R.I.P. P.I. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a 146 year old newspaper, is set to die this week and may turn into a web-only publication. The Seattle Times, the other newspaper that serves the city, may also fold soon, leaving a major U.S. city without a daily newspaper.
Newspapers are not simply paper, ink, words and images. They take on the personality of the city they cover, they become part of the cultural and political fabric, they span generations, house the archival memory, keep politicians and corporations honest… and they create jobs.
Most blogs echo what qualified news organizations report. With no ‘original’ reporting that adheres to an accepted, established code of responsible journalism we are left with hacks, charlatans and opportunists to promulgate ‘news.’ There is a road to survival for U.S. newspapers, argues David Carr of The New York Times, although it will involve a radically different approach not likely to find traction among regulators or publishers.
A press statement issued by Chicago’s Daley administration announced the cancelling of $55 million in city public relations contracts, which represented the jettisoning of “non essential services.” Now we know. The contracts were terminated with extreme prejudice as an “absurd” waste of taxpayer money. See Sun-Times story. There are several ironies in that story. 1) The statement was issued by the press (PR) office. 2) By slashing PR contracts politicians and government workers are left to communicate without assistance, a dangerous proposition that threatens to undermine public discourse.
See YouTube video below on Wells Fargo and its use of blogs. Wells Fargo gets ‘it’ – they have bloggers and editors on staff. This is a good video on what it takes, step by step, to use a blog up front for PR benefit during a crisis. It is good to remember that a blog is simply an easy to launch, simple to maintain web publishing platform. You can fill it as you wish, regulate it, take the pulse of the public, adapt accordingly, respond when necessary.
The Obama administration also boosted its ratings because of this episode. Gibbs did not respond to Santelli entirely off the cuff. He periodically peered down as if he was reading message points. His nearly five minute response to Santelli was clear, concise and specific. On a broader scale he was answering all critics of the homeowner mortgage stimulus. Despite a sudden rash of attention, Gibbs neutralized Santelli, who will sound like a hurt kid in the schoolyard desperately vying for attention if he continues this tack.
PR? It’s murder.Can U.S. public relations influence the outcome of a murder trial across the Atlantic? The battle over Amanda Knox, dubbed Italy’s ‘Trial of the Century,’ ramped into high gear last week in a courtroom in Perugia, Italy. This story has it all – a vivacious American coed from University of Washington in Seattle, an alleged drug-fueled orgy that led to a grisly murder, conflicting testimonies and relentless spinning of stories to paint the accused, accomplices, prosecutors and legal authorities in a bad light.
