On the Fence (and Other PR Blog Jots)

On the Fence
Murphy’s Law
While aghast at reading a student’s thesis indicating that many in PR and business still don’t see the value in blogs and other online sources, Tom Murphy does note that while he enthuses over social media, it is not necessarily the most important tool in the shed. It’s a post after CustomScoop’s own Jen Zingsheim’s heart, as she frequently opines that people can sometimes get too worked up on social media, and ignore the basics. “I have multiple blogs, dip my toe into Twitter, social networking etc., but I also recognise that the best form of communication is face-to-face, that the traditional media remains a vibrant and welcome part of our media landscape and that while changes are taking place, nothing is dying (bar the fax probably and look how long that’s taken).”

Pitching Pulver
Jeff Pulver Blog
Pitching bloggers is always a dicey undertaking for those new to conducting social media outreach programs. Pitching a blogger like Jeff Pulver adds another layer of difficulty–he is extremely well-known, travels frequently, what’s the best approach? No worries, he’ll tell you. “The next time you decide to solicit a blogger with the pitch of a client, imagine we are both meeting at a cocktail party. Imagine I don’t know you and we are meeting for the first time. What is the first thing you would say to me? I don’t think it would be the same words that you would have otherwise used when doing your “pray and spray” email solicitations about your client’s shiny new product or service. No, I think you would first introduce yourself and look for something in common between us. And then only if you were feeling comfortable would you try to pitch me on behalf of your client.”

Sleight of Missile
Dave Fleet
While I roll my eyes in disgust at the frequent atrocities to the human female form via Photoshop and women’s magazines (something my favorite girly blog calls “Photoshop of Horrors”), I never figured that foreign military regimes would get in on the action. Dave Fleet reports that it seems Iran (or someone) has juiced up a photo of missile testing. They’ve swapped bigger chests and tinier waists for extra missiles. (Make your own gender stereotyping joke here.) He notes that several news outlets published the doctored photo and were forced to print retractions. “This isn’t the first time news organizations have fallen for altered photographs – in 2006 Reuters apologized after publishing images of war-torn Lebanon that proved to have been edited, and in 2007 the LA Times published allegedly altered photos of US-manufactured weapons found in Iran. Who says it’s only bloggers that get things wrong?”