Protecting an Embargoed Press Release

There’s nothing better when a public relations rep sends a journalist a press release that is “under embargo.” This means the reporter can’t publish a word regarding the contents of the press release until the after a certain date and time. But in this day and age, journalists and public relations professionals alike may find that a press embargo isn’t as secure as they might think. (Read more…)

The Demise of “Dead Tree Media” and the Future of PR

Seattle is a great city, but its days as a two-newspaper town are numbered. What happens in the Emerald City may be a harbinger of things to come for the newspaper industry, in the process signaling a change in how public relations is practiced. (Read more…)

Success Tips for Small Public Relations Departments

With the ailing economy and tighter corporate budgets, public relations is often the first department to feel the pinch. Public relations departments are often forced to scale back their efforts, or continue existing efforts with reduced staff. The following tips will help small public relations departments weather tough times–and enjoy prosperous ones, as well. (Read more…)

Good Intentions Turn Into Bad Public Relations

It was just a simple contest. For Toys “R” Us, Inc., however, it turned into a public relations nightmare.

The toy retailer started off 2007 in ugly fashion after a contest to award the first baby born in 2007 a $25,000 United States savings bond went awry amid charges of xenophobia and racism. The company smartly did an about-face, but will consumers be forgiving? (Read more…)

The Long, Hot Summer

The only thing hotter than the weather is the water that Mel Gibson is in.

I’ll get to Gibson shortly, but I’d first like to bask in the glow of my recent vacation, part of which was spent reading, “Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story,” a book about the implosion of Enron by New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald. (Read more…)

A PR Fuel Thanksgiving

This year, I am thankful for… (Read more…)

Being Cool is Hard

Everywhere I looked on Monday, there was Cuil.

Pronounced “cool,” the search provider made its public debut this week and got enough ink to make an octopus jealous. I read stories about Cuil in/on The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The New York Times, Forbes, a blog on The Los Angeles Times, TechCrunch.com and CNET News.com, among others. Most of the initial press concentrated on Cuil’s claim that it indexes more pages than other search engines and that its founders, a wife-and-husband team, are former employees of Google, the clear current leader in the search space. (Read more…)

Mea Culpa for a Failed Press Release

In April 2003, I wrote a column entitled “Anatomy of a Failed Press Release” in which I ripped apart a press release I’d received from Bridges TV, a then yet-to-be-launched television network targeting American Muslims.

“Bridges TV may have a bright future, and I wish them the best of luck. But this press release was a bad way to start a relationship with the media. And if the most important thing in life is perception, the second most important thing is probably relationships,” I wrote last year.

Woe is me. (Read more…)

Repeating the Past

Here we go again.

Last year it was Fox News Channel; this year, it’s Google. The crime? PR people blacklisting journalists because they’re not happy with a media outlet’s coverage. (Read more…)

A Little Fund Makes a Big Media Splash

Kate Lee has the kind of press clippings most PR people would kill for. In less than a year, Lee has been quoted by publications coast-to-coast and appeared on television and radio stations in the U.S. and Canada. Business Week, USA Today, Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News, New York Times, and Atlanta Journal Constitution are just a few of the publications that Lee’s name has appeared in. (Read more…)