By Linda Forrest
Today is my last day of work prior to going on maternity leave. In Canada, we’re incredibly blessed that we have the option of taking one year off to be with our new arrivals, so I’m taking advantage and plan to be off until mid-August 2009 doing work of a different sort.
It’s been an interesting introduction to blogging these past months and I think that I’ll miss having a venue to regularly voice my opinions on topics pertaining to PR and technology. (I should watch how loudly I say that in front of my editor, for fear that he posits that I can easily blog with junior on my lap…)
‘Til we meet again, blogosphere…
By Leo Valiquette
Over at Glass House, Frank Shaw takes a moment to talk about, taking a moment. The power of silence, the impact of that empty space between words, whether written or spoken.
Not that there’s much chance to enjoy the comfort of one’s own silence, or anyone else’s, for that matter, in this age of social media. As Frank points out, we’ve given up thoughtful introspection for constant distraction and torrents of inane chatter (OK, that’s my phrase, not his), but the point stands.
Meanwhile, the folks over at the Bad Pitch blog continue to showcase the worst of what the PR profession has to offer with another fine example of someone for whom “thoughtful introspection” is an alien concept. Cake, anyone?
Enjoy.
By Linda Forrest
One word: Cuil.
This supposed “Google-killer” launched to much ballyhoo earlier this week. Problem is that the product itself is not yet ready for prime time and so it has, as many media have said, “stumbled out of the gate.” In today’s fast paced tech environment, it’s a costly misstep for a company to generate so much publicity when the product itself isn’t up to par, especially when it’s something so high profile as taking on the most successful search engine in history.
I’m sure the Cuil powers that be are questioning both their branding and their launch strategy this week, with influential bloggers being unable to resist the urge to deem the offering “Totally UnCuil.” Ouch.
By Leo Valiquette
In my years as a journalist I endured my fair share of embarrasing gaffes, both my own and those of my staff (which I was often on the hook to explain, apologize for and redress.)
Despite the emphasis on clean, factual and reliable content, the occassional mistake is made in the newspaper business. Nobody’s perfect and the strain of rushing to meet a deadline can easily lead one to skip out on taking the time to check the facts through a second time.
Of course, it’s difficult to feel all that sympathetic about the plight of harried reporters when it’s your good name that’s attached to the error. Maybe they called your CEO Rob when his name is Rod. Or said your flagship product is still in trials when it has been commercially available for six months. There’s the little things that don’t matter so much, such as whether your company was founded in 1989 or 1990, or the big whammies that can land you in a lawsuit — like that defamatory off-the-cuff remark that was never intended to be on the record.
Sometimes the error is clearly on part of the reporter. On the other hand, I’ve seen many examples of interview subjects horrified to see what they said on the record immortalized in print desperately backpedal and claim no such thing passed their lips.
But what makes my teeth gnash as either PR consultant or newspaper editor is the simple, easy things that can be verified within thirty seconds by journalists with this little thing called the internet. In one client’s case, it amazes me how many little factual details about the company, its history and the features of its product are so consistently mixed up by some media despite the fact that it’s all there clear as day on the online newsroom page of the corporate website.
You can lead a horse to water, but …
All we can do for our clients is ensure we have provided all that factual information in as clear and concise a format as we can, as readily available as it can be. Never pass up the opportunity to follow up with a journalist to ensure they have everything they need to complete their story and make sure what they need is what they have.
If factual errors do appear in the final product, don’t lose your cool. Contact the reporter in polite, but firm fashion, to point out the problem, without pointing fingers. If they aren’t receptive to the idea of addressing the matter, then call their editor. A correction notice in a subsequent issue of the publication is a common method of setting the record straight. Don’t be extreme in your demands for redress, but don’t let your concern be casually dismissed.
Though it’s often seen as a nuisance by journalists, it isn’t unreasonable to ask to run through an article pre-publication to verify whatever facts, figures, proper name spellings, and dates they are using. Don’t expect to be handed a copy of the entire article. That’s not considered a reasonable request (for reasons I won’t go into here). Instead, the journalist will simply run through what they’re using with you over the phone or through an email.
The tone and angle of the story is beyond your control, but in this way you can at least ensure that the peevish journalist who’s writing unfavourable things about you at least has their facts straight. If you don’t like your portrayal, but there aren’t any factual errors in the piece, well, you can always try and get your side of the story better represented with a letter to the editor, but that’s a topic for another time.
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