In a blog post yesterday he defends his public ridicule of Amanda Miller of Nike Communications for what he sees as blatant stupidity. Says the fashion-challenged Nocera: ”What offended me was that Miller tried to pitch the idea that children have become fashion accessories. Her glib acceptance of that grotesque notion was what drove me around the bend, and caused me to publish her e-mail. I would do it again in a second.”

Hey, Joe, ever read The New York Times? The NYTimes, 8/22/1996: “But in today’s post-modern tableaux vivants, even children are accessories.”  Hey, Joe, ever take a walk on the Upper West Side, where children are dressed like they’re taking a hike down the fashion runway? You could have forwarded the pitch to the Style section and be done with it.

As we said, and others commented, Miller’s only mistake was sending the pitch to Nocera, who is displaying his meanness in attacking everyone who disagrees with him in his blog. I’ve met Nocera and he is the last guy you want to pitch about fashion or culture. What can you say about a guy who takes his head shot with his glasses propped on his balding pate and a know-it-all grin like he’s about to puke on another PR person.

He described the Pope’s meeting with victims as a cynical move designed by public relations experts. “It doesn’t alter things, because it’s purely public relations,” Dr Barrett told Fairfax Radio Network. “It’s all about just managing the crisis … it’s typical, they (the church) always do it in this way.” - see story in theage.com.au

Il Papa ha ascoltato le loro storie e li ha consolati - “He listened to their stories and offered them consolation,” according to the 7/21/08 Daily Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office. The man behind that message is Jesuit Father Frederico Lombardi (left, working the phones), the director of the Holy See Press Office. A lifelong journalist, Fr. Lombardi was ’spinning’ the Pope’s continued outreach to victims of sexual abuse by the clergy. The Pope is making a point of ‘hearing’ sexual abuse victims and therefore showing his concern and empathy.

The problem with that, according to critics in the story from Australia quoted above, is that ‘hearing’ and ‘consoling’ does not lead to ’doing’.  They are clamoring for action and the Pope is making PR gestures. What more could he do?

The Papacy is a business and the Pope is the CEO and Fr. Lombardi is the head flack.  He is not making or interpreting ‘the word’ - he is delivering the word, the conduit. Beside the deep lingering embarrassment for the Church, the decades-long sexual abuse by the Clergy is a crushing liability that can conceivably lead to bankruptcy and ruin. How would you like to be Chief Counsel for the Holy See?

From most public accounts Fr. Lombardi juggles his spokesperson duties and the Holy See radio station and TV station with angelic aplomb. Howard Rubenstein used to joke that Moses was the first spokesperson - he delivered the word of God.  Moses himself had a certified spokesperson. His name was Aaron. So when anybody calls you a cheap flack, clue them in to your Biblical significance.

But when Aaron was fulfilling his role and purpose, he was a capable and helpful teammate. Moses treasured his companionship. But he was always the representative of a greater authority. This was true when he was Moses’ spokesperson as well as when he was designated the first high priest of Israel. These were certainly honorable roles. See Men’s Devotional

“It is vitally important to tell the truth with clarity and simplicity. Every ambiguity, every reticence and, worse still, every intentional concealment of the truth, will exact a dear price in the end. The vicissitudes connected to the sexual abuse crisis were the weightiest proof of this.” - Father Frederico Lombardi Address to Catholic Media Convention in Toronto

“How do you know you’ve gone too far until you go there?” - anon  |  This quote should be on the 1938Media web site. As we know, Loren Feldman, the ganza macher of 1938Media, likes to push the edges. Technigga, his digital trilogy to racial stereotypes and the vacuity of social media, was perhaps his boldest stride into comedic social commentary. The whole “black tech” issue came back to haunt Loren recently with a dustup with NPR - he’s like a heat seeking missile for controversy.

What’s to become of Loren Feldman? There was buzz of a C-Net deal, Verizon signed him up for a day or two before they realized his content could not be controlled, he tried integrating into Mahalo like a MTV V-Jay (NO!), he floated the idea of charging for “premium” content (apparently 99 cents was too much for most people), and he hobnobbed with Calacanis in Brentwood and Arrington in the Bay area like Blanche DuBois relying on the kindness of strangers. He even gave up pounding on Shel Israel and absolved Julia Allison - still he could not go mainstream with the digerati.

Now there’s Affirmative Action at 1938 Media with Salaam E. Boloney. It’s hilarious and on the edge - pure Loren. If anybody needs proof that Loren just does not ‘fit’ with Techheads like Arrington and Calacanis, and if he’s going to get anywhere it’s going to be on his own terms, see video below.

Hey, Loren, you have an opportunity here to be what Chaplin was to Universal Studios. This is the supposed to be the YEAR OF WEB VIDEO and we are still in an absolute dead zone of creative content. You need a Studio head, a business guy, to gather and present and monetize that creative output. Seize the time bro. 

David Carr is the Best Crackhead Journalist

I cried when I read David Carr’s “The Night of the Gun” excerpt in The New York Times magazine today. There is well-crafted, self-depracating, self-illuminating honesty that comes through in everything that Carr writes, and it is magnified tenfold in this book. Lurid tales of criminal junkie life make me wonder about the ability of the body to absorb punishment - prolonged, escalating poisoning and torture - and to emerge to write about it in a search for the truth, even if it leads to dark corners. I was always impressed with David Carr’s propensity for taking risks in his journalism but I never knew why until I read this amazing story. With his new found celebrity, and his back from the depths tale that Hollywood devours, I hope that Carr does not go ”Oprah” and “Dr. Phil” on us …

Calacanis Quits Blogging - World Holds Breath

Jason McCabe Calacanis, lapsed Brooklynite nee Westwood socialmedialite, has quit blogging! Don’t everybody hold their breath. Jason has afforded himself a grand sendoff and assures us all that he did not undertake this decision lightly. Taurus and Fondue, his bulldogs, never wanted the media attention he tells enraptured reporters at a faux media conference. Here’s the answer to the unasked question: Jason quit blogging because he had nothing to say. His blog had become an overblown ad for himself and his company and his life was not that interesting. Maybe if he moved back to Bklyn and became a grafitti artist he’d have something to blog about.

PR worth $139 Million?

Lapsed blogger and ex-Strumpette bud Eric Starkman scored a major coup in PRWeek with a Q&A titled: Exclusive Interview: Grasso bullish on PR’s worth. To get a high-profile client to vouch for you and explain in surprising detail how you helped them is, most would say, impossible. Grasso (left) faced an uphill battle when Eliot Sptizer was flying high and trampling all in his path. He realized that this was as much a PR battle as a legal one, and he trusted Sarkman to lead the way. You can’t buy that kind of endorsement or loyalty, especially when $139.5 million is at stake. 

Short take: Israel launched an international media campaign against Hezbollah. See HAARETZ.com story

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OK, the pitch is inane and Nocera is not a journalist you pitch about children as the new accessories or anything to do with “Brangelina.” Nocera is a serious guy who likes to hobnob with the titans of industry while maintaining the cloak of the ’serious journalist.’

Several PR people comment on the blog post. Some point out how the pitch could have been improved (not that Nocera would take notice).  Some PR people and journalists remark, thankfully, how petty and mean it is to even bother with such a post.

File under, “Why we don’t need blogs.” What a cheap shot. Didn’t you have anything better to write about? If any of my writers filed this to me, it would never have seen the light of day, because it has NO READER VALUE. Bad blog posts are a dime a dozen, just like bad pitches. — Posted by Trade Mag Editor

Honestly, isn’t the worst part about this pitch — perhaps the only truly inappropriate part — the person to whom it was sent? Sent to a different person — say, a reporter at a lifestyle mag or perhaps a parenting Web site — this isn’t a bad pitch. — Posted by Mike Keliher

She’s just doing her job. I don’t think it’s right that you would embarrass her nationally just to illustrate your point that you don’t like the P.R. business. — Posted by Elizabeth

 

 

 

 

The purpose of a provocative magazine cover, of course, is to generate buzz and sell magazines. Judged by that criteria, this is highly successful commercial art. Both Obama and McCain can write this off as further proof that the east coast effete intellectual media is out of touch with the rest of the “normal” people out there who find this grossly offensive. I am rarely offended by free speech and artistic expression, and I am always amused by how the “rest of the country” can both admire and revile, and attempt to dismiss us here in the naked city.

The media-on-media coverage (see video below) requires pundits to examine all sides of this issue to formulate no conclusion that leads us to no greater understanding of this non-issue in the summer doldrums of a surprisingly unsurprising election. When do the real stories begin? (after the conventions!) 

Torossian, CEO of 5W PR, really stepped in it this week and hubris and deflection will not save him.  He needs to fire Juda Engelmayer and accept full responsibility for the latest ethical lapse at his company or suffer serious credibility damage.

The thumbnail of this outrageous story: Engelmayer impersonated a prominent Rabbi and fabicated other characters who posted laudatory comments about a 5W client and mimicked critics in blogs and chats. Shmarya Rosenberg of FailedMessiah.com did some sharp investigating and found that the posts were coming from Engelmayer.

At first, Torossian countered with his usual bluster: “I have complete confidence in knowing that my account team who runs these accounts did not make these posts.”

When Rosenberg of FailedMessiah.com persisted Engelmayer said that an intern was responsible and was fired. Friday, however, Torossian revealed that Engelmayer was covering up the deception with the fired intern story when he released a statement to the Jewish daily Forward saying “A senior staff member failed to be transparent in dealing with client matters. He has taken full responsibility.”

Torossian said Engelmayer was not fired. He would not explain further and fell back on message: “This battle is not about blogging, it is however about protecting the highest levels of Kashrut in the Jewish community.”

That statement stinks like a pile of rotting non-Kosher gefilte fish. Torossian has a knack for overshadowing his clients with his marginal defenses but this one is so outrageous that the PR community - if there is one - should rise up and demand some action.

Torossian is right. This battle is not about blogging. It’s about countering the widespread perception that all PR people are scheming liars who will saying anything and do anything to promote their clients without regard for ethics or morals. The client Torossian is representing, Agriprocessors, was recently the target of a huge immigration raid and the Rabbi that Engelmayer impersonated is attempting to create ethical standards for the production of kosher food.

PR 101 for Ronn Torossian: 1) Admit the mistake 2) Fire the offender 3) Apologize and vow it will never happen again 4) Institute policies to assure that it will never happen again. Stonewalling on this will not do him, or the PR industry, any good.

I love Dick Cavett

Cavett’s July 11 post Smiling Through Part II in his New York Times blog called “Talk Show” already has 133 comments as of this writing. Part I so far garnered 485 comments. Cavett struck a vein with his discussion about depression because he knows what he speaks of and he knows how to write and reach an audience. I smell a book here and a round of interviews on depression springing from these blog posts.

Cavett is a natural blogger. His voice comes through clearly, he researches what he writes about and he has lived such a full, varied life that he speaks from personal experience.

Star with PR

Jack + Bill, a New York PR agency, is hosting an open casting call to select one model, one women’s apparel designer, a jewelry designer and a fashion stylist to receive complimentary PR representation leading up to New York Fashion Week.  Open “casting call” is Tuesday, July 15th and Wednesday, July 16th.  See the who/what/when/where/why here.

As a counterpoint I was going to list all the journalists who have been caught fabricating sources and entire stories for USA Today, The New York Times, his employer, CBS, and countless other media outlets, but Cohen is not a journalist, he’s an “analyst” and cannot be held to any journalistic standards.

Cohen dismisses PRSA’s code of ethics as being akin to the Burgler’s Association saying Thou Shalt Not Steal. PRSA Chair & CEO Jeffrey Julin countered with a lame video response to Cohen’s rant, proving that PRSA communicators may not be liars but they sure know how to put an audience to sleep. 

Show me a PR person who is “accurate” and “truthful,” and I’ll show you a PR person who is unemployed.

The reason companies or governments hire oodles of PR people is because PR people are trained to be slickly untruthful or half-truthful. Misinformation and disinformation are the coin of the realm, and it has nothing to do with being a Democrat or a Republican. See The Flak Over Flacks