Category: Uncategorized

What is it about Texans and common sense lately? This past week, the Bush administration gave everyone a primer on what happens when you try to hide bad news. And now Texas-based RadioShack is in the barrel [free registration required] for trying to avoid the issue of its CEO falsifying his educational background.

I’m just going to assume that there’s a crisis communications playbook from the 1950s that everyone in Texas is working off of. It’s the only way to explain the head-in-the-sand denial that companies are operating in a more fluid, more transparent environment today (an environment we can thank another group of Texans for: the boys of Enron).

In the PR fiasco that was the Bush administration’s handling of Vice President Dick Cheney’s hunting accident in Texas this week, did they miss an enormous opportunity to score some points with the media and the American public — two constituencies that have grown increasingly hostile toward this administration?

Here’s the thinking: The Veep accidentally shot his friend and hunting partner. The Veep attempted to avoid the press (most likely against the counsel of his press secretary…a lesson to be learned for today’s CEOs). The press hammered poor Scott McClellan, who obviously is growing frustrated with the Bush administration’s inability to grasp the basics of public relations. No one more so than NBC’s David Gregory. Public pressure forced the VP out of his bunker to address the situation. The White House chose to use Fox News as the sole vehicle for the VP’s interview on the subject.

And that is where they missed a golden opportunity.

Fox News is forever tainted with a perception of bias to the conservatives. Putting the VP on Fox gives the impression to many Americans that the tough questions won’t get asked and that, perhaps, there are questions the administration doesn’t want asked.

Instead, the White House should have given the exclusive to NBC’s Gregory, the man who ended up in a heated exchange with McClellan over continued stonewalling by the administration. By doing so, the American public would have seen a Vice President who doesn’t back away from tough issues and one who has respect for the checks-and-balances inherent in a free press. And that perception would have had a halo effect on the President at a time when he and those around him badly need it.

But they didn’t. And they missed a huge chance to put some points in the win column.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan had one of those days yesterday. By one of those days, I mean the kind where a PR professional knows he’s/she’s going to get asked challenging questions. McClellan’s day at the podium responding to Vice President Dick Cheney’s accidental shooting of a fellow hunter was definitely one of those days.

Watching from the sidelines, I think McClellan will be remembered as one of the better presidential press secretaries. I say this because (a) he’s had to face some of the world’s top reporters often with limited or incorrect information — and fought his “clients” to do the right thing, and (b) because of classy exchanges like yesterday’s with NBC’s David Gregory:

“‘David’s a good guy and a good reporter,’ McClellan added. He said that yesterday was ‘one of those days where I knew exactly what to expect.’”

McClellan took his hits and upheld his respect for the important role journalists play in a free democracy. It is that thick skin and ability to see the bigger picture that, in my mind, makes McClellan (and people like him) professionals.

Most people know John Krakauer as the author of “Into Thin Air,” the book he wrote about the ill-fated Everest expedition (I had a chance to meet Krakauer in person at a book signing in northern New Jersey after “Into Thin Air” was published). I’ve made it a point to read just about anything he writes…he writes in a seasoned journalistic style and really brings you into the story.

One of the most haunting stories he covered was captured in his book “Into the Wild.” Now, word comes out that Sean Penn is turning it into a feature film. Penn is to acting what Krakauer is to writing: an example of an artist consistently at the top of his game (Katrina humanitarian photo-ops aside).

I’ll go out on a limb and predict that Krakauer’s story, as interpreted and directed by Penn, will see its name on the Academy’s ballots next year. I can’t predict which categories it will be nominated for (and it may not even win), but I do believe that it is the type of story that could give Penn the material for one of his best works.

Ron Torossian responds somewhat quickly to yesterday’s gaff-pearance in Gawker. Rather than take the opportunity to explain the rationale behind his crass marching orders to his staff, Torossian instead responds with his own personal celebrity missive.

Paul Holmes over at The Holmes Report nails it in a post today on the difference between unadulterated spin and relationship-building. You’ll have a hard time finding a better example/definition than the one Paul offers up.

I’ve worked with some of the top PR people in the business. People who lead communications functions for multibillion dollar global corporations. The reason they are at the top of the profession is because they have class.

Which brings me to Ronn Torossian, leader of the high-flying pitch palace, 5W. By all accounts, his agency’s recent string of success should push him higher up the PR influence scales. However, an e-mail he sent out to his troops yesterday timed to the death of Coretta Scott King should push Torossian deep into the depths of pariah-ville:

From: Ronn Torossian
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 1:52 PM
To: Email-Everyone
Subject: CORETTA SCOTT KING

Died today – we shld have plenty of clients we can pitch on the King legacy, etc.

Ronn D. Torossian
President & CEO
5W Public Relations

The fine folks at Gawker got the scoop on the story. It will be interesting to watch how — and if — Torossian handles this personal and professional crisis in his recently launched blog.

I’ve worked with some of the top PR people in the business. People who lead communications functions for multibillion dollar global corporations. The reason they are at the top of the profession is because they have class.

Which brings me to Ronn Torossian, leader of the high-flying pitch palace, 5W. By all accounts, his agency’s recent string of success should push him higher up the PR influence scales. However, an e-mail he sent out to his troops yesterday timed to the death of Coretta Scott King should push Torossian deep into the depths of pariah-ville:

From: Ronn Torossian
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 1:52 PM
To: Email-Everyone
Subject: CORETTA SCOTT KING

Died today – we shld have plenty of clients we can pitch on the King legacy, etc.

Ronn D. Torossian
President & CEO
5W Public Relations

The fine folks at Gawker got the scoop on the story. It will be interesting to watch how — and if — Torossian handles this personal and professional crisis in his recently launched blog.

Without saying so directly, David Bianculli, a TV critic at New York’s The Daily News, adds to the spiraling shrinkage in credibility of network news. Bianculli armchair quarterback’s the decision by ABC to have World News Tonight news anchor David Woodruff report live from Iraq (Woodruff and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, were seriously injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq this week). In doing so, Bianculli apparently believes that network news anchors should be glorified script readers and not the journalists they are promoted to be, that the person/face is more important to the story than the actual story. I give Woodruff and Vogt credit for being journalists and not the actors Bianculli would rather them be.

There have been so many corporate scandals over the past couple of years that it’s hard to keep up with all of them. One that continues to make headlines is the case against former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, who was acquitted last year of his involvement in a $2.7 billion accounting fraud. Today, word is coming out that he paid a local journalist $11,000 to write flattering stories about him. Apparently, Scrushy funneled the $11k through a local PR firm, The Lewis Group. This is another black eye for both the PR and journalism professions. Andy Lark is also calling this out on his blog (which gets a ton more traffic than mine, so it might make sense to follow any comment threads there) and expresses the frustration that many of us in the PR industry have with unethical, amateur professionals and agencies.