Category: transparency

Full-Disclosure Filibuster

Sen. McConnell (R-KY), Chief ObstructionistThere was a time when the PR industry took it on the chin for its supposed lack of transparency. Specifically, groups like PR Watch and others chastised our brethren for failing to disclose who’s paying for the hand-out video picked up and used in broadcast and cable news programming.It got so…… Continue reading Full-Disclosure Filibuster

POTUS PR

“I’m really perplexed. It’s unbelievable,” said [B-M’s] Karen Hughes, Mr. Bush’s White House counselor. “They’ve taken his greatest political asset — his gifts as a communicator — and totally diluted them. It’s been especially notable in the last couple weeks.” “It’s a risk of overexposure,” said Joe Trippi, a political consultant. “If you use it…… Continue reading POTUS PR

Jossip’s Take on PR

Not that Jossip is the arbiter of what’s real nowadays — in spite of it being a snarkily fun read — but I couldn’t help but notice its antagonistic (if not anachronistic) view of the PR profession.In a post titled “J-School to Public Relations: Selling Out or Buying In?,” the Gawker/Defamer wannabe castigated any self-respecting…… Continue reading Jossip’s Take on PR

Recovery Release

Slate’s John Dickerson tweeted news that the administration has “revitalized the press release…with the launch of Recovery.gov.”The site sub-head reads “Your Money at Work” and includes the following mission statement: Education: Explain the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; Transparency: Show how, when, and where the money is spent; Accountability: Provide data that will allow citizens…… Continue reading Recovery Release

Money + Congress = Corruption

This blog over the last three years has spent a fair share of time looking at politics through the focused lens of a PR practitioner. After all, hasn’t this administration provided enough taint on our profession to merit such attention?Some of my previous political posts included:Are Hillary’s consiglieres giving her the best advice?How truly distrustful…… Continue reading Money + Congress = Corruption

Missile Command

I’m sure the PR team at the U.S. Department of Defense would have preferred that its plan to manage the media’s portrayal of its “engagement” of that rogue satellite remained out of the public eye.It didn’t, and the folks at Wired’s “Danger Room” blog pounced on it with a post titled “Operation Rogue Satellite: The…… Continue reading Missile Command

Tight-Lipped

I really hadn’t read New York Magazine, well, since the days when my buddy, MSNBC.com’s newly retired Scooper Jeannette Walls , penned the once-venerable Intelligencer column.I know. I know. Former Timesman Adam Moss has worked miracles in resuscitating the moribund glossy weekly. Didn’t it just garner more than a fair share of magazine awards ?Anyway,…… Continue reading Tight-Lipped

Full Non-Disclosure

The once-booming VNR industry is in the dumps. Much of its demise can be traced to the efforts of PR Watch and others to hold accountable the disseminators of privately-produced video “news,” and the Congressional hearings that followed as a result. The issue: transparency.At the time, this blogger commented that most, if not all VNR…… Continue reading Full Non-Disclosure