Government Archives - Arc 3 Communications

How to Tell the Difference Between Real and Fake News Online

November 18, 2019 By Paul McNally Leave a Comment

In this day and age of information at our fingertips, 24/7 news updates, and social media, it is easy to get overwhelmed and loose track of what news is coming from where. This is when people begin to react with their emotions over their logic. Someone may see a headline that sparks a reaction in them, and they immediately share it on social media. Many times, they will not even read the article or check the source, they simply see a headline, react, and share. This often results in the spread of fake news, and many of these false stories even end up going viral.

Fake news is nothing new, it has always been around to mislead or sway people towards a certain belief or action. The difference is now, with the internet and social media, fake news can be spread quickly and reach millions in minutes. There are many reasons why people share fake news stories, and they aren’t always bad intentions. Many people will see a story that supports their views, opinions, or beliefs and without looking too much into it, will share it.

With most of the world getting their news online and through social media, fake news is never hard to come across. It comes in many forms; but will always have an eye-catching headline that tells a story without the reader needing to read the rest of the article. Even if a reader does decide to read the article, these stories are made to seem credible and true. They may even take a story that is real news and change important details to spin the story to the desired view.

This is why readers need to take time and do a little research to verify the news they are reading and sharing with others is, in fact, real news from a credible source. Below are a few steps you can take to make sure the news you are receiving and sending is reliable and true.

Be sure your news is coming from a credible source.

Pay close attention to the source your story or information is coming from. Is this a credible source? One way to determine this is to look at the author of the piece. Many fake news stories tend to have “staff” or even no author listed. Once you find the author, do a quick search on that author and see what else they have published and if there are any complaints about them producing fake news.

Another big indicator is the domain name, as many websites have been made to mimic true news sources. Watch out for anything with a “.com.co” at the end of the URL, this can be done with well-known news source names to trick readers. A quick web search of the domain name can give you more insight into whether the site is a credible source for news.

One more thing you can do to determine a websites credibility is to check the rest of the website. Do they have sources cited on their stories? Do they have legitimate contact information? Are they well-known or lesser known? Have they covered well-known news stories or do all of their stories appear in a clickbait fashion? These determinates can help you discover whether the site you are reading news from is credible and dependable for future news.

Read more than just the headline and sub-headline.

A big problem with the spread of fake news is that so many people will see a catchy or controversial headline and immediately share out of an emotional reaction. Others will click the link and maybe scan the article quickly, decide it appeals to their views, and share it without ever checking for credibility. This is where a major problem lies and how false stories get spread so quickly by so many.

Take time to go to the story and read through it carefully, maybe even more than once. Check the credibility of the author and website as laid out in the first step. Sometimes you may find the story behind the headline is something completely different from what it was made to sound like. Other red flags may be bad grammar or misspellings throughout the story, this could point to a fake story as credible pieces are proofed quite thoroughly. Check to see if any facts or quotes shared in the story are cited at the end of the article, and if so, are those sources credible as well. This may sound like a lot of work, but it will help to protect your character and credibility as well as make sure you are getting reliable and correct information.

Is the information being reported by multiple sources?

When you find a news story of interest, check and see if it is being reported on by multiple news sources. Usually, if a story is true and timely, it will be covered by more than one news source. It is very rare that a story that is capable of making the news will only be reported by one publication. If it is a national or international story, check with trusted major news organizations to see if they have any mention or information on the story. If you are reading a local story, check with other local publications or get in contact with your local publication and see if they have heard anything about the story in question.

In addition to this, make sure the story you are looking at is timely. Sometimes an old news story will begin to circulate attempting to pass as a new story. There may also be an attempt to falsify this information, which is why it is always good to cross examine with other news sources.

Check Your Story with a Fact Checking Website.

With so much information available the internet, it is not always possible to do in depth research for every story you come across. If there is a viral story you come across, there are fact checking websites that do this research for you. Websites such as www.snopes.com take viral news stories and let you know whether they are real or fake, and if they are real, if the facts presented in the story are accurate. There are many websites like this online, so it also wise to make sure you are using one that is credible and non-biased to get accurate information.

There are fact checking websites run by non-profits, educational centers, and libraries. These are usually the most reliable ones to gather information from.

In Conclusion

When gathering your news from social media and online sources, your critical thinking and attention to detail will go far in detecting fake news. Often fake news stories are made to drive emotional responses and are written in such a way to do just that. Practice taking the time to check sources, research the story, and use fact checking sites to weed out the fake news from the real news. With time, you will begin to see a trend in how fake news presents itself and will be well equipped to avoid it. By following these simple steps, you can help prevent the spread of fake news and misinformation and help your credibility in the process. In a time of unlimited information, make sure the news you are getting is credible and dependable.

Website Development Case Study: Georgia Secretary of State

December 6, 2017 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Project Goals

For several years, the Georgia Secretary of State conducted the Peanut Poll, a straw poll held every year at the Georgia National Fair in Perry. Each year, the straw poll focused on participant’s choices for federal elected office such as President and U.S. Senate. One of the most successful straw polls in the country, the poll was a part of the Georgia Secretary of State’s mission to raise awareness about elections and encourage voter registration.

However, in 2017 with no major election pending, the Secretary of State’s office sought to re-brand the Peanut Poll to be a contest to have Georgians pick the best high school football team in the state. In addition to a re-branding to reflect the change in direction of the poll, the Secretary of State sought to develop a new website and online polling system that would allow Georgians to vote for one of the 460 high school football teams online and on tablets at the Georgia Grown booth at the fair. After voting, participants would be directed to the Secretary of State’s online voter registration page to check their registration status and register to vote if they had not already. The new “Gridiron Showdown” Peanut Poll sought to engage high school students who were now eligible to register to vote, but had not yet done so.

Our Solution

With the Georgia National Fair coming up quickly, the Arc 3 Communications team worked expeditiously with the Secretary of State’s Outreach Staff to create a new and unique brand for the Gridiron Showdown Peanut Poll. A new mobile first website was developed that incorporated a polling system that allowed for visitors to quickly vote for one of Georgia’s 460 high school football teams. Upon voting, Georgians were directed to the Secretary of State’s online voter registration page. At the Georgia National Fair’s Georgia Grown Booth visitors were presented with i-pads upon which they could visit the website and vote for their favorite team while voters from across the state also submitted their ballots on the website. The website polling system calculated and displayed the results in real-time as they happened. Each day at 5 p.m, a special guest would announce the results at the Georgia Grown Booth at the Fair. Voting results announced on the website were easily able to be shared on social networks.

Results

The new Peanut Poll brand incorporating a football referee raised awareness about the new nature of the poll and athletic directors from across the Georgia High School Association were excited about the poll and encouraged students, athletes and parents to participate. The Georgia National Fair also publicized the straw poll and the opportunity to vote at the Georgia Grown booth.

By the time of kickoff and voting began, media outlets around the state had already started talking about the Gridiron Showdown Peanut Poll and social media was buzzing. After ten days, over hundreds of thousands of votes had been cast making the Peanut Poll one of the most successful straw polls and voter registration efforts in the country. The Peanut Poll was embraced not only by high school communities in and around the Georgia National Fair in middle Georgia, but by 460 school communities from across the entire state. Participants from all walks of life participated in the Peanut Poll, including some celebrity voters such as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue who visited the Georgia Grown Booth and cast his vote for his favorite team. Special guests who announced the daily results included Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black who also cast the first vote at the fair online.

In the end, the new Peanut Poll was a success in its ultimate goal of encouraging folks to register to vote. The Georgia Secretary of State’s online voter registration page saw not only a surge in visitors, but also an increase in voter registrations. Because of the 2017 Gridiron Showdown Peanut Poll, new voters will cast their ballots in the 2018 Elections for the first time. These new voters will cast their ballots for something more important than their favorite football team; they will have the opportunity to vote for who will serve them in public office at the local, state and federal levels.

Happy Anniversary Arc 3 Communications!

October 30, 2017 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Arc 3 Communications Celebrates Its Sixth Year in Business!

Happy Anniversary Arc 3 Communications! As we celebrate the 6th year of our agency, I wanted to stop and reflect on those things that I’m grateful for as its founder. My entrepreneurial journey has been an amazing ride of ups and downs, but I have so many things to be grateful for. Here are some of those things that I’m most thankful for:

1. I am grateful for our clients in the public affairs space that have entrusted us over the years to help with their content, digital and analytics needs. We have worked with clients ranging from government agencies to trade associations to political campaigns at the local, state and national levels. We have developed new websites, social media campaigns and all types of amazing content to help them accomplish their legislative, policy, electoral and civic engagement goals.

2. I am grateful for the talented team of designers, developers, social media, technical and public affairs experts at Arc 3. I am also thankful for our interns that breathe life into our agency with their new ideas and energy. Our current interns from Kennesaw State University, Paul McNally and Kirbe Bostick are doing an awesome job for us.

3. I am grateful to our trusted partners in helping us to carry out our mission. These knowledgeable experts in accounting, law, finance, human resources and technology are invaluable.

4. I am grateful to the great team at Ignite HQ who provide us with an affordable and innovative office space to work in that is filled with other startups. The shared learning from other entrepreneurs has been immeasurable. I’m especially grateful that its located off of historic Marietta Square and close to home.

5. I am grateful to the many innovators in digital, social media and technology that have transformed media and marketing to a world driven by content and sharing. This includes not only the creators of well-known platforms such as WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn; but the countless other innovators who developed lesser known platforms that have helped to create a competitive marketplace that produces amazing channels for communication and sharing. Most noteworthy of late are those who have made website hosting extraordinarily better such as Flywheel.

6. I am grateful to our agency competitors, who by their efforts in the marketplace, push us to do better and strive to be our best.

7. I am grateful for the digital, social media, creative and tech start-up community of Atlanta in which we are constantly learning new tools and tactics through shared knowledge and learning. I am most grateful to the WordPress community.

8. As Founder of an agency focused on the civic space, I am grateful for the many long-standing institutions in government, politics and civic life and the people and ideas that sustain them. While its been under siege by a time of technological transformation, the great civic life of our country depends upon engaged citizens, media, candidates, elected officials, association executives and government public servants at all levels.

9. I am grateful for mentors, friends and colleagues throughout my career in government, politics, academia and the agency world who have offered sound advice and encouragement. Many have also referred business our way and I’m thankful.

10. I am most grateful to my family for their constant love, patience, prayers and support throughout my entrepreneurial journey. My wife Mary and our four children have shared this experience with me every step of the way. Mary has been a sounding board, critic, and cheerleader. Her kindness, patience and love has been the rock upon which my successful agency has been built.

Most of all, I am grateful to God for these last six years and the opportunity to embark on my entrepreneurial journey. Without his love and my faith in him, nothing is possible.

This Week in Digital & Public Affairs: Facebook Video Ads and Data Driven Campaigns

February 20, 2017 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Below is a roundup of key stories in digital and public affairs for this week:

Content, Digital and Social Media

In an effort to give advertisers more control over their video ad buys, Facebook is allowing the media industry’s independent measurement monitor, Media Rating Council (MRC) to audit the measurements it provides advertisers. Facebook will sell video ads based on the MRC’s viewability standard, allow more granularity in performance measurement and introduce an option for paying for ads only when users watch the video with the sound on.

With the release of Chrome 56, Google has started tagging http payment and login pages as “not secure”. HTTP Pages that collect login details or credit card numbers will be marked as non-secure pages, and the warning will eventually be used for all http pages. With over 1 billion users of Chrome, Google’s efforts will pressure website operators to at least consider enabling site-wide HTTPS.

Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs

On Hootsuite’s blog, Jylian Russell offers the benefits that social media in government can achieve such as its role in raising awareness, citizen engagement and crisis communications. Russell also weighs some of the challenges of using social media in government and offers some solutions for mitigating those risks.

CNN reports on the decision by the White House to expand its social media team with several new hires to assist current White House social media director Dan Scavino. Since the Inaguration, President Trump and Scavino have primarily handled social media communications, posting on President Trump’s personal and official White House social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

In Associations Now, social media journalist Ernie Smith offers suggestions to associations for improving their email marketing in 2017. Smith recommends new tools for consideration for sending emails on the cheap, making design less painful, and acquiring better data.

Campaigns and Elections

In Politico Magazine, Democratic direct mail consultant Dave Gold laments how data driven campaigns by Democrats have resulted in 4 straight election cycle losses for his party. Gold argues that Democrats should pay less attention to quantitative political science and focus more on creating message driven campaigns that utilize storytelling that connects with voters’ emotions.

These are some of the reads that matter to us for the week in digital and public affairs. Want to get in depth analysis, news, and how to tips in digital and public affairs? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here.

This Week in Digital and Public Affairs – Cyborgs and a Congressional Digital Service

February 13, 2017 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Below is a roundup of key stories in digital and public affairs for this week:

Content, Digital and Social Media

Facebook and Google announced that they would be joining forces with eight French news organizations to launch fact checking tools to root out fake news in France ahead of the country’s presidential election. Facebook is also taking steps against fake news in Germany, where government officials have expressed concerns that false stories could influence a federal election in September.

The Washington Post reports on the growing popularity of a variation of Twitter “bots” called “cyborgs”. Cyborgs mix human creativity and initiative with a computer’s speed, allowing their views to gain audience while sidestepping the traditional gatekeepers of news and commentary. For example, one conservative twitter cyborg user tweets more than 1,000 times a day using “schedulers” that work through stacks of his own pre-written posts in repetitive loops. With retweets and other forms of sharing, these posts reach the feeds of millions of other accounts. One research team at Elon University in North Carolina found that “highly automated accounts” supporting President Trump — a category that includes both bots and cyborgs — out-tweeted those supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton by a ratio of 5 to 1 in the final days before the Election 2016 vote.

Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs

Wired reports that while the prevalence of apps like Countable and Democracy.io make it easier than ever to send electronic communication to members of Congress, not much has changed in how Congressional staff respond to these messages. Despite the dramatic increase in email communication by constituents over the years, research by Zogby found that a third of people who email Congress receive no response, and nearly half of those who did receive a response found it lacking, usually because they believed it failed to actually address their issue. According to Seamus Kraft of the OpenGov Foundation, software used by staffers to respond to email messages remains antiquated. To solve the software and technology problem, the OpenGov Foundation has proposed a “Congressional Digital Service” not unlike the White House’s United States Digital Service (USDS), which works to modernize government agency websites and technology.

Associations Now reports on how the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) service (now owned by Amazon) has decided to end its online message boards due to trolls and the consistent negative tenor of comments provided to the site. Associations Now attributes the lack of an investment by IMDb to modernize the commenting system to allow for self-moderation as one of the reasons that the quality of the message boards deteriorated. The IMDb website has over 250 million monthly users.

Campaigns and Elections

Motherboard goes into an in-depth analysis of Cambridge Analytica and its data analytics efforts in helping to elect President Trump. The article explores whether analysts for Cambridge Analytica utilized newly developed methods to derive peoples’ personality traits from their activity on Facebook and then crafted messages to persuade them to vote or not to vote in the 2016 general election.

These are some of the reads that matter to us for the week in digital and public affairs. Want to get in depth analysis, news and how to tips in digital and public affairs? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here.

This Week in Digital & Public Affairs: Snapchat IPO, Facebook Live and Conservatives

February 4, 2017 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Below is a roundup of key stories in digital and public affairs for this week:

Content, Digital and Social Media

The New York Times reports on the public S.E.C filing by Snap, the parent company of Snapchat. Snap filed confidentially to go public with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last year. Making the filing public was one of the company’s final steps before it begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SNAP. In the filing, Snap disclosed that it had built a nearly $405 million advertising business in just over two years. By end of last year, an average of 158 million people were using the app daily, with the average user opening the app more than 18 times a day according to the public filing.

AdAge does a analysis of the Snap filing pointing out key facts that every marketer should know about. AdAge points out that while Snapchat has 158 million users, growth appears to have flattened out, as it was only up from 153 million at end of September 2016. In addition, the overwhelming majority of users are 18 to 34 years old and the highest engagement on the platform is among those younger than 25. AdAge also points out Snap’s admission in the filing that it has had difficulty in securing long-term commitments from advertisers and is concerned that advertisers may take knowledge from playing on their platform and use it with their competitors.

Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs

State Scoop reports on a recent poll of local governments by the Public Technology Institute that found that 85% of local governments use social media to disseminate information to their constituents. However of those local governments who use social media, 88% of them do not have a specific budget for social media activities and 63% do not have an enterprise wide social media strategy for their efforts. The survey found the top three social media platforms for local government were Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Associations Now offers 5 tips for associations to optimize online fundraising. Tips include creating a compelling narrative that bring donors into the story; design an easy to use branded giving page and make your website mobile friendly; remembering end of year dates and holidays; and periodic messages to donors throughout the year.

Campaigns and Elections

Backchannel reports on how Facebook Live has become the perfect incubator for conservative media. Conservative outlets like the Daily Caller are using Facebook live to not just explain policy but take their audience behind the scenes in the new Administration. Backchannel argues that the low key nature of Facebook Live is the perfect medium for the conservative news media to reach millions. The off the cuff, unscripted nature of Facebook Live videos mirror President Trump’s style and are more authentic and believable to conservative audiences.

Mike Su, Chief Product Officer for Mitú, a Latino digital media company, writes an analysis in Medium of how through the examination of Facebook data, his company found that despite Latinos being apprehensive about the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton made little headway among them on the Facebook platform. In their study, Mitú found across all Latinos on Facebook, Hillary Clinton had just a quarter of the interest that Donald Trump had. Su credits the Trump campaign for moving quickly and efficiently to grow it base on the platform and rants about record low spending by Democrats on Hispanic outreach.

This Week in Digital and Public Affairs: Snapchat and the Trump Digital Transition

January 30, 2017 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Digital and social media are transforming how government institutions, political campaigns and trade associations are communicating and marketing to their key audiences.

Below is a roundup of key stories in digital and public affairs for this week:

Content, Digital and Social Media

Social Media Today reports that Facebook is testing discussion topics among Facebook groups as a way to promote greater engagement. The new discussion prompts separate out topics from within the group chat, making it easier to see trending conversations and areas of interest. The new feature follows Facebook’s testing of Facebook group member application questions, which will help group admins better filter and screen their audience.

The New York Times reports how Snapchat issued new publishing guidelines for media outlets on its Discover channel. The new rules restrict publishers from posting questionable or explicit pictures that do not have news or editorial value. Snapchat also clarified guidelines that prevent publishers from including reports or links to outside websites that could be considered fake news, saying that all content must be fact-checked and accurate. The new guidelines come ahead of an initial public offering expected this spring by Snapchat’s parent company, Snap.

Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs

NextGov reports on what President Trump’s C-Suite tech team may look like at the White House. While it remains unclear which of the Obama administration’s tech-themed C-suite appointee positions will be replaced, the Trump Administration did announce the appointment of Gerritt Lansing, former chief digital officer at the Republican National Committee, to the role of Chief Digital Officer at the White House.

The Hill reports on President Trump banning EPA employees from posting social media updates as part of restrictions put in place during a policy review. A similar social media ban was put in place for employees of the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Park Service. In response to the order, some administrators of the National Park Service set up an alternative twitter account @AltNatParkSer that is “Not Taxpayer Subsided” and vowed to tweet “facts” regarding climate change. Official verified twitter accounts for the Badlands National Park and the Golden Gate National Park respectively continued to tweet climate change policy information after the ban.

Associations Now reports that while associations are aggressively planning for the recruitment of millennial members, they need to start thinking about Generation Z, which will enter into the workforce for the 1st time this year. Born on or after 1995, Generation Z has unique digital consumption habits that are different from Millennials, and love Snapchat.

Campaigns and Elections

The Knight Foundation presented a report on how the major chat apps such as Snapchat, Facebook Messenger and Viber promoted civic engagement in the 2016 Election. While the 2016 Election was the first time that the major chat platforms collectively attempted to register voters and promote election coverage, Snapchat was the most active platform; encouraging users and politicians to use the platform for sharing ideas and political conversation. Led by Head of News Peter Hamby (formerly of CNN), the platform also offered extensive election coverage.

These are some of the reads that matter to us for the week in digital and public affairs. What do you think? What are your favorite stories? We’d love to hear from you!

This Week in Digital and Public Affairs: The Facebook Journalism Project and the Trump Inauguration

January 23, 2017 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Digital and social media are transforming how government institutions, political campaigns and trade associations are communicating and marketing to their key audiences.

Below is a roundup of key stories in digital and public affairs for this week:

Content, Digital and Social Media

Fast Company reports on recent moves by Facebook to become more of a media company, such as the announcement of the Facebook Journalism project. This move farther into the realm of professional journalism is described by Facebook as an initiative to establish stronger ties with the news industry. To learn more about the Facebook Journalism Project go here.

Speaking of news and Facebook, Tech Crunch reports that Facebook is taking its trial of measures to combat fake news beyond the United States for the first time – rolling out the updates in Germany. The measures that Facebook has been testing in the U.S. to fight fake news include making it easier for users to report fake news by letting users click in the top right corner to report a suspect post; badging suspect content with ‘truth warnings’ and down-ranking it to make it harder for it to spread; and reducing financial incentives for spammers to create fake news as a route to generating advertising revenue by eliminating the ability for them to spoof well-known news websites. To identify fake news, Facebook is working with external fact checkers who are signatories of Poynter’s International Fact Checking Code of Principles

Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs

The Washington Post reported on how the presidential inauguration committee utilized social media ads to encourage Trump supporters to attend inaugural festivities. The ads on Facebook and Instagram showed a video of then President-elect Trump inviting supporters to come to The Mall on January 20th for his swearing-in.

For those not able to attend the festivities or watch them on TV, Tech Crunch outlined the many ways to stream the presidential inauguration online. Of note was YouTube’s partnership with several media outlets including NBC, CBS, Telemundo, Univision and The Washington Post to broadcast the inaugural ceremony and festivities on its platform.

The Obama Administration outlined the digital transition to the new administration on whitehouse.gov, including listing the digital assets that would remain with the White House, where to access Obama White House archival content; and ways to continue to follow and engage with President Obama, the First Lady, and other Obama White House officials after January 20th.

Soon after the swearing in of President Trump at 12:01 p.m., January 20th, the incoming Trump administration relaunched whitehouse.gov, including a new splash page for collecting email addresses and Trump’s biography. Politico reports that a major overhaul of the site is scheduled for later in the year.

Campaigns and Elections

Wired reports that the Republican National Committee’s Chief Technology Officer, Darren Bolding is moving to Cambridge Analytica as its new CTO, where he will build products for commercial and political clients. Cambridge Analytica is the data firm that helped engineer Donald Trump’s victory in the general election.

These are some of the reads that matter to us for the week in digital and public affairs. What do you think? What are your favorite stories? We’d love to hear from you!

This Week in Digital and Public Affairs – Instagram, Snapchat and The BuzzFeed Dossier

January 16, 2017 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Digital and social media are transforming how government institutions, political campaigns and trade associations are communicating and marketing to their key audiences.

Below is a roundup of key stories in digital and public affairs for this week:

Content, Digital and Social Media

Facebook announced the hiring of Campbell Brown, a former NBC News correspondent and CNN prime-time host, to lead its news partnerships team. While Facebook indicated that she would not serve in a role as editor-in-chief, she would work as a liaison with news organizations so that Facebook can better meet their journalistic and business imperatives.

Snapchat announced the launch of universal search to simplify navigation on the platform. This move was clearly to ward off competition from Instagram’s Stories which has hit 150 million users. Instagram has now offered an advertising product on Stories that has the targeting capabilities offered in Facebook.

Medium, a platform for long form content, announced it was laying off a third of its employees, mostly in sales. CEO Ev Williams stated that Medium would be renewing its focus away from an ad-driven model to one that rewards writers “on their ability to enlighten and inform, not simply their ability to attract a few seconds of attention.”

Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs

On DigitalGov, Julia Jackson with the National Institutes of Health explores how social media platforms are becoming one-stop shops for information needs as the platforms become more feature rich and audience share falls away from search engines. Jackson recommends that federal agencies should refocus their attention on content created for social media in 2017 and use the platforms as one of their primary communication strategies.

In Social Media Today, Alan Rosenblatt talks about how public affairs organizations should consider self-publishing strategies to achieve their objectives. Once dismissed by professionals as less worthy than earned media, Rosneblatt argues that self publishing on your own website, blogs and social media is an effective strategy in achieving goals and can have greater impact than placing stories in the news media.

Speaking of effective, self-publishing strategies in public affairs, Associations Now reports on how the American Medical Association created a new content strategy that provided the framework for its website redesign. The new site is easy for its key stakeholders to navigate to content that is tailored to their needs.

Campaigns and Elections

Buzzfeed draws criticism for its publishing of a unverifiable secret dossier on President-elect Donald Trump and Russia. After its posting, BuzzFeed editor-in-chief, Ben Smith took to Twitter to explain how they made the decision. Smith stated that even though “there is serious reasons to doubt the allegations”, he noted that “publishing the dossier reflects how we see publishing in 2017”.

Writing in The Atlantic , staff writer, David Graham agrues that BuzzFeed sidestepped a basic principle of journalism in publishing the dossier. He argues that a reporter’s job is not simply to dump information into the public domain, but to gather information, sift through it and determine what is true and what is not.

On Federalist.com, lawyer turned writer Leslie Loftis argues that BuzzFeed’s decision to publish the dossier may lead to a defamation lawsuit. Loftis argues that BuzzFeed Editor in Chief Ben Smith’s rationale for publishing was the same rationale Rolling Stone’s Will Dana used to justify publishing a fake story that ended in a major court loss in Eramo v Rolling Stone.

On a side note, Nieman Labs reports on the success of BuzzFeed’s Tasty customized cookbook product which has sold enough copies to make it one of the best-selling cookbooks of the year. Tasty: The Cookbook, a choose-your-own categories, print-on-demand cookbook, sold over 100,000 copies in the last two months of 2016, earning BuzzFeed an estimated $2.4 to $4 million in sales.

These are some of the reads that matter to us for the week in digital and public affairs. What do you think? What are your favorite stories? We’d love to hear from you!

Social Media Marketing Internship Opportunity – Fall 2016

August 24, 2016 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Arc 3 Communications, an Atlanta based agency specializing in content, digital marketing and analytics for clients in politics, public affairs and government is seeking an intern in the area of social media marketing.

Arc 3 is looking for an intern that would like to further their experience in social media marketing and implementation in the political, public affairs and government space. Desired skills include knowledge of content creation, social media management and analytics tools. Knowledge of design tools such as Photoshop, Canva, Pic Monkey and Google Drawings is a plus. Internship would be part-time or full time; virtually or at our co-working space. We’ll provide free coffee and a neat working space.

Applicants must be a current college undergraduate or graduate student. Academic credit can be arranged for internship.

We are a startup with a bold vision. If you are looking to gain professional experience in politics and public affairs while learning innovative ways to use social media, please contact our Founder, Patrick Burns at pburns@rare-light.flywheelsites.com.

Website Development Case Study: Georgia Secretary of State

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