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Thought Leader Q&A
Edelman's Steve Rubel Switches from Blog to Lifestream
I spoke with Rubel a couple months ago when he was visiting San Francisco for the Ad:tech conference. We met at B Restaurant near Moscone Center and I interviewed him with my Flip camera. We talked about his balancing act as a blogger/journalist/PR person, how PR is shifting with the advent of social media, and what lessons Edelman and Edelman's client Wal-Mart have learned from previous missteps online.
more »Your Take
Wal-Mart 'Flogs' Par for the PR Course
All blogs are not created equal, and many of them are not transparent in their athenticity either. Sometimes we are hoodwinked, we want to believe, but we are deceived by what have become known as "flogs" or fake blogs, bought and paid for by someone else. In the case of our hot topic of the week, it's Edelman PR creating multiple flogs to tout Wal-Mart, including Wal-Marting Across America wherein our two heroes traipse around the country in a RV in praise of Wal-Mart. Surprise, surprise, their trip was funded by Edelman on behalf of Wal-Mart.
more »Your Take
What do you think about the fake Wal-Mart blogs by Edelman PR?
Right now, the most searched-for term on blog search engine Technorati is "Edelman." Why? Usually even negative media mentions are good PR, but in this case, the Edelman PR firm has been under attack from the blogosphere for helping to run three pro-Wal-Mart blogs without being transparent about their involvement. One of those blogs, Wal-Marting Across America, turned out to be a paid gig for the "average couple" that was taking an RV tour of the U.S. and staying in Wal-Mart parking lots. Worse, the photographer half of the couple was Jim Thresher, whose day job was at the Washington Post. He was outed by the Wal-Mart Watch blog and was forced by his employer to take down his photos and return payment from the Working Families for Wal-Mart (a group set up by Edelman).
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