Every once in a while the New York Times has to roll its eyes, take a deep breath and figure out what to do next. Why, you ask? Because of technology columnist David Pogue.
As one of the most well known and influential technology columnists in the world, Pogue’s name is always appearing in the press. However, sometimes the news isn’t always good. This week there’s been a lot of discussion around a $159 seminar that Ragan Communications is selling, where people can learn what types of pitches Pogue likes and dislikes.
While other reporters participate in paid information sessions like this (HARO puts on these seminars once in a while), New York Times employees are not allowed to participate because it’s a violation of their policy:
It is an inherent conflict for a journalist to perform public relations work, paid or unpaid. Staff members may not counsel individuals or organizations on how to deal successfully with the news media.
It’s unknown if Pogue or Ragan Communications was the driving force behind this paid seminar, but in either case it’s a very tricky issue.
This is hardly the first time Pogue’s activities has been touchy subject for the New York Times. He also had a romantic relationship with a PR executive, which to his credit, he disclosed to his editor. However, it still caused a stir publicly, as Pogue regularly covered clients at her PR agency.
Pogue also accepted a paid speaking gig from CEA, another clear violation of the New York Times policies. And to top it off, The New York Times opinion page published a feature story in September 2009 about Pogue’s conflict of interest when it comes to Apple:
Two Thursdays ago, two of Pogue’s interests seemed to collide. In his Times column, he gave a glowing review to Snow Leopard, Apple’s new operating system for Macs. At the same time, he was writing a “Missing Manual” on Snow Leopard — two, actually — already available for pre-order on Amazon. If you are now running Leopard on your Mac, Pogue wrote in the review, paying the $30 to replace it with Snow Leopard “is a no-brainer.”
This entire subject is difficult for the New York Times, since the line between journalists, reporters and influences is becoming quite thin. It is hard to say who is gaining more from this relationship – the New York Times or Pogue. While the New York Times is one of the top news outlets in the world, Pogue has turned himself into a his own brand, especially through the use of social media. So while the New York Times is currently receiving criticism for not treating all freelancers and columnists the same, sometimes there is no right answer.
This is a guest post by Lisa DeCanio. Follow her on Twitter at @lisa_decanio
Last May, I joined thousands of my classmates as we flooded the Big House for the University of Michigan’s 2010 graduation ceremony. This particular graduation, though, was different than most. We had to stand in line at 6:30am to get patted down by Secret Service Agents before our speaker arrived in style on Marine One. Yep, President Barack Obama was my graduation speaker.
I’m sure his speech was inspiring. I vaguely remember him talking to us about open-mindedness, good citizenship and similar qualities a president would hope to instill in his constituents. However, I don’t remember a single word from his time at the podium. What I do remember though, is that in the middle of his speech, Mr. President updated his Twitter feed.
I was confused. As an animated speaker, his hands definitely weren’t sneakily tweeting from the inside of his academic dress. Being relatively new to Twitter, maybe I was naïve to think every account was operated by the individual’s name it bears. Either way, I was disappointed, and my faith in the transparency of both the presidency and social media took a downward spiral.
Then last weekend, President Obama gave a nod to social media enthusiasts with his announcement that he would begin doing his own tweeting from his handle, @BarackObama. Adopting the commonly used practice of signing his initials “-BO” after his updates, the American public will now get a 140-character glimpse into the president’s thoughts as he begins his re-election campaign.
While I personally am a proponent of transparency, in the wake of the Anthony Weiner scandal, it seems risky for the president to expose himself (no pun intended) to his 8.7 million followers. Can you imagine if that BlackBerry got into the wrong hands? The move practically invites hackers looking to cause a stir under Obama’s alias. Not to mention, haters wanting to publically bash him now have even more of a reason to do so via Twitter.
On the flip side, Obama’s social media campaign proved successful during his 2008 presidential run —why not go for round two? As social networks like Facebook and Twitter continue to gain momentum, tweeting from his personal account proves to be the next logical step for the president to send his message to the masses without it being filtered through mainstream media channels. For the time being, though, the president’s tweets have avoided any political references. His first tweet was a sentimental shout-out to America’s dads: “Being a father is sometimes my hardest but always my most rewarding job. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. –BO”
What do you think of President Obama joining Twitter? Will it help or hurt his 2012 campaign?
This is a guest post by Sarah Willey. Follow her on Twitter @willey774.
It was a traditional public service campaign by the FBI that has led to the capture of fugitive South Boston crime boss Whitney Bulger. Up until last night, he was one of the most wanted criminals in the world. Bulger has been on the lam for 16 years with his girlfriend, Catherine Greig. Bulger has had many aliases over the years. He led the Winter Hill Gang and was accused of being involved in loan sharking, prostitution and 19 murders.
Last night, he was finally captured in Santa Monica, California in a small apartment complex where he had apparently been living with Greig for at least a couple of years. It was new media campaign launched on Monday focused not on Bulger, but his girlfriend Catherine Greig, which led to their arrest.
The campaign launched in 14 television markets to which Bulger was suspected of having ties and aired during programs popular with women roughly Greig’s age. The new campaign pointed out that Greig had several plastic surgeries before going on the lam and was known to frequent beauty salons. The FBI also was offering a $2 million dollar reward for information leading to Bulger’s arrest. And it was a tip that led to her arrest alongside Bulger where he was going under the name Charlie.
The pair is scheduled to make an appearance in Los Angeles federal court Thursday. Bulger faces a series of federal charges including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, narcotics distribution, extortion and money laundering. Greig is charged with harboring a fugitive.
While you’re clearly frustrated that your hockey team was unable to capture the Stanley Cup, your behavior after the game is concerning. For now, we can set aside the fact the lighting cars on fire is dangerous, destructive and illegal. I want to examine how you could possibly think that you wouldn’t get caught by the police and be in some serious trouble.
Have you seen how police investigate riots these days? They search Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for pictures and video of the events. They identify people doing constructive things (pushing police, breaking windows, lighting things on fire) and track them down. With social media, you’re only a few degrees separated by anyone, so it really isn’t that difficult for them to find you, especially when you identify yourself. And if you’re tagged in a photo it becomes even easier. There is even a website set up to help police identify people!
And did you not see the news crews that were everything? There was even a helicopter taking video of the riot, showing people flipping a truck on its side and lighting a police car on fire, before smashing through the windows. Did you not realize the police would have that video by sunrise?
In today’s world, privacy is hard to come by. Almost every single person has a camera and video camera at their fingertips, and can post whatever content they capture immediately, to share it with the rest of the world. Before people were even done looting stores on Wednesday night, images of the events were online.
Let me give you an example:
This picture (along with many others) was published by the National Post. The people burning and trying to flip this car are clearly visible, and you can bet that the police have this picture hanging on the wall.
I know you’re upset about your team, but take a second and consider what just happened. You broke a ton of laws, put a lot of people in physical danger, destroyed parts of your beautiful city, ruined people’s cars and stores and cost your city a ton of money in damages. And to top it off, all of this has been captured by pictures and video that are now online for everyone – including police – to see.
Next time you’re upset after a loss, try to use some common sense.
This is a guest post from Lauren Ginsberg, an Account Coordinator at Racepoint Group. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenGinsberg.
Ah, the old adage, think before you speak… or shall I say tweet. The Redner Group made a huge faux pas when they angrily tweeted at reviewers for publishing not so rave reviews about 2k’s ‘Duke Nukem Forever’. The tweet, “too many went too far with their reviews. We r reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn’t based on today’s venom” left a sour taste that ultimately caused 2k to sack the agency.
Now more than ever, tweeted content is easy to find and just as easy to share. Users must take into account that even if they act on their own accord, like agency founder James Redner did, foul tweets in relation to your client’s product reviews are a direct representation of them as well as the agency.
PR is about getting credible placements for clients, and while we would all love reviews of their products to be positive, we cannot control what someone is going to write. That is the major difference between PR and advertising.
Unfortunately for Redner whose reputation is now tarnished, the lesson was learned the hard way. Moving forward, I bet they will think before they tweet.
This graphic was on the front of SI.com most of the day on Monday, and it is currently sitting second, only behind a story about game 7 of the NHL finals. For not winning anything, LeBron James is attracting a lot of attention, and not in a good way.
There are so many areas where people are criticizing him: he didn’t play hard when it counted, he can’t live up to his championship promises, he’s crowned himself king before actually winning anything, he doesn’t understand that winning takes hard work, he’s alienated fans with one bad comment and decision after another.
If LeBron hasn’t hit rock bottom yet (in terms of his popularity), he’s awfully close. The other athletes who shared this unwanted spotlight at one time are another are few (think Tiger Woods, Alex Rodriguez). But no matter how deep LeBron digs his hole, the U.S. is a forgiving place for sports stars, and even LeBron can find some sunlight if he manages to make some good decisions. That’s why we have some PR advice for him:
Stop talking: Every time you says something it comes across as arrogant and self-serving, so right now the best thing to do is say nothing. Go sit by your pool or spend time with your family, as long as you don’t talk to any reporters or tweet.
Hire people that will tell you what you don’t want to hear: Yes, it’s that time, LeBron. You can’t just surround yourself with enablers that only tell you positive things. You need people that are critical, that say no, and that force you to say and do certain things no matter how much you don’t want to.
Apologize: Make a YouTube video and post it via your Twitter account. In this video apologize for your collection of bad decisions and degrading statements. Use whatever excuse you want (you’re young, immature, delusional, whatever), but take accountability, and say that you’re going to change. Apologize for humiliating Cleveland on national TV. Tell fans that like everyone else, you are going to work harder because you have to earn a championship, it’s not something God has planned for you. And explain that your comments after game 6 were said in the frustrations and pain of losing, and that you value the NBA’s fans.
Apparently, the advertising department at the Miami Herald is in denial.
This morning, underneath an article about the Miami Heat loss and elimination from the NBA playoffs, the Miami Herald ran a half page advertisement for Miami Heat championship gear. “CONGRATULATIONS MIAMI,” shouts the ad in bold capital letters.
Not only did the heat lose last night – but even if they won Sunday night’s game, they would have to win a game 7 as well in order to be crowned the champs. Ops!
This is a guest post by Sarah Willey. Follow her on Twitter @willey774.
For quite some time, police departments have been using social media to push out notifications about missing children. In January, Facebook set up 53 AMBER Alert pages — one for each of the 50 states, along with pages for the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. Interested Facebook users can sign up for alerts pertinent to their individual states. The notifications appear on news feeds as they’re issued, and can also be shared with users’ Facebook friends.
Since going missing last week, friends, family, strangers and even celebrities have taken to Facebook and Twitter to help find Indiana University student Lauren Spierer. Lauren was last seen in the early morning hours of last Friday walking to her apartment. She had reportedly been at a bar Thursday night and then went to a friend’s party. Her keys were found blocks away from where she was last seen, but there’s no other sign of her.
News of the situation was immediately shot out across Facebook: 126,000 people have agreed to attend a Facebook event titled “URGENT! Please help spread the word about Lauren Spierer’s disappearance!” and a Facebook page, find.lauren, has been liked by more than 20,000 people so far.
In addition, 11,000 people have joined a group in her name and a Twitter feed @NewsOnLaurenS which as of right now has more than 12,000 followers. It’s been used to tweet updates, distribute a photo flier, organize search parties and promote a fund set up by the IU Hillel to support search efforts. Several big celebrities have sent out tweets to help the campaign.
I hope it pays for Lauren and her family so this nightmare her family is going can be over.
Everyone hates paying extra money to check a bag when flying, but a group of US soldiers returning home from Afghanistan recently were particularly irked.
According to the soldiers, the US Army has an agreement with Delta in place where they can check 4 bags (Delta claims the 4 bag policy was for first class passengers only, but has since changed their policy so any soldiers can check 4 bags). Each soldier was charged $200 to check their 4th bag, which one soldier was carrying the weapon he was issued by the US Army.
While on their flight home, two US soldiers made a video and posted it on YouTube, explaining their frustrations with Delta. While the video doesn’t have a significant number of views yet, it is quickly gaining attention, and Delta decided to put out this fire before they had a United Breaks Guitars situation on their hands. Since the video was published, Delta says they have changed their policy so that any US soldier can have 4 bags on a flight.
The debate about which party misunderstood the policy can be determined by Delta and the US Army. However, Delta deserves kudos for understanding the power that this video could have, and acting swiftly to resolve the issue before it got out of hand.
If you’ve been watching the news lately, I’m sure you’ve seen the Rep. Anthony Weiner Twitter story. In short, he sent a picture of himself to a woman via Twitter. After denying he sent the picture for about a week (he claimed his Twitter account was hacked), Rep. Weiner finally admitted that he did indeed send the picture, but it was meant to be a direct message.
While the details of this story have supplied endless jokes for the late night comedy shows, it also shows that people have a fabricated sense of privacy. How many times have you heard about people mistakenly sending public tweets that were meant to be private, sending photos that weren’t meant to be shared, or posting a Facebook status that was meant to be a private message.
The social media snafus are endless, and a lot of high-profile people have been making them. Politicians, athletes, actors, musicians – everyone has had their fare share of mistakes. And it’s not just limited to people. Companies, such as Chrysler and Red Cross, have been victim of careless Twitter mistakes when employees published their own tweet to the company handle by mistake.
So what does this all mean? I think there are 3 valuable social media lessons we can learn from Rep. Weiner’s Twitter failure:
Learn how to use social media: If you’re not sure how to use the platform correctly, you’ll probably make a mistake.
Don’t be stupid: If you’re sharing something through social media, make sure it’s appropriate. Privacy is an illusion, just because you share something through a private message, doesn’t mean the person receiving that information won’t publicly distribute that content with one click.
Be honest: If you make a mistake just admit it. Rep. Weiner attracted so much more attention to this story by lying about it, which dragged it on for an entire week. If you mess up admit it right away and move it.
