global discussion. local perspectives.
All of us have run across examples of communications that are so inept or so risky that we are tempted to quote Tony Blair in the movie The Queen, when he exclaims “Someone save these people from themselves”! This week I ran across two examples so blatant, that I had to share…
Yesterday, the people of Ukraine cast their ballots in national elections for the third time in three years. In just a few days, Ukrainians will know who will run this country for the next four years or so. The race is extremely close, and what with all the speculation of falsification and such…
Like other global sponsorship opportunities, the Rugby World Cup (RWC), currently taking place in France, has a long list of sponsors each aiming to exploit the millions spent on linking their name to the tournament. But are sponsors really connecting with the game – and could public relations help convert the tactical spend into a strategic advantage?
Of the many possible angles to approach the terrible case of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, a tremendous shock to everyone in Portugal, the UK and arround the world, I decided to bring to this forum a communication point of view on this case.
A run on the Northern Rock bank in the UK this week got me thinking about ‘the public interest’ again, especially after Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England told a House of Commons select committee that he would have preferred to give covert aid to Northern Rock, without the public being aware of the Bank’s intervention, but that would be illegal.
Back in May my post Stamp of approval on (distinctly Canadian) master’s of communication management degree program generated some great discussion and interest; this DeGroote School of Business program at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) continues to receive a decent number of hits from searches. Great news! Now interested individuals can take advantage of a series of web-based information sessions, to learn more about the program.
Wikipedia is probably the starting point for anyone wanting to know something about anything – so why does its entry on public relations need a clean up? Is this an example of poor PR for PR?
Brian Kilgore recently asked about the financial arrangements between editorial content and car makers in the context of a competition offerered by CAR magazine. He wondered if this might the new model of PR. To coincide with the Frankfurt Motor Show, I thought I’d take the covers off how PR in the UK automotive industry works.
Thinking about the recent conversation regarding the merits or otherwise of studying public relations, I am reminded of Karl Fisch’s statement in his fascinating Shift Happens presentation (now available at The Fischbowl as a pdf or word file) that: “We are currently preparing students for jobs and technologies that don’t yet exist . . . in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet”. What should we be doing in PR to prepare for this...
Recently, an articulate and highly informative article by Ann Landman appeared on pr watch. Although quite critical and explicitly biased, it details Philip Morris’s current public relations activities to modify existing regulation of the tobacco industry in the United States, and (I believe) provides a most interesting backstage analysis of our profession—very stimulating food for thought for all of us.