Lede Media is a communications consulting and content creation firm founded by me, Farrell Kramer. The name is derived from “lede,” a term that refers to the opening shot in a news story, the words and ideas right at the start that either capture the reader’s interest or lose him or her forever.
Communications today requires both a keen facility with language and a deep understanding of how both traditional and social media operate. Whether you’re planning a major announcement, a full campaign, a crisis response or made-for-social content, these skills are an absolute requirement. I’ve developed my approach to this work during three decades as an award-winning reporter, an agency owner and a senior communications leader, including my tenure as head of communications at the New York Stock Exchange.
Lede Media offers a range of services, across industries, to help identify the lede in your own story and leverage communications to effectively navigate an increasingly volatile world. I have substantial track record of success working with and advising many of the world’s most well-known brands, both in the U.S. and globally.
In addition to my role at the NYSE, I led financial services work across North America as an executive vice president at Weber Shandwick, one of the world’s largest PR agencies. My agency experience includes leading MBS Value Partners’ PR and corporate communications practice and a decade running another firm of my own, Farrell Kramer Communications. I also served as a senior vice president at Robinson Lerer & Montgomery, now part of FGS Global.
As a journalist, I was an award-winning investigative reporter at The Associated Press, as well as a business writer covering M&A and the media industry. One reporting project I worked on, “Children for Hire,” was nominated by the AP for the Pulitzer Prize. At the AP, I was also a reporter in the New York City and Oklahoma City bureaus. Earlier, I was a financial reporter for Investor’s Business Daily in Los Angeles.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Far Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. I was a pioneer in corporate podcasting and an early adopter of blogging and social media. I am also an avid chess player and a former board member of the historic Marshall Chess Club in New York City.
