David Zapolsky, Amazon’s general counsel and a corporate officer, thought it a great idea to publicly trash a warehouse supervisor with only a high school degree, calling the worker “not smart or articulate.” The worker, Christian Smalls, may lack Zapolsky’s Ivy League education, but thanks to a leaked memo he’s out finessed Amazon’s entire senior management. Yet another example of what happens when lawyers gain control of a company’s PR practices.
Chuck Todd, Jim Acosta, and the rest of the White House press corps would do America a great service if they stepped aside and let L.A. anchor Alex Cohen handle Donald Trump’s daily coronavirus briefings. Cohen has the talent, temperament, and temerity to engage Donald Trump and expose truths about the president that would be undeniable even to his longtime supporters. Donald Trump talks tough, but he’s no match for the tattooed roller derby terror infamously known as “Axels of Evil.”
While many journalists on Saturday were suffering bees in their bonnets because President Trump was disrespectful to NBC correspondent Peter Alexander, veteran Wall Street Journal reporter Jacob Schlesinger was busy reporting out the story White House correspondents have coveted for years but didn’t appreciate was out there: Donald Trump’s admission of failure.
Even in the midst of a global pandemic, some journalists still want to make themselves the story. NBC correspondent Peter Alexander has called attention to himself so it’s fair game to shed some light on the compromised network he works for.
It’s tragic and necessary but the measures required to prevent the spread of the coronavirus are going to kill more Americans than the disease itself.
U.S. airlines are reportedly negotiating a $50 billion bailout with the Trump Administration. I say: Let them eat the stale, salted peanuts they deserve.
Journalists are supposed to speak truth to power. They are admirably relentless when it comes to taking on political leaders and advocating the PC-correct causes they passionately believe in. But when it comes to speaking out against institutional wrongdoing within their own organizations or challenging the leadership that oversees them, too often they become meek little lambs. The “journalists” at ABC News are a case in point.
Israel is on the verge of developing the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. If Bernie Sanders’s biggest supporters had their way, U.S. pharmaceutical companies would be prohibited from licensing it.
Why I’m saddened to support Michael Bloomberg.
Bernie Sanders’ emergence as the Democratic frontrunner is yet another blow to the media’s credibility. What should have journalists running scared is that Trump and Sanders supporters share a common disdain for the media, and they have fared quite well despite negative coverage. If Mike Bloomberg and his people don’t quickly learn from the example, they likely are headed for defeat.
People who recline their seats on airplanes say their behavior is justified because airlines allow the practice. Here’s my explanation: They’re just plain selfish.
World leaders on Monday marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp with calls warning against the rise of global antisemitism. A day earlier, Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib promoted a false “blood libel” claim that Jews murdered a Palestinian child in Jerusalem. Jewish leaders demanded that Tlaib apologize. Here’s why I’m glad she didn’t.
Boeing’s grounded 737 MAX, which experienced two crashes and claimed 346 lives, was a cost saving move to tweak an existing airplane design rather than develop a new plane from scratch. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that nearly half of the Boeing directors who approved the initiative have ties to private equity. One of them is David Calhoun, who took over as Boeing’s CEO on Monday.
The flying public can take great comfort knowing that Calhoun is an accountant by training, as are two of the three Boeing directors who comprise the board’s aerospace safety committee. What more could possibly go wrong?
Most PR professionals will tell you the importance of getting out before the media and telling your story. Harvey Weinstein and his advisors offer a case study as to why that’s sometimes a very bad idea.
Yale faculty psychiatrist Bandy X Lee wants medical health professionals to have the final say on who’s fit to serve as president, preferably before candidates can run for office. Had the Constitution’s framers allowed for such a panel, Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy would have been deemed mentally unfit, as would Pete Buttgieg prior to December 1973. Nazi Germany provided a lesson as to what can happen when psychiatrists are allowed inordinate influence on the political process.
Mike Bloomberg on Christmas Eve immediately terminated his campaign’s involvement with a call center staffed with inmates after The Intercept reported on the initiative. While it’s possible Bloomberg’s campaign used exploited prison workers, Microsoft and other Fortune 500 technology companies are proudly involved with programs that successfully give inmates second chances. Here’s an example of the potential damaged caused when reporters make assumptions about issues they know little or nothing about.
If a Pulitzer Prize was awarded to the reporter who most rallied Donald Trump’s supporters, Washington Post’s Rachael Bade would be the journalist to beat.
My commentary in support and solidarity with the countless Air Canada passengers in 222 cities on six continents who found themselves in travel hell these past few weeks. Maybe it’s time Canadians rebelled against corporate monopolies that exploit their tolerance and good nature.
New York Times readers say the Trump presidency has impaired their health, including a New Jersey woman who blames Trump for her 20-pound weight gain and her inability to focus on anything but voter turnout. A Columbia University sociologist has quantified why Times readers are so distraught, and the Justice Department’s inspector general last week confirmed the Times and other major media published “fake news.” Some tips to avoid the Times’ carefully honed digital ensnarement.
Reporters are doing Donald Trump proud with their dishonest attempts to smear and discredit Clint Eastwood’s upcoming movie dramatizing one of the biggest debacles in journalism history. Here’s why Eastwood has performed a great public service, and how the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s choice of attorney makes a mockery of the media’s supposed embracement of the #MeToo movement.
This month marks the fourth anniversary of my relocation to Los Angeles, a city I long romanticized after boarding a flight on a frigid Michigan morning years ago and walking around a few hours later in balmy 70-degree weather. Visiting the City of Angels is a lot more pleasant than living here.
Today being Thanksgiving, I thought I’d give public acknowledgment and thanks to the dozens of individuals who routinely enhance my life and make my daily grind more enjoyable.
When it came to my primary healthcare, I had a charmed life during my time in New York and San Francisco. In New York, where I lived for more than 20 years, my primary care doctor was Harry Lodge, a distinguished Columbia medical school professor, a best-selling author, and the…
If you can judge a person by the company they keep, it speaks volumes that President Trump surrounds himself with people who want to undermine or destroy him. From the moment Trump stepped foot in the White House, there has been a continuous stream of media leaks from anonymous aides…
Congressional hearings of CEOs under fire make for great television, but that’s pretty much all they are good for. My favorite inquisitor is California’s Katie Porter, whose takedown of Equifax CEO Mark Begor was such a delight I’ve watched it multiple times. Begor is still Equifax’s CEO. This week it…
Even before I learned about Ken Fisher’s crudeness and disregard for the lessons of the #MeToo movement, I’d have nothing to do with his eponymous firm. For seemingly forever, Fisher Investments has been junking up my mailbox with slick flyers touting the founder’s investment prowess. When it comes to money…
Jen Agg, a Canadian restauranteur, recently had a rant published in the Globe and Mail decrying “Best” lists of restaurants and bars. Here’s a taste (pardon the pun) of what she wrote: I have always been suspicious of lists. From Michelin to En Route to Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants, they…
I’m often accused of being too black and white in my thinking. My skepticism about ESG, a popular form of socially responsible investing, is a case in point. I applaud those who wish to apply moral considerations when investing in public entities, but companies comprising the biggest holdings of Vanguard’s…
I tried, dear reader, I honestly tried. I’ve been working mightily to channel my inner Dale Carnegie these past few weeks trying to affirm what’s good, avoiding criticizing others, and acting with kindness. But less than a month away from the Jewish Day of Atonement, God decided to test me…
A conversation on Sunday made me vow I’d never again write a critical story about the media. Someone whose opinion and values I greatly respect chastised me for my slew of very negative commentaries I’ve recently posted questioning journalism integrity and practices. “The media performs a very critical function, particularly…
Accountants are the Rodney “I don’t get no respect” Dangerfield of the professional services industry. I know this because my father was the senior partner of a Toronto accounting firm and I learned about the abuse he took despite his unrivaled knowledge of Canada’s tax code. A former senior partner…
Back in 1965, an unknown young attorney named Ralph Nader published a bestselling book called “Unsafe at Any Speed,” accusing American automakers of being resistant to safety features like seat belts and questioning the design of a GM car called the Corvair. In those days, allegations that American companies would…
When I moved to Boston to attend graduate school, my uncle living there worked in the book publishing business. He saw infinite beauty in books, not just the information contained between the covers but the covers themselves and how they were bound. He was appalled by the stack of newspapers…
Here’s some PR counsel you can take to the bank: There is no such thing as an “off-the-record” conversation with a reporter. In fact, often the best way to get a story out is to incessantly repeat the information you are providing is hush-hush and on the QT. Here’s how…
George Washington University associate professor David Karpf hopefully enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame. Karpf’s tweet on Tuesday likening New York Times columnist Bret Stephens to a “bedbug” garnered the prof national media attention and ultimately drove Stephens off the social media site. Donald Trump piled on, demonstrating once again…
The mark of a great newspaper is if it handles its embarrassments with integrity. The Wall Street Journal set the standard in 1984 with its no-holds-barred reporting on a staff writer it discovered was leaking market-sensitive story information to a stockbroker. The story contained myriad details that were embarrassing to…
WARNING: This blog post discusses and links to offensive content a New York Times senior editor deemed fit to print. The New York Times employs an avowed antisemitic senior political editor. That’s not my opinion but rather the admission of Tom Wright-Piersanti, whose decade-old tweets this week were uncovered by…
When I migrated from journalism to PR decades ago, I was appalled at services major firms were promising but I knew couldn’t deliver. I shared my dismay with my father, a brilliant businessman who I always turned to for counsel and advice. He was neither sympathetic nor supportive. “Bullshit sells,”…
I’m bad at math, much to the chagrin of my father, an award-winning accountant who rarely used a calculator or slide rule because he could process numbers faster in his head. I long blamed my algebraic impairment for my inability to analyze a balance sheet, but GE CEO Larry Culp…
The Forward, a storied 122-year-old publication founded in New York City by Yiddish-speaking Democratic Socialists, recently announced that former New York Times editor Jodi Rudoren will oversee the newspaper’s editorial operations. Rudoren has impressive credentials, but the appointment announcement by publisher Rachel Fishman Fedderson has me worried. The announcement notes…
Silicon Valley’s tech denizens fancy themselves as above reproach liberal do-gooders, disrupting antiquated business models and government regulations for the betterment of genderfluidkind, a term I imagine they’d prefer to “mankind.” Donald Trump is among the greatest things to happen to the Valley since the creation of the microchip because…
Careful readers of this blog (of which there aren’t yet as many as I’d like) know that I’m no fan of Equinox Fitness, the swanky, ridiculously overpriced gym chain catering to celebrities, wannabes, and the self-absorbed. I’m also no fan of Stephen Ross, who I briefly met at a reception…
Fortune magazine four years ago published what easily ranks among the best investigative features of all time, an in-depth examination of the devastating cyberattack launched against Sony Pictures. The attack erased everything stored on about half of Sony’s personal computers and servers. A deleting algorithm overwrote the data seven different…
I confess my wariness of the political media distracted me from the “character” of Donald Trump. Count me among the two-thirds of Americans who perceive journalists as promoting their personal agendas rather than objectively reporting the news. The more the media tarred Trump a racist, a fascist, or whatever ist…
Margaret Wente, a U.S.-born columnist for Canada’s Globe and Mail, wrote a commentary in February pondering how to prevent the populist movement overtaking the politics of her adopted country the way it has in the U.S. and much of Europe. Canada would seem fertile ground for populism: Twenty percent of…
It was the call I long feared and dreaded. “Dad has taken a bad turn and the doctors say it’s only a matter of hours,” my eldest sister Janie advised on that early February 2014 morning. “You need to get to Toronto as soon as possible.” Driving home the severity…
There’s a super upscale L.A. area food emporium that makes Whole Foods look like a 7-11. It’s called Erewhon, and while the quality of its food is unrivaled, so are its prices. A donut costs $7 (okay, it’s gluten free, vegan, organic, made with toctrienols, superfoods, and 10 grams of…
When I was a still youthful reporter at The (Montreal) Gazette, a top editor at the newspaper nabbed me in the hallway and suggested I do a story about the state of Canada’s banking industry. Two small western Canadian banks had recently failed, and the editor thought it wise to…
Millennials and Gen Z fashion themselves as being driven by their morals when purchasing goods and services. According to a survey by Deloitte, many “will not hesitate to lessen or end a relationship when they disagree with a company’s business practices, values, or political leanings.” Understandably, corporate America is falling…
Technology has long been my enemy. The torment began in junior high when I was forced to take a computer science class and master an understanding of now obsolete punch cards used to store digital data. I hated that class more than I hated shop, and the tech gods have…
Darryll Bolduc, a former Charlotte bond trader who became a whistleblower long before there were riches to be had from the practice, was among the people I proudly represented when I worked in PR. Bolduc was fired after alerting NationsBank (which merged with Bank of America) of what he believed…
I’m in the process of planning my funeral. Relax, I’m hopefully not checking out soon. I’m just a control freak, especially when it comes to my travel accommodations. If I leave it to my family, I could end up back in my native Toronto. After three years in L.A., I’d…
My elusive search for a meaningful yoga practice began nearly three decades ago when I was living on New York’s Upper East Side. I was looking to meet spiritually minded people and, in those days, yoga was associated with the crunchy granola set. The practice was still sufficiently foreign that…
If it were not for a senior editor at Fortune agreeing to meet me for lunch about ten years ago, I would have never discovered the wonders of a Danny Meyer restaurant. Journalists have champagne tastes (at least when someone else is buying), and the editor suggested we meet at…
Jews have long been great storytellers. The tradition began in the BC era with Moses’ publication of his five-book anthology “The Bible,” a record bestseller. We’ve been on a roll ever since. Acclaimed Jewish novelists of more recent times included Philip Roth, Saul Bellow, Franz Kafka, Herman Wouk, and Joseph…
Summer has begun and millions of tourists will soon be swarming San Francisco, Napa, Big Sur, and other California scenic wonders. I welcome these guests (providing they don’t decide to move here), but I’m honor bound to share a secret California’s tourism bureau wants to keep quiet. For some tourists,…
My intentions weren’t entirely honorable when I struck up my first conversation with Charles Zook eight years ago. He was sitting next to me poolside at an unconventional retreat in Northern California, and I was admiring the redheaded woman he was with. She was naturally pretty, poised, and exuded intelligence.…
I wouldn’t want to mess with Greg Glassman, the founder and CEO of CrossFit. You might mistakenly perceive CrossFit as just a gritty gym in your neighborhood, but it’s a global network of 15,000 facilities in 160 countries, generating an estimated $100 million in revenues. Glassman is reportedly also worth…
I dreamed of owning a dog from the moment I watched my first episode of Lassie. For those born after the series ended in 1973, it was a TV show about the heroic adventures of a Collie named Lassie who was always rescuing people and saving them from misfortune. Lassie…
In his book “The Other Side of the Story” about his dealings with the media, Jody Powell, President Carter’s press secretary, presciently observed that if Americans knew the people responsible for covering the news, they wouldn’t believe anything they read. In Powell’s day, cable news was in its infancy and…
I’m a journalist and television pilot writer. I previously was president of a New York City-based PR and crisis communications firm. Earlier, I was a business reporter with major newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. I also worked as an advertising copywriter. Born and raised in Toronto, I’ve lived in London (the one famous for snowsqualls), Montreal, Boston, Detroit, New York, San Francisco, and Marin County. I post regularly on LinkedIn and can be reached at: