Arianna Huffington: The Iraq War is McCain’s Viagra

May 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Here is an awesome Stephen Colbert interview with Huffington Report co-founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Authors+Books, Media, Politics, Video 

The Empire Strikes Barack

May 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Easily one of the best political YouTube videos I’ve ever seen.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Humor, Politics, Video 

Video of George Bush’s Funnies

April 20, 2008 | 2 Comments

I wish we had camcorders, the internet and YouTube back in the 1700s… it would be great to watch funny videos of the Founding Fathers like George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, etc…

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Politics, Video 

Should “Off The Record” be Respected by Journalists?

March 8, 2008 | 15 Comments


Click here for the full video interview.

“She is a monster, too –- that is off the record –- she is stooping to anything,” said Obama campaign advisor Samantha Power during an interview with Britain’s Gerri Peev of The Scotsman. According to the full video interview above, it sounded like the comment was made as part of some light, introductory “small talk.” Still, Gerri Peev used that quick off-the-record comment as the crux of her article.

HILLARY Clinton has been branded a “monster” by one of Barack Obama’s top advisers, as the gloves come off in the race to win the Democrat nomination.

The article resulted in huge backlash from the Hillary Clinton campaign and ultimately resulted in Power’s resignation. And check out the 560 passionate comments already posted to Peev’s March 7 article.

Why would this journalist take it upon herself to print an off the record statement when the interview was meant to discuss Power’s new book? Was it merely a media culture clash? Was it just bad timing because Power said “off the record” after the statement instead of before? Was it the reporter’s selfish attempt to capture some attention? Was it because the journalist saw no value in maintaining a relationship with Power and, therefore, had no reason to respect the request? What do you think?

For non-PR professionals, “off the record” is a classic media relations tactic used to privately provide context and new story angles or leads to journalists. Think attorney-client privilege for journalists and their sources. Similar to other popular media relations tactics like the embargo and exclusive, “off the record” has the potential to backfire because the agreement is only as strong as the reporter’s word.

Having done a ton of media relations work on both the agency and client sides, I’ve heard a variety of opinions on using “off the record.” Some media trainers instruct clients that everything is on the record and to never use the tactic. Others swear by it as a way to build reporter relationships and source opportunities. I’ve managed dozens of interviews where the “off the record” request has come up - including instances where it was said before and after the “off” statement. I’ve also facilitated entire 40-minute conversations that were off the record. Fortunately, every reporter respected the requests and no crisis management was necessary.

In my opinion, journalists are smart to respect them as long as they value the source. I’ve heard a handful of off-the-record-gone-bad stories to know some journalists will still print everything you say. As always, proceed with caution. Probably the safest rule of thumb is to only use “off the record” with reporters you know and trust. Otherwise, maintain the “everything is on the record” approach to interviews.

What do you think? On this subject matter, I’d love to hear from some PR bloggers on both sides of the pond, such as Neville, Defren, Geoff, Scott, Kami, David, Stephen, Kevin, Gerry, Brendan, Ben, Brian, Lee, Richard, etc.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Educational, Management, Media, Politics, Public Relations, Strategies+Tactics 

Bill Clinton Endorses Bararck Obama

March 1, 2008 | 3 Comments


This is the political find of all finds. Bill Clinton endorses Barack Obama… sorta kinda. I’m lovin’ politics in the new media world. Everything you say and do will one day be held against you. Source: Neatorama

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Politics, Presentations, Social Media, Video 

We Are The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For

February 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment


Click here for more Obama videos.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Music, Politics, Video 

The Axe Effect: Hillary for Obama

February 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment

axe-effect-hillary.jpg
Source: Neatorama

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Humor, Politics 

Yes, They Did.

February 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment

After seeing the Obama Yes We Can video, I knew it wouldn’t be long before a parody came out. Here is the first one that I’ve seen.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Humor, Politics, Social Media, Technology, Video 

Emerging Media and Marketing Increases the Pathos in Politics

February 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I can’t remember ever being this inspired or emotionally motivated by politics in the past. I attribute most of the newfound pathos to emerging media and marketing: speech writing, prosumer video production, social media, online and viral marketing, etc. In addition to the increased pathos, I bet emerging media and new marketing have contributed to many of the huge increases around the country in voter turnout. Ahh, the power of new media and marketing… I love it. Job security.

Anyway, speaking of all this stuff, you’ve seen several of the Obama videos on this blog before, but here is a Ron Paul video that kept me from clicking away.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under History, Marketing, Politics, Social Media, Technology, Video 

Yes, we can.

February 3, 2008 | 1 Comment

I saw this video on Friday, only hours after it was released on YouTube. I scrambled to make it the homepage of my this site. Just the video. Nothing else. Earlier today, in anticipation of Super Tuesday, I added more videos to make it a collection of Obama’s greatest hits.

It’s hard to run political commentary of any kind on a blog because politics is so polarizing. Still, I’ve never been so moved by one video or one individual. I’ve never wanted to promote or speak out on behalf of one candidate so much. Until now.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Politics, Video 

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