Crisis Management

California Panel Blasts Virtual Voting

by Sheldon Rampton — April 22, 2004 - 10:00pm

"A California elections panel examining computerized voting machines has unanimously recommended that machines using touch-screen technology be banned in some California counties," reports W. David Gardner.

Main Source: 
TechWeb News, April 23, 2004

Like a Bridge over Troubled Blackwater

by Diane Farsetta — April 13, 2004 - 10:00pm

"They did not go out looking for the publicity and did not ask for everything that happened to them," said a spokesperson for Alexander Strategy Group, defending their new client, Blackwater USA. Blackwater is the private military firm that's faced increasing scrutiny from members of congress, the media and the general public following the killing of four of its contractors in Fallujah, Iraq last month.

Main Source: 
The Hill, April 14, 2004

Releasing the Briefing

by Sheldon Rampton — April 10, 2004 - 10:00pm

When the White House released the sure-to-be-controversial Aug. 6, 2001, President's Daily Brief (PDB) on the terrorist threat against the U.S., its timing could not have been accidental," reports Greg Mitchell.

Main Source: 
Editor and Publisher, April 11, 2004

Teed Off at Augusta

by Diane Farsetta — April 5, 2004 - 10:00pm

Crisis management PR pro Jim McCarthy says his clients have run afoul of "the media/ activist industrial complex." Case in point: Augusta National hired McCarthy when Martha Burk challenged the golf club's policy of not admitting women members. But McCarthy's prime target wasn't Burk: "Stopping The New York Times dead in its tracks was critical...

Main Source: 
Sports Illustrated, April 6, 2004

Ain't Nothin' but an Intricate Economic Thang

by Diane Farsetta — April 4, 2004 - 10:00pm

Moving jobs overseas has gotten a bad rap, according to PR Week: "The fact that offshoring is a complex matter... doesn't mean the media has treated it with a sober approach.

Main Source: 
PR Week, April 5, 2004

A Case of Early Chicken Counting?

by Diane Farsetta — April 1, 2004 - 11:00pm

At the upcoming meeting of the Public Relations Society of America, "the Washington Beef Commission will unveil how it turned the PR nightmare discovery of Mad Cow... into an opportunity to educate the public about the hype surrounding the disease." According to meatingplace.com, the Japanese government isn't buying the U.S.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, April 2, 2004

Bad Times for Brand Martha

by Sheldon Rampton — March 25, 2004 - 7:19pm

"Company founders have long believed that placing their name on their company signals their willingness to stake their personal reputation and stand behind their products," observes the University of Pennsylvania's business school. "That's fine when things are going well and the company and the CEO whose name it bears are held in high regard. But what if the CEO falls from grace? What happens to a company if the CEO's name is in effect its brand o and then that name is tarnished?

Main Source: 
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/956.cfm

'Anti-Chemical' = Pro-Public Health

by Laura Miller — March 23, 2004 - 11:00pm

"Industry officials are expressing grave concern that a growing alliance between environmentalists and patient advocacy groups to link exposure to harmful pollution with chronic diseases and life-long disabilities could add credibility to activists' calls for stricter environmental requirements," Inside EPA reports.

Main Source: 
Inside EPA, March 24, 2004

Crisis (of Confidence) Management

by Diane Farsetta — February 24, 2004 - 11:00pm

Diebold Election Systems has launched a five-year, $1 million "outreach campaign" to educate Maryland residents about its voting machines. The campaign, which will include radio and TV commercials, a website, more than 1.5 million brochures, and voting demonstrations, begins just prior to Maryland's March 2 primary.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, February 25, 2004

Halliburton's 'Bizarre Media Strategy'

by John Stauber — February 23, 2004 - 7:48am

"The chief executive of the Halliburton Company, Dave Lesar,
never imagined that he would be the star of his own
television commercial. But there he is, on the airwaves in
Washington and Houston, assuring viewers that his company
has billions of dollars in contracts to rebuild Iraq and
feed American troops 'because of what we know, not who we
know.' The unnamed 'who' is, of course, Vice President Dick
Cheney, Halliburton's chief executive from 1995 to 2000. ... The advertising, Mr.

Main Source: 
New York Times,. Febuary 23, 2004
Syndicate content