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Washington Post Publisher Apologizes to Readers, Not Employees

July 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment

The best leaders among us take responsibility when things go wrong.

In today’s Washington Post, the paper’s Publisher & Chief Executive Officer Katharine Weymouth attempted to do just that by apologizing to The Post’s readers for the now cancelled ”salons”, the first of which was to be held in Weymouth’s home on July 21. The question remains if her apology is enough for readers whose confidence in the journalistic integrity of the paper has been shaken or for Post employees, who were not mentioned by Weymouth, but who may have lost confidence in her leadership.  Keep reading →

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Crisis Communications · Internal Communications · Issues Management · journalism
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Washington Post Cancels “Pay-to-Play” Lobbyist Dinners

July 3, 2009 · 1 Comment

Yesterday was a tough day for the corporate communications department at The Washington Post. A little after 8:00 a.m., POLITICO reported that The Post was asking lobbyists to underwrite the costs of off-the-record “salons” at the home of Post publisher, Katharine Weymouth. The day went downhill from there.

Katharine Weymouth, Publisher of The Washington Post. Image Credit: James Thresher, The Washington Post

Katharine Weymouth, Publisher of The Washington Post. Image Credit: James Thresher, The Washington Post

Dubbed “pay-for-chat” by The New York Times, the “salons” were billed to lobbyists on Capitol Hill as an opportunity to interact with Obama administration officials and Members of Congress who would have a leading role in the upcoming debate on reform of the nation’s health care system. Lobbyists could sponsor a single event for $25,000 or they could underwrite the cost of the series of 11 events at Weymouth’s home for $250,000. Obama administration officials and Members of Congress invited to the first “salon” on July 21, denied knowing that The Post was soliciting financial support from lobbyists to finance it. Keep reading →

→ 1 CommentCategories: Corporate Communciations · Crisis Communications · Internal Communications · Issues Management · journalism · media relations
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Federal Judge sides with PR Firm on Twitter Lawsuit

June 28, 2009 · 3 Comments

I’m not a lawyer and apparently I shouldn’t play one on TV.

Earlier this month, I told you about Tanner Friedman, a Farmington Hills, Mich. public relations firm, which found itself to be the victim of a brandjacking on Twitter. Rather than give Twitter time to respond to their complaint, the firm’s principal, Don Tanner, immediately went to local media with their plight and subsequently filed a suit in Federal Court in Michigan. Keep reading →

→ 3 CommentsCategories: Branding · Crisis Communications · Twitter
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PR Firm Sues over Twitter Brandjacking

June 13, 2009 · 8 Comments

This may be one of the best Twitter public relations stunts yet: a suburban Detroit PR firm has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to compel the social networking site Twitter to reveal who was behind a Twitter account which allegedly defamed the PR firm. Keep reading →

→ 8 CommentsCategories: Branding · Crisis Communications · Twitter
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Desmond Tutu and the Art of the Commencement Speech

May 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu delivered the commencement address this year for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu delivered the commencement address this year for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Image credit: UNC News Services.

Graduation season is in full swing.

I love this time of year, because it’s a time of celebration for families. Graduates from high schools, colleges, graduate schools and professional schools seldom make it to their commence ceremonies on their own. They are there because of their own hard work, yes, but they are also there because someone special in their life supported them. Whether financially, emotionally, spiritually — most people are graduating because someone has been supporting them, indeed rooting for them, for many years.

As for the graduation ceremonies, I generally loathe them. These occasions are usually entirely too long and there are too many speeches from people who have nothing worthwhile to say. Keep reading →

→ Leave a CommentCategories: speechwriting
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Rupert Murdoch de-friended me

May 14, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Yesterday Rupert Murdoch “de-friended” me on Facebook and “unfollowed” me on Twitter. I am deeply hurt.

Well, not exactly. As far as I know, Mr. Murdoch, the CEO of News Corp. and owner of Dow Jones & Co., The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, isn’t active on Facebook or Twitter at all. But he is apparently concerned about his employees who are.

In an internal company memo to employees, Wall Street Journal Deputy Managing Editor Alix Freedman cautioned reporters who work at The Wall Street Journal, Marketwatch and Dow Jones Newswires about using social media to engage with sources and readers. The memo was published Tuesday by Editor & Publisher. (I’ve included it in its entirety below.) Keep reading →

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Internal Communications · New media
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The Lessons of Susan Boyle

April 14, 2009 · 4 Comments

American Idol fans may not realize it, but Simon Cowell, the judge they love to hate, is also a judge and producer a British TV show with a similar format called “Britain’s Got Talent.” I had never heard of this show until the YouTube video of contestant Susan Boyle showed up on my Facebook page tonight. She performed on Saturday night.

Keep reading →

→ 4 CommentsCategories: Branding · Business philosophy · Corporate Communciations
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JetBlue Welcomes Bigwigs

March 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment

JetBlue is ready to welcome bigwigs who are forced to give up their private jets.

JetBlue is ready to welcome bigwigs who are forced to give up their private jets.

Yesterday I was utterly charmed by a new web campaign launched by JetBlue. The airline created three videos which are housed at www.WelcomeBigWigs.com. The site and videos are the second part of a web campaign launched last month.

Dubbed, “The CEO’s Guide to Jetting,” the humorous concept is simple and brilliantly executed. In light of the down economy, JetBlue recognizes that the nation’s CEOs are hurting and that they might have to give up their private jets. Fortunately, JetBlue is happy to step in and offer an alternative for air travel for the country’s down-on-their-luck CEOs.

Launched coming off of the weekend when we learned that the taxpayer-owned AIG would be giving $165 million in bonuses to the very executives who caused the company to fail, JetBlue’s timing couldn’t have been better. Keep reading →

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Branding · Corporate Communciations · New media
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Why Employees Leak to Media and What You Can Do About it

March 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment

It’s been a bit of a bumpy ride at Yahoo lately. After the company rejected a $45 billion dollar offer from Microsoft last year, the company’s stock plummeted, thousands of employees were laid off. Eventually, Jerry Yang, Yahoo’s co-founder and CEO, was forced to step aside.

Carol Bartz has been named to head the company and she is in the middle of a massive reorganization. Clearly she has her work cut out for herself. There are still rumors of a deal with Microsoft, but there is no firm announcement and Yahoo is losing market share according to recent numbers. Keep reading →

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Corporate Communciations · Internal Communications · media relations
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Mr. Santelli & Mr. Gibbs Really Need That Coffee

February 26, 2009 · 1 Comment

Coffee cupThis month, close followers of politics witnessed a rather pointed exchange between CNBC reporter Rick Santelli and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs over President Obama’s economic stimulus plan. For me, this exchange highlighted how rude our culture has become, particularly in politics. Some would say that this courseness is enabled, if not exacerbated with the advent of social media tools like Twitter. I don’t know, I’m not sure about that. Keep reading →

→ 1 CommentCategories: Customer Care · New media · media relations
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