[LINK] FW: 'The proposed Smart Card - just how smart is it?'

[Stilgherrian]

On 10/10/06 6:00 AM, "Howard Lowndes" <lannet at lannet.com.au> wrote:
> Just how much media coverage will this get?

Having spent more than a decade working in the media (previous life), I can
confidently say "probably none".

  * No clear "photo opportunity" that'll create an interesting
    image for TV -- and besides, it's scheduled for 1830, when
    TV news people are busy putting their bulletins to air or
    have already gone home for the day. It's just "experts" i.e.
    talking heads. Boring. So no TV.

  * No "big names" that people will have heard of, so little
    incentive for commercial media to turn up.

  * From the announcement as worded, no clear "sound bite"
    which summarises the issue in a pithy sentence -- and some
    big words that flag this is "hard": "pseudo-compulsory",
    "financial plausibility". Eyes glaze over.

You might get a journo from the SMH, since they're in the building next door
-- which, unless someone manages to deliver some dramatic new insight in a
well-worded way (as opposed to "the usual bleating about privacy and Big
Brother"), means you *might* get a three-paragraph mention on page 6.

Of course, the aim of the meeting might not be to generate media coverage --
but if it is, this announcement won't do it.

Stil


-- 
Stilgherrian <stil at stilgherrian.com> http://www.stilgherrian.com/
Internet, IT and Media Consulting, Sydney, Australia. ABN 25 231 641 421
mobile 0407 623 600 (international +61 407 623 600)
fax 02 9516 5630 (international +61 2 9516 5630)