Check your inbox every Friday for Tunheim’s take on the week’s thumb-stopping and thought-provoking headlines in digital, communications, marketing and public affairs.
Faulty Iowa App Was Part of Push to Restore Democrats’ Digital Edge
The Democratic Party jumped the digital gun when they committed to backing Shadow Inc.’s cell phone app as the main tally for the Democratic Iowa Caucus. Hindsight is 20/20, however, and the push to, as the New York Times’ put it, “match the Republican’s prowess in digital advertising and organizing” pre-2016 election was not without merit. A digitally savvy campaign is almost a necessity nowadays and was proven to be a deciding factor and one of the most effective ways to communicate with voters in the 2016 election. For the Democrat’s to contend with the juggernaut that is President Trump’s online presence, they’ll have to boost their digital game.
San Antonio Zoo offers Unique Closure for Lonely Hearts on V-Day
Not feeling the love this Valentine’s Day? The San Antonio Zoo might have just the fix for you. Their newly announced promotion, “Cry Me a Cockroach” gives the newly-single and broken-hearted the opportunity to purchase and name a cockroach or rat after their ex. The purchaser can then watch, via an online livestream provided in their Instagram post, as the ex’s proxy is fed to the zoo’s resident reptiles. In addition to getting national hype for the zoo, the morbidly genius promotion will hopefully give some vicarious closure to those participating, proving in a round-about way that broken hearts can be fixed by full stomachs.
Pioneer Press owner buys 11 more Minnesota papers
MediaNews, the parent company of the St. Paul Pioneer Press has purchased 11 other community newspapers in Minnesota. The CEO of Red Wing Publishing Company which previously owned all 11 publications said that “the best prospect for sustainability for the staff is a large organization with financial wherewithal” and they found that with MediaNews. This sale is part of a larger shift in the industry – smaller businesses are having trouble keeping up with the technology and resources needed to keep up in the age of digital news.
British ‘X-Files’ of UFO sightings is going public: The U.K.’s Ministry of Defense will publish secret UFO reports for the first time.
The truth is out there… or it will be on a dedicated gov.uk web page. After over 50 years of classified documentation and investigation into reports of UFO’s, the entirety of those files are being released to the public via a yet-to-be-named, government run website. A British news agency filed a request for the UFO files under the Freedom of Information Act and the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense is opting for transparency for the public and giving into pressures to release information.
