As a woman raising daughters with a career linked to the publishing industry – and, I’ll admit, a bit of a pop-culture junkie – I’ve been following the Kelly Clarkson, Self magazine airbrush brouhaha.

While listening to the Self editor talk out both sides of her mouth about drastically modifying the photo of Clarkson for a cover story about being happy with yourself, I stumbled across this from Bazaar.

Kudos to these gorgeous 30- and 40-something women for posing without makeup or perfectly coifed hair, and kudos to Bazaar for publishing it.

I’d love to see more photos like this, and I’d like to see it from cover girls who aren’t supermodels to begin with.  And don’t tell me un-airbrushed photos don’t sell magazines. This will be the first personal-interest magazine I’ve purchased from a newsstand in the past six months, and I’m buying it just for a closer look at these natural photos.

Thanks, Bazaar, for the step in the right direction.

Take a look at this comparison of Coke and Pepsi logos over the years from The Inquisitr. My personal favorite is Pepsi’s seventh iteration, from 1973. I’m sure that has more to do with the memories it stirs up from that time in my life than the design merits. But then again, isn’t part of the logo’s job to evoke an emotional response?

The 1940 Pepsi logo is remarkably similar to the Coke logo. And the editor in me is fascinated by the misspelled word Pepsi in the Inquisitr’s headline. Seems to be no question which brand the site’s owners prefer.

We’ve all heard someone – and if you’re a parent, probably yourself – use the phrase “Do as I say, not as I do.” In my case, this has never been truer than when it comes to my blog.

A few months ago, someone I follow Tweeted a link to a blog post about the importance of sustaining your blog, even when you feel bogged down with other forms of media. Much to my chagrin, I’ve lost track of the link (which is a whole other blog post on my “to write” list.)

So. I can’t re-read those words of wisdom, but even worse, I don’t know who to credit for the nagging voice in the back of my head ever since. But I’ve given it quite a bit of thought, and some of you might benefit from the reminders I’ve been giving myself.

• Don’t neglect your blog or your web site because you’re too busy on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and the others. Your web site and your blog should be the foundation of your entire social media strategy. Think of it as home – the place you maintain, continually improve, and bring all of the new friends you make elsewhere.

• Sometimes you need more than 140 characters. Twitter is a great place to swap anecdotes and engage in conversation with interesting people, but your blog is the one place where you have a chance to dig deep and say what you think. Use your blog to really show your smarts; use everything else to get people to your blog.

• Google, Google, Google. Two of the easiest ways to increase your Google ranking is to make sure your site always has fresh content, and to make sure your site has incoming and outgoing links. Both of these are accomplished easily by blogging.

• Blogs have a long shelf life. While your Tweet or Facebook post is buried within seconds – or less – those who watch their web traffic will see people reading old blog posts for months or more. 

What is it with the news this week? It seems like for every story I read yesterday, today I’m reading the actual, correct account of what happened, and it is drastically different than the news that broke. As in, not even the same story.

The obvious example is the news surrounding the disappearance of the Air France jet that went missing over the Atlantic. Earlier this week, the headlines were all about the airplane seat, oil slick and three miles of debris that marked the spot of the crash. Tuesday, an AP article quoted Brazilian defense minister Nelson Jobim saying, “I can confirm that the five kilometers of debris are those of the Air France plane.”

Today’s headlines, however, are quite different. As the Washington Post reports, French officials say the debris was not from the missing jet, there is still no sign of the plane, nor do they have any clue as to what happened. 

Then there’s the story of David Carradine, who was first reportedly found hanging in a closet with his hands tied, which is now said to be at least partially untrue. 

The Air France situation, in particular, reminds me of the Sago Mine incident, which was arguably one of the worst disasters and biggest public relations guffaws in recent history. Major media outlets worldwide reported that 12 survivors had been found in the collapsed mine when, in fact, the 12 had died leaving only one survivor.

So what’s happening that’s causing such gross inaccuracies to make major headline news? For one thing, news is provided and reported by humans. We make mistakes. But in the case of Sago Mine and Air France, the whole world is watching, waiting, and grieving over human errors.

I also I chalk it up, in large part, to our 24-hour news cycle and thirst for every gory detail, delivered in real-time. When the focus is on one news story that has no real update for several hours – or even days – even the smallest piece of information from the most insignificant source is amplified. 

In many cases, it also seems as though the trusted, well-respected news sources are ill advised. Let this serve as a reminder to corporate communications and PR teams – if you don’t know the answer, don’t make it up. Especially in a crisis.

Every once in awhile, one of my clients gets a media call that sounds too good to be true – and it is. The caller is always from a legitimate-enough sounding magazine, but one you’ve never really heard of, and they always want to do some sort of executive or corporate profile on the company or the CEO. Sounds great, right?

Right. Until you eventually get to the catch, and what makes these known as “pay for play” opportunities in the PR world. Sometimes the corporate profile comes with a flat-out price tag. Other times, you’ll be asked to provide a list of your partners, vendors and clients, whom they subsequently hit up for advertising. 

Whatever the catch, pay-for-play media can be tough to sniff out. If the caller is from a “real” magazine, where they cover the companies making news, not those paying for it, you certainly don’t want to offend a busy reporter with questions about their legitimacy. 

Don’t get me wrong; this type of media coverage can be very effective. But if it’s not in the cards for your company, here are a few things that can tip you off to the fact that the magazine will be looking for some form of reciprocity before all is said and done:

• The person on the phone’s title is more sales oriented than publishing oriented, such as “sales assistant” or “account manager” instead of “editor” or “reporter.”
• The caller wants to schedule an appointment for you to talk with someone else. Busy reporters call you directly and want to talk right now.
• They are offering to write the corporate profile and lay it out, but you get to provide photos and make any edits you’d like before it goes to print.
• You can’t find an editorial calendar on the web site, and no one seems to be able to send you one.

If you’re still not sure, ask. It’s fine to say “Wow, that sounds great. What’s the cost?” If there’s no flat fee, be sure to ask if you’re required to provide a list of your business partners or to purchase an ad.

Often, these profiles are very well done and appear to be earned articles, which can be very beneficial in certain circumstances. Just make sure what you get is worth whatever it costs you.

Two big updates from the Denver media community, as the shift from print to real-time, online reporting continues. The Denver Business Journal is now on Twitter. This is a great way for weekly newspapers to compete in a world when news from a week ago is ancient history. 

If you have a Twitter account, you can get DBJ headlines by following @denbizjournal. 

Even better, former Rocky Mountain News staffers have joined forces to provide the Rocky coverage you’re used to in an online publication. In Denver Times needs 50,000 subscribers by April 23 to go live. Cost is $4.99 per month. 

I love to see local media answering the call to find news ways to get the news out in these changing times. You can bet I’ll be supporting them both.

In my last blog post, I mentioned Google News alerts, which got me thinking about all of the free (or nearly free) tools that I use as a public relations consultant every day. Turns out there are several. 

Here are a few must-haves:

HARO – free. If you’re interested in getting some media attention and you only have one tool in your arsenal, this is it. HARO, which stands for Help A Reporter Out, sends three emails each day chock-full of reporters who are currently on deadline and looking for story sources, complete with contact information. If you’re the source they’re looking for, you could see your name in print as soon as this afternoon. 

Google News Alerts – free. A great way to monitor what’s already being said about your company, your competitors, or your industry in the news. Just enter keywords, and Google News will send you emails when those words appear in online news stories. Google provides several free services that are useful to PR types, including Google Trends and Google Reader. 

Online AP Style Guide – $25 per year. A dream come true for AP style junkies like me. This puts a constantly updated, searchable AP Stylebook at your fingers, anywhere you have Internet access. $25 for the year, but so useful you won’t care.

Twitter – free. A great way to stay on top of what’s happening in the news or in your own network, but most useful to PR types because of the instant exposure to the needs of the media. Follow people like @skydiver and @ProfNet for updates about media folks on urgent deadlines and needing story sources immediately. 

Video Monitoring Services – varying. A handful of companies are in the business of monitoring television programs nationwide and updating companies about when and where they’ve appeared on t.v. Purchasing the videos costs a small fortune, but for somewhere in the $15 range you can get the closed-captioning text of your segment, as well as total run time, estimated number of viewers who saw it, and what it would cost to purchase the same amount of advertising time. Check out Cision or VMS.

Although social media is all the rage these days, sometimes there’s nothing like a business story in just the right magazine, or an interview on the evening news, to get people talking about your company.

A little media outreach can go a long way, especially when budgets are tight. Here are a few tips for those of you thinking of going it alone:

Set up a Google news alert. Google news alerts are a great, free way to stay on top of what’s being said about your company, the competition, and your industry. Knowing what’s already being said – and who’s saying it – is half the battle when it comes to working with the media. With Google news alerts, you define keywords and Google emails you when news about your topic appears online.

Be a media consumer. If you want to be in USA Today, pick up a copy. If it’s radio or television that suits your fancy, listen and watch. Pay attention to which reporters cover which stories, and think about where your idea would be the best fit. Ask any reporter for advice on how to get their interest and the first thing they’ll tell you is to know the types of stories they cover.

Email a reporter. Once you’ve done your recon and you know where your idea fits, pick up the phone or tap out an email. Many reporters are on deadline every single day, some multiple times per day. This means they’re busy, but it also means they have to come up with a lot of story ideas. Tell them what makes your idea newsworthy and why their readers should care. And be succinct – remember, they’re on deadline.

Make sure it’s news. Although your sponsorship, fundraising event or new office location is the most important thing happening at your company, it’s not necessarily newsworthy. Can you picture the headline? If you heard about it at a party, would you want to tell someone else? Is the kind of thing you expect to read about in the paper? If not, keep trying. Look for a way to tie it into other current news stories or make it meaningful to the local community. Then, email a reporter.

This morning, 200,000-some people reached down to grab the Rocky Mountain News out of the driveway for the very last time.

E.W. Scripps, the owner of the Rocky, announced yesterday that today would be the final issue of the paper, just days shy of celebrating its 150^th birthday. The Rocky Mountain News is one of the oldest, largest and most-respected daily newspapers in the country. This announcement is a blow to Colorado, to the media industry, and to those of us who love holding the thin pages of the paper in our hands each morning.

Shuttering the Rocky is another indication that the newspaper industry is crumbling. Since 2007, five other daily newspapers have closed. The San Francisco Chronicle and Seattle Post-Intelligencer are both in danger of shutting down if they’re not sold soon. According the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer filed for bankruptcy protection this week. They join the Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, Baltimore Sun and Minneapolis Star Tribune in Chapter 11.

These days, the things that make money for newspapers are being systematically stripped away by the Internet. With free advertising and news options available online and updated by the second, newspapers must find another way to compete in order to survive. 

Will our children be surprised to hear there was ever a time when newspapers were thrown on the front lawn before the sun came up each day? Time will tell what the future holds, but for today I bid a fond farewell to the Rocky Mountain News.

You’ve heard the analogy about the frog in hot water, right? If you put him in a pot of room temperature water and slowly turn it up, he’ll boil. But if you drop him in a pot of boiling water, he’ll jump out?  

That’s me when it comes to poor service. Except someone recently cranked up the temperature too quickly, and all the sudden it’s more painful than usual.

 A couple of days ago I was in a food court with my kids, and my conversation with the cashier went something like this:

Me: Do you have kids’ drinks?

Her: Yes, but they’re only available with a kid’s meal.

Me: Do you have milk? Or juice?

Her: No. Just these (holding up a kid-sized cup for the fountain drinks).

Me: Ok, that will do.

Her: You can only get one with a kid’s meal.

Me: But I’m not ordering a kid’s meal. I’m getting all of this (gesturing to a tray full of non-kid’s meal food).

Her: Sorry, the kid’s drink only comes with the kid’s meal.

Me: I’m happy to pay for it (in case she thought I wanted something for nothing).

Her: I don’t know how to ring that up.

You get the picture.

Common sense tells me that when the economy is in the toilet and business is slow, you should over-service the customers you do have instead of treating them worse than ever. 

Here’s some simple advice for keeping your clients happy in good times and bad:

- Don’t say no. I could count on one hand the number of times I have given my clients a flat-out “no” over the past five years and still have fingers left over. Instead of no, try something like “That’s tricky, but here’s what I could do.” 

- Stay flexible. Want your kid’s drink without the kid’s meal? No problem. Want your invoice sent on the 5^th of the month instead of the 2^nd? I can do that.

- Value. No matter what you’re providing or what the cost, when budgets are tight make sure your customer feels like they’re getting their money’s worth. And for heaven’s sake, say thank you.