The Perfect PR Storm

Jay Carney on the Hot Seat (Photo: Saul Loeb, Getty Images)You gotta feel for Jay Carney. Not one, not two, but three concurrent crises for which he alone has been saddled to articulate the Administration’s positions. Well, not exactly alone, but compared to how previous administrations have handled such affronts — political or otherwise –…… Continue reading The Perfect PR Storm

On Background

How many media training sessions does one have to endure before taking to heart the trainer’s counsel that nothing is “off the record?” We’ve certainly witnessed a fair share of PR gaffes by newsmakers who thought it was cool to kibbutz with a reporter.Segueing from “off-the-record” to its semantic sibling “on background,” we read with…… Continue reading On Background

News Hole Partisans

Presidential politics was on the menu at Michael’s (alongside the $34 cobb salad) during a recent gathering of our men’s lunch group of PRs, journos and one special guest, the head of a magazine publishing company.The day’s topic explored the variables that might still make a measurable impact on the candidates’ respective fates. It included…… Continue reading News Hole Partisans

McClellan Comes Clean

In what can only be characterized as a cleansing of his soul, Politico today broke the exclusive that former Bush mouthpiece Scott McClellan, a once-frequent subject of this blog, has penned a tell-all. And we hear it won’t be pretty for his former puppeteers. “The eagerly awaited book, while recounting many fond memories of Bush…… Continue reading McClellan Comes Clean

Next Question…Please!

Some believe that the process of preparing newsmakers for interviews, i.e., media training, is evil. I’m not one of them. After all, why avail oneself for an interview without a POV and an action plan to bring it to life? And who said that those behind the camera should be the only ones to have…… Continue reading Next Question…Please!

Too Much Credit

I stumbled upon a press release from one Lloyd Chapman, president of the American Small Business League, which alleges that White House’s PR operatives have killed a number of news stories across a range of MSM outlets. (Actually, it was Mr. Chapman’s name and the name of his organization that mostly were spiked.)At issue is…… Continue reading Too Much Credit