Media

Murdered editor pre-wrote his last editorial

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

The BBC and other major media have not covered it yet, but they soon will.

The editor of the Sunday Leader in Sri Lanka who was murdered last week wrote his last editorial, which was published yesterday.

In it there’s damning evidence and information, but the editorial reveals his calm acceptance that he will be killed, standing up for the truth.

“I want my murderer to know that I am not a coward like he is, hiding behind human shields while condemning thousands of innocents to death. What am I among so many? It has long been written that my life would be taken, and by whom. All that remains to be written is when.”

He ends with the fitting quote from German theologian, Martin Niemöller that Wickrematunge says inspired him during his youth.

“First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

2008 in Retrospect: The Good, The Bad, and The Absolutely Hilarious!

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

We said goodbye to some extraordinary people this year.


PR disasters and signs of the times

  • Bill O’Reilley’s studio performance over a teleprompter
  • Scott McClellan‘s unconvincing tell-all book on his White House years.
  • New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer busted in prostitution scandal
  • Alaska Senator Ted Stevens found guilty of ethics violations
  • Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich charged with corruption
  • Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona launches immigration busts.
  • Sarah Palin ‘pranked’ by two Canadian radio DJs, into believing she was speaking to French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.
  • The Big Three car makers, GM, Ford and Chrysler, arrived in DC to ask for a bailout in their corporate jets. They were sent back and returned, driving hybrid vehicles. One even car-pooled. Honest!
  • The Guardian in London, declares Gillette ad featuring (Roger) Federer, (Tiger) Woods and (Thierry) Henry the worst ad in 2008.

Milestones:

  • The 15th birthday of Hypertext – Tim Berners-Lee
  • Barack Obama elected the 44th president of the U.S.
  • The iPhone cuts its price, and adds a new model
  • The New Yorker‘s controversial cover on the Obamas
  • The 2008 Olympics in China
  • Dipnote celebrates one year as a blog
  • Blackberry introduces Storm, the answer to the iPhone
  • ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Comm celebrates 25 years
  • Saturday Night Live‘s YouTube skit on Sarah Palin
  • Arizona governor, Janet Napolitano, picked to be new Sec. of Homeland Security
  • Christian Science Monitor – shifts from daily to Weekly
  • bizAZ Magazine folds due to downturn in economy
  • The horrible Mumbai terrorist attacks, which now have a Wikipedia entry

Quotes for the week ending 27 Dec, 2008

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

“I’d made sure I’d bought plastic handcuffs and a plastic whistle but I hadn’t realised that the costume had a metal ban.”

A clown, David Vaughan who was made to strip down to his underwear when passing through a security checkpoint in the Birmingham airport in the UK.

“So, although it’s true we need a president who can juggle several issues at once, we don’t need a president who falls prey to “continuous partial attention.”

Eric Weiner, author, in a column (memo) asking Barack Obama to kick the Blackberry habit.

“Vatican embraces iTunes prayer book.”

AP story on how the Vatican (which has a ‘Pontifical Council for Social Communications’) is embracing the iBreviary, an iTunes app. Better still the application was created by an Italian priest.

“Only a tiny, tiny number of individuals could even theoretically ‘twitter for a living’ — just as almost no one successfully blogs for a living.”

Sam Lessin, CEO of Dropio, in Advertising Age, in a column about how advertisers could turn Twitter into an ad network.

“being in a car with bad brakes driving toward a cliff in the fog.”

John Holden, the man tipped to be Obasmas’s science adviser, on how the US is currently addressing environmental issues.

“So, why exactly are you planning on the future being just like it is now, but with better uniforms?”

Seth Godin, on why predicting the future is futile, and why readiness is the only sensible strategy

Quotes for the week ending 20 December, 2008

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

“I’m not a journalist. But I am a publisher. I am a reporter. I am a media maker.”

Chris Brogan, in  a post explaining his ‘sponsored post’ for K-Mart

“For gaseous and predictable arguments ripped from the most recent front-page news stories and not much else, the Times is champion.”

Doug Maceachern, columnist for The Arizona Republic, firing back at the New York Times for an editorial dissing Arizona over governor governance after Janet napolitano leaves for a White House post.

“WAAAY too much “yay, all social media is good” group-think going on right now.”

Jason Baer, commenting on IABC Chair, Barbara Gibson’s post about  Chris Brogan’s experiment with a sposored post for K-Mart.

“the defendants in the case could be validly served by the plaintiff sending a message by computer to the Facebook page.”

Story of a ruling by an Australian court that a judgment could be ‘served’ to Facebook.

“It’s a big, fragmented mess.”

Steve Woodruff, founder of Impractivi, commenting on socvial media, in an interviw with CB Whittermore.

“That approach doesn’t work at a cocktail party, or at a funeral or in a social network.”

Seth Godin, on why traditional advertising doesn’t work, and why big companies are are asking the wrong questions in social media.

“The Lunesta moth. A potent symbol, but not a lot of depth.”

Alfred O’Neill, on why Pharma advertising is a square peg in a round hole.

“Eventually, given enough years in the biz, you know who will melt like a snowball in a rainstorm uphill on a Sunday in Jun…”

John Biggs, responding to a nasty email from a PR firm because TechCrunch called out the PR spam they were getting. The owner of the firm called them “nasty people” that will “melt away faster than a snowball going up hill in the rain.”

“Poor WSJ and NY Times—left 45 people voice mails. I am going to be so outed by those publications.”

Lois Whittman, the owner of the PR firm, inducted into TechCrunch’s hall of shame, above.

“If you come across any young PR professionals who have “McMurry” on their resume, you’d be lucky to have them on your team.”

Jessica Hansen, a Phoenix PP professional, responding to a reader comment on my post in ValleyPRBlog about TechCrunch’s fatwa against PR people.

Media value of a presidential duck

/ Angelo Fernando / 2 Comments

No amount of media training can prepare a president for a media assault like this.

Bush’s shoe attack in Iraq this week reminded me of another attack on a head of state visiting a country he was not exactly welcome.

bushiniraq

In July 1987, a soldier in the ceremonial guard hit then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on the shoulder with a rifle. The soldier was protesting India’s involvement in Sri Lanka. The context of this state visit was controversial, too. The buzz this created –before camera phones and viral videos– was damaging to Gandhi’s stature.

When the history of the Iraq was and the failed strategy is written, the journalist’s shoe will surely become a metaphor of protest –fit for the Newseum.

Chris Brogan’s experiment: get over it!

/ Angelo Fernando / 1 Comment

I had intended to say that Chris Brogan’s K-mart post was a storm in a teacup, until I saw Chris’ post on Saturday. (If you missed it, it’s K-Mart’s use of six bloggers to create some buzz about shopping for Christmas.) It’s more like a tornado in a branded shot glass.

It boils down to whether pay-per-post ought to be shunned by bloggers, and the larger, eternal question: “Are bloggers journalists?”

My initial thoughts were these:

  • People are so uncomfortable/unsure about social media that they think there’s one formula that everyone has to follow, and whoever breaks the formula is either crazy, desperate, or damn clever.
  • Money is a touchy subject when it comes to blogs -until people place ads in their navigation bar.

I didn’t think this was such a sell out, or that Chris had tiptoed to the ‘slippery slope’ as many have suggested. I have to laugh out loud when people talk about editorial integrity in the traditional media and that firewall between advertising and editorial.

Having bought media in the old and new media worlds, I know how this works, or doesn’t. You can not pay for editorial outright, most of the time. But you could be put into a sponsor bucket, and be ‘promised’ some coverage. Chris cut through those euphemisms, and said quite clearly what his purpose was.  Here’s why I like what he did:

  • He challenged the old way of thinking, and the old ‘rules’ that people imagine exist.
  • He stuck to the ‘markets are conversations’ idea, even before he cited Cluetrain Manifesto.
  • He was transparent. Bloody transparent. To the point of scanning his register receipt.

As Jeremiah Owyang noted in an earlier tweet:

“Expect more brands to ‘buy’ bloggers and tweeters as the economy dips, this truly is cost effective marketing.”

Some will be uncomfortable with this, but as old media explores a new model to retain readers and viewers –and sponsors– we need to become more open to experimentation.

Quotes for the week ending 13 December, 2008

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

“sliding down Hell-in-Handbasket Ln.

AdRants about Virgin Mobile, commenting on the offensive/kinky video featuring an intoxicated Mrs. Claus.

“Goodbye, eyeballs—hello, conversations”

Article at Ragan.com featuring Katie Paine’s six steps in social media, where she advises against going for the nebulous value of media, and focusing on that which is measurable.

“This Wasn’t Quite the Change We Envisioned.”

Headline of Op-Ed by Barack Obama, quoted in Politico, which notes the rising dissatisfaction of Liberals with Obama’s centrist policies.

“There are still opportunities to defuse this.”

Duncan Clark, on the  Chinese government’s plan requiring foreign computer firms to submit security technology -which includes data encryption secrets –for government approval.

“…to bring the joy and the interest of our Islamic art to an Australian audience.”

Artist Phillip George, on his line of 30 Inshallah surfboards featuring Islamic art on display a beach in Sydney.

“When it comes to gaining consumer confidence, company blogs are the used car salesmen of the media world.”

Mark Walsh, on the news from a Forrester Research report that only 16 percent of people trust corporate blogs.

“You naysayers can laugh all you want. You’re just troglodytes caught up in old-word illusions like “ROI” and “profit” and “sales.” You probably scoffed at pioneering technologies such as Betamax, CueCat and Friendster, too, didn’t you? You talk trash about Web 2.0 and we’ll use the power of social media to bankrupt you just like we did Pepsi and Motrin”

AdAge columnist, Ken Wheaton, making fun of the Web 2.0 cheerleaders.

“Old World Perspectives on New Technology Is What Ails You.”

Response to the article above, by reader Rodney Mason.