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| (Photo by Evan Barnes - Taken from 2012 NABJ Convention Program) |
Is Brand
Identity More Important than the Person Behind It?
I thought about this when I attended the recent meeting
for the Black Journalists Association of Southern California and our speaker’s
topic was on using social media to better market you as a journalist. It built
off a panel I attended at NABJ that discussed the same thing.
I’ve heard people talk about branding for the last few
years. Whether it be on Twitter, at conferences or wherever, that seems to be
the new buzz word. I’ve always resisted it and a friend made it clear when he
said brands are products but people are people.
Sure I promote myself as a former journalist/current
writer who has ethics and a nose for being right before fast, cutting the BS
and talking straight about what I’m passionate about. But I figure that’s just
something I do naturally, not in an attempt to market myself.
Even when I worked at the LA Sentinel, my boss would
often talk about branding myself as a HS sports guy and writing columns because
that would give me an identity.
