Until 60 Minutes called into question the very truthfulness of Lance Armstrong’s Oprah interview we were focused mainly on a) his lack of affect, insufficient wearing of sackcloth and ashes and b) that his appearance was a ploy to obtain forgiveness and re-gain permission to officially compete in some sanctioned sporting events. Here is what I wrote […]

Public Relations: When journalism goes wrong: Journalism Woodward and Bernstein brought down President Nixon. Actors Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman lionized them in “All the President’s Men” and a thousand reporting careers were launched. Thirty years later, journalists, in many eyes, have descended from democracy-saving heroes to untrustworthy jackals. From a lying NY Times reporter to CBS’s misreporting of […]

Public Relations: Packing A Box Full of Creative PR: Looking for a way to put your company or organization on the map? Try inspiration and not just dollars. Case in point, the N.C. Forestry Association. After spending 15 times as much money on traditional methods of educating the public through the media, the group once struck […]

Public Relations: OJ Simpson and Princess Diana: Powerful Events With a Communications Lesson: Crisis communications At the time they happened, the death of the Princess of Wales and the trial of OJ Simpson were substantial media events that upset or angered many. However, there was one important public relations lesson inherent in both cases. Let’s begin with […]

Public Relations: Is it Really Media Overkill?: Understanding the media John F. Kennedy Jr. and I attended Outward Bound survivalist school in Maine in 1977, but I never saw him because we went on different dates. Nevertheless – like many others – I mourned his death as though I personally knew him and his family. I said […]

Public Relations: Goodbye to NPR’s Bob Edwards: Bob Edwards, the mellifluous, avuncular, iconic – pick an adjective – anchor of NPR’s Morning Edition since its inception in 1979 was booted at the end of April 2004. NPR ratings doubled in the previous 10 years on his watch. Edwards’ program was second only to Rush Limbaugh in […]

Public Relations: Going on the Offense to Benefit Community and Company: Crisis planning A number of years ago I read that Bob Ingram, Chief Executive Officer of Glaxo Wellcome’s U-S operations would become CEO of Glaxo’s entire worldwide pharmaceutical operations (he has since retired), my first thought was, “I am not surprised.” I had already begun writing […]

Public Relations: Athletes Need to Focus Messages Too: Communications While watching the summer Olympics one year, I saw athletic triumphs, exciting interviews, and…. a handful of embarrassing encounters with the media. A losing swimmer harshly criticized the winner and later retracted her inflammatory words. A gymnast reeled off criticisms she will regret. Interviewers flummoxed athletes with questions […]

Public Relations: Aggravating Media – Understanding Them: A high-powered lawyer sat next to me at a civic club meeting and asked, “Why are the news media so negative?” The night before a media-training session, the vice president of an HMO asked, “Why do the media beat up on my industry?” At a session with about 14 […]

Public Relations: A Veteran’s Tips For Surviving the Media: Crisis communications If you want the bottom line on how to save your skin with the press, talk to someone who has been in the trenches. Richard “Rick” Barentine – the former CEO of the International Home Furnishing Marketing Association – jousted successfully with media for 22 years. […]