Katie Couric to Leave CBS

According to TMZ, Katie Couric is unhappy with the way things are going with her evening news anchor position at CBS. The network apparently hasn’t been following through on the promises that they made to convince Couric to join CBS. Rumors have been circulating that she will be leaving in the very near future, but according to the article Couric is more likely to leave after the election is over.

Although this story is still developing, so far it looks like Couric is completely in control of her future. She is leaving on her own terms, and as of now, has not made a huge deal about her situation at CBS. TMZ reports that she already has a plethora of options, most of which are just as strong as her current position. According to the article, “several talk show syndicators have already contacted Couric’s reps because they think she has enough heat to break into daytime.” The biggest of all of the rumors is that CNN has an interest in replacing Larry King with Couric, something that would be a huge upgrade from her current position. She is doing a great job blocking out the problems with CBS, and not letting them affect her on-air personality. It is also an incredibly smart idea for Couric to stay with the station until after the election. With one of the most important presidential elections of the last three decades coming up, it would be foolish to leave the air at such an important moment. Once Couric moves to her new station, she will hopefully have played and integral role in the covering of the 2008 presidential race, while leaving the network on her own terms.

Matt Leinart Not Focusing on Football

 

 Matt Leinart has been doing more than studying the play book this off-season. Photos recently surfaced of him and buddy Nick Lachey partying. The pictures show Leinart holding a beer bong for a fairly young looking co-ed, and hot tubbing with a group of girls, among other pics. OMG! Matt Leinart likes to drink beer and hang out with beautiful women. What a shock! According to The Los Angeles Times, the pictures were originally released on thedirty.com and TMZ.com. The Arizona Cardinal’s quarterback is about to enter his third season in the NFL, and after two sub-par years, many feel like this is not the kind of off-season behavior Leinart should be participating in. According to the Times article, Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt was “disappointed” in Leinart, but he said that the quarterback let him know that the pictures were going to be released, and he was pleased that Leinart communicated with him before the incident. The Times also says, “Despite his disappointment, Whisenhunt praised Leinart, a 24-year-old Heisman Trophy winner out of USC, for his effort this off-season.”  

When this report was first released, I thought that it might turn into a big PR problem for Leinart. Once I saw that all of the girls were over the legal drinking age, I felt like it wasn’t really that big of a deal. All athletes party, I guess Leinart was just dumb enough to get caught. It is difficult to tell what kind of affect this incident will have on Leinart’s image. As of now, the quotes from the Cardinals coach seem to be enough to keep Leinart in a positive light, however, if the quarterback has another tough season like he has the previous two years, then we might see this story surface again. I think that he will learn from this mistake, and make sure that it doesn’t happen again. What Matt and his PR people should do is make it clear that from here on out he is committed to football. I’m sure that if he can just perform up to the standards of his coaching staff, this entire issue will be long forgotten.

Diddy Not Involved in Pac Murder

According to The Smoking Gun Web site, the Los Angeles Times’ claim that Sean “Diddy” Combs was involved in the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, was based on fabricated evidence. The Web site reports, “the Times appears to have been hoaxed by an imprisoned con man and accomplished document forger.” Aparantly, the man, named James Sabatino, has a history of telling people that he was highly involved in the lives and businesses of many famous rappers, including Diddy and the Notorious B.I.G. Last week’s Times article claimed the story was based on FBI records and interviews with sources involved. The Gun says, “The records, which Sabatino himself has distributed, conveniently contain black redaction marks covering up the name of the agent (or agents) who prepared the “302s”…Riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, the purported “302″ documents vary sharply from standard FBI reports in terms of phraseology and use of certain acronyms.”

 I really don’t think that this will have a lasting negative affect on the Los Angeles Times. The editor of the paper has already released an apology to the readers, and everyone named in the article. According to Billboard’s Web site, “Pulitzer-prize winning reporter Chuck Philips, who wrote the story, and his supervisor, Deputy Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin, also apologized.” Considering the prestige of the paper, and the author of the article, I think it is clear that this was an honest mistake. Philips claimed that a former FBI agent looked at the documents before the article was published, and he too believed them to be real, so it is hard to attribute this mishap to faulty journalism. Diddy has every right to be mad about this, however, I think that this will finally put to rest the questions of his involvment in Tupac’s murder- questions that have never been fully answered. This incidnet will mostlikely work itself out outside of court and outside of the public eye.

Crisis Controll: Dog the Bounty Hunter

This picture was taken from the blog effinfunny

Late last October, A&E’s reality star Duane “Dog” Chapman was added to the list of stars-gone-racist, joining Don Imis and “Seinfeld’s” Michael Richards. Chapman, star of the hit series “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” was caught spewing forth racial slurs on a recording of a private phone conversation with his son Tucker. The tirade was targeted at Tucker’s African-American girlfriend. Dog explained to his son that he couldn’t afford to have her overhearing himself or one of his co-stars using the N-word, something that he apparently and admittedly does quite often. Ironically, by complaining about the danger of her overhearing him use the derogatory word, his fears came to reality when his son sold him out to the National Enquirer. That’s right, his son was the one that leaked the tape. Since the incident, A&E has pulled all episodes of the show off of the air, however they have neglected to say that they will cancel it altogether.

This incident was highly covered by the mainstream Media, but some were harsher than others. Because no one in their right minds would think that what the Dog said was acceptable, there were no Web sites that covered the story in a favorable light. The coverage tended to be far more negative towards Chapman on “gossip” sites like TMZ, Defamer, and the National Enquirer, unlike the more respected cites such as People and CNN, both of whom remained fairly unbiased and professional. The gossip sites tended to use very sensational headlines, such as National Enquirer’s “Dog the Bounty Hunter’s Racist Rant Caught on Tape!,” and Defamer’s “Last Minute Costumes: Dog the Racist Bounty Hunter.” Most of these sites tended to emphasize what the Dog actually said, and they usually included a recording of the conversation. The most consistent quote found on these pages was not the Dog’s apology, but more often a quote from A&E saying they were looking into the incident. The National Enquirer even quoted respected civil rights leader Roy Innis, whose comments toward Chapman were very unforgiving. The other sites seemed to be simply stating the facts of the case, and usually included quotes from multiple sources. The headlines were pretty straight forward, leaving out labels and name calling. People’s story focused mainly on Chapman’s apology, and they titled their story: “Dog the Bounty Hunter Duane Chapman Apologizes for Racist Slurs.” They even wrote out his entire response. One of the news sources just gave a brief summary of what happened, and then had a quote from Dog’s lawyer speaking on his behalf.

The pictures on these mainstream media sites were all different, although most of them depicted the Dog in his normal state (which still looks pretty bad). For the most part, they usually put up a random picture or the picture from his show. The general feeling that I got from all of these sources was that people are angry, but not really shocked. Some Web sites are using very venomous language to describe the situation, making Chapman sound as terrible as possible. I feel like the sites that aren’t doing this, but are merely stating the facts of the incident, believe that there is no need to because Chapman has already tarnished his reputation, and he most likely will never be widely respected.

The blogs were far less forgiving than the mainstream media outlets. All of the blogs portrayed Chapman in an unfavorable light, although a few of them did so, not through commentary, but more through the titles and categories the story was listed under. Perez Hilton’s opinion on the matter was more evident through his headlines than his comments. He covered the story as it developed, and usually never referred to the Dog by name, but simply called him “the racist.” This can be seen in his titles “The Racist Apologizes,” and “Racist Betrayed by Son.” In what little commentary he had, he referred to Chapman as “hate filled,” and “N-word loving,” and after Chapman released his apology, Hilton said “there’s not much explaining Dog can do. By all accounts he’s a filthy racist!” When there was commentary on the blogs, it was always very harsh and critical, but most of them spent the majority of their writing going over the facts of the incident. All of them recycled the same quote from A&E, and only some included Chapman’s apology. One common focus point was the irony in how Chapman was turned in by his son for exactly what he was telling his son would happen if he continued to date the woman. Celebrity Smack Blog was the only source that I found that included a quote from the woman Chapman was referring to.

Unlike the mainstream media sites, most of the blogs included very unflattering photos, some where Chapman looks sweaty and tired, and others where he is in court (whether it is for crimes he committed, or for the people he has bailed out is not clear, but it gets the point across). It is clear that the bloggers have more freedom in expressing how they feel about the incident, and most of the negative press on the Dog is going to come from them. Most feel like the show should be canceled altogether, something that A&E did not do.

A majority of the coverage between the blogs and the mainstream media was pretty similar. Although the blogs were harsher overall, this seemed to be due to the fact that they have more freedom of commentary than the mainstream media outlets. Overall, most of the sources simply described the situation and included a quote from either A&E, Dog’s lawyer, the apology from Chapman himself, or a combination of the three. There really wasn’t a standout difference in coverage. Perez Hilton used very critical language while describing the incident, but then again so did TMZ.

I feel like Chapman and his publicist, and A&E’s PR department did the best that they could given the situation at hand. There was nothing that they could have done that would totally forgive or erase the situation, so they really just worked on damage control. A&E immediately responded to the situation, saying that they needed to listen to the tape and were going to investigate immediately. Once they did that, they decided to stop all broadcasts of Chapman’s show. They did not have to cancel the show, they just waited for people to forget about it, and now they are apparently brining the show back for another season. If I was in charge at A&E, I would have canceled the show in an effort to maintain my good name and the audience that Chapman may have offended. Unfortunately, there is still demand for the show, and money to be made off of it, so they are bringing it back. I feel like the Dog also did the best he could. He Immediately responded with a long and sincere-sounding apology. He took the blame for what happened and did not make excuses. He reached out to prominent members in the African American community, and since the incident has been spending time on projects benefiting black youth. Although his reputation will forever be tarnished, I think that there wasn’t much else that could be done to salvage his name. All that he can do is take time out of the spotlight, and hopefully he really can change and become a better person.

The mainstream media sources that I used were:

www.TMZ.com, www.Defamer.com, www.CNN.com

www.nationalenquirer.com , www.Reuters.com, www.People.com

The Blogs that I used were:

www.perezhilton.com , www.celebitchy.com

http://mtvtn.blogspot.com, www.celebritysmackblog.com

Who Reads Maxim for the Reviews Anyways?

It has recently come out that the magazine Maxim has been writing album reviews without even listening to entire albums. This report came out when the band The Black Crowes wrote on their Web site that Maxim had written a review of their new album “Warpaint” before the band had made advanced copies available. The post states, “Incredulously, the magazine gave the album a two and a half star rating–although neither the writer nor the editor could have heard more than one song.” The Black Crowes manager then angrily ripped the magazine, questioning their journalistic integrity.  The post also states that when Maxim was questioned about the review, they described it as “an educated guess preview.”

 I think that Maxim has done an awful job of spinning this story in a way that would be beneficial to them. Instead of coming out and directly apologising to the band for what they did, they came out with a statement calling the review “an educated guess preview?”Once the news was made public, the magazine did come out with an apology, but not a very believable one. According to Yahoo News, “Maxim editorial director James Kaminsky responded Tuesday with this statement: ‘It is Maxim’s editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety. Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine and we apologize to our readers.’” They didn’t even say sorry to the Black Crowes, and had no decision on whether or not the writer of the review will face disciplinary action. If I am doing Maxim’s PR, I immediately own up to this and assure people that it was a one-time only mistake made by the reviewer, and he/she will face harsh consequences. I think that this is going to really hurt their reputation, and it will take a long time to build their credibility back up. If this wasn’t enough, it recently came out that Maxim did the same thing for Naz’s new album, and just yesterday the L.A. Times music blog spoke with the writer of the review, David Peisner, who claimed “I was assigned to write previews of the Black Crowes and Nas albums. I did that. When the issue came out, the previews were laid out as reviews complete with star ratings. I never at any point or to anyone claimed to have heard these albums in their entirety. Whatever decisions Maxim made after I turned in my work were beyond my control.”

Maxim has not done a very good job keeping this under control, and I think that these recent allegation by Peisner will make it almost impossible for them to restore their credibility. If I were in charge over at Maxim, I would just stick to putting hot girls in my magazine. Besides, no one reads Maxim for their reviews anyways.

Semi-Pro/Old Spice/Bud Light

 Since Will Ferrell established himself as the top comedic actor after his starring role in “Anchorman,” he has continuously released disappointing bio-pics of fictional sports characters. Every movie is essentially the same, differing only in the main character’s occupation and name. About half way through “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” I gave up any hope of it being anywhere near as good as the hilarious “Old School,” or the once unique “Anchorman.” I didn’t even bother wasting money on catching “Blades of Glory” in theaters. Now Ferrell is releasing yet another sports bio-pic, “Semi-Pro.”
 I really believe that one of the problems with the last two movies was that they were PG-13. Instead of sticking with the adult humor that made “Old School” and “Wedding Crashers” successful, they have tried to appeal to the younger crowd. When the original trailer for “Semi-Pro” was released, it came with an R rating and looked promising, but recently they have been advertising the film as “not yet rated.” Lets hope that they get this one right and don’t give in the the studio’s pressure to rate it PG-13.
Although the trailer makes the movie look like it will be funny, Ferrell has recently been cross-promoting the film with Old Spice and Bud Light. Great move! These commercials are awesome, and are even funnier than the clips from the actual movie. I think that this practice of tie-in commercials is something that really benefits both products, and I am surprised it hasn’t been done more often. Huffingtonpost says “it’s still rare, but getting film stars to appear in tie-in partners’ commercials is seen as a practice on the rise. A select number of actors such as Ferrell, John Travolta and Angelina Jolie have been willing to join in.” I wasn’t really interested in seeing this film, but these commercials are actually better than Ferrell’s last two movies. I think that this marketing technique will really help the film at the box office, and it is also good for Budweiser and Old Spice.

 Here are the Old Spice commercials:

 Here is a pretty good Bud Light ad:

Roger Clemens is Done

 Roger Clemens is a PR nightmare right now. Those that still believe that he never used any  performance enhancing drugs are the same people that were just using Barry Bonds as a scapegoat, refusing to believe that any “likeable” players might also be on the juice. Well now it looks like the “best” pitcher in baseball is also dirty. After yesterday’s Congressional hearings, I think the doubt about Roger’s use of Human Growth Hormone has shrunk significantly. As Howard Bryant of ESPN put it, “he has asked the public to believe that his handpicked personal trainer obtained human growth hormone, and used it on his most loyal protege as well as his wife, but not on him.”

 From a PR viewpoint, this situation is very difficult. No matter what happens, Clemens’ reputation will be tarnished, something that he noted at the beginning of the hearing. All that can be done from a PR perspective is to hold true to the fact of “innocent until proven guilty,” although everyone knows that this is only true in a court of law. Even if this issue is not sorted out and no charges are brought against him, Clemens will still be seen as guilty by a majority of the public. In addition to this stance, Clemens’ PR people need to point out the proven lies and inconsistencies in accuser Brian McNamee’s testimony. Although he has not been proven to have lied about injecting Clemens with HGH, there were certain things that he admitted to have fabricated. According to the aforementioned article, “McNamee stood disgraced, completely debased, so much of his life exposed as a failure… he lied to the law enforcement authorities on certain occasions, all of his flaws and crucial mistakes now in the public record and the public memory.” Although McNamee admitted to have lied in the past, he stuck to his original claim of supplying three Yankees with HGH, two of which have already admitted the claim was true, the third is Roger Clemens. I believe that Roger Clemens took HGH, but with McNamee’s past deceptions, and still not enough proof to indict Roger, his PR team still has a glimmer of hope. It is too late to admit to anything, so they must stay the course of “innocent until proven guilty,” and hope that more inconsistencies surface in McNamees testimonies.

New Kids on the Block Had a Bunch of Hits

Alright, the moment has come. For all of you 25-40 year olds out there that used to listen to the former pop sensation New Kids on the Block and haven’t come to the realization that you probably shouldn’t have, you are in for a treat. The band has been rumored to be making a comeback in the near future, and according to www.People.com, the rumor will actually become a reality. Apparently all five original members have agreed to reunite. People also reports that the bands Web site, www.nkotb.com, is once again up and running.

 From a PR perspective, there are many different directions one could take to promote the group’s return. With the extremely successful reunion of the Spice Girls, it seems like this reunion would be a good idea, however, the original fans of the Spice Girls are in their late teens and early twenties, whereas NKOTB fans are mostly in the mid-thirties. Promotion towards this age demographic will not be enough. I would also try and attract the younger fans that may have become familiar with NKOTB after members Joey McIntyre and Jordan Knight achieved MTV success with their solo careers in the late 90’s. Jordan was also a member of VH1’s “Surreal Life,” so it’s not like the name New Kids on the Block hasn’t been mentioned for the past 10 years. Donnie Wahlberg is now an accomplished actor even though I have only seen him in Band of Brothers and a few of the Saw films. I would also try to relate the reunion to the reunion of the Spice Girls, and also attempt to incorporate Mark Wahlberg  (Donnie’s brother and original member)   into the ad campaign. Having him do some commercial spots or interviews would really help get the word out. VH1 would also be a good place to advertise the concerts considering they tend to appeal to a slightly older audience than MTV. www.Wikipedia.org also reports that the VH1 show “Bands Reunited” once attempted to reunite the band, so there is clearly some interest there.