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Along with Doug, Topazer Tony Sapienza joins me for a round table discussion about journalism these days, as well as a few tips for PR pros like us.

Add to our discussion – how else have PR and journalism changed?

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Sounds quaint, doesn’t it?

And because I was a child of the 60s and 70s, we were encouraged to view women as equals, worthy of fair treatment in life and in the press. Strong, intelligent, capable and due the respect men automatically received. Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Germaine Greer fought for women’s rights. Steinem is still at it. While abstract arguments about the fair treatment of women may have advanced women’s causes – more women now graduate from college than men and more receive advanced professional degrees – real equality, and fair treatment, are still a fiction.

Especially in politics, and especially in the media’s treatment of women in politics.

What prompted this little trip into nostalgia and outrage is Newsweek’s treatment of Michele Bachman on this week’s cover.

Looks like a nut, doesn’t she?

Of course the article was written by a woman, Lois Romano (the magazine sports her flattering glamour shot) and the magazine is edited by a woman, Tina Brown. Bachman’s photo appears to be credited to Chris Buck (gender undetermined), but we’re checking that.

So here’s the outrage part: apparently we are supposed to believe that what’s been done to Bachman is ok, since it was done (largely) by women. After all, she’s a Tea Party nutcase, right?

But the journalists have put themselves into the story. Rather than presenting a neutral, normal picture with which to illustrate the story, they have chosen a photo because it makes Bachman look like a nutcase.

Bachman, of course, is not the only female politician to receive the madwoman/ fat girl treatment. Recall the many photos of Sarah Palin looking unhinged or impossibly coy (here’s a relatively benign snap that manages to make Palin look merely paranoid):

Of course Newsweek/The Daily Beast is not the only offender. Here’s Sonia Sotomayor looking like she needs a haircut:

And candidate Hilary Clinton looking a bit zaftig:

Political men, on the other hand, receive different treatment (especially if they are Democrats):

The candidate Barack Obama:

Former President Bill Clinton:

Harry Reid, looking thoughtful:

Sadly, things really haven’t changed much since the 70s. Sure, women are in the workplace (earning less than men, unless, of course, they are single and childless) and hold positions of political power (however, women are now only 17 percent of Congress – we lost seats after the most recent mid-term election.)

It remains true that women, especially when they seek positions of power, are suspect, and portrayed as edge cases. And heaven help them if they’re conservative.

It’s a story that’s getting really old. And as a trained journalist who works with the media every day, it’s never easy watching the wall between news reporting and creative writing blur.

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Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, Journalism, Michelle Bachman, Portrayal of Women in the Media, Sarah Palin, Sonia Sotomayor

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Man live-tweets Bin Laden operation – A Pakistani man live-tweeted the raid that killed Bin Laden – the most wanted terrorist in the world. As he strangely heard the noise of a helicopter above him he started tweeting about what he heard. Quickly, he gained 14,000 followers. He continued to blog about the noises that he was hearing and became the first to document the operation. This goes to show the power of 140 characters.

Android phones will have video chat capabilities – Google recently revealed that it is adding video chat capabilities to the Android phone. This will allow users to chat from their phones, computers or tablets – however these capabilities are only available if you have an Android 2.3 version – it also requires 3G, 4G or a WiFi connection. Is this about time or right on time?

Julian Assange says Facebook is a way for the government to spy on you – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange recently was interviewed by Russia Today. During the interview he called Facebook “the most appalling spy machine that has ever been invented.” Harsh words, but he does have some reasoning behind it. While the government doesn’t run Facebook, they do have access to the database of information that people willingly make public. What do you think – is he just talking crazy?

Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.

This week’s winner is the live-tweeting of the Bin Laden operation story. This just shows how social media has become such a significant factor into our every day lives. Social media allows people to become self-publishers, and while most people will never get recognition from their tweets – in this instance, it let a regular guy be the first to document one of the biggest events in history.

What story do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: Android, Bin Laden, Facebook, Google, Julian Assange, Twitter, video chat

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Add to our discussion – how else has PR changed?

MP3 File

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Technorati Tags: Infographics, Pitching Media, Sam Whitmore, Scare Tactics

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With my past grammar mishaps in mind, I’ve worked diligently to eliminate such errors during the course of writing many a client document and endless PR pitches. (Hint: when in doubt about grammar usage, turn to the AP Stylebook — a PR person’s best friend! Your computer’s spell check just doesn’t always cut it).

With all the time I’ve spent writing, over the years I’ve developed a certain respect for well written documents, and ultimately, proper use of the English language.

I figured that the Oxford Dictionary folks felt the same way about the English language, too.

But my opinion changed over the weekend upon learning that MMS abbreviations like OMG, LOL and “heart” (as in “I don’t heart radioactive tap water”) have been included in the latest issue of the Oxford Dictionary. Even LaLa Land, often used to describe those beautiful, plastic surgery addicted folks in Los Angeles, has been included.

As this Mobiledia article points out, the addition of these abbreviations demonstrate the influence of mobile and Internet technologies on contemporary language usage.

Not that I don’t use these terms frequently myself in emails, on Twitter and Facebook, etc. however you really have to wonder about our culture if these abbreviations are now actually considered worthy of inclusion in the Oxford Dictionary.

I’m sure there’s a PR handler spinning this news and why it’s a good thing. The upside for them is they are getting some great coverage for their clients.

But the downside for the rest of us may be the slow death of the English language.

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Image Courtesy of PBS.org

The Obama administration is now backing legislation that would protect the personal data of internet users which, in my humblest opinion, is a step in the right direction from last year’s call for voluntary codes of conduct for advertisers and data companies.

Of course, said advertisers and data aggregators will whine and complain until they’re blue in the face, defending their more or less shady practices as integral to giving internet users a relevant advertising experience – which is somewhat true if you’ve accepted the fact that the advertising is going to be there anyway.

However, a recent shopping experience has inspired me to question whether or not these advertising experiences are truly relevant. I don’t normally wear a watch (or any jewelry) but while leafing through a magazine last week I spotted a totally rad all-black Swatch and, being the nostalgic child of the 80’s and victim of consumer culture that I am, I decided that I must have it for my birthday – which is in a few days (feel free to send gifts via paypal). It has come to my attention that all week I’ve been seeing advertisements for the exact same Swatch I ordered and a few other ones that I had looked at. How is that a relevant advertising experience if I’ve already bought the item?

Totally Rad!

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind advertising and tracking so much while I’m shopping, the aggregators have recommended very cool t-shirt websites on more than one occasion, but I’ve always felt that the key aspect of this (and myriad other issues) is choice – consumers should have the option of whether or not they want their information available to advertisers – and apparently Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz feels the same way as the commission has proposed a ‘do not track’ option.

“We don’t think tracking is per se bad at all,” said Leibowitz. “We just think that consumers should be able to opt out of tracking. … You should have the right not to be followed around if you don’t want to be followed around.”

For those of you who despise tracking and can’t wait for legislation to pass (if it passes), apparently the new Internet Explorer 9 from Microsoft has an anti-tracking feature but a recent article from Computing UK suggests that it may be flawed.

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Technorati Tags: Advertising, Federal Trade Commission, Internet Explorer 9, Jon Leibowitz, Microsoft, Obama administration, Swatch

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Apple announced on February 15 that it would be starting a new subscription service for publishers to sell the electronic versions of their magazines and newspapers on mobile devices such as the  iPad through Apple’s online app store. However, publishers will be forced to offer their lowest subscription rates and Apple will be taking a 30% cut of every subscription sold, like they did with songs purchased from the iTunes store.

Apparently, Google launched a rival service the very next day that features an alternative payment model that offers more flexibility, while requiring a smaller (10%) share of publisher revenue.

What are your thoughts on this? Do the new services offered by Apple and/or Google violate anti-trust laws?

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Technorati Tags: Anti-Trust, Apple, Google

According to a report from the Associated Press, it was social media like Facebook that has helped the Tunisian people to organize protests and break the barriers of fear and silence that have been keeping their emotions bottled up for so long.  “Video-sharing sites like YouTube and Daily Motion are banned in Tunisia, where newspapers are tightly censured, but Facebook abounds and videos posted there are quickly spread around.”

Once again we are witnessing the power of social media and how it can be so much more than just a means of sharing the agonizing minutiae of our everyday lives with the rest of the world…

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As we have been discussing over the course of the past few weeks and months, AT&T is between a rock and a hard place with Apple’s iPhone soon to be available to Verizon customers and the already established lack of coverage in many areas.

According to MarketWatch, the money will be used to acquire “wireless spectrum, or the rights to certain airwaves, of a failed Qualcomm Inc. venture…” AT&T will almost certainly use this new spectrum for a much-needed 4G network, although the company claims the investment is more for its long-term goals.

The real question is – will it be enough to keep existing customers and entice enough new ones to stay competitive? Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted over the next few months as we’re very interested to see just how this movie is going to end…

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Technorati Tags: 4G, AT&T, iPhone, Mobile, Verizon

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