It is simply amazing in this day and age that prominent people will do media interviews without any preparation. "Winging" a media interview is a prescription for disaster. Would a business executive enter a negotiation without any preparation? Of course not. But doing a media interview that will be seen or heard by thousands of customers and stakeholders without planning is ignorant. ...
Archive for the ‘National News’ Category
OFF-THE-RECORD FRAUGHT WITH DANGER
Seasoned media relations professionals cringe at the term "off-the-record." In fact, many media trainers (we included) simply tell our clients not to go off-the-record in media interviews. Why? Because journalists all seem to have different views on what exactly considered on or off-the-record. Some journos say whatever is said can NEVER be revealed. Others will say if the person going...
CRISES: STARBUCKS OVERREACTS; YETI SLOW TO REACT
It seems as if a new company faces a new crisis on a daily basis. The reality is in today's social media environment even a single person being offended can result in a communications nightmare. The overriding key to handling any crisis is to be prepared for it before it happens. Trying to deal with a crisis during the crisis could be compared to nailing Jello to a tree. It won't work. ...
ATTACKING NRA NOT SOUND BUSINESS STRATEGY
A whole slew of companies are publicly going after the NRA and its 4.5 million members (a PEW study puts that closer to 14 million) and its supporters after the recent school shooting that killed 17 in Florida. While this might garner some instant short-term goodwill from the many people and groups who feel some sort of gun control is now necessary, as a long-term strategy for a business it is ...
ARE NEWS RELEASES STILL VALUABLE?
A hot topic in media circles today is "Are news releases valuable anymore?" In an environment where social media seems to reign supreme, a traditional news release seems a tad outdated. Think of dial-up Internet service. Blockbuster video? The theory is why invest time and effort on developing a news release (don't call it a "press release." It is for all the media, not just newspapers....
RULES JOURNOS SHOULD FOLLOW (BUT OFTEN DON’T)
As a long-time public relations practitioner (also known as a PR puke, flack, mouthpiece, media whore, etc.) of more than 25 years, I have seen tremendous changes in the way many journalists do their jobs, and the many challenges they face.
Yes, they are often justified in despising those PR folks who pitch them silly stories in areas they don’...
DAMORE FIRING HIGHLIGHTS GOOGLE DICTATORSHIP
You almost have to feel sorry for James Damore, an engineer at Google who had the temerity to even question the issue of gender equality in the tech industry in a lengthy memo he posted. "Damore asserted in his 3,000-word document that circulated inside the company last week that 'Google's left bias has created a politically correct monoculture' which prevented honest discussion of diversity," ...
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