Lack Of PR

I'll tell you who could use a little help from some Public Relations professionals: Hollywooders. Those at the top of the list include Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and Chris Brown. Their latest antics have proven foolish, childish, and violent, and none of them are enjoying good publicity right now. However, as the old addage goes: Any publicity is good publicity. In the case of celebs, that may have some truth to it.

Non-Profit Public Relations

Interested in a career in non-profit PR? Check out this site for some helpful tips and insights.

Corporate Public Relations

Corporate PR, while only one aspect of the world of public relations, can play a large part in society. This site provides some interesting articles by a PR professional named Elizabeth Albrycht. I thought that fellow classmates mind find the information interesting.

World War II Public Relations

World War II was a time of propaganda. Nowadays, the word "propaganda" has a negative connotation; we relate it to the words "misleading," "false," and "biased." However, in those days the term could quite realistically be connected with the idea of public relations: it was a means of shaping public opinion through a variety of ways. Admittedly, some of those ways were less than honest, but the idea was the same. This site has several press releases that were written during World War II. They illustrate the same ideas and practices that we use today.

Bernanke's PR Challenge

I saw this article on the Wall Street Journal about the public relations involved in current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's job. I thought it was interesting.

Ragan.com

Ragan.com is great resource for PR professionals (or those who would like to become PR professionals). It includes articles about PR and new technologies that are influencing the way that PR people are doing their jobs.

The LDS PR Machine (Again)

This last week I got onto LDS.org to see what was going on in the newsroom. It was there that I realized that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is certainly not behind the times when it comes to new web 2.0 technologies and connecting with people in new ways. These new ways include youtube, text-alerts, email, widgets, Facebook, RSS feeds, and, yes, even Twitter. The Church of Jesus Christ has always been interested in staying on top of new technologies in order to stay in touch with its members across the globe, and across the age gap. It used to be that when you search for anything on the Church online, you only found anit-mormon sites. Now the Church has put out so much information, including a new series of youtube videos that focuses on explaining its doctrines, that they can compete with everyone who has something negative to say about the Church.

Good Advice

I came across this article written by a PR specialist about how to help entrepreneurs start a business and get the media attention that they want. She provides some great ideas on how to get the stories published that you want. Good stuff.

Local PR Jobs

You don't need to look far for a job in PR. These local businesses just might be what you're looking for.

Public Misinformation

A recent article published by USA Today states that ten years after the horrific Columbine shootings, where fifteen people were killed including the two gunsmen, a large portion of the information that the public had received was incorrect. It says that after the shooting the two gunmen were portrayed as "loners" and "goths" who were angry at the world for years of being bullied and mistreated. It says that the media painted them as depressed, antisocial, and victims of violent video games. The article published by USA Today contradicts these ideas. It says that the attack planned by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold was not a cry for help, or a retaliation, but a grand show for all to see and fear. In many ways, the media responded exactly how the two murderers wanted them to. 

Where were the PR people when all of this was going on? Were the media and the public just getting fed the information that they wanted to hear? Does it make it easier to justify what happened if we think that a few nameless bullies and jocks were the ones to blame? I wonder how the information got to the media, how much of it was pure assumption, and who was in charge of sharing that information.

The LDS PR Machine

Without going into the politics of it, the LDS church has been in the news quite a bit lately for various reasons: propostion 8 and, more recently, HBO's airing of "Big Love", in which they supposedly depicted a sacred LDS temple ceremony. Now, you can find just about any opinion about the LDS church on the internet, from love it, to hate it, to don't care, to don't know. But there is one thing you can't argue with: the LDS church knows a thing or two about effective public relations. The church, in my opinion, knows how to work with all of the various publics that it interacts with, both in Utah and outside of Utah. Understanding your publics and knowing how to interact and work with them is the first step to effective PR.

Whoops-a-daisy

President Obama recently became the first president to do a nighttime talk show while serving as president. What does he do to take advantage of the moment? He makes a seriously no-no gaffe by comparing his bowling ability to "watching the special olympics." Whoops. Not supposed to say that on national television, especially not when you're the freaking president of the United States.
The Onion, seizing the opportunity, said this: "Obama on gaffe: Sorry, I acted like a retard." Now, this could be a PR problem. Lots of special olympics enthusiasts could be angry. But Obama made a smart choice. While on the plane ride back to Washington after taping the show (and before it aired on national television), Obama gave the president of the special olympics a call to forewarn him about his inappropriate joke and apologize. The president of the special olympics said that he was touched by Obama's sincerity and didn't think that Obama was trying to be malicious with his comment. The Late Show with Jay Leno came and went, with a little, but not much, attention about the inappropriate comment. Disaster averted.

Celebrity President

Obama was on Jay Leno tonight, becoming the first US president ever to go on Jay Leno while serving as president. He didn't hesitate to further his political philosophy. I don't know how I feel about the celebrity status of our current president. The first thing I thought is, "Doesn't he have something else to be doing." I understand that this is a new-age way to connect with the public, but I think that you have to be careful when selecting a forum.

Political PR

I recently watched the movie "W", starring Josh Brolin and directed by Oliver Stone. It made me wonder about the public relations involved in being president of the United States and trying to push your political agenda.

Karl Rove in the movie is depicted as a weasily little guy, annoying but brilliant. I guess that is what PR people are: annoying and brilliant.

Public Relations Politics

Obama's pessimistic tone shifted to one of optimism and hope. I wonder if he thought maybe he was partly responsible for the low investor confidence lately. Good for him. Good for him.

What Will We Do Without Their Razor-Sharp Political Advice?

Oh, the Oscars. I can't help but watch and laugh. You know, for a bunch of actors they sure put on a lousy show when you bunch 'em all together in one room. You'd think that actors would be great at PR. They lack one essential ingredient, however: sincerity.

R U Kidding Me?

During the current semester, we have discussed several applications of technology to our increasingly technological world. While I have been in favor, for the most part, of continuing technologiocal research as a way of benefiting the world (i.e., imporved medical care, greater crop production, etc.), I think that we must be wary of the monster that we are creating. I am talking about cell phone and internet use, espectially among teens, including the ever-increasing "text message." I believe that , while these new technologies are making communication acroos great distances easier than ever, we, a society, are becoming more and more distant and alienated from everyday face-to-face social interaction. I believe that this is not only silly and wasteful (my 16-year-old sister texts my mom from her bedroom and asks her to make her breakfast), but that it is not conducive to the necessary social development of our young people.

Technology is great. That's an understatement. Technology has revolutionized the way that we do almost anything today. It has extended life and improved the quality thereof. Technology has made life easier and more efficient. Technology has provided solutions and possibilities to problems amd situations that have existed for thousands of years. Having said that, it is now our responsibility to make sure that technology continues to benefit society, not cripple and weaken it. We must decide today what kind of future we want for the up-and-coming generation. I believe that in order to produce intelligent, personable, critically-thinking adults, we have to start when those are still in their developing years. We have to start now.

How 'bout them Jazz?

Just when I was ready to count the Jazz out, they go and dethrone the mighty Lakers. Anytime when the Jazz win and the Lakers lose, it's a good day. But when it's the Jazz handing the Lakers the loss ... well, that's just sweet. Boozer has been out for months, now, and Jazz have been without all around contributor Andrei Kirilenko for a few weeks. With their hit-and-miss schedule, I began to look forward to next year when the Jazz's lineup gets revamped: I gave up too soon. The Jazz gave their home crowd a show Wednesday night, with Deron Williams and Paul Millsap hooking up several times for some sweet pick 'n rolls. It's nice to see Kobe whine.

Looking Around

I was searching the web tonight looking for some good info on public relations and found this government site that I was thought was extremely helpful and thorough. Click here to check it out. I read some stuff on there that I had never heard about public relations. Apparently, after five years of full-time PR work or teaching, you can take an Examination for Accredidation and become an accredited PR professional.

Information on the website also said that from 2006 to 2016, the public relations field is expected to grow by 18%, which is above average for all fields. That's good news for us PR folk hoping to get a job; it does, however, also state that the field is getting more and more competitive. Better get your A game on.

Superbowl!!!

Oh, I wanted Arizona to pull it off. They just scored too early. They scored two and a half minutes too soon. And you gotta give it to Pittsburg. Holmes made an amazing catch. I couldn't help but think about the public relations aspect of the superbowl: the commercials that ran, the half time show, the planning that went into it, the quantitative and qualitative data, the objectives, the results...what a headache! I can't imagine the man-hours that go into an event like the Superbowl.

The Peanut Corporation

The Peanut Corporation, with a processing facility in Blakely, Georgia has had to do some heavy PRing as of late, when it was learned that some peanut butter that they had shipped out was contaminated with salmonella. Stewart Parnell, owner and president of Peanut Corporation, stated that, "Out of an abundance of caution, we are voluntarily recalling this product and contacting our customers."

This was an effective use of PR. It reminds me of the Tylenol scare when some psychopath was putting cyanide in Tylenol bottles. Instead of covering it up and blaming it on someone else, they recalled thousands of bottles of Tylenol, took a big financial hit, but they had the support of the general public because of their openess and honesty. I feel that the Peanut Corporation has followed in the footsteps of Tylenol: good PR.

Bowl Championship Series

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) has taken a PR hit lately as their latest poll results came out. The University of Utah, the only FBS school to go undefeated this year (which included a good old-fashioned butt-kicking over formerly top-ranked Alabama), finished the season without the opportunity of playing for the BCS national championship. This particular issue was articulated quite well by ESPN writer Rick Reilly. Click here to read his article.

Utah faced (and defeated) four top-25 teams during the season. They beat every team they faced. The argument is that, after going undefeated, Utah at least deserves the opportunity to play for the national championship. Florida lost to Ole Miss, Oklahoma lost to Texas, and Utah lost to...well, nobody. How do you justify that? BCS argues that, well, Florida and Oklahoma both had much more difficult schedules than Utah. This erroneous argument ignores the whole idea behind sports: champions are decided on the field. Not in polls, not by writers, not by money-grubbing university presidents. In every other sport, at least here in America, we decide a champion by allowing the best teams from the season to play each other. If you win, you keep playing until the championship. If you lose, then you go home. That makes a little more sense to me, anyway.

Hamas and Israel

I want to use this blog to discuss some things that interest me. I enjoy cable news, and I love reading the newspapers and trying to keep up with current events. As of late, the escalating dispute between Israel and the Hamas-led Gaza strip has been very interesting to watch, especially the way that the Israeli government and Hamas have addressed the public. Israel, as an ally of the United States and a more western-styled nation, has the eyes of the western world upon it.

Israel has maintained continued contact with the media, hosting press conferences to explain what it is doing, what it's options are, and why it's doing what it's doing. If nothing more, it shows that Israel is not trying to be sneaky with their war preparations and activities. Hamas, as far as I have seen, has maintained a defiant, unresponsive attitude regarding Israel and its demands that Hamas radicals discontinue sending rockets into the Southern part of Israel.

If Israel had begun an airstrike against Gaza without first going to the media and telling them about the situation, explaining their reasons and motives, then they would not have had any international support. They have been open and honest about what they are doing, and this has placed them in a good position. I believe that Israel has used effective public relations principles to keep themselves in a good position in the international scene.