Was NBC Practicing Imagination at Work?

by Dan Ward

GE’s corporate slogan is Imagination at Work.  I wonder who working at GE-subsidiary NBC imagined that not covering GE’s $5.1 billion profit/$0 tax payment would go unnoticed.

As the Poynter Institute’s Kelly McBride points out in Paul Farhi’s Washington Post article, failing to air dirty laundry hurts the organization’s credibility.  That’s music to the ears of anyone in the communications business, and a good reminder for any organization.  Failure to report uncomfortable news doesn’t make it go away; it just adds to the discomfort.

Does Moving a Public Notice Online Make it “Not Public?”

by Dan Ward

The Florida Press Association (FPA) has been running a series of advertisements fighting proposed legislation that would remove the requirement for public notices to be posted through paid newspaper ads.

While I happen to agree that public notices should remain in newspapers, I find some of FPA’s arguments confusing.

For instance, its latest full-page ad discusses how broad categories of Florida residents broken out by age and ethnicity lack access to the Internet, then proceeds in the very next line to promote how Florida’s newspapers provide free access to public notices … online.

It just seems odd that after years of encouraging subscribers to go online for the latest news and blog posts, newspapers would complain when others suggest the very same thing.

When you encourage your customers do go elsewhere for your product, don’t get upset when they take your advice.

Out of Sight … Out of Mind

by Roger Pynn

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from writing for “Taking Aim” it is the importance of doing it often. Watching the statistics of visits by readers, the penalty for failing to keep up with our blogging duties is that our following thins out.

Contacted by an old friend who wanted to go to lunch to catch up, I was drawn to his website to see what he’s been doing … and there I noticed he writes a blog on a topic I’m truly interested in. In fact, I subscribe to a blogger who actively writes on the same subject and am surprised I hadn’t found my friend’s blog referred to there or elsewhere.

This guy’s a smart fellow. Known to work with major global brands, he writes with solid insight from an executive perspective. His most recent post was pretty interesting stuff.

Then I noticed the dates on his posts: one in March and two in February … preceded by two last December and two before that in April of last year.

Out of sight … out of mind.