Inside PR 541: Gain a point. Lose a point.

A change of pace for FIR

The FIR Podcast is one of the longest continually-produced podcasts for communications pros. Since 2005, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson have been providing insight into the communications trends and developments that are important to communications practitioners.

But now they are dialing back their production schedule to once a month. And as podcast producers who have followed in their footsteps, we're glad that they are continuing. Because if you are a communications pro, you're sure to learn something useful with each and every FIR podcast.

So, kudos Shel and Neville for finding a way to keep it going and keep it fresh.

GarageBand: Creating dreams

It's been fifteen years since Apple first offered GarageBand with Macs. Since then, it's become available for PCs and iOS as well. And that means there's a whole generation of musicians and podcasters who have brought their ideas to life using Apple's free software. In fact, we use GarageBand to mix and produce the Inside PR podcast. And it couldn't be easier to do, thanks to the simple, intuitive interface.

So, here's to GarageBand. And here's to the community of creators who have grown up around it. And here's to Apple for giving us this incredibly useful software.

You're just not important enough for us to take action

The abuse of social media by foreign or malevolent agents is not just confined to the United States. It is a global problem. But that doesn't mean that the social and search platforms are giving it the same attention in countries other than the United States. Indeed, you need look no farther than across the border to the north to Canada to see Facebook and Google taking very different approaches to the responsibility that national legislators and regulators say they should take on. In this tally, Facebook gains a point. Google loses a point.

If you're not part of the solution

Facebook's local news support project, Today In, underlines the news deserts that have been created by the diminution out of the display ad economy that local newspapers relied on. And in doing so, it drives home that the social and search platforms efforts to "support" journalism are not adequately addressing the problems they have created. It's time for radically different thinking.