Online Public Relations Thoughts

I'm going to take a week off. Time to recharge. 

Would you fly a Boeing Jet if you didn't have to with a negative safety report like this?  Boeing has a PR problem that runs deep and will require extensive management changes and retraining to fix.  It's a sad come-down for a legendary company. 

For decades, Warren Buffets has written an annual letter to shareholders that is filled with unvarnished straight talk about investments and the stock market.  He has done it again this year.  His credibility is built on his enduring success and is a model for CEOs everywhere.  It is an excellent example of PR done the right way.  

This makes media relations harder.  The web has seen the demise of a number of news outlets that couldn't balance the number of reporters needed for fact gathering with the cost of doing so.  Even the largest news outlets are struggling, such as the Washington Post.  There must be a formula that works.  It is up to publishers to find it.  Meanwhile, journalists are scrambling for jobs in a shrinking space. 

President Biden is taking the communications offense with former President Trump.  He has called him to account for Trump's constant blaming of America for his legal troubles.  Trump, a psychopath, cannot admit to any fault for his actions and holds himself blameless.  Biden's attack points to Trump's lack of regrets.  It is too early to know whether Biden will be successful but he is speaking out as he should.  

A number of conservative Christians have claimed the US Constitution intended that the country would be a Christian nation.  Not true.  The founders who argued over and wrote the document stated that all religions are welcome.  The conservative campaign to declare the US a Christian nation is misinformed and wrong, but that isn't going to stop them. It is a fundamental part of their beliefs and their communications.  

This AP story is book publicity. It discusses the content of the Vatican archives and the secrets of popes for the last 1200 years.  There is a PR person somewhere who has scored a home run in getting a news story of this length and detail.  Now, will it help sales of the book?  

Will his name live on as a symbol of resistance to the corrupt Russian state or will he be forgotten and never missed?  Is his communications value greater now that he is dead or will he be one more silenced voice?  Putin probably doesn't think about it but protestors do.

How is the gun lobby going to make publicity out of this?   Arming the rest of the crowd would have been an impetus to a battle with more people getting hurt than already were.  Incidents such as this are proof of the need for more gun control.  

One hundred years ago, a white mob burned down Tulsa's black district, destroying a thriving community called Black Wall Street.  The message in the terrorist action was blunt.  Blacks could not join the white community in income and amenities.  Today it is hard to believe that such an evil action took place in America, but it did.   Tulsans hushed it up even as the ruins continued to burn and smoke.  Blacks who were traumatized did not speak about it.  Only in recent decades has Tulsa owned up to the incident and belatedly has tried to make amends.  The mob's message of hate lasted decades but has been disavowed.  There is improvement in race relations but still a long way to go.  

New Jersey was predicted to get up to six inches of snow today.   So far, it is barely an inch.  There is still time to prove the forecasters right but it is looking again like weather hysteria brought by meteorologists hyping their craft.  It certainly didn't fall heavily overnight as predicted.  One wonders if the TV weather people ever say they were wrong.  Their reputations wouldn't suffer if once in a while they admit to error.

What happens when a big company leaves a small town after 200 years?  The citizens must find a replacement business if possible and that requires a PR effort on all fronts.  This is the challenge facing Ilion, NY as Remington Arms Co. packs up to leave for Georgia, a gun-friendly state.  Ilion grew with the factory and was defined by it, but nothing lasts forever.  The town will now have to evaluate the plant for reuse and set to jawboning potential businesses to come and take a look.  It's painful work but it must be done to prevent the town from sliding into oblivion.  Look for Ilion to raise its profile in the months to come.

The special prosecutor in President Biden's confidential papers case body-slammed Biden's mental fitness for the office in his report. It is a devastating document and one Biden won't soon live down.  On top of that, Biden continues to make verbal gaffes that don't help his case for a second term.  He is his own PR nightmare.

This will define the court's reputation for decades to come.

Former President Trump uses vile language to put down women who bother him.  He is at it again.  It's poor PR but his followers love it.  What does that say about them?  What does it say about the political process?

The Senate has released a bill for immigration reform but the House without considering it has called it dead on arrival. Neither the President nor the Senate Majority leader have the leverage to get it passed.  At this point, it is a political message useful only for electioneering.  Perhaps it is good PR for Democrats but it is too early to tell.  

In every country, the fig leaf cliché of resigning a top post for health and to spend more time with family is in use.  Even in China.  It is so over-used that no one believes it.  Yet, companies continue to fall back on the bogus reasons because they have nothing better to say.  It would be better just to announce a resignation and to leave it at that.  At least that is credible.