How to Master the Art of a News Alert

In this era of high-speed breaking news, mastering the art of media alert is more important than ever. While these alerts can help raise awareness, they can also raise ethical issues around sensationalism and triggering fear in audience members. With a little planning, brands can use these tools to meet consumer expectations while still delivering trustworthy, relevant information.

A news alert (also known as a media advisory or a press release) is an announcement of a present or upcoming event intended specifically for journalists and other media professionals. They’re meant to pique the attention of reporters and convince them that your event or initiative is worth their time and coverage. They should include what’s called the “five Ws”: Who, What, When, Where and Why. It’s also helpful to include supporting evidence, such as quotes from people involved or opinions from industry experts.

The best way to distribute your media alerts is by sending them directly to journalists and other media professionals. Ideally, these alerts should be distributed one or two days in advance of the event to give reporters a chance to plan their time and editors to leave space for your story. They can also be distributed via traditional outlets like local newspapers and broadcasters, or through wire services like the Associated Press.

Another tool for monitoring breaking news is Google Alerts, which allows you to set up search terms for any topic or subject that interests you. You’ll then receive an email when new content matching those terms appears online. It’s helpful to limit the number of notifications you receive per day to avoid information overload.

How to Achieve a Strong App Launch

Whether you’re building an app for the first time or expanding your mobile presence, a successful app launch is crucial to your growth. Mobile apps are incredibly profitable with user-driven demand, unlimited branding opportunities, and an endless list of potential use cases. However, app store saturation, increased competition from alternative app stores and third-party platforms, and rising user expectations means that it’s no longer enough to have a great idea and solid code. Achieving a strong app launch is now an essential part of the development process and requires strategic planning across research, measurement, and marketing.

App users take just a few seconds to decide whether an app is worth installing so it’s vital to set your app apart from the crowd and make the most of their attention span. That’s why knowing your audience, defining what sets you apart, and leveraging the power of social media and influencers are all critical for a strong app launch.

It’s also important to begin building your audience before you even start developing your app. Having a dedicated audience to promote your app to upon launch will generate excitement and drive downloads. This can be done through social media campaigns, email newsletters, and word of mouth. Additionally, timing your launch with events related to your app’s industry (like New Year for fitness apps) can create a sense of exclusivity and urgency. You can also build curiosity and anticipation by sharing behind-the-scenes looks at your development journey, teaser images, and countdown posts on social media.

How the BLS Monitors Inflation

Inflation is an economic phenomenon when prices rise faster than wages. This decreases the purchasing power of money and can make a savings account worth less than it used to be. Governments try to manage inflation by adjusting interest rates, raising taxes and cutting spending. Inflation is a big concern for businesses because it makes it difficult to plan for the long-term. A rising rate of inflation can also devalue the value of a company’s assets, such as its stock price.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks and publishes a variety of price indices to help policymakers, business leaders and consumers track overall inflation trends. For example, the Consumer Price Index measures the average change in the prices of a basket of consumer goods and services (there are several different CPI measurements).

A high inflation rate typically indicates that the economy is overheating. Typical factors include higher-than-normal money supply growth, increased raw material costs, labor mismatches and disruptions caused by geopolitical conflict. These factors can lead to a “demand-pull” inflation that causes prices to climb even more rapidly than the economy can produce them. This type of inflation is particularly dangerous in service-based economies, like the US, where a rapid pace of wage increases can quickly fuel further price inflation.

The BLS also tracks and reports monthly core prices, which exclude energy and food. This helps to smooth out seasonal changes in certain items, such as back-to-school or tax season.

What is a Tech Giant?

The term tech giant refers to the world’s top technology corporations. These companies are known for their colossal global footprint and influence on society as a whole. They are often the inventors of groundbreaking technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud computing. These digital behemoths have a near-monopoly in their respective areas of expertise, giving them an edge over competitors.

Tech giants can be found across multiple industries, from e-commerce to communication hardware and software to gaming. But what makes them unique is their influence on the economy and the world at large. Their innovations fuel economic growth and increase productivity, allowing them to gain control over the market and create vast wealth for their owners. This is why many governments have attempted to curb their power through regulation.

Some of the biggest tech giants include Google (Alphabet), Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft. Each of these companies is considered to be a leader in their industry and has significant financial backing from investors. Their products are used by billions of people around the world, and they have a significant impact on consumers’ daily lives.

These big technology giants have also expanded into other sectors through acquisitions. For example, Apple bought the music streaming service Spotify in 2018. Similarly, Facebook acquired WhatsApp and Instagram in 2021 and 2022. Some experts argue that these companies are exhibiting antitrust practices by using the vast amount of data they have to maintain their monopoly positions and stifle innovation from competitors.

Understanding How Interest Rates Affect Your Money

A basic financial concept that figures into everything from mortgages and credit cards to investments and savings accounts. Interest rates are a critical component of various financial instruments and transactions, and they are always changing. Understanding what affects them can help individuals make the best choices about how to manage their money.

Interest is a form of compensation paid by lenders to borrowers and investors for the use of their funds. It’s usually expressed as a percentage of the principal amount of the loan or investment, and it is applied over an agreed-upon time period, called the term. The rate at which interest is paid or earned depends on several factors, including the supply and demand for credit, the inflation rate and government monetary policy.

Generally, higher interest rates mean more costly loans and investments while lower rates mean cheaper loans and investments. In addition, the economy plays a role in interest rates because when the economy is strong, more people have jobs and are able to pay their debts, so more lending institutions will want to lend money.

Different types of loans have different interest rates, with fixed and variable rates among the most notable. Generally, fixed rates have higher initial rates than variable rates because lenders take on more risk by locking into a set rate at the outset. However, if market interest rates decline over the life of the loan, a borrower might save money by opting for a variable rate instead of a fixed one.

Barriers to Adoption of Wearable Tech

Wearable tech refers to special gadgets that are worn on the human body. These include consumer products marketed as wellness gadgets, such as smartwatches from Apple and Fitbit, as well as more specialized medical devices designed to monitor electrolyte levels or screen blood for cancer cells.

Health care wearables allow healthcare professionals to remotely observe patients’ vital signs and symptoms. This enables them to catch a variety of early health concerns and address them before they evolve into more severe symptoms, thereby helping individuals avoid unnecessary or complex treatments.

Moreover, health-related wearables can motivate users to change their habits through the ability to provide motivational reminders, contextualize data via a companion app, and offer positive reinforcement of successful achievements (e.g., by displaying a progress chart). However, these devices can also generate annoyances such as the feeling of fatigue caused by regular use or the risk of losing a device, which may discourage users from adopting the technology despite its apparent benefits.

Although many barriers prevent the effective adoption of health-related wearables, they can be overcome. The adoption of a positive attitude towards this technology by both patients and providers is important. In particular, healthcare professionals should encourage patients to use wearables as part of their self-monitoring routines and not view them as an intrusive or invasive technology. Furthermore, the diffusion of innovations theory [87] suggests that healthcare providers can play a role in facilitating adoption by addressing concerns and promoting use of wearables among laggards.

How to Write an Editorial

Editorial is a type of article that showcases a periodical’s opinion on a particular issue and aims to draw public attention to the topic. It also aims to encourage reader debate and participation. Typically, editorials contain facts and statistics to support the argument.

When choosing an editorial topic, be creative and try not to use trite or cliche ideas. Choose something that’s currently causing controversy, or that readers are interested in discussing. Ideally, it should also be one that’s important to the community you serve.

Once you have your topic, do some research to find out everything there is to know about it. Then, develop a thesis statement that articulates your position on the matter. This will help you keep your argument focused throughout the writing process. It’s also important to consider the opposing viewpoint when forming your opinion. Be sure to address any counterarguments and provide a valid rebuttal that will convince readers you’re correct.

While a good editorial must have a strong opinion, it should avoid being overly biased. Providing clear reasons why you disagree with one side of the argument, as well as believable evidence to back it up, is key. Also, remember to include some positive things about the opposition, but always do so objectively and without slandering anyone.

Editorials should be concise and easy to read. They should not be too long, or too technical. It’s also helpful to write your editorial in a conversational tone to help you sound more authoritative and persuasive. Finally, don’t forget to proofread your article. Missing or overlooked errors can make your entire piece look sloppy and unprofessional.

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation is the process of using new technologies to improve or reinvent business processes, products and customer service. It aims to increase competitive advantage and foster an agile culture. It’s an ongoing effort, requiring an ongoing commitment and budget, but one that delivers significant benefits to businesses that get it right.

Companies today need to keep up with rapidly evolving customer expectations and technological innovations. Customers expect to be able to conduct their business, do their work and live their lives on the devices of their choice, at any time and with the information and personalized content they need close at hand. They’re also looking for innovative experiences from brands that they can’t find elsewhere, and will move on quickly to others if they aren’t satisfied.

Successful digital transformation projects require a clear framework and key performance indicators (KPIs) that are aligned with business outcomes. The best way to ensure that projects stay on track is by leveraging an operating model that supports cross-functional teams. This requires a technology infrastructure that allows for seamless data sharing and easy integrations between platforms so that employees can access and use all the tools they need.

The most effective way to build this bridge between information silos is by building a unified view of the customer. This allows for more precise customer targeting, and maximizes the potential of new technologies like AI. As such, it’s an essential step for any organization embarking on a digital transformation journey.

How to Write Top Headlines That Capture the Reader’s Attention

Top headlines capture the attention of the reader and entice them to read the entire article. They should be clear, concise, and informative, highlighting the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the story. Headlines are even more important than they used to be because today, readers can come across an article by reading a search engine result or by scanning a newspaper page.

News, blog, and ad headlines all have different styles, but they follow the same general rules of headline writing. For example, all news articles should be written in AP style and should always use correct grammar.

Learn how to write an engaging and informative feature headline that captivates your audience. Then, check out our resource bundle including marketing templates and eBooks.

Smart Devices – What Are They?

Whether they’re turning on your lights and appliances remotely, monitoring and changing your thermostat’s settings, or even helping you track your fitness goals, smart devices are changing the way we live. But with so many gadgets claiming to be’smart’, how do you know you’re getting the best product for your money? Before buying, be sure to read the privacy statement, service agreement and terms of use — not everyone wants to do this, but it can make all the difference in how your data is collected, stored and used.

A device can be considered a smart device if it has three main features: context awareness, autonomous computing and connectivity (Ray, 2016). This study explores the key features that are directly or indirectly related to these concepts. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was conducted.

Smart devices include sensors to sense environmental context, expanded memory and processors to multitask, wireless protocols for communications, and software to process this data. They can also use artificial intelligence to learn user patterns and customize their responses and functions accordingly.

While some authors include mobility in the concept of’smart devices’, we chose not to do so since it would discard smart devices that have all other functionalities but are not mobile. For example, a smart board (Malkawi, 2017) is an electronic whiteboard that allows distinct users to navigate the web and perform different applications such as visualising text, images, augio and video. This is a good example of how the technology can be applied in educational environments.