Category Archives: PR & Marketing

Hamas Public Relations Campaign Can’t Change Reality

Hamas, the terrorist organization turned governing power in the recent Palestinian elections, is paying $180,000 to a local media consultant to help them remake their image, according to a report in the Guardian newspaper. Said Hamas PR man Nashat Aqtash, who works from Ramallah in the West Bank: "Hamas has an image problem. The IsraelisContinue reading “Hamas Public Relations Campaign Can’t Change Reality”

Start Spreading the (Fake) News: A Ratings System for Today’s Modern Press Releases

PRWeb CEO David McInnis says “There is nothing sacred or holy about journalism anymore” (other than news from the Vatican Press Office, of course.) But McInnis might as well have said the same thing about public relations. As McInnis said later in a comment on MicroPersuasion: We do not try to mask our users’ pressContinue reading “Start Spreading the (Fake) News: A Ratings System for Today’s Modern Press Releases”

Newspapers Take the Lead While Cable News Networks Bury It

The big news yesterday (or so I thought) was the surprise victory of the militant Hamas Party in the Palestinian elections. This has wide-ranging implications for the region and the world – and since last I checked the United States was still part of the world, I figured this might be something the American mediaContinue reading “Newspapers Take the Lead While Cable News Networks Bury It”

“Naked” Author to McDonald’s: What Have You Blogged For Me Lately?

The new McDonald’s corporate blog, Open for Discussion, has prompted a fair share of discussion over at Naked Conversations, a blog about a book about blogs (I’ll let you figure that one out.) Author Shel Israel says McDonald’s is offering slow service in a fast-food environment, since the blog had only one post after aContinue reading ““Naked” Author to McDonald’s: What Have You Blogged For Me Lately?”

PR and Journalism Bloggers in the “Echo Chamber”

I like to think that my colleagues and peers are smarter than me, work harder than me, and with the exception of Craig Newmark and any L.A. Weekly reporter, are infinitely better looking than me (I tried to post my photo but TypePad kept replacing it with a picture of an engorged Ferret, which boreContinue reading “PR and Journalism Bloggers in the “Echo Chamber””

PR and Journalism Bloggers in the “Echo Chamber”

I like to think that my colleagues and peers are smarter than me, work harder than me, and with the exception of Craig Newmark and any L.A. Weekly reporter, are infinitely better looking than me (I tried to post my photo but TypePad kept replacing it with a picture of an engorged Ferret, which boreContinue reading “PR and Journalism Bloggers in the “Echo Chamber””

Tim Porter and Tom Murphy: The Smartest-Thinking Men in Blog Land

I live my life with few absolutes – making time to read with my daughter, watching every second of American Idol, and picking up The New Yorker when in airports to make myself look smart on business trips, even though I’d much rather read People. In the world of blogs, I have two “absolutes.” TimContinue reading “Tim Porter and Tom Murphy: The Smartest-Thinking Men in Blog Land”

Enter the Modern Mediasphere

Whenever I want to learn about some new communications trend or technology, I don’t turn to the blogosphere – at least not right away. First, I turn to the office next door, where my business partner, Linda Zimmer, is already far ahead of me. But now I can go online and find the same highContinue reading “Enter the Modern Mediasphere”

PR to the Rescue: Ten Slogans to Save Newspapers

Rarely a day goes by when someone isn’t bellyaching about newspapers and their collision course with the recycling heap of history. I believe, as PR and marketing people, we need to step in and help our ink-stained brothers and sisters of the Fourth Estate (which if it were an actual estate would be in foreclosureContinue reading “PR to the Rescue: Ten Slogans to Save Newspapers”

Slow Down, You Move to Fast, You’ve Got to Make the Credibility Last

All parents say that their kids grow up too fast. This isn’t true, of course. Parents live too fast, which is why one day your daughter is riding in the car seat and the next day she’s asking you for the keys. I was going to resolve to slow down in 2006, which if youContinue reading “Slow Down, You Move to Fast, You’ve Got to Make the Credibility Last”