The NCAA has released its 2008 Blogging Policy, putting specific limits on the permissible frequency of blogging for various sporting events. For example, credentialed journalists who are bloggers have the following limits imposed by the policy:

• Soccer: Five times per half; one at halftime
• Field Hockey: Five times per half; one at halftime
• Volleyball: Three per Competition; one in between Competitions
• Football: Three per quarter; one at halftime

The policy includes all NCAA sports, and applies to both men’s and women’s competitions. It goes on to warn:

“All media entities observing NCAA championship competition should recognize that any still picture, motion picture, audio, film/videotape/digital capture or drawing (collectively, Representations) may be used only in connection with news/sports coverage within a 72-hour period following the Competition for which credential has been issued (“Competition”) and the Representations portion of each such showing will not exceed three (3) minutes in length; All Internet media entities and new media entities (e.g., companies providing content for mobile and PDAs) observing NCAA championship competition recognize that Representations may be used only in connection with news/sports coverage within a 24-hour period following the Competition , and the Representations portion of each showing will not exceed three (3) minutes in length.”

bloggers, blogging, Blogs and Blogging, Ethics, limits, ncaa, policy, sporting event, sports

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Slashdot reports this morning that “a New Jersey blogger, identified only as ‘datruthsquad,’ is fighting for his right to blog anonymously and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has asked a Superior Court judge in New Jersey to preserve the blogger’s free speech rights as he faces legal threats from local government officials.” The blogger was highly critical of the New Jersey Township of Manalapan’s purchase of polluted land in 2005. “Attorneys for the Township issued a subpoena to Google demanding that the identity of this anonymous critic be turned over, along with datruthsquad’s contact information, blog drafts, e-mails, and ‘any and all information related to the blog’.”

While the First Amendment did not anticipate blogging, it certainly was drafted by people who understood the need for anonymous free speech. Benjamin Franklin and many other colonials wrote anonymously when they sought to uncover corruption and government malfeasance. Public criticism of political figures is not a crime, regardless of whether the source is identified.

1st amendment, bejamin franklin, Blogs and Blogging, Communications Law, datruthsquad, Electronic Freedom Foundation, Ethics, first amendment

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A lot of Twitter chatter this a.m. about Save Manessa, a fascinating and disturbing blog-based effort by friends and family to find a missing, troubled teenage girl, Manessa Donovan, who disappeared from her home in Florida, apparently to be with an online “friend,” who is also allegedly a sexual predator and pornographer.

This is an interesting story on several levels. Manessa’s story is played out, sadly, tens of thousands a time annually across the country - a troubled teenager who could not find what she needed at home and became prey to someone online who pretended to understand her and care about her to gain her confidence and lure her away from home.

There are lots of great organizations online devoted to helping find missing children, like The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. But if social media can speed things up, connecting more people to the story and enlisting their help in finding Manessa, or at the very least, giving family and friends the feeling that they are doing something positive in a a difficult and frustrating situation, then why not create a blog, Twitter about it, ask friends to contact her through her MySpace page in case she is checking it?

Which brings me to the title of the post. I am sure I am going to be thought callous for writing this, but my first reaction to this story was “oh my God, that’s awful, I hope they find her and that she’s OK,” and my second reaction was, I’m sorry, “are we being duped?”

I hope not. The problem for me is that I have read one story after another about tainted social media. I won’t go into the list of usual suspects, you probably know them, but suffice it to say that the history of the blogosphere is replete with stories of deception. Arguably, these stories receive more attention than the authentic ones, which is a shame.

So I’ve decided I have to approach these things as if they’re for real, and not worry that I’ll lose face later when something turns out to be a hoax. Because what do I become if I let cynicism and my need to not be seen as naive replace my natural instinct to help others?

And I wish the Donovans the best. I would not know what to do if this happened to my daughter, and I hope Manessa is found soon, unharmed.

Blogs and Blogging, Ethics, manessa donovan, save manessa, Social Media

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As the nation’s A-List bloggers, Chris Anderson in particular, wage a war of shock and awe on clueless PR people, tribal skirmishes and insurgent attacks are flaring up in some regions, leaving doubt as to whether peace will ever be restored to the region, bringing an end to this senseless war.

Silicon Alley Insider discloses an ugly conversation between Steve Blinn of Blinn PR, and Adam Handelsman and Ronn Torossian of 5WPR. According to Torossian, Blinn sent emails, including some to clients of other agencies, “bragging” that his company was not on Anderson’s blacklist.

If the e-mail trail is to be believed (and I am incredulous, but perhaps only because I am a babe in the woods) Handelsman responded by offering a bounty to 5WPR staff for stealing Blinn’s clients. Blinn later responded by suggesting that since “Ronn and his management staff obviously don’t have the PR skills or knowledge to teach the staff there how to intelligently pitch reporters,” he could drop by 5WPR’s offices and conduct a seminar.

I realize the Silicon Alley post is a few days old, but this is the first I learned of it (via the New York Times article on this topic), and I was so flabbergasted (my first use of this word on a blog ever), I had to comment.

I will admit that I sent internal emails to staff congratulating them on NOT being on either Anderson’s list, or the shorter list published by Marshall Kirkpatrick. I did this as a rhetorical device to say “looks like you guys are doing something right!” I’ll be sure to remind them not to send these to clients or prospects, but I think they know better.

5wpr, Adam Handelsman, blinn pr, Blogs and Blogging, Blunders, chris anderson, Communications, Ethics, flame war, marshall kirkpatrick, Public Relations, Reputation Management, Ronn Torossian, silicon alley insider, steve blinn

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This week has seen a flurry of posts on bad PR pitches made to bloggers, and what should be done about it. Inspired by a comment from Eric Eggertson that the answer for PR people might be to “shrug it off, or get some t-shirts made up in the manner of ‘I was flamed by (name of blogger) and survived’, and move on,” I decided to make a generic t-shirt for this purpose.

You can purchase these from CafePress. All profits will be donated to the PRSA, earmarked for educational programs.

a list blogger, bad pr pitches, Blogs and Blogging, Blunders, chris anderson, Communications, flame, Public Relations, Social Media

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In Marshall Kirkpatrick’s recent post, 5 PR Pitches: The Good and Bad, he takes a handful (five, predictably) of PR folks, by name and agency name, to task for incorrectly pitching him on behalf of clients. Despite the premise of the post, some (not all, to be certain) of these examples more accurately offer advice on how not to pitch Marshall Kirkpatrick — advice which is worth listening to but which may not apply to all bloggers.

There are definitely meta-lessons, however, to be learned here:

1. When pitching bloggers, there is no correct way for all bloggers. There is a correct way for each blogger. Bloggers are just like everyone else. Some of the pitches Kirkpatrick mentions aren’t too bad, if they were sent to the right blogger under the right circumstances. Apparently, they were not.
2. It’s called media relations, or blogger relations, for a reason. It only works when there are trusted relationships. Don’t pretend to have a relationship with someone when you don’t. You need to actually have one, and maintain it, and apply the rules of relationships. (Be honest, respond on a timely basis, give the other person communications with value, don’t manipulate, or if you have to, admit to it.) Mentos may be the freshmaker, but Facebook and LinkedIn are not the relationship makers. To get to know a blogger, read his or her blog thoroughly and often, comment on the blog/link to the blog, go to industry events, look at the companies the blogger DOES cover, and how, take the blogger out for drinks. Do the homework.
3. Don’t think your Facebook messages to individuals are private correspondence, even when it says “Between You and [Person’s Name]” above your message.

Lastly, I draw a quote from an internal email I sent to the agency in response to this post. “Congratulations to all Eastwick staffers for Eastwick not being featured in Marshall’s post.”

bad pitches, blogger relations, Blogs and Blogging, Ethics, marshall kirkpatrick, media relations, pitching bloggers, Public Relations

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Infinite regression. It’s the technical name for the visual phenomenon that occurs when, for example, you point a video camera at people looking into a monitor and feed that signal back into the monitor. Theoretically, the image will regress infinitely, that is, reproduce itself smaller and smaller, until the resolution limit of the monitor is reached.

Infinite regression is also the name for what’s going on in the blogosphere. A number of well known bloggers have abandoned all pretense of writing interesting, relevant editorial and commentary, choosing instead to pursue blogosphere gold, link juice, Silicon Valley Tea. (I made the last one up trying for a Beverly Hillbillies effect here.)

In a fascinating story of blogosphere avarice and greed, Brian Solis tells the sordid tale of the Web 3.0 incident. As I understand it, and I really don’t fully, here’s what happened. Jason Calcanis wrote a supposedly brilliant “official definition” of Web 3.0. Calcanis later admitted that he was linkbaiting (trying to generate large numbers of links back to his blog to improve its authority.) Calcanis even prodded Techmeme for its role in the scam, saying “I’d also like to thank TechMeme for being the easiest linkbaiting tool in the history of Web 2.0 (can it really be this easy?).”

Next, Dave Winer declared Techmeme a cesspool. Michael Arrington followed up by accusing Dave Winer of spamming Techmeme. It doesn’t end there, but I suggest only masochists read Solis’ entire post as the story reaches full regression (or perhaps it does so with my post). The whole thing is tawdry, and like most things tawdry, boring. The obsession with traffic and links will make some people rich, and will ultimately lead to the erosion of confidence in, and eventual descendency of, today’s blog headliners if they can’t move beyond this crap. Manipulate me once . . .

Outside of the blogosphere, celebrities become celebrities because they are attractive, talented, funny, or controversial. For star bloggers, celebrity, once based on intellect and insight, is now derived from PHP, JavaScript, HTML, Technorati, and Google Analytics. God help us if those things ever have any real currency outside of our twisted little world. (Get it? Currency? As Grandmaster Flash so aptly put it, “it’s all about money ain’t a damn thing funny, you’ve got to have a con in this land of milk and honey.”)

Beverly Hillbillies, blogosphere gold, Blogs and Blogging, Communications, dave winer, Ethics, infinite regression, jason calacanis, link juice, michael arrington, silicon valley tea

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Six Apart, creators of TypePad, have introduced customized versions for the iPhone and new iPod Touch. I don’t have an iPhone, so I haven’t tried to use one for blogging. My biggest concern would be the “keyboard.” I am in the market for a more portable blogging platform. My Blackberry doesn’t cut it, and my Razr isn’t even much of a phone.

read more

Blogs and Blogging, iphone, ipod touch, six apart, TypePad

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Subhead: Company to Change Name to “Whole Cloth”

The Street.com* reports: SEC to Look at Whole Foods CEO’s Internet Activity
“Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey posted myriad company-boosting entries on Yahoo! Finance message boards under an assumed name during a period of eight years. The Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly begun an informal inquiry into the Internet message board postings of Whole Foods Market.

The online version of The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday that regulators will likely examine whether Web comments by Mackey during an eight-year stint of posting company-cheering entries under a pseudonym had contradicted official Whole Foods statements.

The SEC also will likely look at whether Mackey selectively disclosed material corporate information in violation of securities laws, the Journal said.

In a Whole Foods blog post following the disclosure by the Federal Trade Commission of Mackey’s Web writings, the CEO said he never revealed any ‘proprietary’ information about the company.”
The latest post on Mackey’s blog is a response to the FTC’s reaction to Whole Foods’ merger with Wild Oats in which he lays out the government conspiracy and decries what he feels are unmerited attacks on Whole Foods. My favorite line, coming from someone who has been caught lying, is that among those who are sending supportive emails and letters are thoose “People who are thrilled to find an open, honest, candid communication by a company’s CEO instead of the usual legal/PR sterilized sound bites that they usually see.”

Wow. What an idiot.

* The original report was in the Wall Street Journal but I do not like linking to articles that are, or may become, subscription only. A version of this post also appears on my personal blog, Techneuroti.

Blogs and Blogging, Blunders, CEO, Communications, Ethics, Executive Communications, Executive Reputation, John Mackey, SEC, Social Media, Whole Foods

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Earlier this year, Eric Jackson, investor activist and blogger, played a major role in fomenting a shareholder revolt that led to the resignation of former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel. Now Jackson is at again as he calls for the resignation of Motorola CEO Ed Zander after Motorola issued a warning that it would report a second-quarter loss, and lowered sales forecasts. According to Forbes:

“On Monday, Jackson posted a YouTube video message on his blog Breakout Performance to his fellow Motorola shareholders with a five-point plan on turning the company around. Replacing Zander was at the top of his list.”

Clearly, the game is changing (as one comment on YouTube notes) when shareholder revolts are carried out, and apparently with great effectiveness, through blogs and YouTube video. Apparently social media has grown up and corporate America needs to understand what it’s all about and put in place blog and video strategies of their own, particularly in executive communications.

Motorola will report earnings July 19, so quiet period regulations most likely bar Zander from recording a video in response to Jackson, at least for the next seven days. It may be too late for Zander, I don’t know, and truthfully, the man shouldn’t be judged on whether he records a video, but on his performance as CEO and whether he’s fulfilled his obligations to shareholders. Arguably, though, Zander can either respond, which might serve to validate Jackson’s clout with investors, or remain mute, possibly telegraphing that he doesn’t have a strong response to the charges.

* Note: this post also appears on my other blog, Techneuroti

Blogs and Blogging, breakout performance, Business Communications, CEO, earnings, ed zander, Eric Jackson, Executive Communications, motorola, Reputation Management, shareholder revolt, Social Media, Yahoo Terry Semel, youtube video

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