The New York Times web site was just hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army, and it wasn’t the Times fault. It turns out a reseller of a vendor was compromised and from there the Army moved upstream to the Times. No matter. The Times is left with a credibility issue and a smirch on its […]
Posted on August 29th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 192 Comments »
Here is an interesting proposal from a journalism teacher for changing curricula to a digital focus. Rather than newspapers and magazines, she is calling for teaching multimedia. Her view is correct. Journalism schools to survive have to change, so what about PR? Public relations, because it is so close to journalism, also needs to shift […]
Posted on August 28th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 417 Comments »
It takes preening self-confidence to call an attorney general who just sued you a “political hack.” That is what Donald Trump has done, and of course, he made headlines yet again. Trump is easy to dislike. He is his own outrageous publicist and he gets away with playing the “bad boy” time and again. Perhaps […]
Posted on August 27th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 197 Comments »
Microsoft is facing a dilemma with the announcement of Steve Ballmer’s upcoming retirement. Should it adapt Ballmer’s grand plan to integrate the company around services and hardware? Should it cut back to money-making software and get out of marginal businesses? Ballmer will not be in control to see integration through, and it will take years. […]
Posted on August 26th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 183 Comments »
How do you persuade people to do a vital but boring job? That is the issue the Air Force is facing as it tries to staff its ranks of drone pilots. The job is hours and hours of guiding remotely piloted aircraft across the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan. There are so few Air Force […]
Posted on August 23rd, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 183 Comments »
It is eye-opening how deep and broad an advocacy organization can get when it concentrates on a single issue. The revelation in this article about the National Rifle Association is that the NRA has names and addresses of millions of gun owners in its databases. The irony, of course, is that the NRA opposes any […]
Posted on August 22nd, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 171 Comments »
Amazon.com’s media spokesperson has an uninteresting job. To every reporter’s query, his response is “No comment.” He can get away with stiffing the press as long as Amazon is riding high, but what will happen when it isn’t? He will lack credibility and leverage with journalists who will report their stories as they see them. […]
Posted on August 20th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 184 Comments »
Public relations depends on persuasion — the ability to discuss ideas and over time turn an opponent into an ally. PR rarely resorts to violence to make a point because bodily harm persuades no one. It only cows them until the time is right to rise again. This is why the lack of restraint in […]
Posted on August 19th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 190 Comments »
When is it time to cut losses and bow to what seems inevitable? This is an issue facing Time Warner cable in its face-off with CBS. Time Warner has dropped CBS from its transmission in a dispute over fees. Angry householders have levelled a class action suit against Time Warner and others are abandoning cable […]
Posted on August 16th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 190 Comments »
What do you do after you have fired someone publicly? You make a public apology. That is what the CEO of AOL did. He acknowledged to employees that he made an emotional decision when he sacked an employee for taking pictures at an all-hands meeting. The former employee apparently has not gotten his job back. […]
Posted on August 15th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 203 Comments »
