Category: Uncategorized

TIPTOE THROUGH THE TULIPS. Lots of clever people seek to pull the wool over our eyes with slippery arguments. Knowing some of the card tricks can be invaluable, because in naming the sleight of hand you see it more clearly. And remember, many of the mistruths out there have been crafted by experts with substantial backing to get the messaging right. Here are a few tricks. View in LinkedIn

PROPAGANDA. "In public relations, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure." https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Spin_(public_relations).html View in LinkedIn

THALIDOMIDE DENIALS. "The dark shadow of thalidomide is still with us. The original catastrophe maimed 20,000 babies and killed 80,000: it remains the greatest manmade global disaster ... the pharmaceutical outrage – it is nothing less – was compounded by a judicial scandal that has suppurated all these years." And still on sale. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/14/-sp-thalidomide-pill-how-evaded-justice View in LinkedIn

SPIN is sometimes called public relations or more sharply, propaganda. We live in an age where this has become normative. "Edward Bernays has been called the "Father of Spin". Bernays was able to help tobacco and alcohol companies use techniques to make certain behaviors more socially acceptable in the 20th-century United States." http://lnkd.in/dwZnA2S) View in LinkedIn

FRAUD ALERT. Beware of offers of investment, money, urgent deals, and confidential findings of relative's inheritances. I get at least three a week, and they are all "419" scams. View in LinkedIn

SLIPPERY SLOPE UPWARDS. "In the 1970s and 1980s, it was advertising and marketing types who had the ear of the boss. In the 1990s, it was the strategists' turn, while in the noughties it was HR people leading the war for talent who were in favour. Now the comms chief is the individual that the CEO and chairman require to be right behind them." http://lnkd.in/d_VsWte View in LinkedIn

RISE OF PR LEADERS. "PR people are starting to make it to the top of businesses. John Fallon, ex-corporate affairs chief at publisher Pearson, will become its CEO next year. At ... GlaxoSmithKline, Duncan Learmouth, ex-head of global communications ... And our prime minister was once head of comms for Carlton Television." (Tiny Blaire). http://lnkd.in/d_VsWte View in LinkedIn

RISE OF SPIN, DEMISE OF JOURNALISM. "There are now four PRs for every journalist working in the global media industry. These 'public relations executives' enjoy more influence than ever before ... Flacks, goes the cliche, spend their days chatting up hacks and burying bad news." http://lnkd.in/d_VsWte View in LinkedIn

PR LANDSCAOE. "With 2200 public relations flacks in over 30 countries, Burson-Marsteler is the world's largest public relations firm. They represent big-name corporations (Philip Morris, AT & T, NBC), foreign nations (the governments of Indonesia, El Salvador, Kenya) and heavy-duty non-governmental organizations (the World Bank, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the American Petroleum Institute)."" "ttp://http://lnkd.in/drkjSke View in LinkedIn

OVER HALF YOUR NEWS IS SPIN. "Crikey found that nearly 55% of stories analysed were driven by some form of public relations." http://lnkd.in/dmdr9Qx View in LinkedIn