During my long PR career, I was called a maverick because I often disagreed with my colleagues’ widely accepted PR principles, and when we came to a fork in the road, I took the one less used. Here are some beliefs that set me apart from the clan: 1. Don’t pitch...
The reporting errors regarding the Palestinian terrorist attack on an Israeli musical festival and kibbutzim should have provided important lessons for PR practitioners, especially when doing research for a program or speech: Never rely on one single source. The...
On September 25, a headline in The Wall Street Journal read, “Bosses Say They Want The Truth. Do They Mean It?” How you would answer the question above if it was asked of you could determine your status at public relations agencies—which statistics show is short-lived...
On August 28, The U.S. Department of Transportation posted the following: “WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today fined American Airlines $4.1 million for violating federal statutes and the Department’s rule prohibiting tarmac delays of three...
Let’s be honest. Looking out for themselves is the primary priority of businesses, both private and public. And since public relations agencies are businesses, both private and public, that definitely applies to them. The importance of client relationships to PR...
Many years ago before jumping the fence to the PR side, I was a sports reporter for several New York City newspapers and a wire service. In those days, sports news was considered unimportant, compared to business, political and world news. (It still is, in my...
Prior to jumping to the PR side of the fence from the newspaper wall, I was a reporter and editor at New York City dailies and wire services. As a reporter and editor, I always took into account the news value, the feature story possibilities or the uniqueness of a...
This is Part 1; Part 2 to come at year’s end The first half of 2023 has just concluded, and already a long-time belief of mine—which I have written about and told many times to people who reported to me—has once again been proven true: that a tuition-free Master Class...
When I was a youngster, I believed the sports world’s hype that sports is all ice cream and cake and that the moguls of the business and their employees, the athletes, should be considered on a par with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and the other Founding...
I've long said that PR people can learn valuable lessons free of charge that are not taught in communications school, especially by following happenings on the political scene. And politics aside, former President Donald Trump's appearance on CNN's Town Hall provided...
For years, I have been writing and telling account execs who reported to me to always do what’s best for themselves, because in the final analysis you’re nothing but an employee number, and the agency will always do what’s best for itself. My saying so wasn’t always...
On the night of April 11, during former President Trump's interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, there were two important PR lessons voiced—both which should never be copied by PR pros. The first one was when the former president said that when he was indicted in...