Out of the Woods?

I started three blog posts in the past week, and abandoned them all. I simply couldn’t keep up with the fast-moving conversation.The first post involved the White House party crashers, and specifically the public pronouncement by the couple’s “publicist,” one Mahogany Jones, whose Twitter handle (@huslinNstiletos), now dismantled, trumps her My Space page. “We will…… Continue reading Out of the Woods?

Dem Past Mistakes

To engage or not to engage…that is the question. For as long as I can remember, good crisis managers stressed avoiding knee-jerk reactions to unpleasant characterizations in the media of your company or person.Crisis pros advised: “Why draw attention to something that will disappear with the next news cycle?” “You’ll only make matters worse.” “Time…… Continue reading Dem Past Mistakes

No Comment

Writing for Forbes.com’s Entreprenueur section, Maureen Farrell offers up a “crash course in public relations” or more aptly, crisis communications.She starts off with Heparin, then goes on to quote a selection of industry notables — Howard J. Rubenstein, the savvy Bill Keegan of Edelman, and a Richard Levick who wrote a book in which he…… Continue reading No Comment

Debatable Instincts

A firm for which I once toiled had a policy that discouraged its professionals from commenting in the media on the public relations quagmires of others.I think it stemmed from an incident in which one of our Asian colleagues publicly skewered the PR strategy for a very high profile crisis. One problem: it was our…… Continue reading Debatable Instincts

WWE Smackdown

Some years ago, I received a call from a management recruiter seeking a senior communications executive for “one of the nation’s biggest entertainment companies, primarily in television.” The recruiter refused to name the company until we met.I really wasn’t looking for a new gig since I was enjoying working with the C-suite (in the age…… Continue reading WWE Smackdown

The Beeb Battles Back

When “60 Minutes” arrived on the scene, many PR pros didn’t quite know what to make of this new longer form investigative TV news program. We were not accustomed to having our charges ambushed — as the tape rolled. The techniques of command and control had yet to flourish.Many PR types counselors knee-jerked to the…… Continue reading The Beeb Battles Back