Media

Blog Rolling

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

"Fortunately for PR professionals," writes PR Week, technologies including blog search engines and tagging "allow companies and agencies alike to monitor the dialogue regarding their organizations." One product "allows companies to compare evocations of its name versus the names of competitors." A "marketing intelligence" executive said savvy companies see "blogs as a way to create stakeholder goodwill." The PR firm Edelman recently "

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Main Source: 
PR Week (sub. req'd.), April 7, 2005
Topics: 
Media
Public Relations

Pundit's Boston Bread Buttered on Both Sides

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Massachusetts' Executive Office of Environmental Affairs "awarded a $10,000 contract to a Boston Herald op-ed columnist to promote the governor's environmental policies." The contract involves writing op-ed pieces and internal documents "to promote education, awareness, and acceptance of major policy initiatives." Three days after the columnist, Charles Chieppo, applied for the position, he filed a column praising

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Main Source: 
Boston Globe, April 8, 2005
Topics: 
Environment
Media
Politics

A Tick for Irresponsibility

Submitted by Bob Burton on

The 2005 Corporate Responsibility Index, published by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ranks British American Tobacco (BAT) as amongst the six worst performers out of the twenty-seven companies included. The index is based on corporate self-assessments reviewed by Ernst & Young accountants.

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Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, April 5, 2005
Topics: 
Corporations
Health
Media

Will "Fake News" Survive?

Will ongoing investigations and public outrage be sufficient to end the debased media practices that result in "fake news"?

Producers of the fake TV news stories called video news releases (VNRs) hope not. Some are worried, though. "Crisis" is the word Kevin McCauley of the public relations trade publication O'Dwyer's used in a recent column.

VNR producers are struggling to find allies, even within the PR industry. For the last three weeks, O'Dwyer's has been running an online poll asking, "Should there be a limit on the U.S. Government's use of video news releases?" Seventy-two percent of respondents to date support VNR restrictions. (O'Dwyer's doesn't disclose the number of respondents.)

VNR producers may very well be thanking their lucky stars for the Bush White House.

Medialink Drives Auto Coverage

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Under a new agreement, the video news release company Medialink Worldwide "will produce programs about auto-related topics for WheelsTV, a cable TV and Internet service devoted exclusively to consumers' interests in cars, trucks and motorcycles." Medialink's "sponsored and non-sponsored content" will start appearing on WheelsTV in June.

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Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub. req'd.), April 4, 2005
Topics: 
Marketing
Media

Wal-Mart's Media Greeters

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

"As part of its ongoing effort to improve its image, Wal-Mart is hosting its first-ever media conference for 50 invited print journalists this week near company headquarters in Arkansas," reports PR Week. "We are doing this to send a clear signal of Wal-Mart's willingness to be open with the media," said a company spokesperson.

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Main Source: 
PR Week (sub. req'd.), April 4, 2005
Topics: 
Corporations
Media

Another Kind of Fake News

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

"The two dirty words of market research," writes Carl Bialik, are "sponsored by." One example is a recent Microsoft-funded study, which found that "Microsoft was the company respondents most associated with reliable, high-quality hardware peripherals." The problem is that "the other choices" survey participants were given "weren't household names. ...

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Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal (reg. req'd.), March 31, 2005
Topics: 
Media
Public Relations

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