The Good, The Bad, The Spin

I have more than once pointed out the irony of news media outlets having to cope with public relations crises. From having to play defense when the accuracy of news stories is challenged, to having to admit reporters fabricated news, the news media needs public relations counsel now more than ever. As fiscal pressures enhance the likelihood of screw ups, as well as an increased drive to be more sensational in order to compete for readers and viewers, the legacy news media is becoming a more perilous and less-trustworthy information industry.

Nothing exemplifies this more than the the Associated Press’ recent problems in its reporting. When the AP’s John Solomon went after U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) implying legal and ethical wrong doing in land deals, he was once again omitting key facts. More recently, the AP’s recent mountain-out-of-a-mole-hill reporting of supposedly toxic waters adds to the news agency’s growing credibility gap.

This past week, the AP solidified its public relations ineptitude by issuing ‘takedown notices‘ to the Drudge Retort and Rogers Cadenhead, which I was first alerted to here and then here. The alleged crime is copyright infringement. (more…)

I’m no Buddha*. And likely, neither are you.

The amount of perfection expected for people is unrealistic and often contradictory. The world’s noted scandals are often the results of character flaws of familial, biological and sociocultural origins, of which most of us possess.

Yet the bar is raised particularly high for public figures. It’s at the point of being unrealistic, so much so that I get a sense of cynical, voyeuristic enjoyment from the Peter Dohertys and Dennis Rodmans of the world. People like them, who relish in their careless, destructive behaviors, are refreshingly honest even while being distasteful to some.

Not giving a shit, when compared with the uppity expectations placed on many public figures, or just about anyone who screws up and is publicly exposed for it, is a healthy perspective. Suspending judgment of others is even healthier because the levels of expectation we place upon one another is, on some level, dependant upon our own mistakes and misjudgments. (more…)

Whether he will weather the storm–as of this writing, there’s talk of him potentially resigning–New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s brief statement yesterday alluding to his sexual escapades with a prostitute was appropriately to the point. Rather than engage in histrionics, denials and explanations, Spitzer was correct to preempt the story with his own admission.

By keeping it brief, and acknowledging his failure, he will sail through this much differently than if he had waited for the story to erupt around him–or tried to fight it.