Ze’ev Jabotinsky, a great Jewish leader had the following great quote:  “A newspaper is a grand thing,” Jabotinsky wrote in 1932. “There is no labor of higher worth than that of the journalist, whether he writes instructional articles or reports on a robbery that took place yesterday in the slums. Like the function of the blood circulating through the body, or like the function of commerce in the international market, so is the function of journalism in the realm of the spirit…Who were the first to teach us to always interfere in matters that are not ours, to judge people and nations, even though we were never chosen for the position of judge? The work of the publicist is a legacy from the Prophets of Israel…Our passion is to speak, to proclaim—“Shouting” is what the same audience calls it, ‘we have no need for words, give us actions.’ One thing that audience forgets is that speech is also an action – Perhaps the most authentic of all other actions. Cities have been destroyed, and more will fall, but what was shouted in the wilderness thousands of years ago is alive and still relevant. The world was created by the Word. The world will be mended by the Article.” Ze’ev Jabotinsky was a journalist who published many articles and books.

“Publicity geniuses are different from you and me. They have the stomach for it. This temperamental combination of imperviousness and egomania that allows them, compels them, to dominate the media . . . means, too, that they dominate reality, that’s their world and we just . . . well you know.” Michael Wolff, writing in Vanity Fair

“The public relations warriors fought and lost Monte Carlo’s Battle of the Magazine Covers.” John Vinocur

“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” Malcolm X

I love quotes and found these on media and public relations to be thought provoking and interesting.

Ronn Torossian is the CEO of 5WPR, a leading Public Relations Agency.

PUBLIC RELATIONS DEFINED

• Hold your breath, the Public Relations Society of America has formally defined Public Relations (after months of debates, voting and suggestions) as: “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”
  • Sounds like they read my Public Relations book: “For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations” and the definition which stated:
    • Great pub•lic re•la•tions \’grāt p˘ub’l˘ık rı˘-lā’sh ens\ n pl: 1. helps make the impersonal personal. 2. bridges divides.3. creates excitement and builds equity for businesses, personalities, politicians, and others.

The PRSA said that it’s the “beginning of an ongoing, sustained discussion about what it is the public relations industry does.” It’s something our industry – PR Agencies and in-house PR teams alike needs more of – and something I have plenty to say about – and will comment on extensively shortly. And I write about it plenty in my book which can be purchased at:

http://www.amazon.com/Immediate-Release-Deliver-Game-Changing-Relations/dp/1936661160

• Interesting read about PR stunts and Sheriff Joe Arpaio: “There may be nobody in Arizona better at ginning up publicity than Sheriff Joe Arpaio. During his 20 years in office, the flamboyant Republican icon has proved time and again that he knows how to get his name in the news.” http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/the_6_weirdest_publicity_stunts_of_sheriff_joe_arpaios_career.php

To start 2012 right heres a book excerpt from “For Immediate Release”, the new book by Ronn Torossian.  Owing a crisis PR agency, I found this to be a major success in the world of crisis PR. My book can be purchased at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/for-immediate-release-ronn-torossian/1102047620

Hit the Books and Get Rid of the Problem
Here’s a sordid story that you’ve probably not heard about on
CNN or Fox News. Philip H. Brown, a tenured economics professor
at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, resigned from
the school after the institution announced it was either that or
he’d be fired because he’d violated students’ privacy. What was
the violation? Oh, it’s a doozy—perfect for tabloid journalism.
On a trip to China in 2011, Brown placed a webcam in the bathrooms
his female students would be using. As they traveled from
province to province, the professor had apparently enlisted an
unwitting student to place a first-aid kit containing a hidden
webcam in the bathrooms.

The professor’s spying was uncovered when one of his students
discovered a photo of her unclad bottom in the trash bin
of Brown’s laptop, a computer that all students on the trip shared
with their teacher. She had been searching the computer’s hard
drive for a document she had inadvertently deleted.
Colby College president William Adams wrote to students
and employees in late January that Brown had resigned after college
officials told him they were prepared to fire him. Adams
didn’t wait until Brown returned from the trip; he called him
in China a day after receiving a complaint about the photos
and verifying the claim was true. Adams also admitted that the
matter had prompted an investigation by law enforcement, and
that the college was cooperating fully with police.

In his letter to students and faculty, Adams also stated that
the well-being of students was the college’s “utmost priority” and
that “we do not and will not tolerate behavior that is antithetical
to the fundamental values of our community. We take this
matter very seriously. We took prompt action to address it, and
we will continue to support the affected students in ways that are
respectful of their privacy.”

Adams acted swiftly to reassure students, cooperated with
the police investigation, and most important of all, got rid of the
professor despite the fact that he had tenure, which allowed
the story to stay local and within the academic community. It
went away fairly quickly and became a story of a perverted
professor, rather than a problem with the university. School
officials rightfully distanced themselves from the conflict and
made the issue about Brown.

Had the college dithered, the story would have had legs—lots
of them. The college’s actions would have aroused suspicion and
interest from outside journalists, and what has remained a shortlived
local story might have become a national story, as well as the
butt of the obligatory late-night jokes. It could have cost the college
significant fund-raising dollars and state and federal grant money,
and resulted in diminished enrollment. It would have affected not
only Colby College’s reputation but also the personal reputation
of its president; scandal tends to rub off on the people surrounding
it. And it would have, had he not done the right thing.

“For Immediate Release” by Ronn Torossian, 5WPR CEO

It is essential that businesses know how to communicate quickly, often preemptively, and effectively to survive—and at a cost that is far lower than comparable marketing and ad campaigns. The first book by the owner of a top 50 PR agency, For Immediate Release, Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5WPR reveals how public relations can do just that—while also defining brands; helping companies and individuals court the press or avoid it; growing business without alienating loyal customers; resolving crises quickly; and improving first page results on the most powerful search engine in the world (Google).

For Immediate Release will show you how to:

• Frame the debate and control the conversation
• Use new and old media in tandem to find your audiences and create highly personal, relevant impressions tailored for them
• Promote the interests of your brand or business; deter or potentially stop what is not in your interest
• Build on great press, and avoid or minimize bad press
• Ensure the first thing people see about your business or brand during an Internet search is exactly what you want them to see
• Handle a crisis in the most effective and efficient manner

Stay Connected with Ronn Torossian

During these dog days of August wanted to take a few minutes to share some quotes about the PR industry….

 

“If a young man tells his date how handsome, smart and successful he is — that’s advertising. If the young man tells his date she’s intelligent, looks lovely, and is a great conversationalist, he’s saying the right things to the right person and that’s marketing. If someone else tells the young woman how handsome, smart and successful her date is – that’s PR.”   -S. H. Simmons

 

“Publicity is the life of this culture.  Without publicity capitalism could not survive and at the same time publicity is its dream.” –John Berger

 

“What kills the skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” –Abraham Lincoln

 

“Publicity is a great purifier because it sets in action the forces of public opinion, and in this country public opinion controls the courses of the nation.”  –Charles Evans Hughes

 

“Without publicity there can be no public support, and without public support every nation must decay.” –Benjamin Disraeli

Ronn Torossian

5WPR