When you hear the name Howard Stern, your mind should probably go one of two places: Anna Nicole Smith or pervert. Before I started dating my boyfriend, I thought Howard Stern was the nastiest, scummiest pervert on the planet. Although I am not completely convinced he is not disgusting, Thomas has introduced me to Stern’s talk show on Sirius radio. Yes, the show is outlandish and says the “f word” more times than I can count, but it is one of my new guilty pleasures (the other is watching all six seasons of Dawson’s Creek on DVD). We were listening to his show last night as we ran errands around town, and naturally Twitter came up for discussion on the show. 

Stern totally bashed Twitter, and really just social media in general. Some highlights of his commentary:

• it’s all a waste of time
• if you are over 15, you shouldn’t be on these networks
• people put everything on a blog like people give a fu**
• go get a job

 

This bothered me because I think Stern is only looking at one side of Twitter. He made the comment that he had no interest in knowing that Miley Cyrus was eating a hamburger, but Twitter is not just for keeping up with celebrities. Sure people use it for this purpose, including myself, but others use it for its actual purpose: social networking. You can keep up with high school classmates, old teachers, family members and anyone else who you do not have direct contact with using these social media sites. And just so you know, Howard Stern, the PR professionals who use Twitter for its real purpose do have jobs… high paying jobs. It just goes to show that people who don’t understand these social networking sites have nothing better to do than to criticize them. What I find truly funny is that Stern is now on Facebook and Twitter. He has over 7,000 Facebook followers and almost 12,000 Twitter followers. He has even been updating his Twitter daily in the past few weeks. For a guy who doesn’t understand the point of Twitter, he seems to be using it quite a bit.

Don’t knock it until you try it, Howard. Maybe you can actually get some good publicity for once.

Mississippi, you done good.

Finally. It has FINALLY happened. Mississippi has done something right. Yes, it may be the poorest state and it may be producing the most teenage mothers, but they have finally done it!

After seemingly living in the dark ages for forever, Mississippi has discovered social media, specifically Twitter. I haven’t felt this proud of my home state in a REALLY long time. I recently saw an article in Jackson’s newspaper, The Clarion Ledger, concerning the Mississippi Department of Transportation. After a devastating blow from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Mississippi has been searching for ways to get its residents “Hurricane Ready.” Their answer? Twitter!

According to The Clarion Ledger, MDOT has created several Twitter accounts for all of the main interstates used in hurricane evacuation routes. During hurricane season, these accounts will send tweets to all its followers about the quickest evacuation routes or if there are any major problems with any of the routes. An MDOT representative said they chose Twitter because it was a fast and free way to disseminate information to a large mass of people. MDOT plans to unveil their plan to the public through a news conference in May.

Of course, the next step is to get the people of Mississippi to join Twitter. Keep your fingers crossed because I think this could be the really tricky part.

Fashion Over Function

Last week, President Obama and his wife Michelle began their European extravaganza, travelling to countries such as England and France. One of their first stops was in England to have tea and “crimpets” with the Queen of England. Although the U.S. has just elected its first African American president, and it is in fire financial straits, the press was not focused on the politics of the week. The main focus of last week’s European trip was how the First Lady measured up in her fashion choices.

Are we so passed the excitement of politics that headlining news is if Michelle Obama covered her muscular arms? I am not sure if the problem is President Obama’s PR people or if it just the press’ obsession with celebrity gossip and fashion. I honestly heard more about how Michelle measured up against the French president’s wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy than what President Obama actually accomplished in France.

 

Fashion Face-Off: Who owns the "Red Carpet"?

 

I know that Jackie-O was famous for her fashion, and it was a huge part of her husband’s presidency. But I think it is a little ridiculous that our president is making his first big trek around the globe in his new position, and the press care more about what his wife is wearing. 

On the other hand, it is good PR for the president and his wife if she continues to satisfy the press with her fashion choices. The problem with appeasing the press, however, is that one wrong dress or outfit could mean weeks of bad PR for the First Family. For some reason, the press have begun to use Mrs. Obama’s fashion choices as a measure of how the First Family will succeed in the White House. The dress she wore when Obama gave his election victory speech generated a few weeks of negative press for the family, as the press wondered if she would continue to make bad fashion choices.

Thankfully for the Obamas, the First Lady continues to dress perfectly in J. Crew sweaters and designer dresses. For the president’s sake, let us hope that she does not make another fashion faux pas. One wrong dress could mean the start of World War III and an even bigger economic recession.

“Here’s your one chance, NANCY don’t let me down…”

Nancy Pelosi.

The very sound of her name sends chills, shockwaves, and waves of nausea across many Americans. Probably one of the most outspoken women of our time, Pelosi is the current Speaker of the House. She is most well known for speaking her mind and her liberal beliefs. Did I mention she’s outspoken?

I don’t necessarily have a problem with Pelosi, but then again, I haven’t kept a thorough track record of her speeches, decisions, etc. But upon browsing CNN.com, I found a blog/article entitled “Pelosi gets angry at ‘heated’ meeting.” The blog discusses how Pelosi reacted with anger at a meeting with Senators Harry Reid and Dick Durbin regarding the stimulus bill. The actual blog proved to be of little interest to me; what I found most interesting were the comments CNN users posted under the blog.

Perhaps some of the most memorable comments were:

“It seems Pelosi is the president and Obama is still running for election.”

“President Obama control Pelosi she is going to ruin it for you and this woman has bad temper and her days ought to be numbered now.”

The general consensus of most of the comments dealt with the fact that many Americans believe Pelosi will ruin Obama’s presidency, due to her outspoken nature. It just makes it even more clear to me that we always have to be mindful of the crowd that we “run with” every day. Nancy Pelosi could ruin his presidency due to the fact that some people just flat out hate that woman, even if they’re not sure of the  reason behind their hatred. We have to be careful who we associate ourselves with because it could come back to harm us in the end. We look at people like Vanessa Williams and Bill Clinton who have both had past situations come back to haunt them, and we have to remember that our past and present can do damage to our reputations. If Pelosi continues to be outspoken during Obama’s presidency, his reputation as a great leader could be tarnished. So, in an effort to help President Obama, I think I have found a theme song for him to sing to Speaker Pelosi (courtesy of Reba McEntire):

“Here’s your one chance, Nancy don’t let me down…”

You are who you represent

PR firms are pretty much a staple for any and all celebrities. From Michael Vick to Mel Gibson, celebrities eventually say or do something that needs to be cleaned up by a public relations professional.

Nadya Suleman, the infamous mother of 14 children including octuplets, hired The Killeen Furtney Group, a PR firm based out of Los Angeles. The firm sent a representative to Good Morning America and handled all of the mother’s publicity and privacy. Unfortunately, the firm stepped down from its duties after they received death threats from people and groups that disagreed with the mother’s in vitro fertilization practices. I mean, I get it; I understand some people do not agree with the fact that she VOLUNTARILY had 14 kids without any support system or income. I personally believe she is borderline insane and needs serious medical attention, or at least she will when those octuplets all come home. But death threats? To her PR firm? That is taking things to an entirely new level.

We don’t normally think of a PR firm being a dangerous place to work, but situations like this prove that no job is really safe. This is something we should take into consideration as we head out into the corporate world. Many of us will go into jobs with PR firms, and we must really look at who we are choosing to represent. For instance, Chris Brown hired the PR firm Sitrick and Company to deal with the Rihanna situation. I’m not sure that I could agree to represent the R & B singer because I am so personally against his actions and what they represent in society. I am sure Chris Brown is a nice person and just made a mistake as a human being; however, I don’t know if I could compromise my principles to make a little extra money. Well, more than a little.

I know that I am a fresh-faced college kid who can still see all the goodness in the world and hope to make a difference and change our corrupt society and blah blah blah. But, I do think we as a generation of PR professionals need to really think about who we are representing and why we want to represent them. Sure, it would be great to have a summer home in the Hamptons paid for by Chris Brown’s service fees, but my principles are still worth more than that.

Oh, Al Sharpton…

While I’ve never been a huge fan of Al Sharpton, I think he has been right on target this week. I was reading an article on CNN today about the Post cartoon that is causing a huge stir, especially among people like Rev. Sharpton, as a racist jab at President Obama.

As you can see from the cartoon, the police are shooting a monkey for apparently writing a bad stimulus bill. The Post says the cartoon is supposed to be a reference to the woman who was mauled by her pet chimp (a whole other story that I could go on for days about). I totally understand where the Post is coming from, but I only understood their reference after I read the CNN article.

At first glance, I immediately took the monkey to represent our new president. I mean really, New York Post? You honestly did not see ONE THING wrong with this cartoon before you published it? This cartoon is just a lawsuit waiting to happen. Obviously the Post has monkeys drawing their cartoons for them (kidding).

Seriously, we live in a country now where these types of “slip-ups” are just not OK anymore. Not that they were ever OK, but several decades ago, this type of cartoon would probably not have been met by such a negative response. This should be a lesson to us to watch what we say and who we say it to. If you’re not careful about what you say, Al Sharpton might just come after you next. And that is such a scary thought.

Had a bong day…

I knew it was bound to happen. He has girls chasing after him left and right, and he has become several millions of dollars richer since he broke nearly every Olympic record. He got invited to all the cool parties, with practically an endless posse of friends. His life was just too perfect.

Of course I’m referring to Michael Phelps, whose picture has been all over the news this past week for his naughty behavior of smoking marijuana at a South Carolina party after the Beijing Olympics. He has been dropped by one of his million dollar endorsements, Kellogg, and he has been suspended from USA Swimming for three months. On the one hand, I do feel bad for the guy because this fame was thrust in his face, practically without his permission; he can’t help the fact that he is ridiculously talented in the pool.

However, when you are given a gift/talent such as his, and you showcase it to the world in a high profile event such as the Olympics, you must know that you are bound to attract some publicity. I know it must be hard to always be in the limelight and try to be on your best behavior at all times. But Phelps has now tarnished his image as he is seen by the American people, and even by the world.

Michael Phelps has been a hero figure to the world ever since he shattered his Olympic records, but his hero image is now tarnished by one single picture. I think we should look at this example as a reminder that we are being judged every day, even when we think no one is looking. I’m sure Michael Phelps did not ask someone to take his picture smoking weed. But that did not stop someone from doing it, and it did not stop the British newspaper from printing the photograph.

As we begin our job search, we should remember to always put forth a good image. Media such as Facebook makes it increasingly easier for our future employees to see how we behave outside of the professional arena. And if we are not careful, our youthful mistakes could cost us a job opportunity.

I think Michael Phelps is a good guy, deep down, and he just made a mistake. After all, he is only human. Hopefully, he will learn from this mistake and will continue to be a role model for us.

Shaq tweets?

   Out of all the celebrities around the world, the last person I would have imagined to use Twitter would be Shaquille O’Neil. He’s so tall, I can’t even imagine how he would fit behind a computer.

   I read an article on the PRSA website, and I think it is truly interesting how the Suns are using Twitter as a means of recognizing their fans and their connections with each other. When Shaq signed up for Twitter, he gained over 30,000 followers in a very short amount of time. Amy Martin is the digital media researcher for the Suns, and she said they could not continue denying the importance and prevalence of new forms of social media, such as Twitter.

   So, Martin and the PR department of the Suns began organizing a “Tweetup,” which is the equivalent of a Facebook event, in order to reward Shaq’s and the Sun’s Twitter followers. I think the Suns should be truly commended because they are cashing in on forms of social media that will only continue to grow more popular. They are not simply sitting still; they are progressing and growing way beyond into the future. I think it is very important for us as students to look at these public relations’ moves very closely because this could be the future for our careers. We all know that social media will continue to grow and become even more a part of our daily lives.

   Social media is definitely the future for public relations, and for the world in general. I think we should continue to polish our Twitter, Facebook, and blogging skills because these skills will make us more competitive when we begin applying for jobs in the near future. Plus, it would just be super cool to have Shaq as a “tweep.”