The Intersection Between Blogging And Public Relations
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Breaking News — Comments (13) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
I was--and still am--one of the bloggers contacted by Marshall Manson with e-mails concerning stories and commentary regarding Wal-Mart. Much of what transpired between me and Mr. Manson--who always conducted himself in ethical and above-board fashion in his dealings with me--I recognize in this post. The whole of my reaction to the e-mails has consisted of taking links to stories that interested me and were passed on to me, and writing whatever I wanted in terms of commentary concerning those stories. At no time whatsoever was I asked to write or follow a script of some kind, and at no time whatsoever would I have complied if someone had offered me a script to follow.
My views on Wal-Mart and the fate of other corporations have been consistent. I leave it to shareholders and members of the Board of Directors to care about the specific fate of the company. But when Yousefzadeh's Law Regarding The Treatment Of Large And Successful Corporations is manifested--and note that said law first came about in response to the demonization of Google--I tend to want to write something in protest because that kind of demonization really gets on my last nerve.
I now await the transmission of rumors discussing my utter and complete sellout to the corporate plutocracy that has subverted the American way of life. Should be interesting.
UPDATE: For the sake of absolute clarity, I should reinforce the comment in this post pointing out that I have never received any kind of "statement" from Wal-Mart to write into a blog post. Specifically, I did not receive at any time any statement from Lee Scott concerning his reaction to an article in the New York Times article regarding his communication style with Wal-Mart workers (which I blogged about here). I will note as well that a number of Marshall Manson's e-mailed links to stories that he thought I would find interesting were not blogged about, and that much to Mr. Manson's credit, he sent an e-mail to me specifically asking me to refrain from the temptation of taking any commentary he may have provided in his e-mails and cutting and pasting them into a post. I assured him that such a practice was out of the question as far as I was concerned and that I never contemplated otherwise, while appreciating the fact that he was determined on his part to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
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The Intersection Between Blogging And Public Relations 13 Comments (0 topical, 13 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
as a child, but I can't make head nor tail out of this. What are you saying?
Hmmmm.
I take it there's going to be some sort of payola type scandal happening? Or if no money is involved that there will be accusations of wrong-doing by liberals?
shrug Frankly I don't give much credence to these sorts of things. The MSM takes stories handed to it by the Democrats all the time.
No money was involved. I remain deprived of a Rolls-Royce.
After having read the diary, and quite a few of the links, I have to say that you've covered the issues pretty fairly for the most part. The whole topic of Walmart is one I find interesting is that I know someone who works at a Walmart and get somewhat of an insiders take on some of the aspects of how things are run, well and not so well by the way.
The sad thing about Anti-Walmart sorts of protesters is that there are some valid complaints to made against Walmart, and because of the messenger and the total Labor/Union message they are selling, the issues don't get reported fairly. No company of the size of Walmart is without flaws. The large size alone of Walmart does create some distortions in market places, which can be rationally examined and discussed by rational voices.
Bottom line, keep up the good work and maybe some day post an analytical look at all the facts, good and bad.
Maybe they can slip you an employee discount card in an unmarked envelope.....won't work....Walmart computers know all.
Just kidding by the way.
with liberals on the issues. If you do you are liable to the charges listed and a few I didn't list. Maybe I took it for granted that this is liberal SOP and should have been clearer.
Hmmm.
I thought the gist of it was that you weren't paid but, frankly, the article was rather opaque.
For my part I rather like Wal-Mart. So does the rest of my far-flung family. I suspect the only people who dislike Wal-Mart are the people who never stoop to shopping there.
Among those being paid include Michael Krempasky of RedState.org.
Michael Krempasky is not blogging because he believes in something, he is blogging to spread the lies of anyone willing to pay him. ANY person who takes money to write something and is not an employee of a PR firm is a scumbag. It is deceit and it is the the hallmark of the republican party.
p.s. does anyone want to buy my domain RedStateIdiots.com? I've alrady got tons of content about idiot red staters.
...one wonders whether davidaustin's little position took into account advocacy groups that rely on outside funding for survival. Said money usually comes with the understanding that you should be spending it in a fashion pleasant to the grantor.
I'd ask, but I somehow suspect that davidaustin's going to have a rather short posting history here.
academic paper, journalist writing scumbags out there. BTW, where do I send your $0.02?
Disagreement a form of corruption, having other views divisive, speaking out is selling out, and all united in greed. But still we are told the 1st amendment is our most precious freedom, guess it depends on how it's managed and who's using it.