Despite the popular conception that news outlets feature stories of cynical and depressing nature, positive stories can make the news as stories were based on the cold, hard truth. As time evolved, however, we have seen a shift. No longer is the truth as prevalent. Because of this, the popular brand, Coca-Cola. Releasing an advertisement that is misleading consumers, Coke is seeing a lot of news attention as of late. The advertisement implies false simplicity in burning off the calories after consumption of a Coca-Cola. leading consumers to believe that laughter alone would be enough to burn off the calories of this refreshing beverage. Come on Coca-Cola, you don’t really think consumers believe this, Or, do you?

Now consider the recent media attention actor Ashton Kutcher is receiving. When Kutcher gave an impromptu motivational speech at the Teen Choice Awards last week, America was pleasantly caught off guard by his honesty. Opening up by revealing that his name is really Chris, Ashton shares several important lessons he learned when he was “Chris.” These lessons seemed to really resonate with the American public. So much so, that this speech went viral over the Internet, with millions of views and counting. The people liked his honesty. I liked his honesty. The media liked it, too.

Honesty is newsworthy. In an era where honesty is hard to come by, be genuine. Write press releases that contain truth. Verify statistics. Verify studies. Verify. Don’t make false promises. Don’t engage in fluffery. Don’t use adjectives. Honesty will get attention. Honesty has become newsworthy.