Ever since a national post office started in the time of Benjamin Franklin, there have been two assumptions about it. It’s a business. It’s an essential service even if it loses money. Now the clashing views are coming to a head with the post office facing default by the beginning of next month. Unlike Franklin’s […]
Posted on July 19th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 51 Comments »
For those who don’t live in or near New Jersey, the state’s governor has a political style of in-your-face rudeness. He is not above calling reporters “idiots” and telling them to shut up. He verbally assaults private citizens as well — in public. And, it seems to be working for him. Citizens of the state […]
Posted on July 18th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 168 Comments »
As PR practitioners we trust people. After all, employees and consumers keep organizations in existence. But what does an organization do when people are living in denial and refuse to see a danger confronting them? This appears to be the case here. The city of San Bernardino had plenty of warning that it could not […]
Posted on July 17th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 187 Comments »
Here are two cases of publicity that backfired. Both deal with the cost of “green” jet fuel for military aircraft. Although the demonstrations in the Navy and Air Force were tests of the viability of alternative fuel, the cost of $26 per gallon and $59 a gallon respectively set teeth on edge in Congress. […]
Posted on July 16th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 174 Comments »
Is it smart PR to call the President of the United States a liar, or is it a gaffe even though the charge is true? Mitt Romney has released an ad that accuses the President of lying about him and about Hillary Clinton when she ran for the nomination four years ago. Romney has […]
Posted on July 13th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 201 Comments »
When is the public owed an explanation for a leader’s absence? Here is what appears to be a clear-cut case. Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr suddenly disappeared weeks ago and is reported to be under medical treatment. His office and his people are silent about what the problem(s) might be. The citizens in his district at […]
Posted on July 12th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 193 Comments »
This essay reports the results of a survey of financial executives. Twenty-four percent of them said rule-breaking was an essential part of being successful. That included illegal and unethical conduct such as insider trading. If this is a true reflection of the industry, CEOs of financial firms should be concerned. They know already the perils […]
Posted on July 11th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 47 Comments »
The 2012 election has spawned interesting voter tools and learning games that show how news publishers are adapting to the internet. Here is a list worth reviewing. These applications are more than publicity for the media. They are good public relations as well. The news media have forged new paths in the production and dissemination […]
Posted on July 10th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 177 Comments »
Indentured servitude hasn’t been a factor in American history since the early 1700′s. But, with the explosion of student loan debts and an inability to pay them off, it looks as if it has appeared again. This time, however, the master is not a landowner but a financial institution. The difference between then and now […]
Posted on July 9th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 202 Comments »
Here is one way to tick off customers, create bad PR and kill your budding business — offer a news service with fake bylines. A Chicago start-up, called Journatic, supplies newspapers with hyperlocal reporting but to disguise how it does it, the service created mythical names as authors of its stories. Newspapers are not happy. Journatic lost customers, […]
Posted on July 6th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 182 Comments »
