We are in the business of storytelling, but not just on behalf of our clients. We’re interested observers in the fast-changing worlds of PR, media, branding, business and entertainment. We don’t just watch, read and listen, we create content, offering an insider’s take into the how, why and when of the communications business – including challenges, triumphs and fiascos.
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In 30 years of working in and around the media business, I don’t remember seeing anything like the seismic moves we saw in recent months with government and political journalists in Michigan. It was a reshuffling of editors and reporters that affected, at last count, seven news organizations, as movement between them led to a … Continued
I’ll admit that when I started in the PR business, after working in broadcast news, I wasn’t totally sure what “talking points” were. That seems unimaginable now. The term wasn’t at all mainstream in the ’90s. I don’t think I ever heard it in a newsroom or read it published anywhere. I quickly learned that, … Continued
Business and politics don’t mix, you say? How quaint. And how naive. Yes, we’re seeing much more commentary, especially from major employers, when it comes to political and social issues now that this iceberg is visible above the water’s surface. But big and small business have long, probably always, had a voice in political issues. … Continued
Once upon a time, maybe 15 or so years ago, the word “transparency” was part of a laudable communications message. It told audiences that you weren’t going to hide from the truth. It was a signal that you would put information, even uncomfortable facts, forward. It was a word that communicated you were going to … Continued
On Election Night, while setting up a press conference at Detroit’s TCF Center, where a record number of absentee ballots were being counted, I couldn’t help flashing back 26 years. As a TV news writer/producer in Atlanta, I arrived for my 1994 Election Night shift to find I wasn’t writing a lead election story, as … Continued
It has been 20 years since NBC’s Tim Russert created a memorable moment on Election Night. Trying to help his audience make sense of electoral college math, he used a white board and markers, along with the visual and personality power of the television medium, to emphasize the “need to know” points. It made for … Continued