- Should companies bet on social media marketing?
- Google auto-complete reputation woes!
- Appco Group Services
- Reputation management for Hotels – ‘Home away from Home’
- Reputation Management Online Through Right Response!
- Kingfisher Airlines gullibility banking on SBI
- Pfizer pill recall – botched up reputation in wrong pack
- Twitter to lose its reputation as a free speech platform?
- IIPM worried about Google Suggest, why is it so?
- Reputation Management Tip for 2012: Brands need to tap into social media search!
Journalists and Reporters
Anatomy of a modern-day political PR campaign in India
September 2, 2011 | 
Author The Anna Hazare fast, now that’s its over, was a nifty PR campaign and a great political one at that. While the 74-year-old Anna with his 12-day fast resembling the many fasts that Gandhi made for the country before and after independence has become an icon; ‘Team Anna’ walked away with PR success. Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and other popular people like actors Anupam Kher, Om Puri and Aamir Khan all made up the PR machine behind the scenes for Team Anna. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Journalists and Reporters, National Reputation, politicians, Politicians reputation, PR / Public Relations, Press & Journalism, Reputation News, Social Network Sites | 
Tags: Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, India, India Against corruption, Kiran Bedi, Political campaign, PR / Public Relations, Ramlila Maidan | 
No Comments »
Mediagate, scams, ethics- New India intolerant of corruption
The Mediagate as its being called in India, the tapes, has brought out a serious deficit in ethics in the country.
On the one side you have a corporate lobbyist Niira Radia dictating what is to be conveyed to politicians as the government was being formed to journalists via phone conversations; and on the other hand serious journalists blurring ethical lines and milking corporate sources by playing along, seeming to be a go-between the politicians and the money bags.
The questions that come up here… Read the rest of this entry »
Indian Media Transgress Journalistic Bounds
The credibility of Indian media is at an all time low with the recently released audio tapes involving a major corporate house lobbyist Niira Radia and reputed journalists Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi. This episode shows how corruption in the Indian media undermines democracy.
Barkha Dutt is heard saying, “So now what, what should I tell them. Tell me what should I tell them?” and on the other tape Vir Sanghvi, the columnist asks, “What kind of story you want?”
Terms like ‘unethical” and “biased journalism” will be understatements Read the rest of this entry »
Tommy & Gail Sheridan Begin Perjury Trial
Wouldn’t it be great if the judge were to commence proceedings with “You’re under my perjurisdiction now, Tommy”? Ok, so it’s unlikely to have happened, but Tommy Sheridan is in for his toughest test yet as he’s hauled back in to court… for lying in court.
He’s clearly not the first person to have faced a bit of bad press, and he’ll certainly not be the last, but in 2006 when Mr Sheridan was reported in the News of the World to be having extramarital flings – he decided that the best way of handling the situation was to cause a big scene and take the media giants to court. Of course, whether he did or didn’t lie is now down to a jury to decide over the next 10 weeks the case is expected to last.
In his defamation case in 2006, Tommy Sheridan won £200,000 in damages after claiming that The News of the World had fabricated stories that detailed an alleged visit to a swingers club in Manchester and engaged in extramarital affairs with two women. Other accusations levied against the former MSP included excessive alcohol and substance abuse; both claims denied on the basis he was a “teetotaller”. In a case he decided to represent himself (after sacking his legal team in June of that year), the jury returned a majority vote of 7-4 in Sheridan’s favour. It didn’t take long for News International (the other side of Sheridan vs.) to launch an appeal on claims that false testimonies had been given and the sheer volume of witnesses attesting to Sheridan’s admission of guilt.
The whole saga has been going on for four years now, and Sheridan has been making no effort to shy away from the limelight and has declared his innocence in interviews, taken on his own radio talk show and even made an appearance in Celebrity Big Brother. The latter of which was because apparently he “needed the money”. Yeah those lawyers don’t tend to pay for themselves, Tommy! But to be honest, most of this could have been avoided.
When you fall victim to negative press – whether it’s deserved or not – there are ways to go about handling the situation. And whether you’re guilty or not, drawing attention to negative press is not the way to go about it. Your reputation is always going to have aspersions cast against it when accusations are made, whether they’re false or not. There will always be doubt thereafter, irrespective of an innocent or guilty verdict. Tommy and wife Gail could have managed their reputation a lot better by keeping press interest to a minimum. Newspaper stories go away if left alone, and there are ways of dealing with stories online via online reputation management, but at this stage it’s a little late for Mr & Mrs Sheridan.
Helen Thomas’s Jewish Slight.
89 year old Helen Thomas “was” the doyen of White House correspondents after reporting on every president since Eisenhower. No longer after she allowed her Lebanese ancestry to get the better of her and she criticised Jews in Israel. Now critics from every political persuasion are lining up to call for her resignation; cast her out.
Helen Thomas’ mistake, if that is the right way to term it, was to conflate judaism with Israel and thereby seemingly criticise jewishness when she may have intended Israel. Indeed criticism of Israel is so frequently viewed as anti-semiticism that few in the USA have the nerve to try it. Those that do, such as Noam Chomsky are fearless in their logic and rarely attack Israel from an emotional perspective as Helen Thomas did.
Helen Thomas has Lebanese ancestors and few in Europe would be surprised that she felt such strong feelings about Israel. Many palestinians and Lebanese feel that they are victims of a pogrom all of their own and feel a burning resentment at their treatment at the hands of the Israeli State.
What should Helen Thomas do now? Step back or restate? I sense that if she steps back she will lose her reputation forever so she might be wiser to take the courageous line and restate and clarify her position concerning Israel and judaism. In managing reputation you always have two choices: the quick and easy or the long and hard. Which she will choose remains to be seen.
Posted in Journalists and Reporters, Personal Reputation | Tags: Antisemitism, Asia, Helen Thomas, Israel, Levant, Middle East, Politics, Religion/Belief, Religious persecution, Republics, Western Asia, Zionism | 8 Comments »
Tiger Woods Press conference & apology – Brand Tiger still deeply wounded!
Tiger Woods apology and press conference yesterday went off without a glitch except for a couple of nervous stops in the beginning. He tried to talk about everything a reporter would have wanted to question him. His mom was present and his wife’s family, he even thanked Accenture, and the golfing community for understanding the timing of his apology.
The read out speech asking for atonement, telling the Paparazzi to stay away from his family and saying he was sorry thrice was all very well.
In celebrity reputation management terms, Tiger did all that he needed to do, touching upon spirituality and Buddhism and his therapy and the millions of kids who idolized him – he said it all!
But I wasn’t moved, there were tears and he touched on all aspects, yet watching it one was left with questions of how it seemed only rehearsed.
- This is a man who was an expert in leading a double life and perpetuating a holier-than-thou persona off the golf course.
- The Tiger brand thrived on his presumed golden image – the star with no faults – a star like no other.
The extent of the damage on the Tiger Woods brand to me seemed more evident yesterday in the public apology. Again we are not talking about the golfer Tiger Woods but the brand which projected him as the ideal on and off the field.
Tiger is definitely not out of the woods yet, with his problems or image, the public still feel cheated and only time and a phenomenal comeback in the game can really solve this.
Conclusion: For now this ‘mea culpa’ can be only termed as the tiniest step in rebuilding his brand. The golfing circuits need the Tiger brand back and up; after all he is the one who brings in the crowds!
Posted in Celebrity Reputation, Journalists and Reporters, Reputation Management, Reputation News | Tags: Apology, Brand, Golf, Press conference, Tiger Woods | 4 Comments »
Sarah Palin – Tea Party, President ambitions and more!
The White House seems defensive and even apologetic to a growing number of people in the US and they are growing in numbers. The Tea Party Convention is the most striking example of the culmination of anti Obama views. This is a very large group of people against the healthcare plan and the large amount of taxes they are being charged by the Obama government.
Quick to ride the Tea-Party wave is Sarah Palin, who with her appearance as a speaker at the convention, made it clear she has her sights set on the presidency. Palin has been clawing her way out of bad press, planning out her candidacy after resigning as governor. She has penned a book and is now a political commentator on FoxNews and the stage was set at the Tea Party Convention when she said…
“This is about the people, and it’s bigger than any king or queen of a Tea Party. And it’s a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter”
Palin took a dig at Obama at the tea party convention and has even gone on to say if its right for America she is ready to run for President in 2012.
“Now a year later, I got to ask the supporters of all that, how is that hope-y, change-y stuff working out for you”
Statements from Palin, quite like the ones used during election campaigns.
Bad press continues: The speaker’s fee of $100,000 paid to Sarah Palin has been in the news and Palin has claimed it does not go to her but to her party’s campaigning fund but this had been dogging her. Other news reports talk of how involved her husband Todd Palin has been in the Alaska governance.
Sarah Palin is simply great bad press material, sometimes ridicule and most importantly great NEWS! One thing’s for sure Palin is everywhere and there she will remain for a long time to come.
As for the Democrats, it will be unwise on their part to take her lightly, the US has elected movie stars like Regan to the White House and even the first mixed race President in Obama, so could a woman be far behind? ?
If Obama bungles up on the healthcare program and the national security issues and continue to remain on the defensive chances are Sarah Palin is right there to take his place.
For now even the Tea Party Convention don’t want her as their leader but in the times we are in, the Democrats better be wary even though Sarah Palin may seem like no Margaret Thatcher or Indira Gandhi!
The Sarah Palin brand chugs on and she as a politician is building up both her celebrity and her reputation.
Travelling Tharoor missed all the brouhaha!
Shashi Tharoor tweeted again and explained why he was quiet while the visa controversy was going on everywhere on TV and the WWW. His boss Minister of External Affairs, S M Krishna went on to say that such matters should not be discussed on a public forum like Twitter. Tharoor however tweeted so this morning…
Was travelling outof range& missed brouhaha.Now that EAM Krishnaji,whom I respect,has spoken,I hv nothing 2add.Will discuss visa issue w him.
But thanks for all the kind words over the last 24hrs. Appreciate the support!
Support he had from everywhere but the politicians of both the ruling Congress party and the opposition. Debates went on on all major news channels on Tharoor’s tweets. People were amused and felt he has every right to tweet what he feels like while his party were left explaining. The difference of opinion between the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) and the Home Ministry was discussed at length.
For the rest of the country it was a great day – a minister telling them things like it is. There’s hope for politicians in India after all, we may yet have a new breed of leaders who dare to be different.
Posted in Celebrity Reputation, Journalists and Reporters, Online PR, politicians, PR / Public Relations | Tags: MEA, politicians, Shashi Tharoor, twitter | 1 Comment »
Shashi Tharoor- badly in need of online reputation management!
Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs is no stranger to social networking and is the highest followed person in India on Twitter. Tharoor in fact popularised Twitter in India to a great extent with his now controversial Tweets and was even named “Twitteroor” for his political gaffes as far as his political party’s stances were concerned.
The minister is intellectual, tech-savvy and popular with the masses and has 537,478 followers on Twitter when this post was written. The problem with Tharoor is that his Tweets are a source of both admiration and political uproar at the same time. Even as he endears himself to the youngsters, the geriatric members of his often sycophantic Congress party look at him as an up-start of sorts.
That Tharoor was in the initial stages a close rival to the UN Secretary-General post of Ban Ki Moon and that he has numerous books to his name all accord him a celebrity status. What I like about him the most is his constant attempts at making his countrymen laugh at themselves. Here he is back in the news for tweeting against his own government’s tightening of tourist visas to India. This is what he tweeted -
Dilemma of our age: tough visa restrictions in hope of btr (better) security or openness & (and) liberality to encourage tourism & goodwill? I prefer latter.
When asked about the economy class of Air India he famously tweeted -
“absolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!”
The slang was lost on most people in India and when he added the holy cows all hell broke loose.
That he has huge plans for his country and is not afraid to speak his mind and even against his own government makes him stand apart. But then these days how the mighty fall ( Tiger Woods) and before you know it, courting controversy can finally catch up. The minister sure needs some expert reputation management for continuing his work well and to be in the good books of the old war horses in the Congress party.
Being a busy man he needs the services of an army of experts to help him with online reputation management and being a celebrity and a politician the need only magnifies manifold.
Reputation management – Is your good business getting a bad name
When you get a spam mail do not delete it and take sometime to read it (do not reply or react). If you notice the content of the mails are mostly promotional about all kinds of business. The majority of spam mails is to do with breast enlargement or about male enhancement. Do not be surprised to know that these mail as they claim comes from bigger companies than you own.
Now that’s a bait!
Some people ignorant of the fact what spam mail are suppose to be tend to reply them. What tempts them to respond is something interesting, well! It’s the big names like MSN, Amazon or Paypal attached to this email.
Now that’s what we call bait – you being skeptical shoot an email to that owner only to know it was spam. Unfortunately the damage is already done, you have authenticated and confirmed your email address, and now the spammer has all sources at his disposal to flood your Inbox.
What is the point.
Well give it a thought! If the spammer thinks that using reputed companies like MSN, Amazon or Paypal is perfectly fine, what makes you think that your business is safe. As we all know burglars are always on the lookout for huge cache, and they en route their plans using smaller companies because they know with smaller companies it is always a win-win situation. If this situation is not handled properly, imagine the kind of damage your business will inherit, you may even close your shop.
How to shield
Now urgency has pounced on you, there is nothing as important, but to shield your reputation before more people gives it a bad name. This not only results in loosing business even your identity too.
Smart move, you want somebody to take responsibility and guard your business and personal reputation.
Reputation managers will then try to capitalize on the already done damage until such time your reputation is secure. This is probably the best option and least you worry about the reputation of your business.
Send out a strong message and let no one think about using your company’s goodwill to fill their own coffers in future.
Posted in Bad Press, Company Reputation, Journalists and Reporters, Reputation Management, Reputation News, Reputation Online, SEO | Tags: Bad Press, business reputation, company reputation, negative reviews, reputation management blogs, reputation management news, Spam mail reputation | No Comments »