Posts Tagged ‘media’
Pyramids, Plates, and Carbon Rods
Posted on: June 2, 2011
In my all-time favorite episode of the Simpsons, the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant (where Homer works) is holding the ceremony for the “Worker of the Week” award and Homer, the only employee who has never won the award, is confident he will win. But alas, his boss Mr. Burns gives the award to an ‘inanimate carbon rod’.
Later, Homer (who becomes an astronaut) is returning from a space mission with fellow-passenger Buzz Aldrin when disaster strikes in the way of an open hatch door that threatens to suck everyone out of the craft. Homer uses an inanimate rod to inadvertently seal the door shut, thereby averting tragedy.
With the problem solved, the shuttle successfully returns to Earth, making a convenient crash-landing through the roof of a press reporters’ convention. Although Buzz Aldrin declares Homer a hero, the press only have eyes for the inanimate carbon rod he used. The rod is featured on magazine covers with the headline “In Rod We Trust” and is given its own ticker-tape parade.
This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture told the media that it will unveil a new icon to better symbolize and convey healthy eating habits for Americans, doing away with the age-old and ever-changing food pyramid. Read the rest of this entry »
Just Awards?
Posted on: April 22, 2010
As a PR professional, I am charged with being a keeper of client reputation, and an evangelist for their “good works.” As a result, I am consistently on the lookout for opportunities that will allow my clients to shine– which is probably why an announcement earlier this week about a new nonprofit “award” caught my eye.
Blue Avocado and Nonprofit Online News have announced the winners of the first-ever “Just Awards,” one for Abominable Press Coverage of the Nonprofit Sector, and the other for Narcissism in Philanthropy. The panel of judges chose the Rockefeller Foundation, citing the overwhelming and relentless promotion of its president, Judith Rodin for the Narcissism in Philanthropy Award and Stephanie Strom of The New York Times received the Abominable Press Coverage Award for her November 2009 article “Charities Rise, Costing U.S. Billions in Tax Breaks.”
I won’t go into all of the nuanced reasons for their selections (if you are interested, you can read more here), but I do want to play devil’s advocate for a moment, and explore some of questions that were running through my mind while reading about their selections: Read the rest of this entry »
America needs its CNN Heroes
Posted on: November 23, 2009
Efren Peñaflorida started a “pushcart classroom” in the Philippines to bring education to poor children as an alternative to gang membership. On Saturday night, he was named CNN’s Hero of the Year in front of a star-studded Hollywood “tribute” featuring the likes of Greg Kinnear Pierce Brosnan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Neil Patrick Harris and some dude named Maxwell, who I admittedly have never heard of. The tribute, scheduled to air this Thursday night during Thanksgiving, will honor all ten of the 2009 CNN Heroes finalists.
This past Thursday, Crystal Noble asked the question in her blog: is there too much “good news” for the media? Well this massive Heroes campaign, and the 2.75 million votes that were cast for Hero of the Year, would seem to indicate otherwise. Lest there be doubt, a massive values shift is taking place in this country, and its being reflected back to us by our news organizations. Read the rest of this entry »
