Illinois governor's media blitz orchestrated

Source: Associated Press, January 24, 2009
Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, who was impeached and faces a federal investigation into charges he tried to sell the former Senate seat of President Barack Obama, has hired a public relations firm. The Tampa, Florida-based Publicity Agency counts crisis management among its specialties. The firm's founder, Glenn Selig, said, "The governor has decided that he wants to speak and tell his side of the story, and he enlisted us to help." To that end, he booked Blagojevich on ABC's "The View" and "Good Morning America." Blagojevich won't be doing more morning shows, because "we don't want to overdo it," explained Selig. Blagojevich also got on CNN's "Larry King Live." Selig previously used "'search engine optimization' techniques to lessen the impact of negative Web news on his clients," according to the Tampa Bay business blog "Venture." The Publicity Agency's Twitter feed offers frequent updates on Blagojevich's media blitz, along with news about Drew Peterson, another client and a former Illinois police officer who's a suspect in the disappearance of his wife.

Billboard sell both patriotism,cigarettes in China

Thin Veil of "Patriotism" May Extinguish Chinese Cigarette Billboards
Topics: advertising international tobacco
Source: Shanghai Daily, January 19, 2009
Pedestrians pass by "Love our China" cigarette billboard (from Shenzhen Daily)Patriotic billboards around Shanghai, China carry the Chinese expression for "Love our China." The message, however, uses a variation for the word China, "Chungwa," which happens to be identical to the name of a best-selling cigarette brand made by the Shanghai Tobacco Group. The bright red billboards bear a picture of the historic Tianamen Gate at the entrance to the Forbidden City, but do not have any images of cigarettes. They do carry a warning, though, that says, "Smoking can damage your health," indicating that the boards refer to the cigarette brand as well as the country. Shanghai Tobacco claims that the "Love our China" billboards promote patriotism and thus are a public service campaign, but Chinese legislators argue that they are cigarette ads and should be banned. China signed onto the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a global World Health Organization treaty to regulate tobacco industry practices. Under the treaty, China committed to banning all types of tobacco promotion by 2011. While technically still legal, the Chinese government is cracking down on cigarette ads in advance of the 2010 World Expo to be held in Shangai, and so is considering banning the double-themed, "patriotic" cigarette ads.

President of France offers help to news media

Interesting concept: Give all 18-year-olds a free subscription to a newspaper.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMYtLJV_oGyGm7De9_uOKj0W2IKgD95SVKVO1

Companies offer online recruiting services

Online recruiting efforts are totally creepy--and unethical?: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3741803

Will 'eyebrow dance" sell chocolate?

Cadbury Chocolate creates a commercial to sell its chocolates. Very cute--but will you remember the product?
http://www.adgabber.com/video/techno-dancing-eyebrows-sell

Meet the new FCC guy

Obama selects Michael Copps to head FCC--an important job that will test media moguls and the like. http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/121956/

Blogger catches unethical "reviewing" of products

He's young but he still knows a scam when he sees one.http://www.technewsworld.com/story/65925.html

Toronto radio station hires hookers for PR stunt

Should prostitution be legal? A Toronto radio station wants to know--so hired prostitutes to hold promo signs. Tasteful or NOT?
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2009/01/20/ad-agency-hires-prostitutes-for-talk-radio-stunt.aspx#

Gov. Palin continues her anger toward press

The Associated Press reports: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jmnVpq0nGcPOacLhEz0w_sLrSBiQD95S0ES80

Whitehouse.gov gets a new look

Slate reports on the updated White House site:
http://www.slate.com/id/2209275/

Clear Channel cuts work force by 9 percent

More media cuts because board members (stockholders) not happy: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Clear-Channel-cuts-1850-jobs-apf-14109520.html

Be careful what your tweet on twitter

An ad exec sends a tweet on twitter about the city in which he just arrived. Not pretty, and the client he has come to visit is not happy either:
http://www.adrants.com/2009/01/on-twitter-ketchum-exec-trashes-memphis.php

Flash-bombing in Liverpool!

A T-mobile advertising strategy gets people involved: Makes you happy to be alive! Watch the video here:
http://www.adgabber.com/video/tmobile-flashmobs-liverpool

Pizza Pop ads turn ugly

Are these ads for Pillsbury Pizza Pops tasteful? Would you want to eat one? Four are shared here:
http://www.adrants.com/2009/01/aint-no-one-buyin-a-pizza-pop-after.php

Cindy McCain lashes out re: husband's coverage

Politico mentions her outrage: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17624.html

Identifying the suspect in St. Louis

Nate Taylor, former editor of The Mirror and Coloradoan news reporter, sent this along for our media ethics class.

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/a-conversation-about-race/general-news/2009/01/is-it-right-to-say-the-suspect-is-black-or-latino-or-white/

Oprah disappointed with Holocaust author, his lies

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2009-01-18-oprah-rosenblat_N.htm
The Holocaust survivor makes Oprah look bad, and, of course, she is mad and sad.

Journalists create ethics guidelines for using Facebook

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=67&aid=156905
Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute did a virtual workshop with journalists at the Roanoke, Va., newspaper, who created a list of guidelines for using Facebook as a reporting tool.

The Slammer: Journalism or not?

The Christian Science Monitor reports on a new kind of "reporting"--a tabloid that features only crime stories and mug shots.
http://features.csmonitor.com/backstory/2009/01/06/a-crime-paper-flourishes-by-printing-mug-shots/
Sorry: I can't find a home Web page for this publication!

Decpetive ads via Yahoo?

A Harvard professor does a study and finds questionable practices:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212900587&subSection=E-Business

Sports writer explains to readers how coverage works

After being called a sexist, a male sports writer in Oregon explains what's what in a personal column: http://www.orovillemr.com/sports/ci_11459137

More ads everywhere!

Now private cars can be hired for placement of ads. Help! http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Out_of_Home_19/Another_kind_of_mobile_ads_Car_wraps_ooh.asp

CNN's Anderson Cooper a hypocrite?

Anchor/news reporter Cooper refuses to answer personal questions in interview while he does the same thing in HIS interviews. The Huffington Post reports:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/14/anderson-cooper-cnn-tell_n_158023.html

FCC gets complaints re: Golden Globe broadcast

Obscene gestures and off-color comments: What's the FCC to do?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/01/breaking-fcc-in.html

Gannett makes staffers take one-week unpaid "vacations"

The New York Times sheds light on the issue
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/business/media/15paper.html?_r=4&hp

Angry Whopper at a store near U soon

AdRants shares this ad that has been airing in the UK and Germany since last spring:
http://www.adrants.com/2009/01/angry-whopper-bites-back.php
Via the campaign, you can also send angry messages. Good idea or not?

Active again

My blog is active again! My Media Ethics students and I will be discussing media behavior via this blog, so check in often!