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 »