Editorial misogyny

Check out this headline at ZDNet: Final thoughts on supermodel-blogger catfight. Would a case involving men be referred to as a “cat fight?” I should remind readers that headlines are not written by columnists and the column itself seems perfectly thoughtful. I don’t agree with it, but its tone is entirely respectful.

The headline writer at Info World catches the essence of the case: A skank discussion: Privacy, anonymity, and misogyny

Skank specifically refers to a disreputable woman, there are very serious consequences for a woman who is successfully labeled as a skank. For a professional model those consequences might very well include the loss of opportunities to represent certain brands. From little lies big lies grow. She was justified in her suit and the courts acted appropriately in my judgment.

Edit -
From the comments at Boing Boing

Technically, the model has a case because calling someone a skank or ho is a statement and truth can be measured (is she having sex for money or is she excessively promiscuous?) while if she'd flat-out just called her a bitch it would have been an opinion. It is also a statement that can easily be shown to affect the model financially - if she wasn't being hired for jobs where the employers objected to that kind of behavior, or if a morals clause in a contract kicked in. Reputation can be very important in those situations. It is also clear that the intent was malicious.

But let me also point something out: this is cyberbullying on behalf of the fashion student, and it's not cool, and I would 100 times prefer than no one get to be anonymous on the internet than we choose to do nothing about cyberbullying - even between adults, where we otherwise expect them to "just get over it."

Edit ii -
Dan Gillmor has some thoughts on the matter.

Congratulations David Silverberg!

ASBPE names finalists for magazine of the year

The association also said HSToday Editor David Silverberg will be honored with ASBPE’s first Journalism That Matters Award at the event.

Why journalism matters: David Rohde

Times Reporter Escapes Taliban After 7 Months

David Rohde, a New York Times reporter who was kidnapped by the Taliban, escaped Friday night and made his way to freedom after more than seven months of captivity in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Welcome home David Rohde. I love happy endings.

The anonymice go after Rep. Jane Harman

We love smearing people. Not only is it fun, it is a great way to distract the public and avoid accountability.



CQ had an article alleging a prid pro quo between Rep. Harman and AIPAC.

Two former senior national security officials, one who has read a transcript of the wiretap and a second who was briefed on its contents, said Harman agreed during the conversation to “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference.” Their accounts were confirmed by a third source with knowledge of the wiretapped conversation and subsequent events.

First of all, why are the contents of this transcript being leaked? What public interest is being served? If this is part of a legitimate investigation (that is, authorized by a warrant), then it has been compromised. If there is no warrant, than this is the politicization of the NSA. Harman seems to think it might be the latter.

Ron Kampeas at Capitol J has a good run down of all the problems with this article.

Notice how these disasters invariably involve anonymous sources? How long before one of your clients gets smeared in such a manner?

Never be an anonymous source.

Edit - Why the anonymice might have gone after Harman.

Why journalism matters: Roxana Saberi

April 18, 2009

Iran Sentences American Journalist to 8 Years

TEHRAN — Iran has sentenced an Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi, to eight years in prison after convicting her of spying for the United States, her lawyer said Saturday.

The State Department has called the charges against Ms. Saberi, 31, baseless and has demanded her release.

Scoble’s troubling anti-PR rant

Last Thursday’s edition of For Immediate Release contained a very troubling rant by Robert Scoble about the clueless PR pitches he has received. Scoble prefers to be pitched over dinner, from my notes:

The way pr is practiced is just lame. Why anyone pitches you on email is stupid, chances of listening are one percent.
I get far more value having someone come over and have dinner with me tell me something cool. Brian Solis had dinner with ten bloggers and made a fun and subtle pitch at the end.
Jeremy Toeman showed me a block of wood became Bug Labs and asked my opinion.

Wow, OK, Scoble says it is much more valuable to him to be offered a scrumptious dinner and convivial conversation with the pitch at the end. Congratulations to Brian Solis for building such a valuable relationship. Pardon me if I don’t follow his example.

Listening to Scoble’s rant gave me new respect for reporters like Joab Jackson, Chris Dorobek, Roger Hughlett, and so many others who put their readers first and don’t expect to be wined and dined.

I am happy to render small services to journalists. I am happy to submit their work to Slashdot when I think it merits it. I am happy to send news tips, whether or not Presto Vivace clients are involved. I am happy to publicly recognize their awards, and many other things. But I will not buy them lunch and I will not be their buddy. I work for my clients and they work for their readers and if we do business on any other basis we will get into trouble quickly. What Scoble is asking for is nothing less than crony journalism and I refuse to be part of that. Perhaps you have to live in Washington, DC to understand the deadly consequences of that. But I would ask Scoble to listen to his rant and try to imagine what readers, those who are neither PR nor reporters, would think of his words.

Readers don’t care whether you got a lame press release or whether you got a swank dinner. Readers want to follow the news, and it is the business of reporters to make their editorial judgment on the basis of the story.

Edit -
Robert French says the same thing, only with far more eloquence, please read the whole thing.

Jackie has a very witty take on Scoble's remarks.

More thoughts from High Talk.

Mark Story says that Scoble whines like a spoiled celebrity.
Mark Story has some additional thoughts on how PR goes wrong.

Lisa Barone turns Scoble into a verb.

PR Squared suggest that PR pros shouldn't be so sensitive.

Susan Getgood reminds us that the reasons people blog do not include hyping our clients.

David reminds us that bloggers are just not that into PR flacks.

Tom Murphy has the funniest take on the whole thing.

Ben Dillion: Can You Pitch PR By Email?

See also: The difference between relationships and cronyism

Edit ii -
A very interesting post ruined by a gratuitous reference to a glass of whiskey.

Congratulations Wired, BusinessWeek and Fast Company

Business publications among National Magazine Award finalists

New York—Wired, BusinessWeek and Fast Company were among the business publications magazines named finalists Wednesday for the National Magazine Awards, which are overseen by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

Integrating online and offline communications

Marc Hausman has an interesting article about a recent survey of journalists. It seems that journalists themselves regard blogs as more important than trade publications, which is alarming if accurate.

• Journalists use blogs almost as often as trades as part of the reporting and editing process.

• For monitoring responses to stories, only Web sites and blogs are considered important. Reporters lump conferences, trade journals, social networking sites and podcasts in the “unimportant” category.

I would have thought that any response was an important response. Conferences are especially indicative of industry trends.

A good PR plan must integrate the offline with the online. It is necessary to identify the bloggers who cover your industry and invite them to your events whenever necessary. Get to know the bloggers within the local user groups.

Blog posts and Twitter chatter will amplify the impact of your event. Even a brief mention of your booth at a trade show has value.

Finally, advertising has value. Advertising guarantees visibility. Advertising on trade journals insures gives your company an image of being a serious player within your industry. It also contributes to the survival of an important industry resource.

Who should blog the G20 Summit?

Nominate a Blogger

50 influential and knowledgeable bloggers will be invited to attend the G20 Summit on April 2nd in London, UK, where they will get unprecedented access to world leaders and thinkers and the chance to ask questions about the issues important to them. Twenty of those bloggers will be nominated by you. Please use the form to nominate a blogger that you think should be one of those twenty.

Prosumers?

In an article about social media's impact on conferences, and the blurring line between the speakers and the audience Wired uses the word "prosumers," presumably a combination of producer and consumers.

I just want to say to editors that if you don't want flacks to use cute, gimmicky, jargon, don't you be using it.

Why journalism matters: Musa Khan Khel

Hundreds protest Pakistan reporter killing

MINGORA, Pakistan (AFP) — Hundreds of Pakistanis on Thursday protested against the killing of a TV reporter in the insurgency-torn Swat valley, where an elderly cleric made peace overtures to a firebrand commander.

Unknown gunmen shot Musa Khan Khel, 28, in the head and body Wednesday near the town of Matta in the former ski resort, where Islamist hardliners led by Maulana Fazlullah have waged a nearly two-year campaign to enforce sharia law.

David Cay Johnston, a hero for our time

David Cay Johnston is a reporter for the Columbian Journalism Review who insisted that White House communications personnel speak on the record. Bravo! Well done!

The practice of anonymous sources survives only because editors and reporters permit it to survive.

It also survives because our profession is foolish enough to think that we can manipulate it in our favor. Our clients will never be on the receiving end of smears and rumor mongering. Oh no. Certainly not. Perish the thought.

It is a evil practice, let us put an end to it.

Life of a high profile tech blogger

Michael Arrington

Yesterday as I was leaving the DLD Conference in Munich, Germany someone walked up to me and quite deliberately spat in my face. Before I even understood what was happening, he veered off into the crowd, just another dark head in a dark suit. People around me stared, then looked away and continued their conversation.

Wow, that is worse than wrong, spitting on people is actionable. Be warned, if I ever witness anything of that nature, I am reporting it to the police. If I am ever so unfortunate as to be assaulted in such a manner, you can bet that I am pressing charges.

When you see something like that you don't just avert your gaze, you offer aide and offer to be a witness for any police report.

On the other hand ...

I have never pitched to TechCrunch, and I never will. I don't do business with those who advertise their contempt for my industry and broadcast their intention of lying to me.

via Small Business Trends

Edit -
Wow, Michael Singer takes a real blame the victim view of the matter.

Did he deserve such harsh treatment? Perhaps. But, love him or hate him, let's not forget one thing: Michael Arrington is a human being. Someone walked up to him in public and spat in his face. That's pretty disgusting no matter who you are.

Emphasis added. And, er, NO. No one deserves to be on the receiving end of a criminal assualt. This is a real threat to free speech. How can Arrington put out a publication when he has to worry about his family.

We are in hard times. Most of us are going to lose a lot of mony. But we do not have to lose our dignity, and when we condone, excuse, or minimize an attack on a writer, we sacrifice part of our dignity. Let us not go down that road.

How to help a reporter out

Throw them a link, send them some page views. These are hard times in the news business, every single copy sale, every subscription, every page view, every unique hit counts.

Why journalism matters: Nigel Brennan and Amanda Lindhout

Somalia Journos’ Kidnapping: Inside Job Rumor Persists

Two months ago two foreign journalists and their Somali colleagues were abducted while reporting on refugees outside Mogadishu. Aussie Nigel Brennan and Canadian Amanda Lindhout and as many as three Somalis were grabbed on the heavily traveled Afgooye Road, apparently under the noses of Ethiopian troops. My friend Mohamed Omar Hussein, a reporter in Mogadishu, relayed rumors that the grab was an inside job — that the journos’ bodyguards, provided by the popular Shamo Hotel, perhaps were behind the crime.

All our prayers for their safe return.

Anonymice strike again

You have no law we need take notice of.




Associated Press: FBI investigates ACORN for voter fraud

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Justice Department regulations forbid discussing ongoing investigations particularly so close to an election.

The Justice Department officials knew that they were breaking the law by leaking this to the Associated Press, and the reporter knew that she was collaborating in a crime by running the story. What's next? Are we going to blow a CIA case officer's cover? Oh right ...

Al Gore's movie

Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, has succeeded in transforming our national conversation more than I thought possible. CNET has an entire Green Technology section. Any chance that would have happened absent his movie?

Why you should read that boring press release redux

Reading Aaron Brazell’s Twitter feed this morning, I was reminded of this previous post.

Let me begin by stating what I consider the role of flacks and the role of hacks.

The role of flacks is to present our client’s message to the public in a way that is compelling, relevant, and persuasive. That means we must do our best to identify the columnists, reporters, bloggers, and all other influencers relevant to our client’s business. We must do our best to understand the preferences and idiosyncrasies of these influencers. Do they prefer email, web form, or are they one of those rare individuals who actually prefer phone pitches (yes, there are some). It is our obligation to build as many relationships as we can with these influencers. That is what our clients pay us for.

It is the role of the hack to provide interesting, compelling and relevant information to their readers. It is their prerogative to determine what constitutes relevant, how they wish to receive that information and who they wish to receive it form. Flacks have no choice but to respect that. We are the least important player in all of this.

As Brian Morrissey observes, “pretty tired of vendors who think i'm here to advertise their 'new solutions' under the guise of news.”

Hacks have the obligation to put their readers first. Readers don’t care about a hack’s relationship with their sources. Where the information came from has no relevance, save that it is true and relevant. Even if the press release is clearly self serving and comes from a flack who is a complete stranger; it may still be worth a glance. Remember, the reader doesn’t care about your relationship with your sources.

BusinessWire is listed as a top sources on TechMeme’s Leaderboard. Clearly many readers are interested in what flacks have to say. In a world of Google news alerts there is no distinction between a news organization and an online press release. According to an Outsell study, over 51% of IT professionals reported that they get their news from press release. If our writing were so boring and irrelevant, we would not have so many readers.

I write this not merely out of self-interest to encourage hacks to read Presto Vivace press releases. The reason I write this is because I think the great blunders of contemporary journalism stem at least in part, because of journalists who put relationships before readers. (I wish to specifically exclude Brazell from this; but feel that this is such a slippery slope that I must speak out.)

If the only sources you are willing to use are those who took the trouble to build a relationship with you, then the only news you are going to hear is from corporations and other organizations that can support the cost of building those relationships and you will only hear their point of view. That attitude has not been good for journalism or our country. Indeed it can be deadly. Readers are best served by hacks who remain open to all sources and are willing to bear the burden of separating the wheat from the chaff.

Welcome back Kim Hart

The Sounding Board interviews Kim Hart on the occasion of the return of The Download.

Since The Download will be returning, can you tell us what you find most interesting about the local tech scene currently and what you see for DC tech in the next few years?
I think it will be interesting to see how the start-up community continues to evolve and how young firms will ride out the current economic situation. There's also a whole new generation of serial entrepreneurs, investors and networking gurus that I hope to get to know. I will also be paying attention to trends in government IT contracting as security and privacy standards tighten and new Web technologies become more widely available. What do I see for the DC tech community in the next few years? That's what I'll be trying to find out along the way.

That is very encouraging, the Potomac area has a unique role in the creation of standards affecting privacy and security. From my interview with Ann McDaniel:

ALICE MARSHALL: Software standards have a huge impact on the interoperability of systems. Whether you are a CIO trying to cope with a merger or a law enforcement agency trying to track suspected terrorists, interoperable systems are critical to information exchange. The Potomac area is a leader in the standards process. Many of the standards groups, the Federal XML Work Group, AIIM, Global Justice XML, etc., are located here, yet there is almost no coverage of this process. Is there any discussion about how to present this to the general public?

ANN L. MCDANIEL: Those decisions are up to the individual editors.

Glad to see that the individual editors are coming round.

Why journalism matters: John Walcott

Walcott wins journalism medal for Iraq coverage

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - McClatchy's Washington bureau chief has won the Nieman Foundation's first I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence for pre-Iraq war coverage.

Congratulations to Walcott for a richly deserved award and the Nieman Foundation for making so excellent a choice.