The PR Police

Throughout the day, my Twitter feed hums with insightful and sometimes inane news and views from a group of carefully parsed individuals who usually have something worthwhile to share.My taste in tweets tends to the techno, media and marketing crowd, with the occasional politico, CEO, movie star and savvy aunt peppered in. (I’ve resisted the…… Continue reading The PR Police

Bush’s Legacy Project

As I pen this, President Bush (yes, he’s still President) will take the podium at a surprise news conference in which he’ll presumably field questions (not shoes) hurled from journalists. He’ll certainly have a rich choice of timely news topics on which to opine given the unmitigated mess with which he’s leaving our next President.But…… Continue reading Bush’s Legacy Project

(Not) Ready for Prime Time PR

PR people often advise their start-up clients to make sure their ducks are in a row before the big public reveal of their new product or service.The “is-it-ready-for-primetime?” Rorschach Test should probably also apply to media sneak previews.Case in point: Microsoft’s “first broad consumer Web service, called Photosynth [which] turns multiple photos of a scene…… Continue reading (Not) Ready for Prime Time PR

Truth of False

In a recent meeting with an environmental NGO, I was asked how far I might recommend the organization go to create news, i.e.., how outrageous or incendiary should their statements or actions be in order to garner headlines? I admitted that sometimes it’s necessary to create a little theatre to break through the clutter. But…… Continue reading Truth of False

A Cacophony of Content

I’ve had MSNBC as my home page for five years, or more. It has served me well given the range of sources from which the news portal derives its 24/7 fare.One would expect to see a selection from NBC’s news programs, and its siblings CNBC, MSNBC-TV and the network’s local broadcast affiliates. Add to that…… Continue reading A Cacophony of Content