Category Archives: Journalism
Brownback Wrestles With Pig; Facts Don’t Keep Him From Getting Muddy
George Bernard Shaw once said, “Never wrestle with a pig. You get all muddy and the pig enjoys it.” (I’m paraphrasing.) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback would have been well-served to follow such advice, and as Christopher Budd points out, his … Continue reading
Filed under crisis communications, Issues Management, Journalism
In The Race to Be First, You Lose
A thought-provoking post from Tom Gable in today’s Daily Dog, responding to a claim by the Harvard Business Review’s Joshua Gans that, “Facebook is the largest news organization ever.” While Gable spends a lot of time distinguishing between the “news” … Continue reading
Filed under Journalism, Social Media
Is Obama Bypassing the MSM? And If So, Is That a Bad Thing?
A thought-provoking story published Tuesday on ABC News.com asks whether the Obama administration is attempting to bypass the mainstream media in an effort to both control its message and connect with the American public. Reporter Devin Dwyer observes: “The White … Continue reading
Filed under Journalism, Social Media
Who Makes the Rules When the Public Airwaves Are Used for Profit?
I heart FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, who was quoted Wednesday in a Los Angeles Times blog post on the state of journalism in the USA. His take: “American media is not ‘producing the body of news and information that democracy … Continue reading
Filed under Journalism
All The News That Money Can Buy
Paul Farhi from the WaPo has a story today that will harden even the most cynical heart. In “Checkbook Journalism,” Farhi notes how pay-for-play is no longer relegated to tabloids such as the National Enquirer or sites such as Gawker.com, … Continue reading
Filed under Journalism
This Just In: Honesty is the Best Policy
It appears being honest and bull$h!t-free really is a good policy for PR after all. Burson-Marsteller (that’s B-M for short) reports that the mainstream media “loses” the intended message of PR pros roughly 48 percent of the time. PR Week … Continue reading
Filed under Issues Management, Journalism
Newspapers Suing PR Firms? WTF?
Maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, but I’ve really had it with the news media’s treatment of PR firms. For years, my peers and I have worked to provide content that not only serves … Continue reading
Filed under Issues Management, Journalism
Come for the Candy, Stay for the Spinach
Great piece from the American Journalism Review on how the news media are gaming the system to drive traffic to their Websites. According to Paul Farhi, who writes for the Washington Post, “[o]n an ordinary weekday in August, the following … Continue reading
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch is written by Bill Patterson, president of Kansas City, Mo.-based Nation Ranch, a strategic consulting firm specializing in brand management, public relations and crisis communications.
