The Good, The Bad, The Spin

The following was written the pro pr blogger blog. I outline some tips for PR pros in relating to bloggers.

1. As a PR person, consider your intentions for approaching bloggers. Typically, trying to just score mentions or links is readily transparent and frowned upon. Genuinely participating in the blog, or relating to the blogger, will go much further. While bloggers are (part of) the new media, they are often not reporters in the traditional sense, so spamming them with news releases can cause a negative reaction, including your own public embarrassment, as the PR world has seen recently.

2. Target appropriately. This should go without saying–too often, however, the pitch-to-outlet attempts are often so disconnected as to be embarrassing. The blog, as with a traditional media outlet, should be relevant to what you want publicity for; in other  words, it should be a good match. If not, do better homework. It’s better to selectively target and pitch conservatively if you’re unsure of the appropriateness of media outlets or blogs than it is to be publicly embarrassed for to spam them on behalf of your clients or organization (see above).

3. Bloggers can be far more influential than the traditional news media. This can be both good and bad for you. Bloggers don’t play by the same rules, which is both a curse and a blessing.

4. Be mindful of your client’s or organization’s needs. If something hits your radar screen that is relevant to your PR work, by all means jump on it. I’ve personally contributed to niche blogs that just happened to mention something related to one of my organization’s entities and ended up engaging in an email conversation with the blogger–with positive, public results.

5. Do your own blog. Unlike with the traditional news media, being a blogger puts you in the same playing field as other bloggers; whereas, being a PR person is not the same as being a news reporter. By doing your own blog, it is easier to link to other blog content, engage in blog conversations, learn blog etiquette, learn how to deal with obnoxious readers and so on.

6. Finally, blogger relations is not a science. There are no right ways to relate to bloggers. I find being helpful, transparent, honest and genuine goes much further than trying to ‘pitch’ or sell something. Most people relate better to the former rather than the latter.

I’ve never been a fan. People who are quick to thrust themselves into the limelight at moment’s notice tend to, after awhile, raise suspicion as to true motives. Like most who publicly introduce others’ faults to the world with a high-level of shame, Jesse Jackson’s legacy of moralistic preaching is coming back to slap him in the face.

My father introduced me to the term “professional agitator,” a term that has since been seared into my head to describe those quick to jump into the social justice fray while accepting a paycheck for doing so. Jackson exemplifies this description. I don’t doubt his sincerity—at the same time, I don’t think his publicly expressed passion tells the complete story.

There have been a number of stories portraying Jackson as a self-interested empire builder, which is probably true and which adds to Jackson’s more complete portrait. Read the rest of this entry »

By Harriet Hall, MD

Reprinted from this week’s eSkeptic.

Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam, by Pope Brock, is not only a rip-roaring good read, but it brings up serious issues about regulation of medical practice and prosecution of quackery. It tells the story of John R. Brinkley MD, who transplanted goat glands into people, and of Morris Fishbein MD, the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, who tried to stop him.

An impotent patient supposedly told Brinkley, “Too bad I don’t have goat nuts.” So Brinkley gave him some.

The Charlatan

Brinkley was a colorful character whose very first job was a scam, selling a patent remedy. He went to medical school but never finished, eventually buying a diploma elsewhere for $100. A bigamist, drunkard, liar, and con man of incredible audacity, he built up an empire of quackery that made him filthy rich. Apart from his medical adventures, he practically invented modern political campaigning techniques, revolutionized advertising, and was almost single-handedly responsible for popularizing country music and the blues with his radio station. Read the rest of this entry »