Got a problem? Blame Marketing...

Blame marketing, blame advertising, blame public relations....but for the love of god don't blame yourself.

A recent blog post from the well-known Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine, Chris Anderson, had my blood boiling this afternoon.

Media bias has attracted quite a bit of attention amongst university scholars and independent watchdog organizations. These organizations have many questioning the validity of the news they receive and ask that readers take the time to evaluate what they're reading. Recent scandals, such as those of Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass, have helped put highy respected publications like the New York Times in a negative light.

So how do journalists alleviate the situation -- they perpetuate the stereotype!

Yesterday, Chris Anderson posted a blog outing over a hundred PR representatives for sending press release spam. While the argument is completely valid, the means in which he outed them was tasteless and un-neccessary helping to further a stereotype that is unjustified and unsubstantiated.

Do PR professionals fuck up? YES! Do some PR professionals abuse their privelleges and try to sell a product that's less than perfect? Of course. Does this mean that all PR professionals are liars that do nothing but "bother everyone else"? Absolutely Not!

PR professionals are no more lying, conniving, or manipulative then reporters are biased, snotty, and inaccurate. It's the exception to the rule....but you would never get that from Chris's post.

Instead of offering a solution, Chris threw a big fat wrench at the problem. Yes, PR professionals should make it a point to research the reporters they are trying to target. And yes, PR professionals should never mass-distribute press releases without carefully anlayzing their target lists. But at the same time it's not just a PR problem.

As mentioned in the comments following the post, journalism and PR requires a symbotic relationship to effectively get things done. Reporters could do their part to ensure that their beat, and contact information is readily available to PR professionals. They could also offer tips and best methods for getting in contact them.

It's absolutely imperative that both industries take accountability for their actions instead of simply passing the buck.

Immaturely outing their emails on a blog is not only cold, spiteful and vindictive -- but it's also damaging and completely unnecessary.

I would expect more from an editor as widely respected and acknowledged in the industry as Chris Anderson.

Home Improvement

So I've been doing a lot of watching of Home Improvement on Nick at Nite recently and it's become quite apparent to me how much crazy gender stereotyping they do in the show.

It's blatant...

Tim is the complete alpha male. He embodies everything that is man -- tools, cars, grunting, sports, and greasy food. Naturally since he's male he's also illogical, fanatic, dim-witted and accident prone.

Then there's Jill the docile-ish female. She's like a modern take on June Cleaver -- she can't cook but she sews costumes and teaches her boys how to dance, she's not a "stay-at-home" mom but she doesn't have a job and is on a constant quest to become a psychologist...but you know she never will. Like all woman she's overly sensitive, catty, needy and demanding/ "the nag."

And I think Wilson is androgenous....he's half man and female. I don't know what they were trying to do there.

MySims

Mike decided to purchase me a present for all my help with the grading and what not.

Guess what he bought me? Guess.....

MySims for the Wii!!!!!!!

haha.