... "Joe the Plumber" is becoming a war correspondent.
... The upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama is an attractive target for international and domestic terrorists, but U.S. intelligence officials have no information about specific threats to the Jan. 20 event.
... Testifying on Capitol Hill yesterday, leading economists warned that, unless comprehensive action is taken, the economy will shed another 3 million jobs in 2009, real Gross Domestic Product could drop by $750 billion, and the unemployment rate will top 10 percent.
... On "Fox News Sunday," former President George H. W. Bush said he's ready for another Bush in the White House. He hopes his son Jeb runs for Senate in Florida and one day for president.
... The Bank of England slashed interest rates by half a percentage point (to 1.5%), bringing its benchmark rate to the lowest level since the central bank was founded more than three centuries ago.
... According to a poll conducted by Deloitte ("Financial Fraud: Does an Economic Downturn Mean an Uptick?"), nearly two-thirds (63.3 percent) of executives polled expect accounting fraud to increase during the next two years.
...Same-store sales slumped in December, and even Wal-Mart Stores wasn't immune, cutting expectations for the current quarter. Neiman Marcus reported a 28% decline, as luxury retailers continued to suffer. Target's same-store sales fell 4.1% and it said profitability was pressured by deep markdowns.
... Nearly half of Americans (48 percent) reported that they will wait longer before their next vehicle purchase, according to the results of Consumer Reports' 2009 Auto Brand Perception Survey.
... Real estate Web site Zillow.com calculated a value for the White House were it actually a home that could be bought and sold. That estimated value - $308,058,000 - would make it by far the most expensive residence in the U.S., however still more than $23 million less than its value one year ago.
... Chicago public school bureaucrats skirted competitive bidding rules to buy 30 cappuccino/espresso machines for $67,000, with most of the machines going unused because the schools they were ordered for had not asked for them, according to a report by the CPS Office of Inspector General.
... ... A dogsled race near Frazee, Minnesota, was canceled because there’s too much snow.
And last but certainly not least...
... Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis and HUSTLER magazine publisher Larry Flynt are petitioning the newly convened 111th Congress to provide a $5 billion financial bailout for the adult entertainment industry. "People are too depressed to be sexually active," Flynt says, "This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such but they cannot do without sex."
For once, I agree with Mr. Flynt.
Showing posts with label Wall Street Journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wall Street Journal. Show all posts
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Monday, May 19, 2008
THe PR Holy Grail: A Wall Street Journal Hit
These days in PR everyone is a-twitter about twitter, manic over microblogging, nuts over social networking and ya-ya over YouTube... but there remains no substitute for a placement in the venerable Wall Street Journal. While the venerable New York Times is adulated as the Grey Lady, serious PR pros know that getting the attention--and the incredibly valuable print or electronic real estate--of a Wall Street Journal reporter represents a jewel in the crown of a PR career.
In my career I've earned placements across all media--print, radio, TV, online--but a Journal placement had until this weekend eluded me. That changed this Sunday, when--after months of courting Carl Bialik (aka "The Number Guy") about cellphone research, polling, and other matters relating to Market Research--he covered one of my clients (the Council for Marketing and Opinion Research, CMOR) in his blog.
Here's the link: http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/cellphone-surveys-get-a-boost-339/?mod=WSJBlog
Yes, PR is about knowing your media target, tenaciously pursuing him/her and following through frequently but not annoyingly. There's also a healthy dose of luck involved--in many cases a news issue will come up at the same time your voice mail or email hits the reporters' in-box. You can't predict that, but you can position your client so that the reporter knows he/she is available as an expert source. That's what I did with Mr. Bialik and CMOR, and it got CMOR a nice one-paragraph mention in Mr. Bialik's blog.
Back in January, responding to a column in which he covered the polling industry’s debate over dialing cellphones, I sent The Numbers Guy an MRA press release on polling and pollsters. When polling or surveying issues arose in the ensuing months, I followed up with several voice mails in which I referred him to CMOR’s work in this area. My PR savvy paid off on Sunday with the blog entry.
In my career I've earned placements across all media--print, radio, TV, online--but a Journal placement had until this weekend eluded me. That changed this Sunday, when--after months of courting Carl Bialik (aka "The Number Guy") about cellphone research, polling, and other matters relating to Market Research--he covered one of my clients (the Council for Marketing and Opinion Research, CMOR) in his blog.
Here's the link: http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/cellphone-surveys-get-a-boost-339/?mod=WSJBlog
Yes, PR is about knowing your media target, tenaciously pursuing him/her and following through frequently but not annoyingly. There's also a healthy dose of luck involved--in many cases a news issue will come up at the same time your voice mail or email hits the reporters' in-box. You can't predict that, but you can position your client so that the reporter knows he/she is available as an expert source. That's what I did with Mr. Bialik and CMOR, and it got CMOR a nice one-paragraph mention in Mr. Bialik's blog.
Back in January, responding to a column in which he covered the polling industry’s debate over dialing cellphones, I sent The Numbers Guy an MRA press release on polling and pollsters. When polling or surveying issues arose in the ensuing months, I followed up with several voice mails in which I referred him to CMOR’s work in this area. My PR savvy paid off on Sunday with the blog entry.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Women Coaching Football: What Do You Think?
The November 16th issue of The Wall Street Journal featured an article about a woman football coach at a small school in Texas. Entitled "Breaking the Grass Ceiling," the article described how Susan Myers, formerly a successful investment banker, grew so interested in football that she ultimately became the Wide Receivers Coach for this small school.
Coach Myers preaches and teaches "old school" football, emphasizing fundamentals such as blocking and tackling; she eschews flashy plays in favor of doing the little things that contribute to on field success.
As a fan of fundamentals--be they for any sport (football, soccer, rugby, swimming, tennis, etc.)--I really enjoyed reading about Coach Myers' philosophy. As a graduate of a former all-female college (Vassar) and a veteran U.S. Army officer, I have seen women succeed (and in fact excel) in all aspects of life.
I'm encouraged by the narrowing gap between men's and women's salaries, and while I disagree with women in purely combat roles (for my own selfish reasons), I know from experience they are integral parts of the modern combat team.
Reading the article, it didn't strike me as unusual that a woman would be or could be a football coach. I focused more on her intensity and coaching style rather than the fact that she is female. I was particularly amused when I discovered later in the article that to get her job she had to conceal her gender. With girls playing on football teams, why shouldn't females coach football teams?
The article generated a visceral response in the Journal's always entertaining letters to the editor section. A gentleman from Spokane, Washington wrote, in part: "A woman in a position of leadership in football would be akin to me advising women on childbirth. I cannot imagine anything more ridiculous. I would find another school in Texas for my son."
I guess they don't have male gynecologists in Washington?! I guess they don't have male obstetricians in Washington? You don't need to have the equipment to know to operate it.
This kind of attitude underscores the fact that we have a long way to go before women achieve genuine equality... But with Coach Myers spewing fire and motivation from the sidelines, scripting plays that shrewdly exploit defensive weaknesses, her players certainly are believers.
And that's a step in the right direction.
Coach Myers preaches and teaches "old school" football, emphasizing fundamentals such as blocking and tackling; she eschews flashy plays in favor of doing the little things that contribute to on field success.
As a fan of fundamentals--be they for any sport (football, soccer, rugby, swimming, tennis, etc.)--I really enjoyed reading about Coach Myers' philosophy. As a graduate of a former all-female college (Vassar) and a veteran U.S. Army officer, I have seen women succeed (and in fact excel) in all aspects of life.
I'm encouraged by the narrowing gap between men's and women's salaries, and while I disagree with women in purely combat roles (for my own selfish reasons), I know from experience they are integral parts of the modern combat team.
Reading the article, it didn't strike me as unusual that a woman would be or could be a football coach. I focused more on her intensity and coaching style rather than the fact that she is female. I was particularly amused when I discovered later in the article that to get her job she had to conceal her gender. With girls playing on football teams, why shouldn't females coach football teams?
The article generated a visceral response in the Journal's always entertaining letters to the editor section. A gentleman from Spokane, Washington wrote, in part: "A woman in a position of leadership in football would be akin to me advising women on childbirth. I cannot imagine anything more ridiculous. I would find another school in Texas for my son."
I guess they don't have male gynecologists in Washington?! I guess they don't have male obstetricians in Washington? You don't need to have the equipment to know to operate it.
This kind of attitude underscores the fact that we have a long way to go before women achieve genuine equality... But with Coach Myers spewing fire and motivation from the sidelines, scripting plays that shrewdly exploit defensive weaknesses, her players certainly are believers.
And that's a step in the right direction.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
"Baghdad Diaries": As Scandolous as the Generation from Which It Came
Writing in Saturday's Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan comments in her very erudite and no-holds-barred fashion about the now-famous and scandalous "Baghdad Diaries".
To remind you, the venerable New Republic magazine earlier this year created quite a stir when they ran the "Baghdad Diaries" series by soldier-writer Scott Thomas. The series portrayed soldiers in Iraq as morbidly witty, pitiless, and ultimately (to paraphrase Noonan), nihilistic. In left-wing intellectual circles, the "Baghdad Diaries" added fuel to the anti-war fire.
Turns out that the "Baghdad Diaries" are yet another case of journalistic license. As in, completely fake. Shame on the New Republic for not thoroughly fact checking and shame on Thomas for casting aspersions on our soldiers--his comrades in arms--serving in Iraq.
The backstory: "Thomas", as it turns out, is actually Scott Thomas Beauchamp, a U.S. Army private serving in the Iraq War, and a member of Alpha Company, 1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division.
Immediately after the publication of "Baghdad Diaries", several conservative publications and bloggers questioned Beauchamp's statements. The New Republic investigated and concluded the statements were true, except one entry that was later said to have occurred prior to combat in Kuwait instead of during combat in Iraq. The U.S. Army investigated and concluded the statements were false.
And here, my friends, is where the story gets interesting...
New Republic editor Franklin Foer disclosed that Beauchamp is married to Elspeth Reeve, a former New Republic reporter and fact checker, and that his relationship with Reeve was "part of the reason why we found him to be a credible writer." Accused of insufficient fact-checking, the magazine had, according to Foer, planned to "re-report every detail", but the magazine later stated that their investigation was "short circuited" after the Army severed Beauchamp's communications with anyone overseas.
As of August 2007, both parties are holding to their respective conclusions.
Noonan approaches the Baghdad Diaries scandal from a sociological perspective; that is, how the background and upbringing of the people who now report the news influences their actual reporting.
Noonan writes: "... This new leadership class, those roughly 35 to 40, grew up in a time when media dominated all. They studied, they entered a top-tier college, and then on to Washington or New York or Los Angeles. But their knowledge, their experience, is necessarily circumscribed. Too much is abstract to them, or symbolic. The education establishment did them few favors. They didn't have to read Dostoevsky, they had to read critiques and deconstruction of Dostoevsky.
"I'm not sure it's always good to grow up surrounded by stability, immersed in affluence, and having had it drummed into you that you are entitled to be a member of the next leadership class. To have this background in the modern era is to come from a ghetto, the luckiest ghetto in the world, a golden ghetto beyond whose walls it can be hard to see.
"There's much to be said for suffering, for being on the outside or the bottom, for having to have fought yourself up and through. It can leave you grounded. It can give you knowledge not only of the world and of other men but of yourself. In some ways it can leave you less cynical. (Not everything comes down to money.) And in some ways it leaves you just cynical enough."
I admit that to some extent my personal background is of that "golden ghetto" origin. Yet I have had the benefit of a religion (Judaism) and a formative education (at Northfield Mount Hermon Prep School) that taught me the importance of service, sacrifice, and humility. During my military service as an officer, those traits were further drilled into me. So I know a little about suffering; I know a little about fighting up and through.
This knowledge has enabled me to empathize and sympathize with others. It has taught me not to feel or act entitled; to not act arrogantly or pridefully. Those lessons have helped me to deal with the many challenges and obstacles life has placed in my path, as well as to understand the challenges confronted by others.
I agree with Noonan, which is why I am a very strong proponent of compulsory national service. National service is the ultimate equalizer: Whether it's the military, Americorps, Teach for America, or a national service program yet to be conceived, these programs help to break down the "golden ghetto" walls that separate the "entitled" class from those less fortunate.
To remind you, the venerable New Republic magazine earlier this year created quite a stir when they ran the "Baghdad Diaries" series by soldier-writer Scott Thomas. The series portrayed soldiers in Iraq as morbidly witty, pitiless, and ultimately (to paraphrase Noonan), nihilistic. In left-wing intellectual circles, the "Baghdad Diaries" added fuel to the anti-war fire.
Turns out that the "Baghdad Diaries" are yet another case of journalistic license. As in, completely fake. Shame on the New Republic for not thoroughly fact checking and shame on Thomas for casting aspersions on our soldiers--his comrades in arms--serving in Iraq.
The backstory: "Thomas", as it turns out, is actually Scott Thomas Beauchamp, a U.S. Army private serving in the Iraq War, and a member of Alpha Company, 1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division.
Immediately after the publication of "Baghdad Diaries", several conservative publications and bloggers questioned Beauchamp's statements. The New Republic investigated and concluded the statements were true, except one entry that was later said to have occurred prior to combat in Kuwait instead of during combat in Iraq. The U.S. Army investigated and concluded the statements were false.
And here, my friends, is where the story gets interesting...
New Republic editor Franklin Foer disclosed that Beauchamp is married to Elspeth Reeve, a former New Republic reporter and fact checker, and that his relationship with Reeve was "part of the reason why we found him to be a credible writer." Accused of insufficient fact-checking, the magazine had, according to Foer, planned to "re-report every detail", but the magazine later stated that their investigation was "short circuited" after the Army severed Beauchamp's communications with anyone overseas.
As of August 2007, both parties are holding to their respective conclusions.
Noonan approaches the Baghdad Diaries scandal from a sociological perspective; that is, how the background and upbringing of the people who now report the news influences their actual reporting.
Noonan writes: "... This new leadership class, those roughly 35 to 40, grew up in a time when media dominated all. They studied, they entered a top-tier college, and then on to Washington or New York or Los Angeles. But their knowledge, their experience, is necessarily circumscribed. Too much is abstract to them, or symbolic. The education establishment did them few favors. They didn't have to read Dostoevsky, they had to read critiques and deconstruction of Dostoevsky.
"I'm not sure it's always good to grow up surrounded by stability, immersed in affluence, and having had it drummed into you that you are entitled to be a member of the next leadership class. To have this background in the modern era is to come from a ghetto, the luckiest ghetto in the world, a golden ghetto beyond whose walls it can be hard to see.
"There's much to be said for suffering, for being on the outside or the bottom, for having to have fought yourself up and through. It can leave you grounded. It can give you knowledge not only of the world and of other men but of yourself. In some ways it can leave you less cynical. (Not everything comes down to money.) And in some ways it leaves you just cynical enough."
I admit that to some extent my personal background is of that "golden ghetto" origin. Yet I have had the benefit of a religion (Judaism) and a formative education (at Northfield Mount Hermon Prep School) that taught me the importance of service, sacrifice, and humility. During my military service as an officer, those traits were further drilled into me. So I know a little about suffering; I know a little about fighting up and through.
This knowledge has enabled me to empathize and sympathize with others. It has taught me not to feel or act entitled; to not act arrogantly or pridefully. Those lessons have helped me to deal with the many challenges and obstacles life has placed in my path, as well as to understand the challenges confronted by others.
I agree with Noonan, which is why I am a very strong proponent of compulsory national service. National service is the ultimate equalizer: Whether it's the military, Americorps, Teach for America, or a national service program yet to be conceived, these programs help to break down the "golden ghetto" walls that separate the "entitled" class from those less fortunate.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
October Fools' Day, Part II: Our Government Pays Blackwater Mercenaries More than Its Own Soldiers!
In this second, bonus installment of The Hired Pen's blog, here is an excerpt and commentary from today's Wall Street Journal:
"... In 2001, Blackwater received just under $1 million for its services from the U.S. government... The company's U.S. government contracts rose to about $350 million in 2005 and have been rising dramatically each year since. The total tally, according to a committee report, tops $1 billion.
"The report said the State Department is being charged $1,222 a day for each Blackwater security guard, or approximately $445,000 a year for each employee. The committee contrasted that figure with the pay of an Army sergeant's $140 to $190 a day in pay and benefits, worth $51,100 to $69,350 over a year."
"... In 2001, Blackwater received just under $1 million for its services from the U.S. government... The company's U.S. government contracts rose to about $350 million in 2005 and have been rising dramatically each year since. The total tally, according to a committee report, tops $1 billion.
"The report said the State Department is being charged $1,222 a day for each Blackwater security guard, or approximately $445,000 a year for each employee. The committee contrasted that figure with the pay of an Army sergeant's $140 to $190 a day in pay and benefits, worth $51,100 to $69,350 over a year."
According to Wikipedia, Blackwater USA is a private military company, security firm and mercenary company, founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark. It is based in North Carolina, where it operates a tactical training facility that it claims is the world's largest. The company trains more than 40,000 people a year, from all the military services and a variety of other agencies.
The company markets itself as "The most comprehensive professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations company in the world."
Blackwater is currently the biggest of the U.S. State Department's three private security contractors. At least 90% of its revenue comes from government contracts, two-thirds of which are no-bid contracts.
Blackwater operatives have also been accused of randomly shooting Iraqi civilians (with or without provocation) on the basis of carrying out their duties and responsibilities. These shootings have been a disaster for U.S. policy in Iraq (whether or not you agree with that policy) in too many ways to list here--not the least of which is how said policy is viewed by the rest of the world. These shootings have significantly worsened the already tenuous situation in Iraq.
Blackwater's operatives may be necessary in Iraq. But as a former U.S. Army officer who has been trained by and served alongside many NCOs (non-commissioned officers), I find it unbelievably insulting that Blackwater's "hired guns" get paid more than our own servicemen and servicewomen.
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