Your PR Architect

Public relations pros may no longer need consider certain commercial radio stations as viable media outlets. Radio studio, [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Visiting a dental hygienist on a September Saturday, I was treated to a broadcast from a station owned by the Stephens Media Group . The programming -- a purportedly kid-friendly block called "Morning Car-tunes" -- was far more painful than anything the hygienist served up. The music wasn't bad. The in-between banter involved a young DJ and a co-host whom I'll call "Harry the Pirate." It quickly became clear no one had told them this program was actually intended for parents and kids to enjoy. Harry spent a few minutes regaling listeners about a recent visit to a local college, where he said he told communications students that "there are no jobs in media."* Harry, was that the most uplifting thing to tell aspiring broadcasters? Or did you think "media" didn't inc...

2003 Surveillance image of Xerox Federal Credit Union assailant, provided via Webster (NY) Police Dept. web page at http://ci.webster.ny.us/gallery.aspx?PID=36 I'm a college professor, not a reporter. But I may or may not have had something to do with getting a 13-year-old murder case back in gear. Eight weeks ago, I dug up details of a 2003 bank robbery and murder at a Xerox credit union branch in Webster, NY. A Xerox employee, Raymond Batzel, was killed. The killer fled and was never found. My reporting days are well behind me, but I wanted to use the case in a journalism class I teach at St. Bonaventure University . The idea was to get students to think about who they'd call to get updates on a case no one had reported on for almost a decade. (Most of the officers and others connected with the case have moved on.) During my research, I emailed the police chief in Webster, NY, and the FBI's Buffalo office. The FBI responded first, telling me the Webster Police...

I read about a women's electric vehicle team at the Kate Gleason College of Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology. I thought it was interesting, and used Shareaholic to post it to Twitter and Facebook. Here's what appeared on my Facebook timeline: Notice anything? Facebook defaulted to the second image on the RIT news story, showing the men's team. The women's team (see the second screen shot below), while visible in the original story, wasn't promoted when shared via social media. Why did the second photo appear in my timeline, and not the first? There may be a coding trick or algorithm that easily explains this occurrence. I'd love to hear more about it. But from my side of the screen -- the side most of us see -- this feels a bit biased. Men in engineering? Run the image. Women in engineering? Not interested. Which is baloney. Especially if the women aren't getting equal recognition. If Facebook arbitrarily selects photos of peop...

Like Gibbs on TV's NCIS, I have a few rules. They do not involve serving as a Marine sniper, but they'll work in most public relations circumstances. Here's my top ten: Rule No. 1: Don't lie to the media.  Rules 2-10: Don't lie to the media.  Journalists have access to a printing press. A broadcast signal. A website. Social media. And, when wronged, reporters will not hesitate a moment to use them. Especially if reporters are lied to. Nothing says this better than the article at the following link, courtesy of PR entrepreneur Peter Shankman: http://www.longislandpress.com/2014/04/02/my-squashed-interview-with-steve-madden-shoe-guru-turned-ex-convict/ Lesson: if you're a PR person and your client asks you to lie, hand him/her your phone. Ask the client to do the fibbing. Maybe his reputation can handle it. Yours can't.

Blame Paula Deen's implosion on a slow news cycle. And no PR strategy for dealing with criticism. The absence of legislative newsmakers this week -- the Supreme Court killed DOMA and left for the summer -- leaves an overabundance of unspent media wattage. Where did it turn? On TV food celebrity Paula Deen. In a few short days after the disclosure that Ms. Deen had used the "N" word, she's been ditched by Wal-Mart, Ballantine Books, The Food Network, and Smithfield Farms. And probably had her Exxon-Mobil card cancelled. (Curiously, you can still obtain Ms. Deen's recipes on the Food Network's website.) Here's a different perspective: Everyone over age 30 has used the "N" word. Everyone. Often in jest. View Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy "Blazing Saddles," and you quickly lose count of the number of times it's used. (Borrow a DVD; when it airs on cable, every potentially offensive word has been bleached from the film.) Ms...