Beyoncé & Barack: A PR Contrast

Nick Farrell Photography/Courtesy of Columbia RecordsThis week, we watched as the White House press corps angrily revolted against the office of the President of the United States, accusing Mr. Obama and his PR consiglieres of media manipulation and propaganda. Apparently, pre-selected handout press photos no longer pass editorial muster. From Mediaite: “The members of the…… Continue reading Beyoncé & Barack: A PR Contrast

Quote Approval & Fallible Journalists

The executive editor of an influential technology news site recently replied to my email about a client’s breakthrough new technology. He tried it, had Web connectivity issues, and quickly declared: “Seriously, I’ve looked at several such services, and this is not special. In fact, it’s a generic Windows DaaS service. So, please, stop pitching it…… Continue reading Quote Approval & Fallible Journalists

Doubting Thomases

Washington Post media columnist and CNN “Reliable Sources” host Howard Kurtz set tongues-a waggin today with his column echoing complaints that President Obama has purposely avoided the White House press corps in order to control his message:”Every president attempts to circumvent the press corps, viewing it as obsessed with process stories and “gotcha” questions. That’s…… Continue reading Doubting Thomases

Stress Reduction

The lead op-ed in today’s New York Times features U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner explaining in his own words the rationale and machinations behind the bank stress tests whose results will pop big time later today.Already, the Treasury Dept. selectively leaked some of the test’s more tantalizing tidbits in an effort to temper the anticipated…… Continue reading Stress Reduction

The Back-of-the-Book Media Diet

For those PR peeps who continue to use the mainstream media to advance their clients’ communications goals (i.e., most of you), the choice of which media outlets to court for interviews can play a key role in determining the editorial tenor of the coverage.It was thus no accident this week when Dick Cheney turned up…… Continue reading The Back-of-the-Book Media Diet

One Tie, Two Tie, Red Tie, Blue Tie

Years ago, choosing which tie to wear on the public stage was a much easier proposition. I remember repping T. Boone Pickens during his fame-making run at Gulf Oil. It pre-dated the age of CEO-as-media-celebrity, and in fact, may have ushered it in. In addition to working on media messaging and delivery, I remember being…… Continue reading One Tie, Two Tie, Red Tie, Blue Tie

Looking Ahead

Before I left for (a wonderful) family holiday, I compiled a list of some of the more notable social media and marketing predictions for 2009. It’s worth checking out here.Separately, my friends over at PR Newser crowd-sourced their readers (à la Peter Kim) for some 2009 “PR Predictions.”Here’s what I had submitted: Twitter, and the…… Continue reading Looking Ahead

Jack Bauer’s Return

I’ve been thinking about the return to television of “24,” the tense, terrorist-inspired weekly drama whose ticking digitized clock gave “60 Minutes” stopwatch a run for its money.The gripping Fox TV series, which fulfilled the Republicans’ playbook for inciting homeland fear, disappeared from my home screen eons ago, and will soon return to a much…… Continue reading Jack Bauer’s Return

Voodoo Doctors

How much influence does post-debate coverage have in determining the evening’s ultimate winner and loser?A considerable amount, if you believe the WashPost’s media watcher Howard Kurtz who today turned his sights on the “spin doctors” who were working their “voodoo” at Ole Miss following Friday’s stand-off: “Obama may have won the insta-polls after Friday’s debate…… Continue reading Voodoo Doctors

That AP Memo

Having served as outside PR rep for The Associated Press on two separate occasions — the organization’s 150th anniversary and the book and exhibition of World War II photos — I intrinsically understood that too much “spin” would make many in this vaunted news organization bristle.In fact, of all the mainstream journalistic enterprises, it is…… Continue reading That AP Memo