Public Relations

Greening ExxonMobil

"Weber Shandwick is handling the 'greening' of ExxonMobil Corp. by promoting an alliance forged between the energy giant and Earth 911, a government/private sector entity with the motto of 'making every day Earth Day,'" O'Dwyer's PR Daily writes. "The partnership aims to educate consumers about the importance of recycling used motor oil.

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Swift Boat Vets' Book Gets PR Help

"Conservative columnist Bob Novak has touted the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth book Unfit for Command without revealing that his son heads marketing and PR for its publisher," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. The New York Times writes that Novak has "lauded" the book in his syndicated columns and on CNN's 'Crossfire.' "Unmentioned in Mr.

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Lower than Journalists

Among the professions "less popular than journalism," notes Bill Hagerty, the "furtive world of public relations" is considered by many people to be "a black art, inferior only to child slave-trading or body-snatching." He cites a recent survey showing that British journalists hold PR people in especially low esteem. Nevertheless, he notes, "indications are that PR and publicists are becoming increasingly more influential and powerful."

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SLICK - The Novel

Check out the new book SLICK by first-time novelist Daniel Price. SLICK's anti-hero protagonist, Scott Singer, works "in the field of perception management, although the less colorful term is 'media manipulation.' We're the CIA of PR, the sublime little gremlins who live just outside your senses, selling you products and concepts without you even knowing. ... I've conspired with the gun people, schemed with the liquor people, toiled for tobacco, and moiled for Monsanto. I've pushed polluters and promoted porn. I've shilled for Shell and lied for Tide.

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Got the Big Stick; Need to Learn to Speak Softly

Condoleezza Rice admitted, "We are obviously not very well organized for the side of public diplomacy." The 9/11 Commission warned, "If the United States does not act aggressively to define itself in the Islamic world, the extremists will gladly do the job for us." Former State Departmen

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Poison Ivy On Display

The seminal PR work of Ivy Lee, sometimes called "the real father of modern PR," is currently on display in the Transit Museum in Grand Central Station in New York City. In 1908, Lee became the first publicity director for Pennsylvania Railroad, developing campaigns to influence public opinion in support of the railroad's lobbying efforts. Lee gain notoriety when he was hired by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

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PR Firm Needs Good PR

As if it hadn't gotten enough bad press lately, PR firm Fleishman-Hillard "is taking a media hit for its failed campaign on behalf of Enterprise Rent-A-Car to defeat a ... car rental tax to help pay for ... a $250 million arena in downtown Kansas City." A mayoral aide suggested the firm "stay out of issue campaigning ...

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