A War Room of One's Own
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The "first permanent communications war room for Democrats on Capitol Hill," the Senate Democratic Communications Center, has been launched.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The "first permanent communications war room for Democrats on Capitol Hill," the Senate Democratic Communications Center, has been launched.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"The United States government's primary strategy with the Arab media has been to create its own outlets - the satellite-news station Al Hurra and Radio Sawa - at a cost of $100 million, rather than engage aggressively with existing Arab media," notes the New York Times, in an in-depth article on Al Arabiya, a privately-owned TV news station established as "a more moderate alternative to
Despite finishing second in the annual Sydney to Hobart blue-water racing classic, the yacht named after communications giant AAPT outperformed most of its rivals in the PR stakes.
While big racing boats such as AAPT fly with the wind they also burn bucketloads of cash. Which is why the big boats need big sponsors. Corporate sponsors look to the bottom line and expect a return on investment that is primarily measured on the amount of media coverage they garner.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
Public service announcements -- those informational spots that air for free on radio and TV -- are technically not supposed to be thought of in commercial terms, but Erica Iacono writes that "there are ways for corporate sponsors to gain recognition" through PSAs. In a PR Week feature examining how to get "the extra mile out of a PSA," Iacono highlights a King Oscar sardines partnership with the Women's Sports Foundation.
This year marks the beginning of a new tradition for the Center for Media and Democracy. To remember the people and players responsible for polluting our information environment, we are issuing a new year-end prize that we call the "Falsies Awards." The top ten finalists will each receive a million bucks worth of free coupons, a lifetime supply of non-fattening ice cream, an expenses-paid vacation in Fallujah, and our promise to respect them in the morning. The winners of the Falsies Awards for 2004 are:
Let's hear it for video news releases finally getting a smattering of the public scrutiny they deserve. A video news release or VNR is a simulated TV news story. Video clips paid for by corporations, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations are commonly passed off as legitimate news segments on local newscasts throughout the United States. VNRs are designed to be indistinguishable from traditional TV news and are often aired without the original producers and sponsors being identified and sometimes without any local editing.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The "most important media story of the year," according to Steve Lovelady, managing editor of Campaigndesk.org, was "the way in which the press was so easily manipulated by spin machines all the way through the election campaign, partly thanks to the fact that it was hopelessly hobbled by some of its own outdated conventions and frameworks. And that, in turn, is related to its embarrassing performance in 2003 on weapons of mass destruction and on the question of an Iraqi tie to 9/11."
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The Greensboro News & Record is looking to make a "transformative, revolutionary change" by turning its Web site into "more of an online community or public square," inviting bloggers and the general public to add and comment throughout their website.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Like Big Tobacco, Coca-Cola has the right to push their product. Like Big Tobacco, Coca-Cola knows of the health risks of their product, yet prefer silence to safeguarding children," writes John Borowski. After publishing an earlier article, Borowski was contacted by Coca-Cola's principal manager of scientific and regulatory affairs, who suggested the piece "misinformed" readers.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Just before the election, a film about Iraq hit art house theaters around the country," writes Eartha Melzer. The "Voices of Iraq" documentary came from more than 400 hours of footage from 150 digital video cameras distributed to people around Iraq.
Wikipedia, the successful open source encyclopedia, is launching a daily news website called Wikinews. Its goal is to "create a diverse environment where citizen journalists can independently report the news on a wide variety of current events." Will it succeed? I think it's got some problems, but also potential.
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