It’s been my policy to restrict Media’s Masters and Disaters to video examples. But something came across my desk today that forced an exception. It’s a three-line email written, apparently, by a spokesman for the Chief of Police in New Haven, CT.
This edition of Media’s Masters and Disasters features a remarkable video clip and a simple two-part lesson:
1) If you work for a government agency, don’t stonewall the media.
2) If you work for a government agency and you ignore rule #1, be ready for the consequences.
What do you get when you combine a tragic plane crash, a tasteless prank, and a summer intern with too much responsibility? You get a Media Disaster.
Sometimes it takes an entire interview to earn the status of Media Disaster. This time it took five words.
If there’s one thing the company that makes the Blackberry needs, it’s good PR.
Research in Motion has just released a new smartphone which they hope will help them recover some of the business they’ve lost to the likes of Apple and Android. Too bad the company’s European spokesman seems to be doing everything he can to attract headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Spokesman for Gun Owners of America must have had media training in order to overcome name calling by CNN’s Piers Morgan.
As a media trainer, I was closely watching the election night speeches of President Obama and Mitt Romney. But in those final hours, neither candidate earned the distinction of Media Master or Disaster. I had to turn elsewhere for such examples. And they were as easy to spot as tiny plastic American flags.
And now, a lesson in how to keep your cool during a discussion on global warming.
Full disclosure: When I heard Rocker-turned-activist-turned-media freakshow Ted Nugent was going to appear on CBS This Morning, I put a note in my calendar to review the clip, so certain was I that I would find fodder for a new edition of “Media’s Masters and Disasters.”
I wasn’t disappointed.
It can’t be easy stepping into the middle of the most culturally divisive criminal case in recent U.S. history. But Florida State Attorney Angela Corey changed the trajectory of the case -and the story- when she announced second degree murder charges against George Zimmerman in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
In observance of the death of Mike Wallace, I am reposting a feature I wrote for “Public Relations Tactics” on the occasion of Wallace’s retirement in June of 2006.
It was back in 2010 when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie suggested that only his suicide would convince the media –and perhaps his own supporters– that he really, truly, would not be seeking the presidency in 2012.
Today, the popular Republican is still very much alive, and we also know for certain that he won’t seek higher office in 2012, thanks to a lively news conference that underscored why many wanted him to run in the first place.
Tea Party activist and former congressional candidate Christine O’Donnell appeared on Piers Morgan to promote her new book, in which she admits to making serious media mistakes during her campaign.
It is ironic, then, that she cemented her designation as a Media Disaster in the process.
Given her recent track record, it may be surprising to see the words “Michele Bachmann” and “Media Master” together on the same subject line. But the gaffe-prone Minnesota Congresswoman’s handling of a surprisingly provocative interview with Fox’s Chris Wallace proved she is capable of holding her own.
When you take part in a news interview without having the information the public would expect you to know, there’s no media training in the world that can help you.
