PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Heather Senter, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
We PR folks may have to defend our profession again following the launch of MTV's "PoweR Girls." Sandwiched between the Osbournes and "Pimp My Ride," we have no reason to be concerned, right? I'll admit, I get sucked into reality shows; this one caught my attention when I opened an advocacy alert e-mail from PRSA headquarters. "PoweR Girls" is based on Lizzie Grubman's New York PR firm and her four model-like associates. The e-mail encouraged us to consider the show's implications and to get ready to address issues with our colleagues and local media.
I had never heard of the show, so I logged on to MTV's web site and read about the trials of New York agency life. Having worked at PR outposts in Memphis and Wichita, Kan., I couldn't relate. Maybe things are different in NYC. More, how we say, shallow. These five PR gals, based on their bios, surely don't measure up to my former colleagues. One woman equates success with being able to buy a Marc Jacobs purse. Another confesses that she loves trashy novels, and the owner touts her new role as gossip queen on a Manhattan radio station.
If "PoweR Girls" puts a mascara-and-stiletto-heeled blemish on our profession (seriously, how many of our associates watch MTV?), it will fade like a sunset on the Hudson River. Organizations such as PRSA are constantly working to advance the profession and are much more powerful than a TV series. And that's reality.
With more than 20,000 members worldwide, PRSA offers opportunities for professional development, a standardized code of ethics, national awards and recognitions, and a universal accreditation program. I encourage you to think of ways that we can move the industry forward. If you have an idea, send it to me at heathersenter@charter.net.
And to the NYC agency, more PoweR to ya!
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PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
Tim Tune, IABC/Fort Worth
If you've ever read a book on parenting, you probably found advice that goes something like this: "To understand your child, you have to get inside her head; you have to think the way a child thinks." It's not easy, but those who can do it become better parents. And get better results from their kids.
Turns out this technique can be applied to other relationships, too, including the PR practitioner's relationship with journalists. And our next presenter -- a journalist himself -- has developed ways to accomplish this.
Jim Barach will tell us "how to think like a reporter." It's crucial that spokesmen at all levels on the organization chart know how to work a media interview. If the interview is hostile, handling it skillfully can save a company -- or a job.
Jim is a broadcaster with more than 20 years experience as an on-air personality. He's also a certified meteorologist. With credentials like that, I can confidently forecast that you will get your money's worth at this month's meeting, Tuesday, March 1. Please join us.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
Second reminder -- there will be more -- that decorated investigative reporter Dan Christensen of the Miami Daily Business Review will keynote Fort Worth SPJ's First Amendment Dinner on Saturday, April 9, at Ridglea Country Club. His topic: "America's Underground Legal System." Dan received the 2004 Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award for reporting on secret court cases in the U.S. District Court in Miami. Dinner invitations are going out soon. If you don't get one, doesn't mean you can't be there. If you care about where this country's headed, you'll want to be. ...
A scheduling problem at the Aladdin Resort & Casino has shifted the SPJ National Convention back a week, to Oct. 16-18. Perhaps feeling guilty for the inconvenience, the Aladdin lowered the room rate to $99 a night. Wait, guilt in Las Vegas? ... Sunshine Sunday kicks off Sunshine Week, March 13-19, a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of open government. More at sunshineweek.org, or contact Larry Lutz, larrylutz@yahoo.com, to be on a team of newsgatherers who will conduct an FOI audit to determine how well local government bodies comply with freedom of information laws. ...
Professional and student journalists will gather March 18-19 at the Drury Inn Riverwalk in San Antonio for the SPJ Region 8 conference. Expect sessions on FOI, ethics, convergence, interviewing, investigation for broadcast and more. More here or from Region 9 whizzeroo Travis Poling, 2114 Northcrest Drive, New Braunfels 78130, (210) 250-3241, tpoling@spj.org. ... The Ethics AdviceLine, spearheaded by the Chicago Headline Club and Loyola University Chicago's Center for Ethics and Social Justice, was featured recently on NPR's "On the Media" program. Transcript at onthemedia.org. ... National student representative Sonya Smith is working to launch a new student section on spj.org. What information would you like to see there? She's at sonyanews@yahoo.com.
Closing words: "The Congress doesn't have to stick to these (White House) priorities. There are some programs in there I have heartburn about." -- Senate Budget Committee chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H. ... "Justice is better than chivalry if we cannot have both." -- Alice Stone Blackwell ... "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." -- Frederick Douglass ... "The trouble with super heroes is what to do between phone booths." -- Ken Kesey ... "Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something." -- Henry David Thoreau ... "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." -- Abraham Lincoln
Closing words II, world at war division: "He had time for golf and the ranch but not enough to sign a decent signature with a pen for his beloved hero soldiers. I was going to send the letter back but did not. I am sorry I didn't." -- Ted Smith, whose son, Eric, was among the first 100 killed in Iraq, on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signing military death notices with a stamp, a practice Rumsfeld says he has since changed ... "My son wasn't a person to these people, he was just an entity to play their war game. But where are their children? Not one of them knows how any of us feel, and they obviously aren't interested in finding out. None of them cares. And Rumsfeld depersonalizing his signature -- it's a slap in the face, don't you think?" -- Sue Niederer, whose son, Seth, was killed in Iraq ... "Why are our forces defending other countries' borders while ours remain vulnerable? Why is our own homeland virtually undefended while we have almost 200,000 regular, Guard and Reserve troops securing Japan, South Korea and Germany -- strong, prosperous countries that at this point would have no problem protecting themselves? And how long can our badly stretched defense team continue carrying this senseless heavy burden?" -- Col. (ret.) David Hackworth
Closing words III, best Bush quote ever (until next time), Feb. 22, Brussels, Belgium: "This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table."
