On embargoes and exclusives in the current media/PR game

Scott Kirsner posted some interesting thoughts on how the game has changed regarding the timing of offering news to the media. His major point is that he wants it first, especially if it is about big developments or happenings that fit into his Innovation Economy section and column -- often he wants the news before the executives and PR team may feel fully ready to talk about it, but that's when he views it as most relevant for his readers....

Using the upside/downside meter

Maybe General Stanley McChrystal had Dr. Hook's song about wanting to be "on the cover of Rolling Stone" on his iPod, explaining his mystifying decision to allow a Rolling Stone reporter to follow him and his team around for a month in the midst of the war in Afghanistan. I'm filing the amazingly free access to the general and his team's derisive comments about the president and other administration figures under "What Were They Thinking?" I was frankly stunned about...

Lame duck coach and PR spokesperson?

The soap opera of the French national soccer team, who collectively protested the expulsion of their striker Nicolas Anelka by skipping practice on Sunday before their critical game against South Africa on June 22 (they reportedly returned to practice the next day), grew even stranger when they forced their coach, the embattled Raymond Domenech, to read their statement to the media while they sulked on their team bus with the curtains drawn. The unpopular Domenech, whose contract expires after the...

What does the TechCrunch-Forbes spat mean for the future of journalism?

By now, we know all too well that journalism has changed and evolved by leaps and bounds in recent years with the advent of blogs, Twitter feeds and the like. We know how to approach reporters differently than we would even just a year or two ago. This is nothing new. But what is new is the way editors are approaching content. Journalists on staff are stretched so thin -- covering multiple beats that span different technologies, business segments, etc....

Take this test before planning your next press event

Despite the ever-shrinking newspaper and magazine population, our clients often still ask us the best way to plan a press event around an upcoming announcement. Our answer is usually a straightforward one: "Don't." Even in the days of booming publications with large staffs of reporters, it was always tricky to plan a successful press event. There is the stress of getting people to show up and the constant fear that something major will happen the day of your event that...

Scott Adams on Love, Hate and Investing

My husband pointed out this piece by Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams in this weekend's WSJ after we returned from dropping off my MacBook Air, which is in the Apple sick bay at the moment. In typical Adams' fashion, he describes his investing approach as choosing companies he hates because they clearly are doing something successfully and he, therefore, could make money by betting on their incredible awfulness. He uses BP as an example, bemoaning the fact that he should have...

Mark Zuckerberg Gives A Master Class on Bad Interview Technique

I could not attend the All Things Digital conference this year, but I've been monitoring the tweets and coverage from attendees and have watched the videos of speakers I am sorry I missed. One tweet today from A-list blogger and author Shel Israel definitely caught my attention: "Open letter to Mark Zuckerberg: Step Down". It included a link to part of the Zuckerberg on-stage interview with D co-hosts, Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. The clip includes Zuckerberg's literal meltdown during...

Time for confessional interviews to be "out"

What will scandal-ridden celebrities seeking redemption do after June 2011 without the confessional of "The Oprah Winfrey Show"? I guess there's always "Dr. Phil," but then again, his tough love style might be too much for some of these anguished extroverts. Watching Sarah Ferguson's first interview with Oprah after she was caught on tape peddling influence with her former husband, Prince Andrew, all I could think of was why she subjected herself to it. I applied my executive communications scorecard...