As the net neutrality argument heats up, pro-regulation groups are bashing AT&T’s efforts to mobilize their employees against the measure. When AT&T sent an email detailing the issue and inviting workers to post comments opposing net neutrality, Free Press, a liberal media reform group, called them the a-word – “AstroTurf.”
Free Press, of course, admits to doing the same thing – but argues that their email messages to subscribers driving traffic to online comment forms are somehow different. Their activists, apparently, REALLY oppose net neutrality; AT&T’s employees acting through fear of losing their jobs.
AT&T workers should be fearful of losing their jobs – regulating AT&T’s internet will have an impact on its bottom line. Free Press has a flimsy argument if you think about it – but it certainly wasn’t made to evoke thought.
In this age, a stellar reputation built over years can turn to spit in a few clicks of a mouse… In the few hours in between film clip posting and absolution by MLB, every save in Rivera’s illustrious career was put in question.
Sherman’s fear of a rogue blogger making unfounded and senseless claims is understandable, especially given the fact that Major League Baseball at least payed lip service to the idea they were “investigating” the charges. But Mariano Rivera’s reputation is not in danger.
Rivera has people standing up for him now because of his entire career – not for the success he’s enjoyed, but because of how he enjoyed it. A recent Sports Illustrated article summed it up nicely. David Ortiz and Jonathan Papelbon – from the Red Sox – gushed about their respect for his personality:
“I have respect for Mariano like I have for my father,” says Boston designated hitter David Ortiz. “Why? He’s just different. If you talk to him at an All-Star Game, it’s like talking to somebody who just got called up. To him, everybody else is good. I don’t get it. To him everybody else is the best. It’s unbelievable. And he is the greatest.”
Sure, coming from a steroid cheat that may seem tainted, but Ortiz isn’t the only one singing Rivera’s praises – or the only one whose respect Rivera has won.
Writer Tom Verducci reminded readers that Rivera taught Roy Halladay – a pitcher for a rival team – how to throw his signature pitch during the 2003 All Star Game. While over the past 30 years, great closers like Dennis Eckersley and Francisco Rodriquez have celebrated strikeouts the way NFL players celebrate touchdowns, Rivera shows respect to every hitter he dominates.
It’s an important lesson in image management: for all the power of online communications, there is no substitute for genuine substance. So when a blogger posts an accusation – with flimsy evidence – accusing Rivera of cheating, you can bet there’s a reputation at stake.
A new study reports that young male voters for non-winning 2008 Presidential candidates experienced drops in testosterone levels after the results were announced. Males who voted for Barack Obama maintained higher levels of testosterone than they otherwise would at night. Aside from being a little funny, it underscores a simple truth – politics is about more than just rational debates over ideas, but also about emotional and physical reactions to candidates. Put more simply, politics is of the heart at least as much as it is of the mind.
This commercial started running earlier in the NFL season, but seemed to get less airplay after Troy Polamalu’s injury. With the safety back on the field for the Steelers, this commercial is back in the Sunday afternoon lineup. And, for aspiring PR flacks, it offers a good lesson for staying on message:
Note that Polamalu answered his own questions – not the reporter’s – and even found a way to pivot off the reporters’ line of discussion (“You asked with your eyes…”) onto his own. Textbook – even if it is just a commercial.
The idea of the app itself is actually impressive, strategically. Pepsi and AMP know their target audience, and their target audience is interested in hooking up with young women and telling their friends – or at least sophomoric humor about hooking up with young women and telling their friends. So the app provides information and enables users to brag about their conquests. The content may be offensive, but the basics of the social strategy are sound: combining education with channels of communication.
The site is still up, and the ads have been removed – which means New York’s Department of Labor succeeded in keeping a laid-off lawyer from experimenting with new revenue streams which could have lead to gainful self-employment. Good job!
The digital age has left Playboy plodding along like it’s run by an 80 year old guy who hangs around a house all day in his bathrobe and slippers. Pursuit of other business models is a tacit admission that the heydays of Playboy and other girlie mags are over. Taking a peek into the Bouvier boudoir – and making the issue available only at newsstands – will likely give Playboy a temporary uptick in sales and find their way into the news pages and blogosphere for a day or two.
Marge’s centerfold also gives The Simpsons a chance to re-assert their pop culture street cred in their subtle rivalry with Family Guy – but Playboy clearly needed the boost more.
The entire readership of this blog emailed me about the story that the Associated Press may try to charge a fee for their displaying their news content early. (Thanks, Mom.) At first, this seems dumb – trying to delay access to online content sound like trying to put toothpaste back in a tube – once it’s out, it gets everywhere. But this is less about re-inventing content distribution than it is about recognizing what AP CEO Tom Curley calls an “enviable moment.”
A year ago, relevance meant the top result on a Google search – and doing whatever Google said you had to do to make that happen. In general, that’s still true. But since Microsoft is serious about making their Bing search engine a serious competitor to Google, that means that both Google and Bing must be more mindful of that their search results deliver content which is relevant. If Bing’s news aggregator is posting AP stories before Google News, that’s one more reason for users to move over.
For the AP, it’s not a long-term business strategy – but it is a chance to take advantage of a brewing search war.
The news that the Federal Trade Commission has instituted new rules for blogging almost made me spit out the delicious Diet Dr. Pepper I was enjoying – and I was enjoying it, since it tastes so much like Dr. Pepper it’s hard to believe it’s a diet drink. Bloggers now must report any in-kind gifts or samples they receive for reviews. This is a good business practice for any blogger looking to build credibility – though mandating it makes for an inconsistent public policy.
A few years ago, when I worked in PR, I was tasked with promoting a documentary about leftist ideology (which was so bad it doesn’t deserve a link). As part of the launch, we held a media screening, leading to an internal discussion about serving alcohol. (Incidentally, the argument was not on the morality, but the expense.) The argument that won the day is that members of the media won’t come out to a reception without booze because other, similar events would serve them. Reporters expect freebies.
Relating that back to the FTC’s new rules, does that mean a blogger sitting at that screening, munching on a dish of Orville Redenbacher’s delicious, movie-theater butter-flavored popcorn and sipping on a tall, smooth lager from Yuengling – America’s Oldest Brewery – would have to report these niceties, while the reporter next to him would not?
The FTC rules seem to make a distinction, and are clearly meant to snuff out pay-to-post schemes the way the fast-acting ingredients in Maalox snuff out heartburn and indigestion. Like anything, though, the results will not be found in the wording of well-meaning regulations but in the enforcement. If the FTC has set up a structure where blogs will be treated like billboards while print newspapers are handled like non-profits, it’s a serious infringement on freedom of the press.
Speaking of which, when not trying to drop Mark Warner’s name, Deeds continued his attempts to re-frame McDonnell as a reactionary with this commercial (which is likely not seeing as much airtime in more rural pars of Virginia but has been hitting the DC market):
Unfortunately for Deeds, all this ad really does is remind people that McDonnell is pro-life. Trying to turn the race into a referendum on abortion is probably not a winning strategy – and not the strategy he had probably intended, either.
Jim Eltringham 