Chapter 8: Ethics in the Media - "Halo 4 Presents: Doritos and Mountain Dew!"

Today in Melanie Lee Lockhart's (@Lockstep) class we had a lengthy discussion on ethics in PR, personal ethics, and how it'll eventually apply to our professional careers.

Not one hour later did I was reminded about an article I read last week that spoke of video game journalists in regards to their relationship with video game PR people. Evidently Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) a highly respected games journalist has been infamously portrayed as a bit of a whore for the Halo 4 Presents: Doritos and Mountain Dew XP Mashup For The Ages (paraphrasing their relationship, of course) with this image, courtesy of Eurogamer.net:

"Portrait of a New-age Journalist" - what is going on here?

Now, referring back to CreComm class this morning, we had an interesting scenario brought up, which I think is applicable here.

"You are the publicist for a professional sports team that will play in a pre-season exhibition game with an area team. The owner of your team suggests that you send 20 complimentary  tickets to each of the daily and weekly newspapers in the province, for distribution to their staff members. Would you send out the tickets?"

Most of the class said they found nothing wrong with sending out the tickets, although some of the class said they would rather send "Press-only" press passes for the games, so the journalists would be the only ones going, not their families or friends.

I find it interesting that there are not universal laws or rules that govern journalists or PR people when it comes to 'gifts' and 'perks' and 'freebies' etc. (unless you are a part of the CPRS or IABC) but for Journalists, it seems to differ for every organization and sometimes, every individual.

Yes, I understand that journalists need to accept video games, tickets, albums, meals, gadgets, etc for reviewing purposes. I understand that and see nothing wrong with it.

Melanie said something interesting that I'll never forget, she said (paraphrasing again, this time, not sarcastically) "Perception is reality. What the public perceives as dishonest is dishonest."

Something seems dishonest to me, about a 'well respected' journalist in a commercial for Halo 4, Mountain Dew, and Doritos. If an established, respected video game journalist is shilling Doritos and Mountain Dew as a part of some promotion for a gigantic video game, what is the public supposed to think? What is he getting out of the deal? Where is his journalistic integrity?

These days, I think the problem is, well respected/famous journalists/editorialists/reviewers/writers are, in a way, trusted public figures now, and companies want to attach themselves in the hopes of getting publicity in the form of "journalism" from these trusted "journalists".

The line is blurred between journalism and advertising and it's only getting muddier. 

As a PR person, sending a journalist your product in the hopes that it will receive coverage is not a new endeavor, but at what point does a journalist have to say "Thanks, but no thanks" and refuse to be used to further corporate agendas?

Oh... and one last thing, while we're on the topic of Halo 4, Doritos, and Mountain Dew.. 

Don't even get me started on THIS:

If this is the future, just kill me now.

                                                                                        -NxB

Playing: Bad Piggies (on the busride home) by Rovio

Watching:  Sons of Anarchy

Listening to: Childish Gambino

Chapter 7: "Livewrong" - Poor Lance. Poor, poor Lance.

Lance Armstrong has been in the news lately. Every single day there are dozens of articles written and released chronicling this once-great superstar's fall from grace.

He's stepped down from his position at the helm of Livestrong. (despite staying as a board member)

He's had all 7 Tour de France titles stripped from him.

Every former teammate has turned on him, contributing to a report with allegedly indisputable evidence of Armstrong doping.

Yet, he retains his innocence.

There's something to be said of that.

I started this whole fiasco carrying a pitchfork and a torch, too. I was the first person to tweet and retweet old quotes from Lance where he replied to his critics with a seemingly ironic and hilarious complete lack of self-awareness. Here's one gem:

“To all the cynics, I'm sorry for you, ... I'm sorry you can't believe in miracles. This is a great sporting event and hard work wins it."

Additionally, a quick Google search of Lance Armstrong Quotes brings up some Hilarious Results, given the context.

“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”

I guess he means it. He doesn't seem like he's going to quit claiming he's innocent any time soon.

“Winning is about heart, not just legs. It's got to be in the right place.”


Yes, but if your legs are pumped full of chemicals that don't let them feel tired, I bet that can help.

---

It's easy for anyone to sit back and say what a terrible person he is, that he's a cheater, a liar, an egomaniac, etc, the list of critiques can go on forever.

But let's not forget, he didn't fail a test. He didn't officially get caught cheating. He was participating within the rules of the sport he excelled in.

Remember the badminton teams during the 2012 summer Olympics that were disqualified for 'throwing' matches? This fiasco is similar to that fiasco in the sense that both parties were only doing everything they possibly could within the rules, to guarantee themselves the best possible chance of winning. Yes, it's 'against the spirit of the games' and yes it's 'frowned upon', but they didn't break any rules.

How can you fault someone for wanting to win at any cost, as long as he or she doesn't break any rules?

Did Armstrong really do anything different?

Ice-T famously said "don't hate the playa, hate the game."

I can't help but agree.

                                                                                        -NxB

Playing: Nothing. NO TIME FOR VIDEO GAMES AHHHHH

Watching:  Walking Dead Season 3

Listening to:  Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver

Chapter 6: "Journalism vs. PR" - Journey to the Dark Side

This week has been interesting.

We're learning how to write news releases in Public Relations, to give our client the best chance of being covered by various forms of mainstream media.

We also learned that news releases typically include little-to-no "news" in Journalism, and essentially, as a journalist, it is considered lazy and/or bad form to accept news releases from PR people and run their stories. For Example:

Don't hate the player, hate the game.

It's interesting to see the dichotomy between Public Relations and Journalism. They're both so similar but at the same time they both have such separate functions and intentions in the media. Our J instructor jokingly refers to PR as "The Dark Side" and I can see where he's coming from. PR represents one side of the story, typically. PR is worried primarily with its own bottom line, and in most cases, will do anything to help said bottom line. That's its function.

The problem with casting PR as The Dark Side is that the only reason PR exists is because journalists allow it to.  What I mean by that is, journalists don't have to use the news releases PR people supply them. They don't have to run the story the PR people want them to, they don't have to 'tow the company line' as it were... but it seems that because of how our news cycle is set up, because of how much content journalists are required to produce these days, they have to cut corners to keep up, and that means getting 'news' from wherever they possibly can, whenever they possibly can.

Consumers are constantly bombarded by breaking news, updates, tweets, photos, stories, articles, blogs, etc. Every day. 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. There is a serious quality vs. quantity discussion that we need to have, because when you take a look at some of the crap we're being fed on a daily basis, the direction things are going needs to change. Consumers need to start caring about the quality of news they are consuming.

As soon as news media was made into a for-profit business, everything went to hell.

Multiple privately owned 24-hour news channels means multiple channels with 24 hours of time to fill. A newspaper every day means tons of space to fill, as well. On top of that, there are dwindling numbers of Actual Journalists (with a capitol J) to fill all the time/space. PR takes advantage of this fact, and is cast in a sinister light because of it.

I love having these conversations, but every time we do, I come to the conclusion that Journalism simply isn't done how it used to be done and it's still (d)evolving. The question is, what side of the fence am I going to be on when all this is said and done.

                                                                                        -NxB

Playing: Bad Piggies by Rovio 

Watching:  Dexter

Listening to:  Hopsin - The Ill Mind of Hopsin 5

Chapter 5: "Shock Stunts" -A human flesh butcher shop?

Resident Evil is making headlines again. The franchise began as a video game way back in 1996, developed by Capcom, and has since grown into a world famous juggernaut. Books, action figures, comics, multiple blockbuster movies, you name it, RE has done it.

So, in a recent Public Relations campaign, the RE franchise did something that many people are calling The Grossest and Grimmest PR Stunt Ever.

Quick disclaimer: If you have a weak stomach or are easily grossed out, don't click on any of the following links.

Resident Evil 6 launched mere days ago and to support the launch and drum up some media attention, Capcom sponsored a PR Stunt labelled Wesker & Son Wholesale Meats, a make-believe butcher shop that sells "human" flesh.

Via cakeheadlovesevil.wordpress.com/ Go to her blog for the really disturbing images.

Emma Thomas (aka Miss Cakehead (cakeheadlovesevil.wordpress.com/)) is the London-based creative director of this Shock Stunt and her previous publicity stunts have been known to be a bit on the edgy side as well.

Her blog has pages and pages of pseudo-disturbing shock art and exhibits, but the Resident Evil stunt seems to be the one that got most mainstream press coverage.

Dozens of news media sites and video game sites covered the shock stunt because as far as bizarre news goes, this is one of the most bizarre/newsworthy publicity stunts in recent memory.

PR Stunts are a great way to get press coverage and you can be sure that people who were unfamiliar with the Resident Evil franchise were made aware because of this stunt. But... is it too far? Is there such a thing as too far?

I'm reminded of PETA and their constant attempts at shock stunts, there's even A Top Ten List of PETA's best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) publicity stunts ever.

I'm not easily offended but the human carcasses packaged in a butcher shop definitely gave me pause, especially the "offal" picture. If you clicked the link, you know what I mean. Pretty disturbing stuff.

Again I ask... Is this going too far? Is there an ethical boundary Miss Cakehead is crossing?  Have there been other advertising campaigns or PR stunts that offended you? If so, what were they?

It's too bad RE6 is getting lackluster reviews from various websites but I suppose once in awhile, promotion for a product can sometimes become more (in)famous than the product itself.

                                                                                        -NxB

Playing: Guild Wars 2 by ArenaNet 

Watching:  Sons of Anarchy Season 5 (finally caught up!)

Listening to:  Coda - Mae Dae