Matt Eventoff

I found this post from Brian Solis very interesting – a list of the top media outlets, by circulation, as well as the 25 most popular blogs in America, as compiled by BurrellesLuce. 

Marshall McLuhan is famous for stating “the medium is the message”  and with the introduction of a newer medium (online, web) there is constant debate as to its effect on older mediums (print, broadcast).

While there are constantly articles about the decline of traditional print media, there are still some publications that have tremendous reach and impact. 

Thanks to Brian for sharing and to Burrelles Luce for the information.  Enjoy perusing the lists. (Maybe this blog will make the Top 25 next year)

Top 100 U.S. Daily Newspapers

Rank     Newspaper                          Daily                      Sunday:

1 – USA Today                                      2,113,725           N/A
2 – The Wall Street Journal                   2,082,189              N/A
3 – The New York Times                       1,039,031           1,451,233
4 – Los Angeles Times                            723,181           1,019,388
5 – The Washington Post                         665,383              868,965
7 – New York Post                                    558,140             357, 168
8 – Chicago Tribune                                 501,202              858,256
9 – The Houston Chronicle                      425,138              583,364
10 – The Arizona Republic                       389,701              516,562
11 – The Denver Post                               371,728              526,235
12 – Newsday (long Island, NY)               368,164              426,510
13 – The Dallas Morning News                 331,907              474,923
14 – Star Tribune (Minneapolis)               320,076              497,678
15 – Chicago Sun-Times                           312,141              254,379
16 – San Francisco Chronicle                   312,118              354,752
17 – The Boston Globe                              302,638              466,665
18 – The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)           291,630              393,352
19 – Detroit Free Press                             290,730              585,022
20 – The Philadelphia Inquirer                 288,298              550,400
21 – The Star-Ledger (Newark)                287,082              404,903
22 – St. Petersburg Times                        283,093              413,929
23 – The Oregonian (Portland)                 268,512              325,816
24 – The Atlanta Journal-Const.              261,828              462,011
25 – The San Diego Union-Tribune          261,253              330,848
26 – The Sacramento Bee                         248,855                 N/A
27 – St. Louis Post-Dispatch                    238,400              415,815
28 – The Kansas City Star                        234,667              333,006
29 – The Indianapolis Star                        231,361              311,322
30 – The Orange County Register            230,877              300,273
31 – San Jose Mercury News                    227,119              244,661
32 – The Sun (Baltimore, MD)                   210,098              351,243
33 – Pittsburg Post-Gazette                     209,477              319,987
34 – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel               203,240              361,355
35 – The Seattle Times                              203,175              376,515
36 – The Miami Herald                               202,122              270,166
37 – Sun-Sentinel (FL)                               192,522              285,196
38 – The Columbus Dispatch                    195,510               332,052
39 – The Tampa Tribune                            195,277                  N/A
40 – San Antonio Express News               192,930              303,737
41 – The Commercial Appeal (TN)           192,631              229,441
42 – Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN)            192,342              253,351
43 – Fort Worth Star-Telegram                 189,357              279,190
44 – The Cincinnati Enquirer                    188,956              273,433
45 – The Charlotte Observer                    187,633              244,494
46 – Contra Costa Times (CA)                185,669              194,445
47 – Arkansas Democrat-Gazette           180,314              269,879
48 – Las Vegas Review-Journal               175,429              194,918
49 – Omaha World-Herald                        174,548              205,759
50 – The Buffalo News                              173,925              252,240

The remainder of the list can be found here.  Source: Audit Bureau of circulations figures for six-month period ending 3/31/09

Blogs – English

1 – Huffington Post
2 – TechCrunch
3 – Engadget
4 – Boing Boing, boingboing.net
5 – Mashable!, mashable.com
6 – LifeHacker, lifehacker.com
7 – Gizmodo, gizmodo.com
8 – Ars-Technica, arstechnica.com
9 – Smashing Magazine, smashingmagazine.com
10 – Blogging Stocks, bloggingstocks.com
11 – Stuff White People Like, stuffwhitepeoplelike.com
12 – Official Google Blog, googleblog.blogspot.com
13 – Gadling, gadling.com
14 – TMZ, tmz.com
15 – ParentDish, parentdish.com
16 – ReadWriteWeb, readwriteweb.com
17 – Seth’s Blog, sethgodin.typepad.com
18 – Cinematical, cinematical.com
19 – PostSecret, postsecret.blogspot.com
20 – Gawker, gawker.com
The remainder of the list can be found here and here.

Source: Technorati

U.S. Consumer Magazines

Rank Magazine                   Paid & Verified Circulation

1 – AARP Bulletin                        24,500,078
2 – AARP The Magazine            24,349,637
3 – Reader’s Digest                         8,168,667
4 – Better Homes and Gardens  7,659,823
5 – National Geographic              5,060,377
6 – Good Housekeeping                4,684,811
7 – Woman’s Day                             3,920,867
8 – Family Circle                              3,914,927
9 – AAA Westways                          3,842,577
10 – Ladies Home Journal           3,840,645
11 – People                                          3,691,819
12 – Game Informer                        3,517,598
13 – Time                                             3,360,135
14 – Prevention                                3,339,616
15 – TV Guide (US)                          3,256,962
16- Sports Illustrated                     3,218,133
17 – Taste of Home                          3,202,493
18 – Cosmopolitan                           2,926,683
19 – Southern Living                       2,834,589
20 – AAA Via                                     2,807,830
The remainder of the list can be found here or here.

The debate over “Blackberry etiquette” in meetings has gotten quite a bit of ink since last week’s post….There were  a number of very interesting takes in the blogosphere, some of which I’m going to share this week.

Some of my favorites:

Your Mind on Media – there are some interesting takes here, not only on whether or not to “Blackberry” during a meeting, but also on some interesting programs companies like Intel are implementing to try and stem the tide of digital overload

ValleyPR Blog – this is one of the most honest posts I’ve read in a long time, and the author, Charlotte Risch, should be commended for her honesty.  Great post, and well worth reading.

Dealbreaker — Interesting take, to say the least.  Little tidbit of info – Wells Fargo issues $100 fines for looking at a Blackberry or handheld during a meeting! 

The Globe and Mail even reference a study where 20% of American employees have been reprimanded for bad behaviour with a wireless device.

Over at The Agitator, they question why there is a debate at all: “Count me among those who find it irritating when someone checks their Blackberry as you’re talking to them. Not sure why there would be “debate” over whether or not this is rude.”

My favorite quote of the day comes from CityFile NY, when discussing using a Blackberry during a face to face encounter, ” …In other words, you should only give the impression the person talking to you is irrelevant and boring if it’s not a big deal that they know you think they’re irrelevant and boring.”

Even Seinfeld got into it, joking about Blackberry use on Conan’s show.

Bottom line — using a Blackberry, or any handheld, while someone is talking to you sends a message you probably don’t mean to send, and people notice.  

There are times when you are in a meeting or a conference and you need to respond to an email (or talk to someone via cell phone) — the best thing to do is to simply excuse yourself.  If you are interviewing for a position, leave the device in your briefcase or pocket (on silent). 

People (and Corporations) are starting to notice.

The leadership chaos in New York, only rivaled this week by the leadership chaos in Iran, offers a valuable lesson in communications for everyone.

As background, late last week there was a coup in the State Senate that has brought New York government to a grinding halt. 

All because of a Blackberry…

Not just any Blackberry, but one owned and operated by Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith.   Senator Smith had a meeting and paid attention to his Blackberry rather than the gentleman sitting in front of him.

Bottom line — Senator Smith is no longer Senate Majority Leader Smith due to one reason — poor communication skills. 

It happens every minute of every day — a harried executive, with too much to do and not enough time to do it starts responding to emails while in a meeting (or conference, or presentation…or training). 

What that executive may or may not realize is that he (or she) has been sending a very clear message to peers, conference leaders, bosses, or employees – what you have to say is not as important as what is on my handheld. 

The lesson is basic – Everything you do sends a message. 

When you are in a meeting or talking to someone, that person wants to feel that he or she has your full attention. If you are meeting with someone, try to put the Blackberry away, or if you must, excuse yourself momentarily to check it. 

I’m sure Senator Smith wishes he did — I doubt his Blackberry is inundated with pressing emails now!

(This appeared earlier this week on the HubSpot marketing blog, a leader in all things new media)

Winston Churchill. Abraham Lincoln. John F. Kennedy. What do all three great leaders have in common?

All were exemplary public speakers, and not one of them blogged!

Ok, that’s really not fair as Al Gore had not yet even invented the internet while each was alive.

Still, there are lessons that every blogger can learn from great public speakers of the past in order to capture, motivate and move an audience. Here are a few:

1. Simplicity – Two of my favorite quotes, both of which apply to great public speaking and great blogging:

“Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word, before you let it fall” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.” – Dionysius

2. Brevity – Part II of Simplicity: Speeches (and blog posts) that resonate don’t drag on.

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address? Under three minutes.

Does this mean every blog post you write should be consumed in less than three minutes? No. It means if you want a reader to keep coming back, you better be interesting and you better get to the point

3. Message Consistency – Hope and change (Barack Obama). Never surrender (Winston Churchill). Ask not (JFK). There was never any doubt what any of these three men stood for when they spoke.

Every reader knows what he or she is getting when visiting the HubSpot Blog (expert internet marketing advice). Drudge Report (breaking news). PerezHilton (celebrity dirt).

Every week, week after week, these immensely popular sites get tons of traffic, and week after week these sites deliver subject matter that their readership cares about – consistently.

4. It’s Not About You – Every great public speaker recognizes that a speech or presentation is not about the speaker, it’s about the audience. Blogging is no different. Ignore this to your own peril.

5. Tell a Story – People will remember a story, they may or may not remember a fact. Most great speakers tend to incorporate great stories into speeches and presentations. Blogging is no different.

6. Care. Be Passionate! - To me, this is what truly differentiates great speakers from good speakers. A great public speaker cares, tremendously, about the subject which he or she is speaking on. And it shows, each and every time. Care passionately about what you are writing about if you want your readers to care at all.

Or is it?

Due to a last second flight change, I was able to spend the afternoon at Media Bistro’s Circus, a conference exploring the convergence of media and technology.  

There were leaders from both “old media” and “new media” presenting throughout the day, and I could not help but focus on communication (it’s what I do). When someone is presenting I automatically go into “training and analyzing” mode. Today was no different.

There was a lot of discussion about what data may mean in 10 years, or what marketing online might look like in 5 years.  The way we communicate online will continue to change and evolve, as it has from IM to email to texting to twittering to….? 

The way we communicate offline, and make no mistake, we will continue to communicate offline, will not change as dramatically. Communication skills matter today as much as they did in the days of Cicero and Dionysius.  Those same basic interpersonal communication skills will be as important 200 years from today. 

Today I watched Stephen Baker, an author and journalist for BusinessWeek, an “old media” publication, make very compelling points in a very clear, coherent, easy to understand manner — his was one of the presentations I enjoyed the most, and he was a moderator, not a presenter! 

I watched Valeria Maltoni, the founder of ConversationAgent.com, a “new media” company, put on a very engaging and very well preparedpresentation.  I then thought about a friend, novelist Anna David (whose new book Bought is motoring up the bestseller list) who is extremely engaging when speaking and presenting her research. 

 I thought of a number of successful professionals I know, some who work in manufacturing and construction and some who work in technology; some who regularly twitter and have thousands of friends on Facebook, and some who still have trouble with the power button on an old desktop.

What they all share are excellent communication skills, passion about the subject matter, and lots of preparation prior to presenting.

One fact stands out with all of these cases, and always does — a riveting presenter captivates an audience, whether discussing a cutting edge technology or why a freezer works. 

At the same time, a speaker who doesn’t have strong public speaking skills, does not practice and does not prepare loses an audience, no matter how “cutting edge” or potentially exciting the material may be.

Today I also watched an unnamed “new media” leader use some variation of “uhh” “umm” or “ahhh” over 100 times – I stopped counting.  I have no doubt in the presenter’s competence and expertise, however the verbal noise prevented the message from getting through — not just to me, but also to a number of individuals seated around me who I watched a) text to each other b) nod off and c) return emails during the entire presentation.

You have a chance to edit online (as I constantly learn when I post here!).  I re-read emails before I hit send and I re-read text messages before I send them.  I often review and change 140 character Twitter messages prior to sending — I want to make sure I am getting the message right.  Many people I talk to do the same. 

The same opportunity exists when speaking, and it exists prior to hitting “send” — in this case, speaking. Once you say something, you said it – can’t edit it and can’t delete it.  

When presenting, you MUST spend time preparing before you speak (hopefully a lot).  Your editing occurs before you present, and a lot of your editing comes from practice — just as you re-read an email or proposal, doing some ”dry runs” of your presentation allow you to see what edits you would like to make. 

No preparation = no chance to effectively deliver your message.  No matter how compelling your message might be.