crisis that has shaken me to my very depth of my being, kept me up at night, and filled me with dread.

You see, I have an addiction and, just as in the famous first step of AA, I have come to realize that I’m powerless in the face of it. My addiction is to books. Stepping into a Borders and even surfing onto Amazon.com, I lose control. Looking at all those stout hard covers or shiny paperbacks, I know that I have to have them.

Yes, it’s sad and hard to admit publically just what a slave I have become to street corner pushers with names like Random House, HarperCollins or that crafty and seductive Penguin.

Once I started buying books it became clear to everyone except me that I had truly fallen victim to a force much greater than me. Books filled my shelves only to be pushed back to make room for another row. When the boards groaned under the weight, I started hiding – I mean storing – them in closets. They stacked up on my nightstand and I couldn’t get to sleep each night without a reading fix.

Soon I began getting disapproving looks from my partner. She asked questions such as:

• “Are you really going to read all of them?”
• “I suppose the 11 foot ceilings will limit the size of your stack.”
• “Don’t you already have a copy of that one?”
• “Do you know how many books you actually have?’

I had never counted them since I feared the number might exceed the local library’s collection. It was also hard to admit that I loved the books themselves as much as the words and ideas they contained.

One day I told her we needed more bookcases. She said: “I don’t think we need more bookcases. I think you need fewer books.”

She just didn’t understand. She couldn’t feel the pleasure of holding a sleek new volume in your hands and finding a new place for it…somewhere.

Finally, I looked around one day and realized that my books had almost maxed out my living space. There was no unused space in my office and the living room bookcases no longer looked so grand now crammed tight with books. To open a cabinet door I had to move a stack and then move it back to get to another one. Their spines stared at me mockingly and I thought I heard a small voice say: “You belong to us.”

They were everywhere and I had to admit as much as I loved them it might be time to give up at least some of them.

Taking a deep breath I began pulling first one and then another from the shelves or cabinets or the floor on which they rested. Unread novels went first. Books on military history were followed by a small collection of “the horror of the Bush Administration” classics.

I began donating them to charity and selling them on Amazon – taking advantage of someone else’s lack of self control no doubt.

The size of my collection is now diminished. They still number in the high hundreds, but I’ve gotten to a point where my office and living space doesn’t appear to be totally dominated by them. And, I no longer seem quite so much like that old lady with too many cats.

What? You want to freelance? Are you crazy?

Image by Flickr user hall.chris25. Used under Creative Commons. Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

There’re usually two points at which you question whether this freelancing thing is really a viable option.

The first one came before I took the plunge into full time self employment. I was working a 9-to-5 office gig when I began writing articles for trade magazines and a local newspaper. The number of assignments I was getting grew at a rapid pace. Soon the “spare time” didn’t exist and I had what was literally a second full time job. Still, I hesitated about making the jump questioning whether I could really make a living. If I set out on my own would I be able to pay the bills? Would I lose my home and end up under a bridge with other poor souls?

You can probably imagine that moment of dread when the absolute worst that my fertile imagination could produce came forth in full form. I could literally feel the chill wind of a cold January night whipping through my tattered jacket as I huddled around a fire in an alley somewhere.

The second moment of doubt arrives much later – after you’ve made the plunge, set up your business and have probably amassed a long list of clients. A lot of us have wondered “did I make the right choice” lately as the long time clients disappeared into the sink hole of the recession.

Self employment is tough despite all those stories about how owning your own business is the only way to get rich. That’s true for some people, but for most freelance working stiffs the goal is just a comfortable life doing what you love.

At least that’s what we tell ourselves. For many freelancers the reality is that we don’t want to work for someone else doing what they tell us every single day of the week. We were those kids who came home from school with report cards that said “Does not play well with others.” That’s because we have our own ideas about how things should be and we innately know they are superior to yours.

Moments of doubt also come when you realize what a disadvantage you (and all small businesses) are at in the modern economy. It begins with paying both sides of the social security tax and progress through indignities such as little or no health insurance and bankers who snicker when you ask for a loan.

No matter how often Obama or some congressman solemnly declares that small business is the heart and soul of the economy, we know that we have little influence on national policy. We don’t make big donations to candidates – in fact most probably never make political contributions at all – so why should they pay attention?

Yet, given all that, I know of few people who would give up the freelance life. Whether it’s the ability to meet the school bus every afternoon or wear fuzzy slippers to a home office, there’s an odd almost masochistic appeal to self-employment. We struggle, but find joy in a corner table at Starbuck’s with a steaming latté next to a laptop. We even allow our pride to rise as we think of ourselves as valiant and independent entrepreneurs.

And, if anyone asks me if they should try freelancing what do I tell them? Why of course you should! Get out of that soulless office and become a real business person. There’s nothing better to do with your life.

So we’re back to the question: are we crazy to freelance? What do you think? Have you thought of giving it up? What makes you stick with it?

When too much really is too much

Image by Index Photograph. Used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

I was talking to a writer friend recently about a freelancer of our acquaintance and the topic of openness. The person in question tended – shall I say – to be a bit too explicitly personal in her Twitter postings. Although neither of us had ever met her in person – it was after all a social “media” acquaintance – we had gotten a pretty intimate view of certain aspects of her life.

That got me to thinking when is too much too much?  These days the cliché “too much information!” comes to mind on a nearly daily basis.

My friend was concerned that the young lady’s twittering might prove detrimental to her career – she was a freelancer after all. Who knows how many clients were reading these posts and being turned off without giving her chance.

Obviously, reality TV and the likes of Jerry Springer have made keeping anything private – no matter how embarrassing – seem so, well, 19th Century Victorian. In fact, the more extravagant the misdeed the better and the more likely it could make you a star or an in demand book author (good news for ghost writers). 

In fact, campaigning for a spot on a reality show is something you plan your life around. If you’re the parents of a balloon boy or crashed a White House dinner – all the better for your chances. If it isn’t already, reality show contestant should be a job category – and one with true growth potential.

It wasn’t always like that. We former office workers remember the days when revealing too much was a much more local affair. There was the young lady with ample cleavage on display or the guy who couldn’t stop talking about his many, many, many feminine conquests. Relatively few ordinary people thought about leveraging their mistakes into media attention and that was a good thing.

Unless you’re aspiring to join the Real Housewives of New Jersey, looking bad may not be so good. Social media of every kind has given us all the means to project our talents, opinions and foibles far and wide. Where once our bad taste might have been limited to a few friends, family and co-workers we can now build a sizable platform from which to expose ourselves.

This ability can outpace your better judgment. Some people have discovered that employers troll social media sites looking for background data on job applicants. Facebook posts and funny pictures can solidify opinions long before you ever show up in your best business suit.

Just as businesses are careful about the image they project to the public, freelancers need to be conscious of what they’re saying to their customers as well. If provocative statements are part of your image then by all means keep writing those attention grabbing Twitter posts. If they aren’t something you want clients to read then don’t. And, save your misdeeds, tall tales, and bad taste for the home office. The dog won’t care and the public will never know.

Learning to Speak Corporate

 

Here are two basic actions that can help you break into or expand your corporate copywriting business.

The day I got my first assignment from a major corporate client and it seemed pretty straightforward. They wanted me to interview a customer and write a press release on a recent sales win. It looked easy, but I knew that I was treading in an industry that was unfamiliar territory.

My first task wasn’t getting ready to interview the customer. No, it was reading every press release I could find on the company web site that related to sales victories and this product in particular.  I soon realized there were particular words and phrases that described their products and the way they were used. For example, since this was a healthcare software provider they used phrases such as “across care settings” to describe a product that could be accessed and used by different departments in the hospital.

I adopted this language and they were pleased with the results and received many more assignments. Later my contact there told me that I had been competing with three other freelancers. We had all written press releases, but I “won” because I had perfectly captured the tone they were looking for.

What do corporations want from you? They want writers who can speak their language. Not industry jargon, but the phrases and tone that is the voice of a particular company. You can find acquire that tone through diligent research of company materials. Usually they can be found on their corporate website or through a search of industry publications.

While it may seem obvious, it’s always surprising how many freelancers approach a new customer – either pitching or doing an assignment without performing basic research. You don’t have to be a master of investigative reporting; you just need to be able to do some diligent reading.

Corporations, just like newspapers and magazines, want people who are problem solvers – people who make their lives easier. People who will take jobs and bring them back compete and on time. Does that sound familiar?

Most of all they value competence and professionalism. By knowing as much about the company as possible you can ensure that’s the image you project.

You can also project a professional image when you talk about fees. Unlike most magazines, corporations are willing to negotiate rates. They’re comfortable with an hourly rate, a per-job fee or a combination of the two. Whenever possible try to negotiate an hourly rate – usually with a minimum such as five or six hours.

It’s also important to know the going rates. Hourly fees vary from $75 to $150 an hour. With $100 an hour is a common figure. The fee is often less a function of economics and more of self worth and self esteem. Know what you’re worth and ask for a figure that is compatible with what the industry is paying.

If you have to negotiate a project fee carefully calculate how many hours you think it will take and set a fee that maintains your hourly rate. Ensure that if the scope of the job changes or there are excess revisions you’re compensated.

Writing corporate clients is an open and highly lucrative niche. It can supplement your other works such as books and magazine writing or it can be your specialty. The choice is yours.

Fort Hood coverage shows media at its best – and mostly worst

Image by flickr user: dane brian Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

 When word first came of the shooting at Fort Hood I, like every one else, was transfixed. A new, but somehow very familiar, horror was unfolding. A gunman had opened fire at unarmed military personnel as they prepared for deployment to overseas combat zones.

The news media in the form of cable news did what it does best – and worst – as it reported on every new development both real and rumor. As the causalities and the number of shooters mounted, my emotions went from horror to fear. It had to be another terrorist incident and unbelievably it was taking place on a military base on U.S. soil. This was the safest place a solider could be, we thought. Now another illusion was being shattered and I dreaded what the aftermath might be.

Of course, the media eventually straightened the story out. It was a lone gunman. Another solider being deployed to a foreign war who appeared to have snapped under pressure. That was bad, but maybe not as bad as what we had first thought. A military psychiatrist named Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was solely responsible for the carnage. 

But, once again, the media is reflecting our worst fears. Read the name again – Hasan. Muslim. That quickly ignited another wave of outrage and hysteria. On cable news and the bloggersphere the calls were quick – and predictable. Investigate every Muslim and find out who’s loyal and who’s not urged one Fox News commentator. The usual suspects among our cadre of conservative opinionators are already doing their best to whip up fear and hatred of Muslims and paint Islam as a religion of violence – never mind that most Muslims are as horrified as everyone else.

Whether this incident will lead to heightened discrimination against them remains to be seen.

The coverage of this event, like some many others, now comes fast and furious and to an alarming extend unfiltered. Before the advent of the 24 hour cable news cycle and its attendant Internet coverage (amazingly not that long ago), events like this would have gotten straightened out before they made their way into the daily newspaper and even evening news. The rumors wouldn’t have been passed along without verification and when most people heard (or read) the story it would have already been close to an accurate account.

Reading a story in the newspaper also tended to produce less emotion than watching it unfold minute by painful minute on television.

The coverage illustrates both the good and bad of modern news coverage and how for viewers it is mostly bad. Bad because it traumatizes us and that isn’t likely to change. Neither the cameras nor the public is going to look away.

Magazine editor gone? Newspaper folded? Maybe it’s time to try corporate copywriting

I once thought of myself as purely a journalist.  I worked for newspapers and magazines doing the kinds of stories that journalists and reporters typically do. If you’re like me when you began freelancing you had a very different idea about the shape of your writing career. It was all about magazines and newspapers and real journalism.

That was the old days. My career began to shift in a different direction a few years ago and the decline (and even disappearance of many publications) has only accelerated that change.

Most of my work these days is for corporations – with a little freelance journalism throw in for variety. I never really thought of myself as a corporate copywriter or aspired to be one, but these days that is where the work is to be found. And, that’s the point of this post. As the traditional media has withered and shed writers, reporters, editors and even freelancers, the writing needs of companies and corporations of all types have increased.

Why work for corporate clients?

Corporate copywriting is a large and growing market. We talk about the Fortune 1000 and the many smaller companies that make use of marketing and public relations materials. They need content producers because they are very much content factories.

Corporations need people who can write in many different mediums. That’s because their marketing and public relations departments produce many kinds of materials. These include not just the familiar press release, but white papers, feature articles for internal and external publications, case studies, video scripts, books such as corporate histories and executive biographies, ghost written articles for national and industries publications, technical manuals, employee newsletters, web content. Just about anything you can think of and probably quite a bit more.

The needs of corporate marketing and public relations is driven by the economy and another important factor. Downsizing has hit internal marketing departments just as it has every other part of the company. They’re producing the same amount of content, but with fewer people. The thinking is why keep content providers in the office when their work can be outsourced to freelancers at much lower cost and risk.

How to find them

The secret to landing corporate clients – as with any job – is networking. You need to get to know corporate communicators so that they think of you when they have too much on their plate.

How to find them? First, think of what industry verticals interest you. Search the web to learn as much as possible about the company, their product, and their competition. Be selective in the companies you approach. If you’re active in the peace movement maybe Blackwater or Halliburton wouldn’t be a good choice for you.

Marketing direct

Pitch the marketing or media relations director with mailings including work samples that are relevant to their industry. This works best with those you have already made contact with in some other way.

You can also make contact face to face by attending professional gathering and organizational meeting. Corporate communicators are usually members of organizations such as IABC, PRSA, and industry specific meetings. If you’re located in a major city the local chapter will usually have monthly meetings that you can attend as a guest. These organizations usually have independent or freelance sections that can give you a base of operations for becoming involved in the organization.

Who do you know?

Do you know people who know corporate communicators? Is your neighbor an account executive for a major corporation? They could provide an introduction.

There are other, less direct paths to corporate freelancing. Does the magazine you write for also have a custom publishing arm? Working for an outsourced company magazine gives you an opportunity to get to know the company.

Do you write for trade journals that publish articles by company executives? In most cases these articles are ghosted by someone else. Let the editor know you would like a referral to the company that placed the article. That helps both you and the editors by assuring them of a well written piece they can use.

Finally, the skills you’ve acquired pitching stories to newspapers and magazines can be quite useful in reaching out to potential corporate clients. In fact, all the skills you’ve honed as a freelancer will come in handy as you expand your client base in this direction.