www.hispanicprwire.com/news.php?l=in&id=11238&cha=14
The link above is from Hispanic PR Wire. It's an article about how diversity in the newsroom can make media relevant to our communities.
This article doesn't just talk about Hispanics in newsrooms, but about how all minority populations are growing and changing our communities. If newspapers and other media don't keep up with the change, they won't be of any use to its audiences.
"Diversity in our newsrooms can make the media relevant to our communities again, and can be a key strategy in turning news organizations around," said Karen Lincoln Michel, president of UNITY, an alliance representing more than 10,000 journalists. "Our newsrooms must change if we are to survive. But it is clear that efforts to advance diversity in the industry are not working."
UNITY is a group that has recognized the disconnect between media and its audiences. Below is their vision:
VISION
The journalism industry has an obligation to deliver a complete, fair and representative picture of the communities and world in which we live. In order to achieve this, diversity in the newsroom and in coverage is fundamental.
We envision a nation in which newsrooms are inclusive and reflect the communities they cover, and where people of color hold positions of influence. To achieve this we will conduct research, convene people and advocate change by offering attainable solutions to the industry.
I have to say that I agree with UNITY. Communities are changing and media need to adapt to this change. I think it's part of the reason why the number of newspapers in the country continues to fall.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Exxon Case
Here's another one about bad corporate apologies:
Summary
· March 24, 1989 – Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef and dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil into the sea
· The mission was to clean 1,300 miles of shoreline, ~15% of the area’s 9,000 miles of shoreline
· They had to restore the area to original condition
Perceptions
· Environmentalists see it as limitless in damage even though there were few remaining signs of the spill
· Alaskan food chain has survived
· Tourism has rebounded strongly and so have Exxon’s profits
· Exxon’s reputation was severely damaged
How the perceptions developed:
· Exxon focused on cleaning up but didn’t address the public concern that they didn’t do enough, soon enough
· CEO Rawl was characterized as opposed to serving as spokesperson or showing public interest bc he stayed in NY for 2 days after the spill
· He presented himself as rigged and aggressive once there
· He was inflexible
· Exxon created another situation that conflicted with its goals by designating a location for a crisis center
· Info was slow in coming, info lines were jammed, and it was hard for management in NY to get info
· Exxon didn’t address how the public perceived the spill and its effects
· It let impressions about long term effects form on their own
· Public found no reassurance that Alaska would recover
· Legal reasons made it difficult for Exxon to show remorse or admit to anything
· Media images were displayed of animals in distress
· April 3, 1989 - Exxon placed a full page apology ad and was badly timed and plagued with conflicting messages
How to prevent:
· CEO Rawl served as prime example of stereotypical negative perceptions of the corp executive
· Media portrayed Exxon as being money focused and inhuman
· Exxon should have kept in mind before and after:
o Develop a plan that will construct positive images
o Exxon could spent more time emphasizing personal commitment
o Conduct media research to discover the realities of opinions conveyed to the public
o Attempted to establish credibility by being honest and personable
· Exxon needed to make sure all info was accurate, consistent, and complete.
· Reveal what is being done and why
· Make sure spokesperson is qualified
From Public Relations Practices: Managerial Case Studies and Problems 7th Edition
Summary
· March 24, 1989 – Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef and dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil into the sea
· The mission was to clean 1,300 miles of shoreline, ~15% of the area’s 9,000 miles of shoreline
· They had to restore the area to original condition
Perceptions
· Environmentalists see it as limitless in damage even though there were few remaining signs of the spill
· Alaskan food chain has survived
· Tourism has rebounded strongly and so have Exxon’s profits
· Exxon’s reputation was severely damaged
How the perceptions developed:
· Exxon focused on cleaning up but didn’t address the public concern that they didn’t do enough, soon enough
· CEO Rawl was characterized as opposed to serving as spokesperson or showing public interest bc he stayed in NY for 2 days after the spill
· He presented himself as rigged and aggressive once there
· He was inflexible
· Exxon created another situation that conflicted with its goals by designating a location for a crisis center
· Info was slow in coming, info lines were jammed, and it was hard for management in NY to get info
· Exxon didn’t address how the public perceived the spill and its effects
· It let impressions about long term effects form on their own
· Public found no reassurance that Alaska would recover
· Legal reasons made it difficult for Exxon to show remorse or admit to anything
· Media images were displayed of animals in distress
· April 3, 1989 - Exxon placed a full page apology ad and was badly timed and plagued with conflicting messages
How to prevent:
· CEO Rawl served as prime example of stereotypical negative perceptions of the corp executive
· Media portrayed Exxon as being money focused and inhuman
· Exxon should have kept in mind before and after:
o Develop a plan that will construct positive images
o Exxon could spent more time emphasizing personal commitment
o Conduct media research to discover the realities of opinions conveyed to the public
o Attempted to establish credibility by being honest and personable
· Exxon needed to make sure all info was accurate, consistent, and complete.
· Reveal what is being done and why
· Make sure spokesperson is qualified
From Public Relations Practices: Managerial Case Studies and Problems 7th Edition
Shadowing Experience
My first shadowing experience for Jour 4450 left me with some concerns. I think I noticed a conflict of interest with the company and whom they choose to work with.
The company, "Company A", completes thousands of tests for various businesses, mainly in the automotive industry by testing fuels and engines. An interesting aspect of "Company A" was that it choose not to promote its name, allowing it to work with whomever it wants.
"Company A" has ethanol and diesel fuel producers as clients. One of Company A's ethanol clients put "Company A's" name on its product and its diesel clients were fairly upset because ethanol and diesel fuel have to compete with each other in the market.
Is this a good, ethical reason for choosing not to promote a company name?
Any feedback is much appreciated.
The company, "Company A", completes thousands of tests for various businesses, mainly in the automotive industry by testing fuels and engines. An interesting aspect of "Company A" was that it choose not to promote its name, allowing it to work with whomever it wants.
"Company A" has ethanol and diesel fuel producers as clients. One of Company A's ethanol clients put "Company A's" name on its product and its diesel clients were fairly upset because ethanol and diesel fuel have to compete with each other in the market.
Is this a good, ethical reason for choosing not to promote a company name?
Any feedback is much appreciated.
American Airlines
1. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/08_md80.jhtml
2. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/09_md80.jhtml
3. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/09_md80update.jhtml
4. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/10_md80.jhtml
5. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/10_md80update.jhtml
6. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/11_md80update.jhtml
7. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/11_md80afternoon.jhtml
8. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/04/10/american.cancellations/
9. http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2008/apr/10/american-airlines-gerard-arpey-gives-operational-u/
10. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24203235/
USA TODAY
April 11, 2008 Friday
FIRST EDITION
Stranded fliers say alerts failed to notify them
BYLINE: Barbara De Lollis and Roger Yu
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 3A
LENGTH: 451 words
Many passengers affected by the massive grounding of American Airlines flights during the past three days of cancellations said the airline didn't reliably notify them about changes.
The carrier usually sends out automated phone calls, e-mails and text messages to travelers who request alerts. However, more than 2,500 flights have been canceled since Tuesday so the airline can reinspect wiring components, and some of the affected 250,000 passengers said they didn't receive information in a timely manner.
American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey apologized Thursday for the communications breakdown.
It "certainly has not been perfect," Arpey said. "But we in good faith have done the best we can."
Cancellations are likely to continue through Saturday.
Frequent flier Jenny Shaffer of Chicago expected to make her 10:30 a.m. business meeting Thursday in St. Louis because American sent her an e-mail Wednesday reminding her to check in online. When she logged on at midnight to do so, she found out it was canceled -- too late to adjust plans.
American flier Dennis Lombardi of Columbus, Ohio, tried to call American's VIP phone line when his flight from Orlando was canceled, but it was jammed for hours. "I found out thanks to the morning news," he said.
Despite the unusual number of cancellations, the carrier didn't adjust its flight-status alert system, said Tim Wagner, an American spokesman. He said some travelers don't sign up for alerts or provide contact information if they use travel agents.
"In a massive situation, things are going to fall through the cracks," he said.
As airlines cut staff, most have been pushing flight-status notification technology during the past five years to notify passengers about cancellations, delays and gate changes.
The situation with American should teach travelers a lesson that technology doesn't always work, said Lorraine Sileo of travel research firm PhoCusWright. "We still have to take responsibility to contact the airline," she said.
Frequent flier Bill Edmunds of St. Louis said American is "not being open with their customers." On Thursday, a reservation agent told him to expect his flight today to be canceled. Yet nothing official had taken place, so he couldn't adjust his plans.
"They're holding everybody until the very last moment, so it makes it difficult to come up with other options," he said.
Mike Maloney of Overland Park, Kan., received an e-mail from American at 2:16 a.m. Thursday telling him his flight this morning had been canceled. When he called, an agent told him that they had already rebooked him.
Even so, Maloney is taking precautions: For his Seattle trip next week, he booked a backup flight on a Boeing 737 -- on Alaska Airlines.
Los Angeles Times
April 11, 2008 Friday
Home Edition
TRANSPORTATION ;
American Airlines struggles to get its jets back in the air;
The carrier's CEO says costs for customer care and inspections of its MD-80s will total tens of millions of dollars.
BYLINE: Peter Pae, Martin Zimmerman, Times Staff Writers
SECTION: BUSINESS; Business Desk; Part C; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1162 words
American Airlines renewed its apologies Thursday to more than 200,000 passengers whose travel plans were disrupted this week. Almost 600 more flights were expected to be canceled today, and the airline said it would be at least Sunday before things were back to normal.
As the airline struggled to get its planes flying again, new details emerged on the events that led to the massive flight cancellations and the Federal Aviation Administration's newly aggressive role in policing the nation's airlines.
While nervous airline executives refused to publicly criticize the FAA, they privately grumbled that the agency had been taking a harder line with airlines on complying with airworthiness directives. They said the extraordinary number of flight cancellations might not have been necessary if the FAA hadn't gotten "unreasonably" tougher in recent weeks.
"I'm not sure I would characterize it that way," a more cautious Gerard Arpey, chief executive of American Airlines, said. He stopped short of criticizing the agency for its role in one of the nation's worst air travel debacles but added, "It would be fair to say that the FAA is stepping up surveillance."
He estimated it would cost American "tens of millions of dollars" in expenses for customer service as well as for inspecting and repairing the aircraft.
The final cost could easily exceed $30 million, said Philip Baggaley, an industry analyst at Standard & Poor's Corp.
On Thursday, American canceled about 930 flights as some of its fleet of 300 MD-80 jetliners remained grounded for a third day so wiring bundles could be inspected to ensure compliance with FAA maintenance directives. American normally operates about 2,300 flights a day.
Including the 570 cancellations expected today, American has scrubbed about 3,000 flights since Tuesday, creating chaotic conditions at some of the nation's busiest airports and raising the ire of passengers.
American canceled 15 of its 92 scheduled departures at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday. Fewer than 10 flights are expected to be scrapped at LAX today. American also canceled a small number of flights today at Burbank, Ontario and San Diego airports.
Many passengers were more knowledgeable about what was happening at the airports yet no less irate.
Andrew Cerber flew into LAX from Australia with his wife, Kathy, only to find that their connecting flight to Las Vegas had been canceled.
"That is just really poor management; this is the last for me for American," said Cerber, 42. "If they had a customer-first mind-set they should've been looking at the planes already. That should be the first priority."
But airline and industry sources said American Airlines had little time to anticipate or prepare for the kind of disruption that erupted as a result of an obscure wiring requirement.
Executives of American said that on Monday, FAA inspectors initially found that nine MD-80s were not in compliance with an airworthiness directive. Subsequently, the airline agreed to have all of its 300 MD-80s inspected to make sure that wiring running through the plane's wheel well was bundled properly and posed no fire hazard.
But to avoid a massive disruption to its network, the airline said it requested that it be allowed to inspect the planes on a "rolling" basis, perhaps temporarily grounding 15 to 20 planes at a time rather than all at once.
Arpey said he left Dallas on Tuesday morning for a gathering of airline chief executives in Marina del Rey thinking the airline and the FAA had settled on a less disruptive plan.
But shortly after landing at LAX, Arpey said, he got a telephone call saying that the plan had been rejected and that the airline's entire MD-80 fleet had to be grounded for inspection. The airline, which initially planned to cancel two dozen flights per day, was suddenly facing the prospects of canceling thousands of flights.
"I left for Los Angeles with a brief heads-up that we had another issue with the MD-80s, and when I arrived in L.A. I learned that we were in fact going to have to re-inspect all of the airplanes," Arpey said. "Dynamically trying to figure out how to manage through that has certainly not been perfect."
An industry source said that the airline also initially believed the inspections would take 20 minutes or so, but they have been taking up to eight hours as FAA inspectors have had to sign off on any changes made to the wiring bundle.
FAA officials said that the agency had not gotten tougher and denied that American grounded the planes at its prompting.
The FAA has been under attack in Congress, where some lawmakers in recent weeks have accused the agency of being too lax with inspections and too cozy with the industry.
"We didn't tell American that they had to ground their planes," said Ian McGregor, an FAA spokesman. "We pointed out that some of the planes we looked at seemed to be out of compliance with our safety directive and the carrier needed to bring the planes back into compliance before they put them back up into the air."
Meanwhile, Midwest Airlines on Thursday joined the parade of carriers canceling flights because of maintenance concerns, scrapping 14 of its 290 daily nationwide departures to inspect the wiring on its MD-80s.
And Alaska Airlines said it had canceled 11 more flights involving MD-80s so that they could be inspected.
American said it expected to have 170 of its MD-80s flying by this morning and hoped to complete the inspections and repairs on all the aircraft this weekend.
"That's not an absolute, but that's what we're shooting for," spokesman Tim Smith said.
American is scrambling to re-book passengers on other flights, including those of its competitors. The airline said that passengers booked on canceled flights could request refunds or credits for future travel and that it was allowing people with reservations to re-book without charge. The airline is also paying food and lodging costs for travelers stranded overnight.
The carrier said customers should check the company's website at www.aa.com for details about compensation and to check on their flights.
But re-booking snags continued to irritate travelers such as Lilliam Diaz of Puerto Rico.
Figuring her flight home would be canceled, Diaz began calling the reservations system Wednesday night to re-book over the phone, hoping to avoid an unnecessary trip to LAX on Thursday morning.
"There was no way to get through -- I was on hold all the time," said Diaz, 52, who took a cab at 5 a.m. Thursday to LAX, where American re-booked her on a Friday flight. "I'm a relaxed person, but it's frustrating. They have to think about service."
With FAA stepping up inspections, Baggaley said that "it wouldn't be a surprise" if there were more flight cancellations at other airlines.
"The FAA knows they're under congressional scrutiny and they're being extremely careful and extremely demand
2. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/09_md80.jhtml
3. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/09_md80update.jhtml
4. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/10_md80.jhtml
5. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/10_md80update.jhtml
6. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/11_md80update.jhtml
7. http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_04/11_md80afternoon.jhtml
8. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/04/10/american.cancellations/
9. http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2008/apr/10/american-airlines-gerard-arpey-gives-operational-u/
10. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24203235/
USA TODAY
April 11, 2008 Friday
FIRST EDITION
Stranded fliers say alerts failed to notify them
BYLINE: Barbara De Lollis and Roger Yu
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 3A
LENGTH: 451 words
Many passengers affected by the massive grounding of American Airlines flights during the past three days of cancellations said the airline didn't reliably notify them about changes.
The carrier usually sends out automated phone calls, e-mails and text messages to travelers who request alerts. However, more than 2,500 flights have been canceled since Tuesday so the airline can reinspect wiring components, and some of the affected 250,000 passengers said they didn't receive information in a timely manner.
American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey apologized Thursday for the communications breakdown.
It "certainly has not been perfect," Arpey said. "But we in good faith have done the best we can."
Cancellations are likely to continue through Saturday.
Frequent flier Jenny Shaffer of Chicago expected to make her 10:30 a.m. business meeting Thursday in St. Louis because American sent her an e-mail Wednesday reminding her to check in online. When she logged on at midnight to do so, she found out it was canceled -- too late to adjust plans.
American flier Dennis Lombardi of Columbus, Ohio, tried to call American's VIP phone line when his flight from Orlando was canceled, but it was jammed for hours. "I found out thanks to the morning news," he said.
Despite the unusual number of cancellations, the carrier didn't adjust its flight-status alert system, said Tim Wagner, an American spokesman. He said some travelers don't sign up for alerts or provide contact information if they use travel agents.
"In a massive situation, things are going to fall through the cracks," he said.
As airlines cut staff, most have been pushing flight-status notification technology during the past five years to notify passengers about cancellations, delays and gate changes.
The situation with American should teach travelers a lesson that technology doesn't always work, said Lorraine Sileo of travel research firm PhoCusWright. "We still have to take responsibility to contact the airline," she said.
Frequent flier Bill Edmunds of St. Louis said American is "not being open with their customers." On Thursday, a reservation agent told him to expect his flight today to be canceled. Yet nothing official had taken place, so he couldn't adjust his plans.
"They're holding everybody until the very last moment, so it makes it difficult to come up with other options," he said.
Mike Maloney of Overland Park, Kan., received an e-mail from American at 2:16 a.m. Thursday telling him his flight this morning had been canceled. When he called, an agent told him that they had already rebooked him.
Even so, Maloney is taking precautions: For his Seattle trip next week, he booked a backup flight on a Boeing 737 -- on Alaska Airlines.
Los Angeles Times
April 11, 2008 Friday
Home Edition
TRANSPORTATION ;
American Airlines struggles to get its jets back in the air;
The carrier's CEO says costs for customer care and inspections of its MD-80s will total tens of millions of dollars.
BYLINE: Peter Pae, Martin Zimmerman, Times Staff Writers
SECTION: BUSINESS; Business Desk; Part C; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1162 words
American Airlines renewed its apologies Thursday to more than 200,000 passengers whose travel plans were disrupted this week. Almost 600 more flights were expected to be canceled today, and the airline said it would be at least Sunday before things were back to normal.
As the airline struggled to get its planes flying again, new details emerged on the events that led to the massive flight cancellations and the Federal Aviation Administration's newly aggressive role in policing the nation's airlines.
While nervous airline executives refused to publicly criticize the FAA, they privately grumbled that the agency had been taking a harder line with airlines on complying with airworthiness directives. They said the extraordinary number of flight cancellations might not have been necessary if the FAA hadn't gotten "unreasonably" tougher in recent weeks.
"I'm not sure I would characterize it that way," a more cautious Gerard Arpey, chief executive of American Airlines, said. He stopped short of criticizing the agency for its role in one of the nation's worst air travel debacles but added, "It would be fair to say that the FAA is stepping up surveillance."
He estimated it would cost American "tens of millions of dollars" in expenses for customer service as well as for inspecting and repairing the aircraft.
The final cost could easily exceed $30 million, said Philip Baggaley, an industry analyst at Standard & Poor's Corp.
On Thursday, American canceled about 930 flights as some of its fleet of 300 MD-80 jetliners remained grounded for a third day so wiring bundles could be inspected to ensure compliance with FAA maintenance directives. American normally operates about 2,300 flights a day.
Including the 570 cancellations expected today, American has scrubbed about 3,000 flights since Tuesday, creating chaotic conditions at some of the nation's busiest airports and raising the ire of passengers.
American canceled 15 of its 92 scheduled departures at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday. Fewer than 10 flights are expected to be scrapped at LAX today. American also canceled a small number of flights today at Burbank, Ontario and San Diego airports.
Many passengers were more knowledgeable about what was happening at the airports yet no less irate.
Andrew Cerber flew into LAX from Australia with his wife, Kathy, only to find that their connecting flight to Las Vegas had been canceled.
"That is just really poor management; this is the last for me for American," said Cerber, 42. "If they had a customer-first mind-set they should've been looking at the planes already. That should be the first priority."
But airline and industry sources said American Airlines had little time to anticipate or prepare for the kind of disruption that erupted as a result of an obscure wiring requirement.
Executives of American said that on Monday, FAA inspectors initially found that nine MD-80s were not in compliance with an airworthiness directive. Subsequently, the airline agreed to have all of its 300 MD-80s inspected to make sure that wiring running through the plane's wheel well was bundled properly and posed no fire hazard.
But to avoid a massive disruption to its network, the airline said it requested that it be allowed to inspect the planes on a "rolling" basis, perhaps temporarily grounding 15 to 20 planes at a time rather than all at once.
Arpey said he left Dallas on Tuesday morning for a gathering of airline chief executives in Marina del Rey thinking the airline and the FAA had settled on a less disruptive plan.
But shortly after landing at LAX, Arpey said, he got a telephone call saying that the plan had been rejected and that the airline's entire MD-80 fleet had to be grounded for inspection. The airline, which initially planned to cancel two dozen flights per day, was suddenly facing the prospects of canceling thousands of flights.
"I left for Los Angeles with a brief heads-up that we had another issue with the MD-80s, and when I arrived in L.A. I learned that we were in fact going to have to re-inspect all of the airplanes," Arpey said. "Dynamically trying to figure out how to manage through that has certainly not been perfect."
An industry source said that the airline also initially believed the inspections would take 20 minutes or so, but they have been taking up to eight hours as FAA inspectors have had to sign off on any changes made to the wiring bundle.
FAA officials said that the agency had not gotten tougher and denied that American grounded the planes at its prompting.
The FAA has been under attack in Congress, where some lawmakers in recent weeks have accused the agency of being too lax with inspections and too cozy with the industry.
"We didn't tell American that they had to ground their planes," said Ian McGregor, an FAA spokesman. "We pointed out that some of the planes we looked at seemed to be out of compliance with our safety directive and the carrier needed to bring the planes back into compliance before they put them back up into the air."
Meanwhile, Midwest Airlines on Thursday joined the parade of carriers canceling flights because of maintenance concerns, scrapping 14 of its 290 daily nationwide departures to inspect the wiring on its MD-80s.
And Alaska Airlines said it had canceled 11 more flights involving MD-80s so that they could be inspected.
American said it expected to have 170 of its MD-80s flying by this morning and hoped to complete the inspections and repairs on all the aircraft this weekend.
"That's not an absolute, but that's what we're shooting for," spokesman Tim Smith said.
American is scrambling to re-book passengers on other flights, including those of its competitors. The airline said that passengers booked on canceled flights could request refunds or credits for future travel and that it was allowing people with reservations to re-book without charge. The airline is also paying food and lodging costs for travelers stranded overnight.
The carrier said customers should check the company's website at www.aa.com for details about compensation and to check on their flights.
But re-booking snags continued to irritate travelers such as Lilliam Diaz of Puerto Rico.
Figuring her flight home would be canceled, Diaz began calling the reservations system Wednesday night to re-book over the phone, hoping to avoid an unnecessary trip to LAX on Thursday morning.
"There was no way to get through -- I was on hold all the time," said Diaz, 52, who took a cab at 5 a.m. Thursday to LAX, where American re-booked her on a Friday flight. "I'm a relaxed person, but it's frustrating. They have to think about service."
With FAA stepping up inspections, Baggaley said that "it wouldn't be a surprise" if there were more flight cancellations at other airlines.
"The FAA knows they're under congressional scrutiny and they're being extremely careful and extremely demand
Corporate Apologies: American Airlines
After American Airlines' inspection incident and its hundreds of flight cancellations, the airline's CEO had no choice but to make a public apology. In sensitive situations such as this, an apology can make or break a company, affecting its customers perception and their loyalty to American Airlines.
http://conversationstarter.hbsp.com/2008/04/american_airlines_communicatio.html
Pasted above is a link to an article written analyzing AA's strategies and its numerous apologies. In it, the author talks about the significance of timeliness. Take bloggers like you and me for instance. People stranded at airports with laptops were able to blog and report on the incident within minutes of finding out their flights were canceled. Granted, AA couldn't issue an apology that quickly, but it took them a while to provide an adequate response. Posting press releases and sending mass e-mails to valued customers just isn't good enough.
Another poor planning issue was that the VP of Marketing was the first one to issue apologies via e-mail. People want to hear a sincere apology from the CEO or highest ranked person in the company.
Lastly, when AA's CEO did apologize, "he didn’t apologize for the inconvenience to customers, just for his failure to ensure safety standards are met.”
It sounds like AA wasn't prepared to handle a crisis such as this with an good crisis communications plan. For such a large and public company, that is unacceptable.
http://conversationstarter.hbsp.com/2008/04/american_airlines_communicatio.html
Pasted above is a link to an article written analyzing AA's strategies and its numerous apologies. In it, the author talks about the significance of timeliness. Take bloggers like you and me for instance. People stranded at airports with laptops were able to blog and report on the incident within minutes of finding out their flights were canceled. Granted, AA couldn't issue an apology that quickly, but it took them a while to provide an adequate response. Posting press releases and sending mass e-mails to valued customers just isn't good enough.
Another poor planning issue was that the VP of Marketing was the first one to issue apologies via e-mail. People want to hear a sincere apology from the CEO or highest ranked person in the company.
Lastly, when AA's CEO did apologize, "he didn’t apologize for the inconvenience to customers, just for his failure to ensure safety standards are met.”
It sounds like AA wasn't prepared to handle a crisis such as this with an good crisis communications plan. For such a large and public company, that is unacceptable.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Enron Video
After watching a bit of the Enron video in class, I'm disgusted at the type of company culture and employee relations programs established at the company.
Working for an agency whose culture I could see myself working in for a long time, I couldn't imagine surviving one day in that type of environment. The macho, succeed at all cost, step on whom ever mentality is what I perceived to be the company's cause of death. Although this egoistic culture made the company very successful at first, I think it eventually blinded all employees to where the only thing they saw were dollar signs.
Mark Palmer, managing director of corporate communications at Enron, was there during Enron's crisis.
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2003/06/30/newscolumn5.html
In this article, Palmer admits to having poor employee relations tactics. Although it doesn't talk about Enron's company culture, it just shows how they lacked necessary communications strategies. This may be a result of their focus on money. Where were their plans? If executives knew they were participating in illegal practices, why didn't they have some type of internal communications plan if they were ever discovered?
Working for an agency whose culture I could see myself working in for a long time, I couldn't imagine surviving one day in that type of environment. The macho, succeed at all cost, step on whom ever mentality is what I perceived to be the company's cause of death. Although this egoistic culture made the company very successful at first, I think it eventually blinded all employees to where the only thing they saw were dollar signs.
Mark Palmer, managing director of corporate communications at Enron, was there during Enron's crisis.
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2003/06/30/newscolumn5.html
In this article, Palmer admits to having poor employee relations tactics. Although it doesn't talk about Enron's company culture, it just shows how they lacked necessary communications strategies. This may be a result of their focus on money. Where were their plans? If executives knew they were participating in illegal practices, why didn't they have some type of internal communications plan if they were ever discovered?
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Band-Aid Solutions
In the world of public relations, Band-Aid solutions are never the answer. These pseudo-remedies often lead to even bigger disasters, whether they appear right away or ten years from now.
The W.R. Grace case is one example of a Band-Aid solution gone wrong. In the 1980s, W.R. Grace was involved in a lawsuit where the company was accused of contaminating drinking water in the Boston suburb of Woburn. In stead of speaking publicly about the issue and properly communicating with its employees and publics, the company chose to focus on the clean up and building relationships with the community.
In 1995, a book focused on the lawsuit was released and in 1998, Disney announced the release of a movie based on the Woburn trial.
Because W.R. Grace failed to respond in the beginning, the company was left to try and defend itself 12 years later, after community cognitive dissonance was firmly set. In the end, W.R. Grace drew more attention to itself by overreacting to an issue that should have been handled 12 years ago.
Even though things didn't turn out so well for W.R. Grace, Gladwell says "The Band-Aid solution is actually the best kind of solution because it involves solving a problem with the minimum amount of effort and time and cost.... There are times when we need a convenient shortcut, a way to make a lot out of a little, and that is what Tipping Points, in the end, are all about."
I guess what he's saying is when we want to spread messages, it's OK to use Band-Aid solutions because a little goes a long way. However, in the event of a crisis, such as W.R. Grace, Band-Aid solutions are never the way to go.
The W.R. Grace case is one example of a Band-Aid solution gone wrong. In the 1980s, W.R. Grace was involved in a lawsuit where the company was accused of contaminating drinking water in the Boston suburb of Woburn. In stead of speaking publicly about the issue and properly communicating with its employees and publics, the company chose to focus on the clean up and building relationships with the community.
In 1995, a book focused on the lawsuit was released and in 1998, Disney announced the release of a movie based on the Woburn trial.
Because W.R. Grace failed to respond in the beginning, the company was left to try and defend itself 12 years later, after community cognitive dissonance was firmly set. In the end, W.R. Grace drew more attention to itself by overreacting to an issue that should have been handled 12 years ago.
Even though things didn't turn out so well for W.R. Grace, Gladwell says "The Band-Aid solution is actually the best kind of solution because it involves solving a problem with the minimum amount of effort and time and cost.... There are times when we need a convenient shortcut, a way to make a lot out of a little, and that is what Tipping Points, in the end, are all about."
I guess what he's saying is when we want to spread messages, it's OK to use Band-Aid solutions because a little goes a long way. However, in the event of a crisis, such as W.R. Grace, Band-Aid solutions are never the way to go.
Paul Revere Or William Dawes
After reading my chapter, chapter 8, of The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell makes a shocking point.
"The Law of the Few says that Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen are responsible for starting word-of-mouth epidemics, which means that if you are interested in starting word-of-mouth epidemic, your resources ought to be solely concentrated on those three groups. No one else matters."
After reading this and learning about chapter 2, I realized how much one's personality really matters in relaying messages to publics. If you aren't well liked, people won't listen.
Therefore, it's really important to be personable and to avoid burning bridges. Networking with anyone and everyone is key in public relations, but getting people to like you is even more important.
I have to say that I don't agree with Gladwell's last statement, "No one else matters."
Cosmopolitanism teaches us that everyone matters. I agree that connectors, mavens and salesmen are important ingredients to success; however, treating everyone as important beings paves the way for greater success.
"The Law of the Few says that Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen are responsible for starting word-of-mouth epidemics, which means that if you are interested in starting word-of-mouth epidemic, your resources ought to be solely concentrated on those three groups. No one else matters."
After reading this and learning about chapter 2, I realized how much one's personality really matters in relaying messages to publics. If you aren't well liked, people won't listen.
Therefore, it's really important to be personable and to avoid burning bridges. Networking with anyone and everyone is key in public relations, but getting people to like you is even more important.
I have to say that I don't agree with Gladwell's last statement, "No one else matters."
Cosmopolitanism teaches us that everyone matters. I agree that connectors, mavens and salesmen are important ingredients to success; however, treating everyone as important beings paves the way for greater success.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Restricted Media In China
For spring break this year, my mom and I took a 9-day trip to China. As we all know, China is a communist country and governed by a strict dictator. Almost every aspect of China is controlled by the government. Their media is no different.
On this trip, we were given two tour guides, both China residents. The tourists asked many questions about their government, including what they thought of their dictator and their views of past events that had gained global attention.
One response we received was "I found out from a friend who works for the police." The Chinese government is very selective as to what it allows the Chinese people to see and hear. Many of the "unfavorable" events that occur in their own cities are never mentioned on the news and China residents are either oblivious to these events or they find out from leaks in the government.
Here is a link to the Council on Foreign Relations that discusses media censorship in China: http://www.cfr.org/publication/11515/
I never could have imagined a place that didn't have public relations until I visited China. Maybe they have public relations but all of their practitioners are working for the government. I really don't know. I loved China but I could never work there.
On this trip, we were given two tour guides, both China residents. The tourists asked many questions about their government, including what they thought of their dictator and their views of past events that had gained global attention.
One response we received was "I found out from a friend who works for the police." The Chinese government is very selective as to what it allows the Chinese people to see and hear. Many of the "unfavorable" events that occur in their own cities are never mentioned on the news and China residents are either oblivious to these events or they find out from leaks in the government.
Here is a link to the Council on Foreign Relations that discusses media censorship in China: http://www.cfr.org/publication/11515/
I never could have imagined a place that didn't have public relations until I visited China. Maybe they have public relations but all of their practitioners are working for the government. I really don't know. I loved China but I could never work there.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Revised Wiki Assignment
Propoganda in America- meet Edward Bernays. Edward Bernays was the man behind “Torches of Freedom.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZYTrFokPHY
“Torches Of Freedom” During the women’s liberation movement the tobacco industry planted debutantes with cigarettes in the Easter parade. These women smoked their “Torches of Freedom” during the parade and thus ending the taboo against women smokers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_public_relations
Toxic Sludge is Good for You is a book by John Strauber and Sheldon Rampton. It is somewhat of an expose on governement organizations pretending to be “grass root” organizations to deceive the public. John Strauber also has a web site called prwatch.org.
http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy.html
COSCA- a front group created by Pagan International. The Coalition of South Africans was made to create a false sense of community so that legislation would be passed in Shell’s favor.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_for_Southern_Africa
Wal-Marting Across America – a travel flog about an RV making its way across the country staying Wal-Mart car parks. The blogger was sponsored by Wal-Mart and its PR agency, Edleman, to create viral marketing. Revolution Magazine
LINK - http://www.brandrepublic.com/login/News/754401/
Reference: "When Consumers Bite Back." Revolution 27 Oct 2007: 38.
McDonald’s – said to be written by a security guard who was fascinated with a McDonald’s ad campaign. The site was sponsored by McDonalds as one of its marketing campaigns and was later revealed to be the work of its PR agency. Revolution Magazine
LINK - http://www.brandrepublic.com/login/News/754401/
Reference: "When Consumers Bite Back." Revolution 27 Oct 2007: 38.
Sony’s alliwantforxmasisapsp.com – a flog established to promote Sony’s play station console. The site was said to be written by two young boys to convince one of their mothers to buy him a PS3 for Christmas. Visit PRWeek archives
LINK – www.prweek.com
Reference: "Blog Myths Exposed." PR Week 09 Feb 2007: 22
LonelyGirl15 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonelygirl15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZYTrFokPHY
“Torches Of Freedom” During the women’s liberation movement the tobacco industry planted debutantes with cigarettes in the Easter parade. These women smoked their “Torches of Freedom” during the parade and thus ending the taboo against women smokers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_public_relations
Toxic Sludge is Good for You is a book by John Strauber and Sheldon Rampton. It is somewhat of an expose on governement organizations pretending to be “grass root” organizations to deceive the public. John Strauber also has a web site called prwatch.org.
http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy.html
COSCA- a front group created by Pagan International. The Coalition of South Africans was made to create a false sense of community so that legislation would be passed in Shell’s favor.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_for_Southern_Africa
Wal-Marting Across America – a travel flog about an RV making its way across the country staying Wal-Mart car parks. The blogger was sponsored by Wal-Mart and its PR agency, Edleman, to create viral marketing. Revolution Magazine
LINK - http://www.brandrepublic.com/login/News/754401/
Reference: "When Consumers Bite Back." Revolution 27 Oct 2007: 38.
McDonald’s – said to be written by a security guard who was fascinated with a McDonald’s ad campaign. The site was sponsored by McDonalds as one of its marketing campaigns and was later revealed to be the work of its PR agency. Revolution Magazine
LINK - http://www.brandrepublic.com/login/News/754401/
Reference: "When Consumers Bite Back." Revolution 27 Oct 2007: 38.
Sony’s alliwantforxmasisapsp.com – a flog established to promote Sony’s play station console. The site was said to be written by two young boys to convince one of their mothers to buy him a PS3 for Christmas. Visit PRWeek archives
LINK – www.prweek.com
Reference: "Blog Myths Exposed." PR Week 09 Feb 2007: 22
LonelyGirl15 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonelygirl15
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Flog Research
1. "When Consumers Bite Back." Revolution 27 Oct 2007: 38.
Wal-Mart was also vilified for its involvement in a fake blog (or 'flog'). A freelance journalist wrote a blog about her travels across America in a mobile home staying in Wal-Mart car parks. She gave the impression that her quirky adventure had nothing to do with the retail chain. Naturally, the community of anti-Wal-Mart bloggers had a field day when it was exposed that she was, in fact, being sponsored by the corporation. The site has now been taken down.
McDonald's was also caught out using flogs in one of its marketing campaigns. The blog appeared to be written by a security guard who was so fascinated by a promotion that he wrote about it in his blog. However, another blog called Consumerist exposed the flog as the work of a PR agency.
2. "Blog Myths Exposed." PR Week 09 Feb 2007: 22.
Before Christmas, Sony set up a flog at www.alliwantforxmasisapsp.com to promote its PlayStation3 games console. The site was ostensibly written by two young boys, Charlie and Jeremy, as a way of convincing the latter's mother to buy him a PS3. Visitors saw through the ruse, and left little doubt - via posts - what they thought about it. Sony closed the site on Dec. 12.
3. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14816502/wid/11915829>1=8596
LonelyGirl15 news story
http://adage.com/smallagency/post?article_id=113945
Wal-Marting Across America – a travel flog about an RV making its way across the country staying Wal-Mart car parks. The blogger was sponsored by Wal-Mart and its PR agency, Edleman, to create viral marketing.
Sony’s alliwantforxmasisapsp.com – a flog established to promote Sony’s play station console. The site was said to be written by two young boys to convince one of their mothers to buy him a PS3 for Christmas.
McDonald’s – said to be written by a security guard who was fascinated with a McDonald’s ad campaign. The site was sponsored by McDonalds as one of its marketing campaigns and was later revealed to be the work of its PR agency.
The Gap Between Advertising and Marketing, and PR
Although I have only been an intern at an advertising agency for a few weeks, there are a few things I have noticed that might help the advertising and marketing sides if PR was more involved in the advertising and branding process.
First, I noticed that many of my PR clients did not advertise with my employer. This means their advertising is done elsewhere in the absence of a PR professional. This point brings up my second point...
Some advertising campaigns cause PR problems because a PR practitioner isn't involved in the account planning process or the creative process. This leads into my next point...
Creatives nor account planners can be held completely responsible for causing such problems because they are not trained to think like a PR professional. It is, however, their job to be wise enough and experienced enough to involve a PR practitioner in the advertising and branding process.
If advertising agencies would consult an experienced PR professional in the process, the risk of losing money, time and a good reputation might decrease.
First, I noticed that many of my PR clients did not advertise with my employer. This means their advertising is done elsewhere in the absence of a PR professional. This point brings up my second point...
Some advertising campaigns cause PR problems because a PR practitioner isn't involved in the account planning process or the creative process. This leads into my next point...
Creatives nor account planners can be held completely responsible for causing such problems because they are not trained to think like a PR professional. It is, however, their job to be wise enough and experienced enough to involve a PR practitioner in the advertising and branding process.
If advertising agencies would consult an experienced PR professional in the process, the risk of losing money, time and a good reputation might decrease.
Chantix and Suicidal Behavior
Chantix, an anti-smoking prescription drug, is still being prescribed despite claims of suicidal behavior and sudden rage, resulting in some killings. Pfizer owns this drug and continues to make money off of this potentially dangerous substance. Several lawsuits have been filed, yet only warnings have been put out as opposed to recalls. Below is a link to an example of a warning put out by CNN:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/20/magazines/fortune/simons_smoke.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007112017
I really think this is a prime example of how socially irresponsible pharmaceutical companies can be. If there was even a hit of danger associated with a prescription drug, it should be recalled and fixed or banded from use until studies can confirm these claims aren't true.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/20/magazines/fortune/simons_smoke.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007112017
I really think this is a prime example of how socially irresponsible pharmaceutical companies can be. If there was even a hit of danger associated with a prescription drug, it should be recalled and fixed or banded from use until studies can confirm these claims aren't true.
From the Professional Conduct section of
"You may not accept gifts from companies, from their public relations firms or agents, or from any other supplier of information -- not a bottle of wine during the holidays, not a reduced-rate membership for your personal use. During company visits, you may accept mementos or sample products of nominal value (less than $25). But you must refuse, return, dispose of, or donate to charity any unsolicited gifts of more than nominal value -- the choice in the latter three instances being up to the sender, whom you must contact immediately. Obviously, you may not solicit gifts.
In addition, you generally may accept lunch or dinner only from a source with whom you are likely to meet often enough to return the favor (the one exception being an interview over a meal with a source at the person's offices). In all other instances, you or BusinessWeek must pay your tab.
You must use review copies of books, video games, and the like only for editorial purposes -- or else, as practicable, forward them to a person designated by the editor-in-chief for donation to charity. You may not sell such materials for any reason.
You may accept the use of a review or test model of a new product -- cars, computers, software, and any other products, including subscription services -- for only as long as your reporting needs require. In most cases, this means only a few days -- and not for an extended period.
In situations where a company with whom BusinessWeek has an editorial partnership offers you favors, you must comply with the McGraw-Hill Code of Business Ethics, which states in part: "No gift having more than nominal value and no loan (other than a normal bank loan) may be accepted from any person or firm having current or prospective dealings with the corporation."
http://www.businessweek.com/ethics.htm
I found it interesting how specific some codes of ethics can be.
The BusinessWeek Code of Journalistic Ethics
d. Gifts, meals, and entertainment."You may not accept gifts from companies, from their public relations firms or agents, or from any other supplier of information -- not a bottle of wine during the holidays, not a reduced-rate membership for your personal use. During company visits, you may accept mementos or sample products of nominal value (less than $25). But you must refuse, return, dispose of, or donate to charity any unsolicited gifts of more than nominal value -- the choice in the latter three instances being up to the sender, whom you must contact immediately. Obviously, you may not solicit gifts.
In addition, you generally may accept lunch or dinner only from a source with whom you are likely to meet often enough to return the favor (the one exception being an interview over a meal with a source at the person's offices). In all other instances, you or BusinessWeek must pay your tab.
You must use review copies of books, video games, and the like only for editorial purposes -- or else, as practicable, forward them to a person designated by the editor-in-chief for donation to charity. You may not sell such materials for any reason.
You may accept the use of a review or test model of a new product -- cars, computers, software, and any other products, including subscription services -- for only as long as your reporting needs require. In most cases, this means only a few days -- and not for an extended period.
In situations where a company with whom BusinessWeek has an editorial partnership offers you favors, you must comply with the McGraw-Hill Code of Business Ethics, which states in part: "No gift having more than nominal value and no loan (other than a normal bank loan) may be accepted from any person or firm having current or prospective dealings with the corporation."
http://www.businessweek.com/ethics.htm
I found it interesting how specific some codes of ethics can be.
Cosmopolitanism
Anthony Appiah raised several good points in his book "Cosmopolitanism." His overall theme of everyone matters has really managed to open my eyes to assumptions I never knew I made. Several of his examples lead me to many realizations; however, his example of genital cutting was most clear. Despite the fact that this is quite a morbid topic, his message throughout the book was clear in this instant.
I always assumed that there were certain universal truths and morals no person should live without. Killing and inflicting pain on a person would be one of my so-called universal truths. But Appiah recognizes that in the United States, male genital cutting is absolutely acceptable, but female genital cutting is inhumane and torturous -- a bit hypocritical, I think.
Different cultures around the world have their reasons for participating in the rituals, traditions, customs -- whatever you want to call it -- just was we do in our culture. Why should we look down on female genital cutting and encourage male genital cutting?
Appiah isn't suggesting we start participating in female genital cutting, but he is saying we should understand why they do it and they should understand why we do male genital cutting. No one needs to agree with it, just understand.
He says once we understand, global issues won't be such an issue anymore.
I am still not exactly sure what to do once an understanding has been reached but I'm sure it couldn't hurt.
I always assumed that there were certain universal truths and morals no person should live without. Killing and inflicting pain on a person would be one of my so-called universal truths. But Appiah recognizes that in the United States, male genital cutting is absolutely acceptable, but female genital cutting is inhumane and torturous -- a bit hypocritical, I think.
Different cultures around the world have their reasons for participating in the rituals, traditions, customs -- whatever you want to call it -- just was we do in our culture. Why should we look down on female genital cutting and encourage male genital cutting?
Appiah isn't suggesting we start participating in female genital cutting, but he is saying we should understand why they do it and they should understand why we do male genital cutting. No one needs to agree with it, just understand.
He says once we understand, global issues won't be such an issue anymore.
I am still not exactly sure what to do once an understanding has been reached but I'm sure it couldn't hurt.
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