Diana Olick

For this podcast, the Confident Retirement, there's a twist: I was the one interviewed, not the one asking the questions. (I like it better the other way - but that was fun - thanks for inviting me on, Kristopher Flammang CRPC®AIF®BFA®) Oh - and I'm not retiring :) Some of the things we talked about: * My early journalism career change to being a juvenile probation office for three years; • Why and how the Business Observer has made a transtions to #digitalfirst — and why we keep the focus on that; and • The lessons I've learned from interviewing hundreds of entrepreneurs ands business owners Take a listen!

30

1 Comment

Despite official support for open capital flows, foreign direct investment into the United States has always been controversial – particularly in periods when Americans feel their economic and technological position is under challenge. The national security objection to Nippon Steel’s acquisition bid for US Steel is particularly weak, and reflects the fact that “national security” has become an all-purpose argument, often divorced from what actually enhances or reduces security. Today’s real national security challenge is new technology acquisition; preventing technology leakage is not enough. Inward foreign direct investment is a powerful tool for acquiring and diffusing technology. https://lnkd.in/dKjUZfjs

1

1 Comment

As I start thinking about long-term communications planning, this article from Sean Gibbons and Tristan Mohabir is energizing and motivating. It's time (frankly, it has been for a while) to move away from broadcast models and towards targeted community building. I'm looking forward to more from this series of articles from The Communications Network! https://lnkd.in/eVgS6raH

6

2 Comments

The Mainstream Media Has Already Lost: Here’s Why The media landscape has changed, and the traditional titans of the 20th century—newspapers and TV networks—are losing their grip. Case in point: Joe Rogan’s refusal to interview Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the presidential election. Rogan, the most popular podcaster alive, declined Harris’s request because her team wanted him to fly to her and limit their conversation to just one hour. Contrast this with his three-hour sit-down with Donald Trump in Austin. Rogan knew the power dynamics: Harris needed him more than he needed her. The results spoke volumes. Rogan’s Trump interview garnered over 40 million views on YouTube, dwarfing the 8 million live viewers Harris pulled on Fox News. This wasn’t just a snub—it was a seismic shift in influence. Today’s media stars, like Rogan, aren’t playing by the old rules. They have direct access to audiences that trust them—not the gatekeepers of legacy media. Whether through podcasts, YouTube, or social platforms, these creators are building empires based on bombast and long-form discussions, not sound bites. The takeaway? The mainstream media hasn’t just lost viewers; it’s lost relevance. And as creators like Rogan continue to set the terms, the gap will only grow wider.

1

Worth reading from NiemanLab: Readers prefer to click on a clear, simple headline — like this one By David Markowitz, Hillary Shulman and Todd Rogers In an era when people trust news less than ever, how can journalists break through and attract the attention of average people to provide information about their communities, the nation and the world? By not complicating things. Our research, published in Science Advances, shows that simple headlines significantly increase article engagement and clicks compared with headlines that use complex language. In our research, typical news readers preferred simple headlines over complex ones. But importantly, we found that those who actually write headlines — journalists themselves — did not. We first used data from The Washington Post and Upworthy to see how language features, such as word length and how common a word is, changed how many people clicked on an article’s headline. These datasets included over 31,000 randomized experiments — also known as A/B tests — that compared two or more headline versions of the same underlying article to determine which one generated the most clicks. Headlines with more common words — simple words like “job” instead of “occupation” — shorter headlines, and those communicated in a narrative style, with more pronouns compared with prepositions, received more clicks. For example, The Washington Post headline, “Meghan and Harry are talking to Oprah. Here’s why they shouldn’t say too much” outperformed the alternative headline, “Are Meghan and Harry spilling royal tea to Oprah? Don’t bet on it.” This example illustrates how sometimes a more straightforward headline can generate more interest. In follow-up laboratory experiments, we found that typical news readers focused more on simple rather than complex headlines because the writing was easier to understand. When journalists participated in the same experiments, they didn’t show any preference for simple headlines over complex ones. Put differently: Those who write the news appear to be less responsive to simple writing than regular audiences. Generations of communication consultants have advised that communicators follow the rather crass acronym KISS: Keep it Simple, Stupid. We suggest a modified version applied for journalists. Since KISJ isn’t all that simple, we propose: Keep It Simple, Staffers. Simplicity increases the number of people who click on a news story headline and improves reader recall of the material in the article. Most importantly, simplicity boosts reader engagement, such as how much attention they pay to the information.

4

I wrote a piece for Politico on major trends buffeting the media including artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and fighting disinformation in an age of dwindling resources. The conclusion is that founders, CEOs, politicians and others in the public eye now face an exponentially increasing threat of reputational damage. In today’s media landscape, a single negative review can quickly go viral, a poorly phrased statement can trigger a global backlash and an ill-judged joke can wreck careers. While the media world’s pace of change is dizzying, the words written by businessman Warren Buffett almost a decade ago have never been more relevant: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” Article here: https://lnkd.in/dtTNY4PU

50

3 Comments

Jerome Powell’s keynote address this Friday at the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole Monetary Policy Symposium may lay the groundwork for a September start to lowering interest rates. The upcoming shift is spurred by the deceleration of inflation toward the central bank’s 2% annual target and policymakers’ desire to get ahead of a softening labor market. With a September rate cut all but assured, the debate on Wall Street increasingly is shifting to what the easing cycle will look like thereafter. Importantly, the path of the rate-cut cycle will depend on why the Fed is cutting. Will it lower interest rates to rescue the economy from a recession, or merely normalize rates that have grown too restrictive in a soft landing? In this weekend's Barron's: https://lnkd.in/emDhbVR4

94

5 Comments

Could Hurricane Milton Change the Election Landscape in Florida? In a thought-provoking analysis for DailyMail.com, former Reagan pollster Craig Keshishian highlights how Hurricane Milton may serve as an "October Surprise," potentially reshaping the 2024 election dynamics in Florida. Key takeaways: 1. Voter Turnout: Milton could drastically reduce voter turnout, particularly in Republican strongholds affected by the storm. A drop to 40% participation could cost Republicans around 280,000 votes—significantly narrowing the margin Trump secured in 2020. 2. Demographic Shifts: With key ballot measures on abortion and recreational marijuana, Democratic voter motivation may surge, further complicating the electoral landscape for Republicans. 3. Voter Access: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis should consider measures to ensure voter access during Milton’s fallout, protecting democracy after a major natural disaster. The interplay between major natural disasters like Milton and political outcomes cannot be ignored, he argues. #Election2024 #HurricaneMilton #FloridaPolitics #VoterTurnout #CraigKeshishian #PoliticalAnalysis

2

"To understand and act upon the potential of the next frontier, we need to move beyond the handful of state-controlled space agencies and billionaire-funded ventures that currently run the industry. We need to create pathways to participation that are not contingent on nationality, socioeconomic background, or academic discipline." Great op-ed in SpaceNews by Sam Hutchison, co-founder of Space Exploration and Research Agency, on democratizing space access for all. https://lnkd.in/eZPuKQ83

6

If you are confused about Fed messaging right now, I try to unpack the problem in this story. To put it simply, the Fed communicates in baselines, not in bets, to paraphrase Annie Duke. They need a better way to communicate probabilities. Every policy maker who said three cuts this year looks like a good baseline most likely had an unusually high probability of less than three that they didn't communicate. There are many ways to communicate about risk and uncertainty. The Fed is behind other central banks on this front. https://lnkd.in/ese7jpEb

37

10 Comments

For Immediate Release. In an increasingly owned vrs earned media landscape it’s interesting to see data from Cision's PR Newsire report on the state of the press release. While it remains a strategic comms and content marketing tool for newsworthy announcements, narrative control and street cred, it’s also how you slice and dice it across your owned channels that extends its value and reach. ✔️ Journalists Still Want Releases - 74% of journalists say they want news announcements / press releases from PR professionals - 68% of journalists find press releases to be the most useful type of content provided to them by PR professionals ✔️ AI Did Not Write This Headline But - 49% of PR pros are using AI to generate attention grabbing headlines and 41% are using AI to write body copy ✔️ Show Don’t Just Tell - 72% of journalists said they used images and multimedia provided by a PR professional within the past year. "Visual content is processed in the brain faster and has been shown to remain in the memory longer than text, so including it with a press release will increase the chances the story will leave a lasting impression." ✔️ Orchestrate Distribution Across Owned Channels - To extend content value and reach PR pros slice and dice. 48% - Post bits on social media  37% - Write blog posts/articles  10% - Turn it into a video  5% - Other

7

2 Comments

I’ve spent months speaking to both fund selectors and fund salespeople: what have I learned? I began as editor of Citywire Selector this year but have continued to write for a distribution audience via my Inside Asset Management newsletter (weekly on Thursdays, don’t miss it). A question from a young fund salesman last week prompted me to start piecing together just what worked best with selectors. He wanted to know what salespeople were doing the best job. Well, I have started to see where what selectors want and what salespeople say they are doing are matching up. Take a look, exclusively on Selector 👇 #assetmanagement #fundselection #sales #citywireselector

26

3 Comments

This is the latest installment of our Year of Descending Dangerously series, on interenational central banks' attempts to retreat from high interest rates. Just in time for the FOMC, and written with Richard Annerquaye Abbey and Carolyn Silverman Hope it's of interest. #interestrates #inflation #centralbanks

22

My latest #Bartleby column for The Economist looks at a simple question with profound consequences: what makes a good manager? The answer may lie in a quick test of "economic IQ". https://lnkd.in/eRhRhspd

55

6 Comments

Nikki Haley joining Edelman 😯 The question is how many employees of that PR firm, plus other communicators and even current or future clients in the United States and other parts of the world will support this. Appointing diplomats, political strategists and public affairs professionals to help clients navigate global and regulatory issues is indeed an essential step in gaining real influence in a fast-changing world shaped by shifting spheres of influence. It also represents the necessary shift from #ClassicPR to #strategiccommunications; a future-ready move. What is important, however, is to appoint truth-tellers. This ensures trust and persuasiveness. During the GOP presidential nomination campaign, Nikki Haley made it clear that Donald Trump is not qualified to be US President again since he cannot be trusted. In light of all the evidence and facts, this is obviously the case. Yet her immediate declaration after losing the primary that she will support Trump and vote for him sends one clear message: “It’s all about me, not Americans or any other people.” https://lnkd.in/gPRZYjCF

14

10 Comments