CAP News Online standards

[RiverAux]

I've been a little disappointed in the quality of articles being posted in CAP News Online recently.  Well, maybe not the "quality", but the judgement call that was made about these being worthy of posting on the national website.  All of the articles are "newsworthy", but just on different levels.

Here are some examples from November:
N.M. officer gains mission observer ranking
Texas cadet receives Mitchell award during promotion ceremony for 4
Kansas Wing cadet earns Eagle Scout honor
Arizona squadron names new PDO

These are basically worthy of mention in the squadron newsletter, and maybe the Eagle Scout and Mitchell awards should make the Wing newsletter, but national attention for the appointment of a squadron staff officer?

The problem is that amongst a whole lot of stories like this in November you can find:
Wash. Wing responds to flooding in western part of state
Pa. Wing members find downed plane within 3 hours
Idaho hunter found after 3-day search

but, you really have to go looking for them.

I think if they set a higher bar for what stories will be posted, the ones that are there will be much more effective.  Whats the bar?  Well, in my view about 50% of the stories being posted now don't rate national attention. 

On the other hand, I fully realize that it doesn't cost anything to post stuff on CAP News Online, so why not encourage PAs by being fairly generous in posting their submissions?

[lordmonar]

On the other hand, I fully realize that it doesn't cost anything to post stuff on CAP News Online, so why not encourage PAs by being fairly generous in posting their submissions?

You answered your own question.  If you set the bar too high...no submission get posted, squadron PAO's get discouraged and they stop submitting new releases.

It costs nothing to post them and YOU did find the significant new items (and it was no really that hard to hunt them down).

[Chris Jacobs]

I would say that we should be putting more stories out there.  If a new young member sees something they did in the national news it will encourage them.  It always feels good when your squadron has something up on the front page of the national website. 

I do agree though that it makes them seem like the little things are on the same level as the big events.  so maybe we should have some different categories on the national site.  I don't know how you would separate them but something to separate the real important stories like the flooding or finds, and the little news that is nice to read about like a squadron wining the wing color guard competition.

[RiverAux]

I found them because I'm a geek.  Keep in mind that the most recent CAP News Online stories are posted on the front page of the national web site. 
Here is what was there today:
11/17/06 NY group school stresses squadron leadership 
11/17/06 Ga. cadets given radio control plane for aerospace education 
11/17/06 N.M. officer gains mission observer ranking 
11/17/06 Scholarships offered for CAP members seeking privot pilot certificate 
11/16/06 Ohio Wing cadet wins squadron's Radio Control Flying Scholarship 
11/16/06 N.C. cadets march in tribute to veterans 
11/16/06 CAP planes help broadcast Hawaii tsunami warnings 

What does someone visiting cap.gov for the first time think when they see that when someone gets their observer rating it is worth national news attention?  To me that says that CAP doesn't have many observers.

Wouldn't we rather have 7 stories that really highlight what CAP does up there for an entire month rather than have a super story like th tsunami warning get bumped for a story about a CAP cadet earning a Boy Scout award?

[shorning]

So start writing.

[mawr]

Have you looked at www.af.mil lately?  Mixed in with more important stories are stories of sports scores and of airmen building a swingset.

It's called giving recognition.  If you don't like the stories, don't read them.

[RiverAux]

My point is that there are quite a few good stories that deserve national attention but they are drowned out by a sea of unworthy items. 

I've submitted quite a few stories, but only those that would have interest beyond my local area. 

The AF news stories actually prove my point.  All of them are pretty much of interest to the entire AF.  The swing set story was about building relationships with civilians in a part of the world where we need a lot of good PR.  The sports scores were for the AF Academy which is of interest across the AF.  A quick scan of the more detailed listing of releases for November only found a very few "local" stories.

Do you think a PAO for an AF unit would dare to send a press release to AF headquarters about the appointment of a new professional development officer?  No way.  They would get laughed at. 

If you go through CAP PAO training it does talk about judgement in deciding which stories are appropriate for audiences of different levels.  So, I'm just pointing out that NHQ isn't following what they're teaching us in the field.

[Chris Jacobs]

But you could argue that those stories show who we really are.  A prospective member would see that senior member being awarded his observer wings and realize that it really is possible.  A prospective cadet may be interested in flying model airplanes and that story hooks him into joining the local squadron.  Only showcasing the major stories gets people to think that is all we do, which would be nice, but the reality is that every time we do something it isn't an amazing production.  Sometimes the people are looking for the little things like a trip to an air museum, or a group of senior members that participate in their first actual search and rescue mission. 

Also the little stories give ideas to rest of the squadrons throughout the nation.  a squadron can't come up with amazing new ideas every week, but by hearing about what other squadrons do they learn new tricks.  I bet that many squadrons have taken some ideas that other squadrons have done and made successful activities out of them.  And without the "meaning less" article on the national web site they may have never done it.

[Major Carrales]

This is a bit of a moot point.

The "rubber meets the road" at the Squadron level.  All those visiting CAP.GOV that wish to join might be pleased seeing local news.  It might foster the idea that the "little guy" gets the credit in CAP.

If not, what would be published?  The antics of WING and REGION level officers?  That's "knock out gas."  There is nothing quite so "turn-off-ish" as reading about people so high up the chain you might likely never meet them. 

So...if some cadets get on the MAIN site because they went  to a Veteran's Day activity in some "out of the way" unit I say...

MORE POWER TO THEM!

You blokes like to make lots of hoopla about the antics of the Major General and all sorts of sinanagans (real and imagined) which does much more damage to CAP than a story about training being done in the otherwise forgotten parts of CAP.

[RiverAux]

Who said anything about putting in stories about Wing or region officers?  There are more than enough "good" stories already on CAP News Online.  All I'm saying is that they're putting up a lot of stuff that doesn't need national distribution. 

For comparison, take a look at the CG Aux's "e-magazine" http://www.teamcoastguard.org/.  They always have 4 stories up and they rotate in a new story and take another one out every few weeks.  In general these stories are all locallly-based but they highlight the capabilities of the Aux and are of enough interest that someone elsewhere in the Auxiliary might care to read them.  They do a fair number of profiles of individual Auxies which is great if the person has actually done something very unusual.   

This is much closer to what I was talking about.  Personaly, I would like to see more than 4 stories up there, but the CG Aux has a weaker PA program than CAP, so they may not get enough submissions to support that. 

[JohnKachenmeister]

I was the PAO of a major Army Reserve command, and I feel your pain.

Picture yourself the PAO, and a deadline to fill some news, either for the online postings or your newsmagazine. 

And NOTHING COMES IN!

You can keep good feature stories in a bank, but only for so long and then they're history.  Sometimes you end up having to use ALL the copy about Corporal Snuffy's promotion, including the part where the local PAO mentions that "In civilian life, Snuffy works as the Senior Fender-Rubber at the Acme Car Wash in downtown Podunk."

Civilian papers have the same problem.  One of my reservist journalists worked for a local weekly newspaper.  The town had a reputation for good fishing, and whenever there was a shortage of news copy, the editor would send him out with his camera to do "Fish stories." You know...  ""Bob Smith, of Armpit, Tennesee, holds up a 9-pound crappie taken from the Skookumchuck River near the Sigmoid Bend.  Fishing buddy Lamarr Washburn looks on."  You didn't have to catch a particularly big fish to get in the paper... just have enough sense to catch anything on a slow news week!

[dwb]

I have no problem with the news stories they print, though it might be worthwhile to label that list as local news from around the country, to make it clear that these are not press releases being generated from HQ PAO.

BTW, I've submitted several things to CAP News Online over the years, and I'm more amazed at what they don't print.  When we had a two-star general at our squadron banquet, that didn't make it into CAP News Online.  Yet, other squadrons get their promotion of Joe Bagadonuts to 2d Lt on there.  I don't get it.

[fyrfitrmedic]

BTW, I've submitted several things to CAP News Online over the years, and I'm more amazed at what they don't print.  When we had a two-star general at our squadron banquet, that didn't make it into CAP News Online.  Yet, other squadrons get their promotion of Joe Bagadonuts to 2d Lt on there.  I don't get it.

I've had little problem getting all sorts of things printed in the local paper and even one of the Philly papers; I'm .000 in terms of getting submissions printed in CAP News/CAP News Online over the years. Then again, I'm also .000 from when I used to submit stuff for the wing newsletter as well...

[shrug]

[CAP428]

What I don't understand is why most PAOs don't actually write any news release type things.  All they apparently do is submit a piece of paper saying "a newspaper reported this.  Find it online [here]."

What happened to PAOs actually WRITING news releases in their REAL format, a mini-story of their own creation that could be put online instead of a link to a newspaper's story.  It's not that hard.  Read the paper's article for background info, then interview whoever it pertains to in your squadron or whatever and make your own article.

That would improve many of the stories.  If all I wanted to see were stories in newspapers that the PAOs didn't make, I could just go on newspaper websites and search for Civil Air Patrol.

Go to the effort to DO the responsibilities of the position you are in!  Don't rely on somebody else's stories just because that is their full time job.

[floridacyclist]

I've never had any particular problem getting stuff onto the Wing website although it does surprise me at some of my stories that Regional or National have carried. Knowing that I only submitted them to Wing, I can only imagine that the Wing PAO is bumping them up the chain.

http://www.cap.gov/visitors/news/cap_news_online/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&nodeID=6192&newsID=2411&year=2006&month=10

http://www.cap.gov/visitors/news/cap_news_online/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&nodeID=6192&newsID=2381&year=2006&month=10

[RiverAux]

What I don't understand is why most PAOs don't actually write any news release type things.  All they apparently do is submit a piece of paper saying "a newspaper reported this.  Find it online [here]."

CAP News Online just started doing that recently.  I suspect that NHQ took the initiative and posted those links.  If you set up a news alert with Google or Yahoo you can get all sorts of announcements about where CAP stories are published online.  I imagine NHQ did that and just decided to post a few. 

[CAP428]

CAP News Online just started doing that recently.  I suspect that NHQ took the initiative and posted those links.  If you set up a news alert with Google or Yahoo you can get all sorts of announcements about where CAP stories are published online.  I imagine NHQ did that and just decided to post a few. 

Oh.  That makes sense.  But I still wish that there were more stories actually written by more PAOs.  They can give a better "insider" perspective than a newspaper can, b/c usually a newspaper has to spend the first couple of paragraphs at least explaining what CAP is and what we do.

[Johnny Yuma]

Another good example would be the father/cadet aircraft accident in OK. The father had written and published an article in that month's CAP Volunteer yet NHQ wouldn't recognize his death nor his son's online, opting instead to print their names in the Final Salute of the magazine at a later date.

I've been a little disappointed in the quality of articles being posted in CAP News Online recently.  Well, maybe not the "quality", but the judgement call that was made about these being worthy of posting on the national website.  All of the articles are "newsworthy", but just on different levels.

Here are some examples from November:
N.M. officer gains mission observer ranking
Texas cadet receives Mitchell award during promotion ceremony for 4
Kansas Wing cadet earns Eagle Scout honor
Arizona squadron names new PDO

These are basically worthy of mention in the squadron newsletter, and maybe the Eagle Scout and Mitchell awards should make the Wing newsletter, but national attention for the appointment of a squadron staff officer?

The problem is that amongst a whole lot of stories like this in November you can find:
Wash. Wing responds to flooding in western part of state
Pa. Wing members find downed plane within 3 hours
Idaho hunter found after 3-day search

but, you really have to go looking for them.

I think if they set a higher bar for what stories will be posted, the ones that are there will be much more effective.  Whats the bar?  Well, in my view about 50% of the stories being posted now don't rate national attention. 

On the other hand, I fully realize that it doesn't cost anything to post stuff on CAP News Online, so why not encourage PAs by being fairly generous in posting their submissions?