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Posts Tagged Public Relations
Sarkozy and the short workers, an example of spin doctoring
Posted by Marcello Foa in Political Journalism, Public Relations on June 21, 2010
Il Giornale, June 21st, 2010
Image is everything in the communication era, especially for politicians.
Everyone knows this. One small blunder can ruin a reputation. It is therefore only to be expected that politicians tend to protect their images down to minute details. Yet sometimes they can take things a bit too far, like Nicolas Sarkozy, whose recalcitrance over communication is often over the top. When he visits factories, for example. Last year reporters discovered that the workers of the Faurecia factory at Caligny were selected based on height and that, many of them being too tall, shorter workers were bussed in from other nearby factories. Read the rest of this entry »
BP, Pollution and Information Strategies
Posted by Marcello Foa in Crises and Scandals, Ethics, Public Relations on June 20, 2010
Corriere del Ticino, June 19, 2010
In the Gulf of Mexico BP is desperately trying to stop the oil leak, but that’s not the only front it’s fighting on.
The other is that of the media, with interesting and, in many ways, disturbing implications. For starters, the fears of those who believe that American democracy is overly influenced by lobbies have been confirmed. Let’s suppose the accident had occurred off the coast of any other country. What would have happened? Public interests would have prevailed Read the rest of this entry »
Another Sugarcoated Biography
Posted by Stephan Russ-Mohl in People, Regional Studies on March 11, 2010
This time it’s Ryszard Kapuscinski.
Biographer Artur Domoslawski discovered evidence that Ryszard Kapuscinski, perhaps the most famous Polish reporter of the 20th century, sugarcoated parts of his autobiography. Contrary to statements made by Kapuscinski, he did not know Che Guevara personally, nor did he meet Congolesian liberty fighter and prime minister Patrice Lumumba. Not long before these revelations Indro Montanelli,still under monumental protection in Italy, was knocked of his pedestal by Swiss biographer Renata Broggini. Read the rest of this entry »
Apple iPad Hype
Posted by Stephan Russ-Mohl in Media Economics on February 4, 2010
After news reports focused on swine flu, the snow “catastrophe“ (proving to be scarcely more than a hearty winter), and the tragic Haitian earthquake, last week’s press was inundated with a different strain of media attention.
For days, Steve Jobs and his Apple iPad camped out on front pages, occupying additional space in business and lifestyle sections. Perhaps PR businesses feel tempted to project “ad value” – estimating the millions Apple would have spent had they paid for the free publicity the iPad received via print articles, TV reports, Internet discussion and broadcast airtime – as many PR strategists would in such cases, hoping to convince Read the rest of this entry »
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