Dick Grove
Good Journalism and Racism
07.26.10
Where truth and justice become as incompatible as oil and water…
It’s a sad state of affairs when the most truthful bit of reporting is now coming from the Opinion and Op-Ed pages rather than the news side of the media. “The Shirley Sherrod Affair” as it has become known, has highlighted once again two continuing truths in our society…racism with all its ugly connotations still lingers near the surface within this country’s fabric, and…the once proud news media has lost its soul to rumor, innuendo, and its own version of “gotcha politics.” Somewhere Walter Cronkite and David Brinkley are rolling over.
Frank Rich in his New York Times column, Op-Ed Columnist: There’s a Battle Outside and It Is Still Ragin’ said it best, “…we reached a new low last week. What does it say about America now, and where it is heading, that a racial provocateur, wielding a deceptively edited video, could not only smear an innocent woman but make every national institution that touched the story look bad? The White House, the N.A.A.C.P. and the news media were all soiled by this episode. Meanwhile, the majority of Americans, who believe in fundamental fairness for all, grapple with the poisonous residue left behind by the many powerful people of all stripes who served as accessories to a high-tech lynching.”
What a debacle…but it’s one that was bound to happen. People are quick to assume speculation for facts especially with today’s ability to put edited video’s up on YouTube and amateur “i-journalism” becoming a real news source to many news agencies in these recessionary times. And what is most disturbing is news agencies taking this edited video and its “summation” without really doing their due diligence as journalists. What ever happened to fact checking before reporting? Just because it is online doesn’t mean it is credible…really? However, it is almost like a feeding frenzy takes over in the media and sensationalism precedes the truth today. What’s perhaps most disturbing is that the news agencies know this, but many, particularly in the broadcast arena where the 24/7 news cycle dominates and dictates, have purposely set aside good journalism for silly showmanship, ratings, and “gotcha politics.”
In my office I have a TV tuned to one of the cable news channels all day…but with the sound off and closed captions filling the void. This allows me to notice a potentially impactful story without being verbally accosted. Recently on a road trip I tried just the opposite. I listened, without visuals…without the faces of the anchors and endless pundits…to the same cable broadcasts on satellite radio for an extended period. I don’t recommend this for those that care about journalism as it once was. Rather than using the extended time of a 24-hour cycle to develop any stories in depth or with clarity, the networks have sunk to an endless fifteen to twenty minute repetition of the same headline often based on speculation or rumor or sound bite, and usually preceded by a promo prior to a commercial break based on the same rumor or speculation…seldom on verified facts.
Is it really any wonder that Shirley Sherrod’s heartfelt speech or her own esteemed background in the Civil Rights movement was compressed and regurgitated as a five-second cable news promo of “What Racism Looks Like.”
Some might say that as a PR professional, I have to take at least some of the blame for turning broadcast journalism into quick sound bites and authoritative pundits crowding our airways. Perhaps, but I’m just old fashioned enough to know I prefer, and our clients greatly prefer, a story in-full, fleshed out, with details and facts checked. Even in this egalitarian age where everyone can be heard, read, and even seen on the Internet…equal and heard doesn’t always mean correct.
Categories: Grove Report
Ryan Gerding
Sure, Blame the PR Guy
06.22.10
The saying goes that in war, the first casualty is truth. And when it comes to embarrassing or unflattering media coverage, the first casualty is usually the PR guy.
At least that’s the case in the current dustup over a Rolling Stone profile of General Stanley McChrystal, the US Commander in Afghanistan. The profile, titled “The Runaway General” portrays McChrystal and his subordinates as derisive toward Obama administration officials.
Hours after word of the story got out to the national media, McChrystal’s press aide resigned. From today’s Washington Post
Duncan Boothby, who has been on McChrystal’s staff for roughly a year, was the first casualty of a controversy that prompted White House officials to summon the general to the White House to explain the remarks in the profile that will appear in this week’s issue of Rolling Stone.
Boothby was heavily involved in arranging access for journalist Michael Hastings to McChrystal and his staff this year so Hastings could write the profile, titled “The Runaway General.”
Aside from having a name that sounds like the evil fraternity guy in a Revenge of the Nerds film, I think the only thing Mr. Boothby is guilty of is doing exactly what he was asked to do. Sure, he may have arranged for the journalist to have access to McChrystal and his staff. And at the time, he probably got a pat on the back for what could have been a pretty substantial profile.
But ol’ Boothby didn’t do the interviews. He wasn’t the one criticizing the administration. That was McChrystal and his aides. Did they not think that the things they said–over and over–to a journalist writing an article for Rolling Stone might actually, you know, show up in the article in Rolling Stone? Didn’t they see the reporter scribbling furiously with pen and paper as they ridiculed their Commander In Chief and his representatives? When we do media training sessions for our clients, we make it pretty clear that NOTHING IS OFF THE RECORD. If you say it anywhere near a reporter or a microphone, expect that it will be reported. Just ask Carly Fiorina.
Now, should the PR guy have noticed when the things being said before the reporter were inflammatory? Yes. Should the PR guy have directed the conversations–and there appeared to be many–away from disparaging the administration? Without question. In that regard, the PR guy failed his client.
But blaming the PR guy for this fiasco is like blaming the guy who sold you your car when you get a speeding ticket.
Categories: Behind the scenes
Dick Grove
Social Media Has Made Us One Big Community Again
06.13.10
But many of the doors are now locked…
I come from the Midwest and grew up in a place and a time that symbolizes both in fiction and reality a simpler way of life and a more trusting way of life. It’s actually true, you know, we knew most of our neighbors…the good ones and the bad ones…by their first names. Communication technology was so advanced when I was a kid in that small town that most families even had a telephone…only one of course, and centrally located in a foyer or main hallway. We even knew the local operator by their first name and she (yes, sexism was rampant at the local telephone exchange) would listen in, as all of us would periodically, on a party line to catch the latest gossip. “Party line”…that’s similar to an online forum for you folks of less advanced years. And it’s also true that locks more often than not went untested and unused. It wasn’t a matter of naïveté’ but rather of trust amongst us that our neighbors within the community wouldn’t breach our privacy. And if the need to do so arose, there must be a pretty damn good reason…not for their personal nefarious gain but usually for our own safety or protection. We actually looked out for each other in those small communities.
But that was a long time ago in a place now far away. Communities are no longer defined by geographic and cultural borders nestled against a river or mountain or seashore, and held together by a common goal of common interests, good will and advancement. Communities in today’s Social Media age are virtual without physical borders. And while still bound together with common interests and advancement, good will isn’t a key element any longer except as a courtesy to not impede the advancement of the common interest or knowledge. Facebook, Linked in, Twitter, et.al. are the new “hometowns” of everyone, everywhere…hundreds of millions of human beings connected with other hundreds of millions of human beings sharing everything from the mundane of pet food recipes and relationship gossip to the importance of intricate technological formulas and global business strategies…and literally everything in between. Staggering! .
And “privacy”…well ironically that’s gotten a little more complicated. On one hand on the personal side we can’t wait to reach out and expand our network of relationships with others of similar interests, goals, and commonalities. But to do so, we must by definition relinquish that same information to the Internet abyss as the bait to attract others to join our community network. But isn’t that the point of using social media to expand and grow your community…to open ourselves up?
It’s on the business side however where the irony of social media privacy is even more prevalent. Networking as a business tool is as old as social mankind itself. Learning of someone or something new from another is the very essence of building or maintaining a successful business. I believe it’s called progress. And obviously one of the real business advantages of the Internet and social media in particular is its networking capability. Why then if networking is so important to success, do so many businesses and business executives decide to go “stealth” i.e., make themselves difficult or impossible to contact by others that might greatly expand their business acumen? It’s like locking your door with a triple lock within the business community you’ve chosen to live. My favorite is the private email or non-existent email address…but with an added layer of an old-fashioned receptionist gatekeeper to keep it even more secret. Or on Linked in for example, one is forced to play a game of “Six Degrees of Separation” just to hopefully make contact…not to invade someone’s privacy but to simply network for positive results.
Modern technology…the Internet…social media…If you’re going to enjoy the benefits, get used to a few inconveniences. Even in a small town in a time long ago, we knew that hiding was a dumb way to grow a community or a business.
Categories: Grove Report
Ryan Gerding
He Got one Call Right
06.03.10
The baseball world is in an uproar over a badly blown call that ruined a perfect game by Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga. A perfect game is one of the rarest feats in baseball. Though there have already been two this season, in all of recorded baseball history there have only been 20. A pitcher throws a perfect game when he gets every single batter out. No hits, no walks, nobody reaches base. Last night, Galarraga was one out away from a perfect game. History was about to be made. The final batter tapped a slow ground ball to the second baseman, who turned and fired it to Galarraga who was covering first base. First base umpire called the runner safe. The perfect game was ruined. One small problem: he was out. The replay pretty clearly showed that Galaragga had caught the ball well before the runner reached first.
Fans were apoplectic. Online message board and Twitter caught fire. The manager was furious. Galarraga’s teammates berated the umpire as soon as the game was over. The Governor of Michigan has even gotten into the fray. Umpire Jim Joyce, who has been calling games for more than two decades, instantly became the most hated man in baseball. And while there’s no doubt Joyce made a bad call on that play, from a public relations perspective, the next call he made was spot on.
Umpires generally don’t talk to the media. In fact, they almost never do, and especially not immediately after making a controversial–and incorrect call. But Jim Joyce did. Moments after heading to the umpire’s locker room, Joyce agreed to talk to the media. And he did something that crisis communicators and PR pros wish their CEOs and politicians would do more often: he very quickly, very succinctly said, “I made a mistake.”
“It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the (stuff) out of it,” Joyce said, looking and sounding distraught as he paced in the umpires’ locker room. “I just cost that kid a perfect game.”– Associated Press
Then, with tears in his eyes, he sought out the pitcher whose perfect game he ruined, gave him a hug and apologized. I’m guessing that Jim Joyce probably hasn’t gotten a lot of crisis communication training. I’m assuming he’s not had many sessions with highly paid media trainers. Yet in a few short moments, he was able to do what most public figures facing intense scrutiny cannot our would not do.
Did it help? Maybe a little. Fans will be fans and I’m certain when Joyce takes the field to umpire today he will be met with a chorus of boos. But perhaps among some of the people whose opinion matters most to Joyce, the anger has been tempered a bit.
Jim Leyland, Detroit’s manager declared after the game (and the apology from Joyce), “the players are human, the umpires are human, the managers are human.” And even Galarraga, the pitcher whose dreams of a perfect game were destroyed, seemed to be taken by Joyce’s response. “You don’t see an umpire after the game come out and say, `Hey, let me tell you I’m sorry. He felt really bad. He didn’t even shower.”
Jim Joyce’s apology for the bad call won’t make the call go away. Nor will it likely keep him from always being remembered as the guy who ruined a perfect game. But maybe, just maybe, the way he handled the situation with honesty and humility, will at least give some folks pause before vilifying a guy who probably feels almost as bad as the person whose dreams he ruined.
Categories: pr marketing
Cindy West
The Love And Hate Relationship We Have With Facebook
05.16.10
I have watched the debate over Facebook Privacy issues all week and it is fascinating. It’s like a feeding frenzy, probably one of the dilemmas of Social Media. From so called “influential’s” canceling their Facebook pages, to let’s burn CEO-Mark Zuckerberg at the stake for his evil intentions. All this consternation triggered by f8 and an exposed foolish chat post. I guess he wasn’t thinking about his own privacy when he posted that.
It shouldn’t come as a big surprise to those of us that regularly surf the internet, but the majority of our data has been collected way before Facebook came to the web. To raise such a fuss now is making ourselves look foolish, since we actually opted in from the beginning. Common sense tells you nothing in life is free. It is illogical to think you can provide a service to millions of people at zero-cost to anyone.
A lesson I learned a while back, is when you get something for free it is easy to get addicted and hard to go without when the owners of that service, decide the free ride is up and now you have to pony up to stay connected. Darn that GM for putting a “free” satellite radio in my car.
And what’s been the upside? I have met some amazing people on Facebook. I have connected with relatives I haven’t seen for years and my classmates from 19XX…(gotta go to Facebook if you want me to share that!) People have reunited with each other, all possible because of Facebook. Since when have you had so many friends?
Want PRIVACY? You’re in control because you are the one that hits UPLOAD & SHARE. By adjusting your settings you decide whom you want to share it with and what others can share about you. And if it goes beyond that…maybe you shouldn’t have posted it to begin with.
I agree with one thing. Facebook could make the privacy settings easier to navigate. And those oversized pop-up ads are a little much. I would ask that they be balanced on the side of the page and not allowed to exceed the width of the column.
But seriously, if you truly want to have an opt-in or opt-out on privacy, then maybe Facebook should become a platform for which you pay. Although, you could always go back to typing emails. Now there’s a fail-safe platform for privacy.
Here’s my revolutionary suggestion if you really and truly value your privacy …don’t post it. I have a friend, quite intelligent and very social, but has never once communicated via email or ever made an online purchase…and certainly doesn’t socialize on Facebook. He’s digitally disconnected, but content.
But for me a life without Facebook… would be frankly…boring.
Categories: pr marketing
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