News organizations often prepare stories in anticipation of something occurring so they can be the first to leak breaking news. Well, the Los Angeles Times made a premature mistake by going live and announcing that Barack Obama actually chose Hillary Clinton to be his vice presidential candidate along with Bill Richardson, Kathleen Sebelius, and four other Democrats. While you cannot blame the Los Angeles Times for their preparations, this is not the only time Obama was misperceived through the media. John McCain tried a couple different stunts that backfired on him when he related Obama to Paris Hilton — who would have thought?

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We are in an industry and era where digital success equals company greatness. The hard part is proving it to the old fashioned. I just got an email from my good friend who decided to pack up and travel the world before settling down with his life. Staying in touch with someone who is traveling the world can be very tough or expensive if you dare to make an international phone call. My friend created his own RSS feed so his friends and family could keep in touch and witness his adventure through maps, pictures, and exciting stories.

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In a recent column for MediaPost, Jupiter Research President David Schatsky wrote about social media.  In his piece, he raised examples of some high-profile social media misfires, and that’s where I had to respectfully disagree.  His claim is that it takes a certain amount of emotional intelligence, awareness, and social skills for marketers to be able to participate in social media.

I think it’s a lot simpler than that: Set some guidelines (what we all used to call “ground rules”) before you start.

Just because a publication or brand opens itself up and welcomes user-generated content doesn’t absolve it from responsibility to manage the venue or at least establish boundaries of expectations. All you do is establish a very clear policy beforehand.  It needs to be straightforward and (this is key) very simple to understand: 

“Our goal is to provide a meeting place for online conversation to happen, and so we will delete any posts that are rude, obscene, or off-topic.”

Why do marketers think this is so hard? 

When anyone complains, you direct them to the policy.  Nobody’s limiting anyone’s free speech here.  If they complain, ask them to start their own blog. 

The important thing is to establish this very early on from the very start.  Just as there are rules and laws that guide offline behavior, anyone getting into social media must establish them for online as well.  It really is quite simple … and would have saved Digg, JetBlue, the LA Times, and others a LOT of PR grief.

So let’s stop the spin that social media is too unwieldly to manage. It’s unwarranted and is doing irreparable damage to the medium.

Learn more:

David Schatsky’s piece on MediaPost

-          Michael Rubin

When I was in journalism school, I came across a thread of emails on an alumni listerv debating the ethics of doctoring photos in PhotoShop prior to publication.  Most considered it as unethical as doctoring quotes.  Unless, of course, we are talking about trashy celeb magazines; then the rules appeared to be a little more bendable.

Another parallel is emerging with social media. While blogs give everyone a chance to tell stories and voice opinions, cell phones and digital cameras have incited citizen photojournalism, as well.  In fact, Yahoo and Reuters have begun to post pics submitted by amateur photographers.

This trend might strike fear into the hearts of struggling photojournalists everywhere. But if the pros are debating the ethics of doctoring photos, and the bloggers and camera-phoners are simply calling them as they see them, so-to-speak, who has the better handle on the ethics of freedom of speech? — Joanie Hammes

Burger boys Jack In the Box have apparently recovered from their fit with E-coli to throw zingers at their competitors, such as Hardee’s.  In a pair of advertisements, the (creepy looking) Jack character leads a carousing office meeting, implying, perhaps, that the Angus meat in competitors’ burgers come from…well, the least appetizing part of a cow.

Hardee’s parent company CKE is understandably perturbed at being the *ahem* butt of the joke.

The commercials, however, are pretty funny and rival most ads included in this year’s Super Bowl broadcast.

Advertising is different than PR, and it is the venue where the most direct attacks on competitors take place (Bud vs. Miller; Pepsi vs. Coke).  But still, there must be some sort of ethical threshold, right?  Isn’t there a space for relying on the quality of your product instead of bottoming out (oops) at the lowest common denominator?

CKE has asked Jack In the Box to refrain from airing the ads, but AP writes that a CKE executive “said that the company asked Jack In the Box to drop the ads, but that the chain refused and pointed to a Carl’s Jr. TV spot suggesting Carl’s Jr. milk shakes were superior to those served by competitors.”

Clearly they’re comparing asses to utters. — Alex Parker

No matter what, word-of-mouth is out there.  How you choose to use it, can work to your advantage. 

If you didn’t watch the Sopranos last week I am sure you at least heard about the controversial series finale, leaving fans and bloggers alike with questions and mixed feelings.

HBO series ended with a blank screen and made viewers, like myself, feel unsatisfied … until I got on my computer only hours later.

Making it on the CNN homepage and hundreds of blogs, the real scoop was announced. 

This is a true test to word-of-mouth and what the power of blogs can do.  Once logged into the blogosphere I learned what the ending truly represented, and a light bulb went on.  “It all made since.”

Was this what the creator, David Chase, wanted to happen?  Did he want us to feel like we needed more information to the point where research for closure was a must?  Did Chase want us to tap into our new social resources to find out what everything meant?

I would like to believe yes.  I think it’s great that the show is now over but the word is still out.  People are still Googling and blogging about what it all means.  This series finale took advantage of the tools of the 21^st century and caused more of an uproar than ever before. 

Between freaking out thinking my cable went out at the exact wrong time, to feelings of relief and satisfaction when my research led me to the bloggers with answers.  This gave me more of a roller-coaster ride with my emotions than my past relationships — I loved it!  -  Molli Megasko

Social media is here to stay.  But surprisingly, some professionals refuse to change their paradigm and still find it hard to see the truth in blogs, and frown upon personal networking sites.  As these sites keep emerging, making more and more competition, we are finding that soon this group of individuals will be left in the dust.

Social media is no longer just a trend for teeny-boppers and public relations professionals.  An article on Wired showcased schools adapting to sites such as MySpace and Facebook, and are working them into academic assignments.  Educators understand, and are beginning to accept the importance of enlightening discussions outside of the classroom and some even making weekly blogs apart of their semester syllabi.

The world of podcasts, del.icio.us sites, and Flickr could be a foreign language to some, but don’t fret, it’s not too late to jump on this band wagon.

So what does this mean for the world of public relations? 

“Developers say cross-platform networking could overhaul academic norms.”  Meaning this next generation of young professionals will be blog experts, media savvy individuals, and one step ahead of the rest of us.  Hold on tight, we have a lot to learn as social networking sites like Elgg feed to the trend. — Molli Megasko

Stuck in between two congested roadways, the newly created inner city beach in downtown Mexico City is a man-made tourist destination and the first of four to be developed. Complete with sand, palm trees, beach volleyball, and plenty of bikini-clad visitors, the site is drawing tremendous criticism regarding the spending priorities of the city’s mayor.

The project, built on a sports field and surrounding by traffic and high rise housing projects, has been highly criticized by many. Costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars, critics claim the city should focus on water, crime, education, and many other “urgent” uses.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard resists the criticism. During recent speeches, he has promoted the faux beach as free and for the public. And, if the beach becomes popular, he plans to build three more.

In an effort to encourage residents to stay in Mexico City rather than travel afar for fun in the sun, the capital is taking a big financial risk with money that, in most opinions, should be used for more important needs.

While the project is a risk in the eyes of many, we see the launch as an opportunity to create hope for a very poor city. Opened just in time for a major holiday, city officials created a destination for its residents, potentially expanding its tourism industry. It will be interesting to watch as this story unfolds. If city officials play their marketing cards correctly, worries about funding education, reducing crime, and improving water could become a distant memory. — Jenna Gruhala

Mexico City, April 3, 2007. (Daniel Aguilar/Reuters) Photo, caption courtesy of Yahoo! News

I am certain everyone has heard by now that paying $1,000 for a pizza is no joke.  There is such thing as a Luxury Pizza, and people are eating it up; well, at least one person is.

Nino Selimaj, the owner of Nino’s Bellisima Pizza in New York, tops his pizza with fresh lobster, different kinds of caviar, and some of the world’s best cheeses, making each of the slices of pie worth $125.  Selimaj says he came up with this idea more than a year ago, and is claiming that it is not a publicity stunt.  He truly believes there is a demand for this Luxury Pizza.

For the past few days I could not turn on the TV or go on the Internet without hearing of this $1,000 pizza.  With hits on CNN, Bill Maher, Late Night, an endless amount of stories and news releases, I would call this PR campaign a success.

So regardless of whether or not Selimaj is telling us the truth, he knows the concept of word-of-mouth.  And I wish him the best of luck on selling these extravagant pies. 

All I know is that if I were to spend $1,000 on a pizza, it better be topped with diamonds. — Molli Megasko

Every day, it seems, we hear new stories about children and adults vanishing without a trace. Abducted by friends, family, or strangers, many of those who disappear are never to be found again.

In recent months, Shawn Hornbeck, missing for several years, was found, unharmed, south of St. Louis. His high-profile, heartbreaking story is one that provides hope to those working to find their own lost loved ones and, unfortunately, creates a platform for opportunists.  Last month, a St. Louis television station reported that someone, posing as Hornbeck, created a MySpace page about the boy’s life and his desire to reconnect with friends. The motive? To “get girls”.

Since the news report aired, the page was voluntarily removed from MySpace by its creator.  But it’s important to note that the social Web site was not interested in cooperating with authorities by releasing information about the origin of the fake Hornbeck page … at first.

In situations where identify theft is used with new media, should the name of the person creating fake blogs, sites, and profiles be revealed by the hosting company?  We think there are certain circumstances that warrant the release of personal information related to social media.  Unfortunately, in this instance of identity theft, Hornbeck’s family is forced to involve their attorney in getting the information regarding the person posing as the once missing child in hope of pressing charges. Hasn’t his family endured enough already? — Jenna Gruhala