Media

Radio behemoth Clear Channel Communications created the position of Chief Communications Officer and named their Senior Vice-President of Corporate Communications, Lisa Dollinger, to the post. The position includes "corporate communications and branding, reputation and issues management ...

After Hill & Knowlton contacted community newspaper editors on behalf of Wal-Mart Stores informing them "Wal-Mart representatives were available for interviews," Mike Buffington, the president of the National Newspaper Association (NMA), let fly. "So why is it that community newspapers in America are good enough to help you fend off critics with free PR, but we're not good enough for your paid advertising?

Florida freelance television reporter Mike Vasilinda's public relations firm "has earned more than $100,000 over the past four years through contracts with Gov. Jeb Bush's office, the Secretary of State, the Department of Education and other government entities that are routinely part of Vasilinda's stories," while those stories aired on CNN and Florida NBC affiliates.

Why do local TV news stations use fake video news releases? Political science professor Marion Just and Tom Rosenstiel of the Project for Excellence in Journalism surveyed stations and found that the audience for TV news is shrinking, while "the companies that own these stations have generally continued to expect high earnings, usually profit margins in excess of 40 percent.