Comments for Good Guanxi http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com A blog about China and Communications Tue, 02 Nov 2010 21:53:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Comment on “Looming crisis for PR in China” by Richard http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=137#comment-78 Richard Tue, 02 Nov 2010 21:53:50 +0000 http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=137#comment-78 David, the issue of whether PR people should give reporters pre-digested, ready-to-run stories that reporters are all to eager to print word for word leads to much larger questions, such as the very role of the PR practitioner and how they are supposed to work with the media. The PR mindset - and i think this is universal - is to get the reporter what they want, while trying to convince the reporter to include their client's messages in the story. To what extent is the PR person responsible for the behavior of lazy reporters, and should they refuse to give reporters what they want and expect, like a copy/paste story? In the US, the closer a reporter's story is to our press release the more delighted the PR person is. Should this be different in China, and should PR people activly discourage reporters from running their releases verbatim? These are rhetorical questions and I'm not sure there's any right answers. But it's an intriguing issue, with lots of "chicken-and-egg" scenarios. David, the issue of whether PR people should give reporters pre-digested, ready-to-run stories that reporters are all to eager to print word for word leads to much larger questions, such as the very role of the PR practitioner and how they are supposed to work with the media. The PR mindset – and i think this is universal – is to get the reporter what they want, while trying to convince the reporter to include their client’s messages in the story. To what extent is the PR person responsible for the behavior of lazy reporters, and should they refuse to give reporters what they want and expect, like a copy/paste story? In the US, the closer a reporter’s story is to our press release the more delighted the PR person is. Should this be different in China, and should PR people activly discourage reporters from running their releases verbatim? These are rhetorical questions and I’m not sure there’s any right answers. But it’s an intriguing issue, with lots of “chicken-and-egg” scenarios.

]]> Comment on “Looming crisis for PR in China” by David Wolf http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=137#comment-76 David Wolf Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:45:52 +0000 http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=137#comment-76 Richard, thanks for the post. I agree with you that the red envelope practice surfs a thin ethical line, and I'm planning another post to take this issue apart. As to writing stories for the reporter, while the bulk of the culpability lies with the reporter, the agency is actively enabling a practice that undermines the development of China's profession of journalism. Any reporter too lazy or incompetent to write a story when an agency is prepared to hand him a unique angle, a quote, some examples, and a supporting message doesn't belong in journalism, doesn't belong on a company's media list, and should be left to sink and go find some other line of work. If a PR agency can help cull the herd by demanding a little competence from reporters, our jobs will get easier and better much faster. Thanks again for the post. Richard, thanks for the post. I agree with you that the red envelope practice surfs a thin ethical line, and I’m planning another post to take this issue apart.

As to writing stories for the reporter, while the bulk of the culpability lies with the reporter, the agency is actively enabling a practice that undermines the development of China’s profession of journalism. Any reporter too lazy or incompetent to write a story when an agency is prepared to hand him a unique angle, a quote, some examples, and a supporting message doesn’t belong in journalism, doesn’t belong on a company’s media list, and should be left to sink and go find some other line of work. If a PR agency can help cull the herd by demanding a little competence from reporters, our jobs will get easier and better much faster.

Thanks again for the post.

]]> Comment on “The murky side of Chinese PR” by “Looming crisis for PR in China” | Good Guanxi http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-75 “Looming crisis for PR in China” | Good Guanxi Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:58:12 +0000 http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-75 [...] watcher and geek David Wolf on his great blog Silicon Hutong. This post is based on the same story I referred to last week, namely the scandal of China dairy giant Mengniu using its PR agency to damage its competitors with [...] [...] watcher and geek David Wolf on his great blog Silicon Hutong. This post is based on the same story I referred to last week, namely the scandal of China dairy giant Mengniu using its PR agency to damage its competitors with [...]

]]> Comment on “The murky side of Chinese PR” by Richard http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-52 Richard Fri, 22 Oct 2010 13:50:16 +0000 http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-52 Jenny, thanks a lot for alerting me to the story. Jenny, thanks a lot for alerting me to the story.

]]> Comment on “The murky side of Chinese PR” by Jenny Chu http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-50 Jenny Chu Fri, 22 Oct 2010 04:09:55 +0000 http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-50 I knew you would acquiesce to the demands of your adoring fans at last I knew you would acquiesce to the demands of your adoring fans at last

]]> Comment on “The murky side of Chinese PR” by Richard http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-48 Richard Fri, 22 Oct 2010 03:04:09 +0000 http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-48 That's a real bargain, Bob! Your post about this provides a valuable primer for anyone seeking to understand how word-of-mouth in China can be manipulated and abused. That’s a real bargain, Bob! Your post about this provides a valuable primer for anyone seeking to understand how word-of-mouth in China can be manipulated and abused.

]]> Comment on “The murky side of Chinese PR” by Bob Page http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-47 Bob Page Fri, 22 Oct 2010 02:09:30 +0000 http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-47 Scary post, Richard. There was a Sina.com story in December 2009 that said smearing your competitor in China costs about $3,000 to $8,000. Here's a summary. http://www.mercurybrief.com/2009/12/astroturfing-in-china/ Scary post, Richard. There was a Sina.com story in December 2009 that said smearing your competitor in China costs about $3,000 to $8,000. Here’s a summary.
http://www.mercurybrief.com/2009/12/astroturfing-in-china/

]]> Comment on “The murky side of Chinese PR” by Tweets that mention “The murky side of Chinese PR” | Good Guanxi -- Topsy.com http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-44 Tweets that mention “The murky side of Chinese PR” | Good Guanxi -- Topsy.com Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:00:00 +0000 http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=110#comment-44 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Richard Burger, Gady Epstein and Erin Ennis, Marian Tobias Wirth. Marian Tobias Wirth said: RT @gadyepstein: RT @ThePekingDuck: “The murky side of Chinese PR” - new blog post: http://bit.ly/9TWEbS Nasty stuff. [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Richard Burger, Gady Epstein and Erin Ennis, Marian Tobias Wirth. Marian Tobias Wirth said: RT @gadyepstein: RT @ThePekingDuck: “The murky side of Chinese PR” – new blog post: http://bit.ly/9TWEbS Nasty stuff. [...]

]]> Comment on My interview with the Valley PR Blog by TJ Walker http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=102#comment-42 TJ Walker Thu, 21 Oct 2010 11:32:47 +0000 http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=102#comment-42 Good job! I hope it generates interest in your expertise. So few westerners have what you have. Good job! I hope it generates interest in your expertise. So few westerners have what you have.

]]> Comment on My interview with the Valley PR Blog by Richard http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=102#comment-38 Richard Tue, 19 Oct 2010 02:54:56 +0000 http://blog.chinamediastrategies.com/?p=102#comment-38 Thanks, Linda. Thanks, Linda.

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