Liars have a perennial problem — getting tangled in fabrications. They lie then lie again to cover the first lie and so forth. The problem comes when someone documents their words and shows the inconsistencies. Consider this example. President Trump lied about his son’s meeting with the Russians. Then, when caught out, he lied again […]
Posted on August 6th, 2018 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 138 Comments »
Artificial intelligence is getting closer to taking on and beating humans even in highly complex and unstructured games. DeepMind announced that its AI agents exceed human level gameplay in Quake III. This is an ever-changing 3D environment in which one captures the flag. The scientists who prepped the play had their AI program compete each […]
Posted on July 4th, 2018 by admin
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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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There isn’t much recourse when a reporter gets a story wrong. One can protest to the journalist and hope he makes a correction. But, if the reporter insists that he has multiple sources for his article, one is at a disadvantage in arguing. In a case we’re handling now, we don’t know the facts beyond […]
Posted on March 30th, 2015 by admin
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PR practitioners know from their first days in the business never to get ahead of facts, particularly in a crisis. Scientists learn the same lesson when announcing discoveries. That is why this come-down for Russian biologists is so embarrassing. Some one jumped the gun, ignored peer review and leaked the news. Now the Russian team […]
Posted on March 13th, 2013 by admin
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Lately I’ve noticed my more heavily edited pics are getting more likes. To assume that more apps/edits equate to more attention is short-sighted. Format is no substitute for content, and likes aren’t the best engagement metric.** But with that said, here are the apps I’ve used to create my five most-liked photos on Instagram. 1) Camera+ […]
Posted on September 12th, 2012 by admin
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We talk a lot about creating engagement between brands and consumers. And that’s because social platforms are an engagement tool, not a broadcast tool. But after awhile, it can start to sound like we’re trying to arrange marriages. Perhaps it’s the fact that several of my coworkers were recently married or are preparing to walk down […]
Posted on March 1st, 2011 by admin
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Is it possible to have a major disaster and get away with it? It is. The Mexican government had one of the worst well blow-outs at sea in history in 1979. As the article notes, few remember it, yet it was nearly identical to the disaster in the Gulf that is still unfolding. The Soviet […]
Posted on July 16th, 2010 by admin
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Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship Conference 2010 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. There was a great turnout with CSR and PR people from every industry and there were great discussions throughout the three days. Unfortunately the pressures of the day job have delayed this post, […]
Posted on April 23rd, 2010 by admin
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How is this for media relations? You badger a reporter until he gets angry and sends an abusive e-mail to his editor that accidentally comes to you. You then put out a press release quoting the e-mail, and you get the reporter fired. Nice, huh? That is what apparently happened here. With media rapport like […]
Posted on March 22nd, 2010 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 190 Comments »
