Hamilton is the story heard around baseball — drafted number one overall in 1999 by the Tampa Bay Rays, a golden boy that idolized The Natural, a fictional character played by Robert Redford in one of the greatest sports movies ever.  But, like you see in many cases, young adults with access to all the money and fame in the world never seem to turn out well. Seduced by drugs, alcohol, tattoos, Hamilton was headed down a bad road. When young sports superstars get involved with money and the wrong crowd, the media has a field day and never seems to let it go.

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Have you seen the New York Times article about using “striking words” in your news releases to gain the attention of reporters, especially on slow news days? Oh yes! It’s true. The article, titled “Need Press? Repeat: ‘Green,’ ‘Sex,’ ‘Cancer,’ ‘Secret,’ ‘Fat’” ran last week and quotes, GASP!, PR people who support the notion that if you sensationalize a headline, the story will run in most major publications. Continue Reading »

It’s been everything I can do not to comment on Scott McClellan’s book, “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception.”  Continue Reading »

Blog written by Thomas Short

According to Rob the Bouncer, author of Clublife, New York City is experiencing a new drug on the streets. Yes I couldn’t believe my own eyes while reading about the news coverage lately on the abuse of Preparation H. There is only one thing that comes to mind when I think of the medical treatment and that’s that the cream goes where the sun doesn’t shine. Guys that don’t have time to go home and lather up after work instead are rubbing Preparation H all over their torsos to allow them to seem ripped for the ladies in the club. Now I am no expert, but doesn’t Preparation H smell? The treatment soaks up water from the body and swollen areas to allow the muscles to be more defined and visual to the human eye. Body builders, actors, and actresses all have been known to use the treatment for given reasons in their professions for emergencies and touch-ups.
 
I agree this is a fascinating story and very out of the ordinary, but how many teens or club hoppers are going to try this out with the increased media coverage  lately; talk show, Mike & Juliet, Fox News, ABC News, YouTube, and the list doesn’t stop there. You name it and the new use of Preparation H is on there. There has yet to be any major side effects, but if you grew up in the 90’s and caught the episode of Save By The Bell where the characters came up with their own acne cream, yeah their faces turned maroon. Is Preparation H using the mass amount of coverage to their advantage? It’s almost like a PR campaign that they never asked for or is it?

Media outlets need to take an opportunity now that they have had their fun exploiting how kids are using the medical cream, and concentrate on how this is not the intended use for Preparation H. Losing mass amounts of water, pouring in alcohol, dancing, sweating, do you see where I am going with this sentence? Yeah, I see bar stars passing out on the dance floor, not because of drugs, but Preparation H.
 
Crisis communication for Preparation H!!!

By Morgan Smith

On May 31, 2008, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt set a new world record in the 100 meter dash, posting a time of 9.72 seconds.

In even less time than that, people were asking themselves if Bolt was a cheater, and had used performance enhancing drugs to best the previous mark.

The use of performance enhancing drugs has a long history in track and field, starting for me, when Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his Olympic Gold Medal.

Recently, the high profile cases of Marion Jones and other athletes have caused people to become skeptical about any elite performance in track and field.

Is this suspicion fueled by the media, who insist on no longer covering just the world records, but add to those stories the behaviors of those who came before, essentially allowing no one to come into the sport with a clean slate.

Case in point is an article in the June 2, 2008 New York Times. The story is not about the 21 year-old who set the record, but the doping problems the sport faces. Unintentionally, the author put Bolt in the middle of the doping controversy, instead of helping him to celebrate his achievement. The author writes “If Bolt is clean — and at this point there is no evidence that he is not — he already finds himself a victim of the most corrosive aspect of pervasive doping: the innocent can no longer prove their innocence,” essentially proving his own point.

Sometimes, unrelated facts should be left out of an article, especially if they tarnish the reputation of an individual who did nothing but participate in a sport where others cheated.

Video sharing is a very popular way of creating awareness for consumer products and one of the granddaddy media outlets of them all is YouTube. Recently placed on YouTube was a video of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant displaying his brand new shoe,  Nike Zoom Kobe III’s, in an event that would be heard around the world. Continue Reading »

By Morgan Smith

When it comes to politics, there are times in the United States election cycle when interest spikes and it seems everyone has a genuine interest in helping shape the direction our country should travel in the coming years. This interest in politics is especially high this year, and is seen in record Primary Election turnouts across our country.

However, with increased interest comes increased media coverage, and if it happens to be a slow week, or filler is needed, it seems just about any story can make it into the news cycle.

For example, a story recently ran in the New York Times which sensationalizing a common campaign activity, and disturbingly attempting to portray Sen. Hillary Clinton in a light harmful to voters.

The story is about the Clinton campaign paying workers to help the organization’s get out the vote efforts. The authors, Mike McIntire and Michael Luo laughably describe the payments writing, “The payments, known in the political vernacular as “street money,” are a legal but controversial tool that Mrs. Clinton employed at a time when she was desperately seeking a victory after losing 10 consecutive contests to Mr. Obama.”

Really guys?  “Street money?” Are these really a “legal but controversial tool” that only Mrs. Clinton uses? Is this even news? I’m not sure, but I think there are people working on campaigns who get paid. Even on Mr. Obama’s campaign.

In fact, in the same article they write, “the Obama campaign paid about 150 people in Texas, most of them college students, for campaign work.”

I guess because “the payments were widely dispersed, with only a handful in South Texas and fewer than 20 in Houston,” and “a spokesman for the Obama campaign drew a distinction between the money it paid to college students, who he said were enthusiastic supporters to begin with, and the payments by the Clinton campaign, which he described as an effort to buy influence among important constituencies” they are not the same. Even though to me, they sound exactly the same.

If the authors had done any research, and I do emphasize “any,” they would have found the practice of paying GOTV workers is widespread and hardly “controversial.” I worked on campaigns from U.S. Senate to Alderman, and on every one with the resources to do so, workers were paid to “round up votes for candidates on Election Day,” as well as “knock on doors, deliver fliers and get voters to the polls.”

Spinning by omission is still spinning, and leaving readers without all the facts to make an informed decision does nothing but serve as a detriment to the election process.

Blog written by Shawn M. Kahle, APR

In 1986, America fell in love with Hoosiers!  The movie, that is!  Today, May 6, 2008 all eyes are upon my home state as the political hotbed of the national Democrat presidential campaign – and this from a state traditionally known as Republican.  Hip, hip, hooray!

Candidly, it’s tough growing up a Hoosier.  And while there are many changes you can make in life, it is both illegal and ill-advised to try to officially “reposition” your place of birth.  Sure, you can share stories of international travel or acquire a big city address, but the fact is, if you were born in New Castle, Indiana you are indeed a Hoosier – forever!

There are certain characteristics that hold true for 99 percent of the Hoosiers you ever encounter.  Many possess strong work ethics with roll-up-your-sleeves determination.  They are matter-of-fact in character, not known for making life fancier than it needs to be unless they marry very, very well. 

Candidates Clinton and Obama certainly are campaigning with heartland, down-to-earth rhetoric peppering their stumps – with a little bit of favorite son Senator Evan Bayh and the king-of-all-things-cool-and-loving Stevie Wonder mixed in to rattle the otherwise basketball-crazed crowds.

What’s ironic about being a Hoosier is that no one really knows the origin of that wacky moniker. In fact, many tales are spun in the tapestry of Indiana’s official history stretching back as early as 1827. 

With such a storied history, I’m starting to believe my Hoosier ancestors also may be the inventors – or at least the early pioneers – of SPIN!  Consider these potential theories summarized by the Indiana Historical Bureau to the eternal question, “What is a Hoosier?”

·         When a visitor hailed a pioneer cabin in Indiana or knocked upon its door, the settler would respond, “Who’s yere?”

·         Indiana river men were so spectacularly successful in trouncing or “hushing” their adversaries in the brawling that was then common that they became known as “hushers,” and eventually Hoosiers.

·         There was once a contractor named Hoosier employed on the Louisville and Portland who preferred to hire laborers from Indiana. They were called “Hoosier’s men” and eventually all Indianans were called Hoosiers.

·         Poet James Whitcomb Riley claimed early settlers were vicious fighters who gouged, scratched and bit off noses and ears. This was so common that a settler coming into a tavern the morning after a fight and seeing an ear on the floor would touch it with his toe and casually ask, “Whose ear?”

I’m guessing after all of the Hoosier hoopla of the 2008 presidential election, there are a lot of Indianans who wish their ears were on the floor!

Yep, those candidates sure can talk the ears right off your spinning head!

Blog written Thomas Short

Every year, the same month and day we are supposed to give thanks to our planet. April 22 marks the official “Earth Day” that dates back to 1970 where Senator Gaylord Nelson, a native of Wisconsin, is given credit for the idea of Earth Day. Typically this is a time for environmental groups, organizations, and schools, all over the globe to participate in saving the planet by putting a stop to pollution, global warming, endangered species, and of course, continuing to recycle.

While all these activities are taking place throughout the later part of the month of April, the students at the University of Colorado at Boulder seem to go about their three “R’s” in a different direction. Rather than giving our planet a big hug, 2,500 students have spun Earth Day by combining it with national marijuana day, a.k.a. 4/20. The students gather in a common area and count down the minutes until they can indulge in a left-handed cigarette with their follow classmates.

 
I’m no environmentalist, but usually by the end of a massive college gathering, students are not walking around picking up recyclables or in this case, empty Oreo or pizza containers. Instead of students cleaning up their university, or volunteering to clean up the surrounding communities, they polluted their university in more than one way. Several students were interviewed as to why they were attending the Earth Day celebration and replied while laughing and attempting to sustain conscience, “I don’t know.” I can only image if kids get a hold of the video or pictures online. There will be a new meaning to them of what Earth Day is.

However, there was one positive outcome form the event; several students did register to vote.

Blog written by Liz Pope

Technically The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News should function as allies, considering they’re both published by the Denver Newspaper Agency (DNA) and work in the same building. Nevertheless, with drops in readership and funding, these publications find themselves head-to-head in a battle that ultimately decides which paper stays afloat in the long run.

The DNA and the papers’ owners have done their best to differentiate between the Denver dailies to maintain readership and keep the competition at bay. For example, the Rocky is laid out in a tabloid style while The Post prints on a broadsheet. And while both incorporate the Denver news, the Rocky specializes in features stories and The Post specializes in hard news.

Arguably, the effort is just not enough. The DNA’s reported income for the 2007 fiscal year was $12.3 million, down from the $21.8 million from the previous year (as reported in the MediaNews Group annual report). In fact, rumor has it that the Rocky will fold by the end of the year.

As an avid reader of both publications, the decreasing number of stories printed per issue comes in conjunction with the increasing number of newspaper staff layoffs. In the Rocky especially, many of the articles aren’t even written by Rocky reporters, but instead by Boulder Daily Camera and Associated Press reporters.

How this issue impacts the public relations profession:

1. Beat coverage: It has become increasingly difficult to determine which reporter covers which beat with reporters covering multiple beats and many beats disappearing altogether. Even Cision, which is heavily relied on by top pr firms, isn’t always accurate.

2. Pitching: Our story pitches and ideas need to be dead on with absolutely no spin involved. With the increasing number of pr practitioners and the decreasing number of reporters, we’re all going for the same bait. While some pitch angles might have been newsworthy in the Denver community several years ago, this is no longer the case.

3. Online: Although the hard-copy publications are diminishing, their online Web sites and communities are flourishing. The Rocky’s YourHub.com, an online community Web site where readers can post their own stories and pictures, has become a fantastic outlet for public relations practitioners to post stories about clients that are newsworthy, but not always enough to make it to print. Even better, you can track the number of visitors to your story and even have the chance to receive pick up in the YourHub printed edition that comes out once a week and is distributed as a supplement to the Denver dailies. The Post is also pushing their community Web site called “Neighbors,” which is similar in function to YourHub.com. Even Post online news editor Demetria Gallegos, who attended the past Public Relations Society of America media luncheon, portrayed the “Neighbors” site as a perfect place for pr professionals to communicate and build relationships with editors and reporters.