Good cop, bad cop. Lightning rod. Shmoozer. In their more than 30 years in
politics, the Clintons have fulfilled a number of roles for each other in
dealing with reporters, and they all go under the microscope in SPJ member Jim
Mueller’s new book, “Tag Teaming the Press: How Bill and Hillary Clinton Work Together to Handle the
Media.” Based largely on interviews with the journalists who covered them, the book
examines how the Clintons’ tact and manners with the Fourth Estate have evolved from their student
political activism in the ’60s through Hillary's run for the White House in 2008. “Tag Teaming the Press” is a follow-up to Mueller’s 2006 book, “Towel Snapping the Press: Bush’s Journey from Locker-Room Antics to Message Control,” which explores how George W. Bush’s “buddy” relationship with reporters has helped him control what they ask and don’t ask and ultimately what they write. Mueller is a UNT associate professor of
journalism.
Where are they this time? If you think you know, tell them. Greater Fort Worth
PRSA members Richie Escovedo, left, and Tom Burke are traveling throughout the Metroplex searching for interesting people and
locations, as well as new members. Last month they were hard-hatting it at the
new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington. Scheduled to open for the 2009 season,
the $1 billion stadium will seat 80,000 for regular-season games up to 100,000
for special events, such as Super Bowl XLV, which will be played there Feb. 6,
2011.
PRSA local update VI: National PRSA’s Advocacy Advisory Board has created a Facebook page to further its initiative
on civil discourse in election communications, a major theme for the year.
Clean and Fair Campaign 2008 was launched to garner a large group of members
who would constitute a nationwide “petition” on behalf of the principles of the group. The link: facebook.com/group.php?gid=13815329335. And did you know that GFW PRSA has a Facebook page? It’s facebook.com/group.php?gid=23875680024.
PRSA local update VII: Beth Harbin, Southwest Airlines’ director of strategic public relations, will recollect Southwest’s response to 9-11 and how its crisis plans evolved to handle subsequent
challenges at the Dallas PRSA meeting Thursday, Sept. 11. Info here.
PRSA local update VIII: If you have three years or fewer PR experience, NuPros is the group for you. It
uses teleseminars and networking events, along with the sensei mentoring
program, to pair novices in public relations with established professionals. E-
Sarah McClellan-Brandt at smbrandt@safehaventc.org or Paul Sturiale, APR, at paul@thepaologroup.org.
SPJ national update: A federal judge has permanently barred Arizona from using a state law to
prosecute an online merchant who sells shirts that list names of thousands of
troops killed in Iraq. U.S. District Judge Neil Wake did not strike down the 2007 law against selling products that use military
casualties’ names without families’ permission. But he ruled Aug. 21 that using the law to prosecute Dan Frazier would violate the Flagstaff man’s First Amendment rights because his “Bush Lied — They Died” shirts are “core political speech.” More here.
SPJ national update II: The Texas Department of Public Safety must release to the public travel
information about Gov. Rick Perry’s protective detail. Judge Scott Jenkins of Travis County found no evidence that releasing the records would place Perry
or anyone else in danger. The Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle and
San Antonio Express-News requested the records last year under the Texas Public
Information Act. More here. ... The job market for journalism graduates remained largely unchanged for the
second half of 2007 and the first half of 2008, according to a survey from the
University of Georgia’s James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and
Research. The results reveal that nearly the same percentage of graduates in
2007 found full-time jobs within eight months of graduation as in the previous
year, and salaries remained the same. More here.
SPJ national update III: The world’s best-known advocate for a free media took its message to the heart of Beijing
on Aug. 8, making a pirate broadcast on Chinese radio exactly 12 hours to the
minute before the start of the Olympics opening ceremony. Paris-based Reporters
Without Borders began broadcasting on local FM radio to several districts
Beijing districts at 8:08 a.m. local time. More here. ... A federal inquiry into public corruption in El Paso has apparently yielded
nine guilty pleas. Local attorneys, elected officials and judges have been
swept up in the probe. Dozens of search warrants have been served, thousands of
dollars seized. Wiretap surveillance alone lasted two years. Yet little is
known about this scandal and its 80 “persons of interest,” as U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo has sealed the case, wiped it off the dockets, closed hearings and taken guilty
pleas in secret. More here. ...
SPJ national update IV: He has interviewed Sen. John McCain, hobnobbed with Chelsea Clinton, grilled “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams and scrapped for a chance to question campaign hotshots at a presidential
debate. All this, and Jack Greenberg still manages to get his homework done. At 11 years old, Jack is a reporter for
Scholastic News and a sixth-grader at Bailey Middle School in West Haven, Conn.
He’s one of 80 kids across the country who report for the online publication and
classroom magazine. “We’re not giving little kiddie questions. We are asking real serious hardball
questions,” he says while sporting a Scholastic Kids Press Corps pass around his neck. More here. ... Verve Wireless believes it can save the local newspaper by making it
mobile. It offers publishers the technology to create web sites for cellphones.
The company already provides mobile versions of 4,000 newspapers from 140
publishers, including Freedom Communications, the McClatchy Co. and The New
York Times Co.’s Regional Media Group. More here.
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Laura Van Hoosier, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
“Remember, your grandmother was a lady.” My mom used this phrase with me all my life, and during her upbringing her
mother echoed it often.
It is a simple and sweet reminder that one’s good name and reputation are things to be cherished. I find myself passing
down these same words of wisdom along with lots of gentle advice to my girls.
As PR practitioners we’re obligated to preserve and protect the reputations of the organizations and
clients we serve. This is an immense responsibility and one that can never be
taken lightly.
Our Sept. 10 luncheon speaker, Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross, will describe how to safeguard reputation and offer strategies to restore a
damaged reputation. As part of the professional development workshop that
morning and during the program, she’ll touch on many of the points she makes in her new book, “12 Steps to Safeguarding and Recovering Reputation.”
I hope you can join us. While you’re at it, bring along some of your parents’ good advice, and maybe we’ll have time to share it!
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