Ah, Twitter. I don’t know if it has jumped the shark, or become legit. Either way, when I witnessed its launch in March 2006, I never imagined that chatter on this texting platform would one day be – among other things - used as a source for Governor Schwarzenegger’s spokesperson when being interviewed for a CNN story:

The legislation has been divisive, with the governor’s office receiving more than 100,000 phone calls and e-mails, most of them in opposition, spokeswoman Andrea McCarthy said last month.

But she added that most of the Twitter posts the governor received were in favor of the bill.

Do you think Twitter feedback counts as a legitimate talking point? Would you use it in the way this spokesperson has?

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You know how things can be defined by the negative — well media relations is a lot like that. In today’s class, I’ll share a timely lesson in what NOT do to, but first, the back story from CNN:

A Boston police officer is suing the city after he was suspended for referring to a black Harvard professor as a “banana-eating jungle monkey” in an e-mail. Boston police Officer Justin Barrett apologized for his e-mail about Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

“The choice of words were poor; but they weren’t meant to characterize professor Gates as a banana-eating jungle monkey,” attorney Peter Marano said. “They were meant in a response to behavior and characterizing the behavior. Not the person as a whole.”

Although this dude is now a documented idiot; the good news for us is that we have yet another fantastic teachable moment for PR newbies:

1. If you don’t want the media to write about how you are a racist one who chooses words poorly, avoid sending a pitifully written, self-incriminating tirade to the The Boston Globe and then circulating it among your friends.
2. Always get a pal to lay eyes on your angry, grammar-torturing draft before you hit send. Even if you are “a former English teacher” and “writer,” we could all use a little peer review.
3. Anything you say/write/tweet/text to a reporter can and will be used against you in a story AND by your friendly Human Resources staffer – especially when it’s the most rambling, ridiculous, hate-filled, asinine email E V E R.
4. When defending one’s non-racist views, be sure to avoid sentences like: “That paragraph was as pathetic as jungle monkey gibberish – I might as well ax you the question” and “He indeed has transcended back to a bumbling jungle monkey, thus he forever tremains (sic) amid this nation’s great social/racial divide that makes it a free and great nation mixed with crazy and awkward differences. Go ahead, ax me what I think.”
5. Oh, and sound media relations works best when one avoids calling reporters names, criticizing their writing and suggesting they re-tool their headlines to things like: CONDUCT UNBECOMING A JUNGLE MONKEY – BACK TO ONE’S ROOTS.”

Fortunately, the Mayor called this moron a “cancer” and had him promptly removed. Still, just thinking about the fact that there are folks out there like this dude – whose brains truly process the world like this – makes me want to throw up.

(sigh)

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Reads

• Axiom PR tweets words of warning. Could our twust be in for a rude awakening?
• Lifehacker says happy folks watch less boob tube. Except for documentaries, right?
• Adrants read my Saved by Zero hating mind. This is not filed under laughs because it’s not funny it’s TRUE.
• Chris Brogan says more smart stuff about meaningful things, like the future of print media.
• CNN shares a heartbreaking tale of the Save Haven law gone terribly wrong. Thankfully, they’ve since fixed this.
• Tennessean reported it; Scene analyzed it: TSU puts the squeeze on Juicy Campus.  Buckle up, folks. We’ll be reading about this for a while.
  

Laughs

• Graph Jam draws us into the reality/horror/obsession that is Tetris.
• … and also map out what REALLY happens when gay folks marry.

Tunes

• I heart Sara B. If you don’t share my healthy obsession with Sara Bareilles, you are missing out. BIG TIME. And I’m sad for you. Thanks again, Mere, for taking me to see her live at the Ryman!

Can we talk about these ridiculous “There’s a Headline for Everyone” t-shirts that CNN has been advertising on TV and as “latest news” links on their site? You see a headline, the video and then the little t-shirt icon so that you can purchase the ridiculous verbiage on your very own black American Apparel shirt. Really? Read More…