I’ve written here before about President Trump’s use of ad hominem invective against opponents. He gives derogatory nicknames to them and implies or says outright that they aren’t effective. He’s at it again with the suggestion that Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden is senile. There is just enough possible truth to the charge to make […]
Posted on March 11th, 2020 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 150 Comments »
When an organization has bad luck, it sometimes can’t get away from negative reports. United, still reeling from pulling a passenger off one of its planes, now has to deal with killing a giant rabbit on one of its flights. Ordinarily a story like that would barely get a mention, but United is in the […]
Posted on April 28th, 2017 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 197 Comments »
Sometimes, though rarely, a reporter will fess up and admit that a story was wrong. Here is a spectacular case. It took an impartial investigation to determine that Rolling Stone’s writer was duped and the publication with it. One should not expect this to happen often. A reporter will fight tenaciously to vet and protect […]
Posted on April 6th, 2015 by admin
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One wonders what the message of the just-completed Davos forum really is. The elite of the world get together to talk, play and sup. At a time when the rest of the world is struggling with austerity? The perception is that the wealthy are untouched by the miseries of others and maybe, uncaring. On the […]
Posted on January 30th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 187 Comments »
When you stake your future on a product and suddenly the product appears unsafe, one is left more than red-faced. That is the position General Motors finds itself in with its Chevrolet Volt. The auto’s lithium batteries are undergoing a Federal investigation because they have either caught fire or begun to smoke in two […]
Posted on November 29th, 2011 by admin
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Actions like this can destroy the reputation of a newspaper. It is good that the Wall Street Journal covered in detail what happened and that the executive stepped down. However, the Journal earns plenty of demerits for not discovering this itself and stopping it. It took a whistleblower to bring the seamy affair to light. […]
Posted on October 14th, 2011 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 194 Comments »
Apropos of yesterday’s post about PR and hackers, here is a chilling incident in which PR was involved. The article is long and complex but worth reading for the ease with which a hacker’s collective called “Anonymous” pierced the security of a company’s computers. Tweet This Post
Posted on February 11th, 2011 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 173 Comments »
NASCAR is engaged in smart PR through following EPA guidelines for an ethanol fuel mix. However, what the organization is doing is not new. At the beginning of auto racing more than 100 years ago, many improvements to chassis, power trains and tires were debuted on race cars first then made their way to the street. […]
Posted on October 20th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 182 Comments »
How stupid is this? Hiring extras for your press conference and allowing them to give interviews to the press under the guise of average citizens. Netflix should be embarrassed and ashamed. To claim it was a publicity stunt that went awry is not enough of an excuse to make up for trying to fool the […]
Posted on September 25th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 409 Comments »
This story, if true, is a case study in how to ruin a company’s reputation. The allegations are that Dell Computer manufactured faulty computers, sold them to the public then hid the truth about bad components in them. Of course, the story is from one side of a court battle. Dell has yet to weigh in. Still, […]
Posted on June 30th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 169 Comments »
