Luncheon Speaker Delivers Advice to PR Students
By Sarah Pisack
Debbie Frost, director of global communications and public affairs at Facebook, related her experience and advice as the luncheon speaker at PR Day Thursday.
Debbie shared her experiences at her former jobs including Google, along with what she has been working on with Facebook. She used these stories as examples of how far hard work and a passion for communications can get someone in public relations.
Frost spoke about her experiences with Google when the company started to move into China, explaining the many ethical dilemmas involved with working with a repressive government.
Working along the lines of the Chinese government and aiding in public censorship brought Google a lot of heat publicly. Frost said the public’s uneasy feelings made the job extremely difficult from a public relations perspective, but that it was good for an American company to” have a foot in the door to China.”
She said “When you make a decision you need to stand by it publicly,” even if you’re “wringing your hands” behind the scenes.
Frost pointed out the importance of keeping in mind the company’s values when making decisions, and to use those values as an ethical guideline for when sticky situations such as these arise.
Her work with Google was exhausting and she says she almost quit altogether after leaving the company, but then she was offered a position with Facebook where she is currently employed.
At Facebook Frost still faces many challenges, especially since the company is only recently starting to act like a global company. This transition provides internal challenges such as miscommunication.
She said Facebook will move to launch something new “and not even tell the PR people,” at times making the job more difficult than necessary.
As Facebook continues to grow globally, another public relations challenge has been the public’s overwhelming number of opinions regarding any changes made to the site.
Frost related how people “lost it” just when a different news feed on the site was launched, but they simply waited for people to come around instead of changing it back. She said “You can use communications to take people where you want them to go.”
She advised that the trick to launching different changes is to have a plan for when people “freak” and to tell them far in advance.
Frost has been with Facebook for over a year and says that she enjoys being there, but can’t be certain where she will be in five years.
In closing she said “It’s always good to have a 2 year plan, but not to plan further because things change quickly, especially in tech,” reminding students that skills in public relations are transferrable.
Frost offered many words of wisdom in her luncheon speech, giving students a realistic idea of work in public relations and what it is like to face different professional challenges.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
IMHO #2
CNN’s report Gang Rape Analyzed October 31, 2009
This report discusses the different legal aspects as to the Richmond rape case ten bystanders who watched as a fifteen girl was raped by ten other men. In the media coverage for this case there have been many speculations on how numb today’s youth has become, that ten people could stand there watching and doing nothing to help the young girl that was being raped by ten other men. In addition to this nobody inside the school dance at the time spoke up, even though it is believed that text messages and the “buzz” was circulating among some of the students. The media has also been discussing the lack of supervision with no perimeter search of the school by those in charge of the dance along with not working security cameras. Despite all of these concerns presented in this CNN report along with others, not yet has there been a massive outcry on behalf of women.
When Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” at president Obama, many people took that as a means of disrespect because of his race, and even Jimmy Carter came out publicly as saying that the statement had racial drivers. This launched the media into a huge outcry in regards to racism and how some people really view our president. While many people believe this was an inaccurate reaction and it was instead due to party differences, people like Professor Rucker noted that this was a great opportunity for the media to talk about and face an issue that people don’t like to talk about and instead sweep under the rug. This uproar served a purpose of at least reminding the public that racism is still an issue and it isn’t something that is dead and buried. This is the sort of message that the media reports covering Richmond rape case should have communicated, but in regards to gender.
Women are still widely undervalued in our society, many for example still making much less money than men holding the same position, or even being passed up for a job because a man was picked instead. The Richmond rape case was a huge example of the way in which women are so commonly undervalued, and yet so many people refuse to acknowledge this. The mentality around thoughts such as “she was asking for it” are commonly used by many men, and people don’t pay attention to the consequences this sort of thinking can have. In this CNN report while discussing the actions of the people watching as this young girl was raped at her outside her high school dance, not once did they mention the idea that they didn’t think much of it. These people didn’t care enough to even try to text for help, and the “she asked for it” mentality is a likely excuse these sorts of people tell themselves.
Overall though, the greatest disappointment with all of the media coverage surrounding the incident, focus was not put on the fact that this was a woman being brutally raped, and the gender problems associated. If the media provided a strong reaction to the incident and did take gender into more consideration, it would be a step in the public acknowledging this sort of gender problem and the undervaluing of women across the country. Very disappointing.
WC: 557
This report discusses the different legal aspects as to the Richmond rape case ten bystanders who watched as a fifteen girl was raped by ten other men. In the media coverage for this case there have been many speculations on how numb today’s youth has become, that ten people could stand there watching and doing nothing to help the young girl that was being raped by ten other men. In addition to this nobody inside the school dance at the time spoke up, even though it is believed that text messages and the “buzz” was circulating among some of the students. The media has also been discussing the lack of supervision with no perimeter search of the school by those in charge of the dance along with not working security cameras. Despite all of these concerns presented in this CNN report along with others, not yet has there been a massive outcry on behalf of women.
When Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” at president Obama, many people took that as a means of disrespect because of his race, and even Jimmy Carter came out publicly as saying that the statement had racial drivers. This launched the media into a huge outcry in regards to racism and how some people really view our president. While many people believe this was an inaccurate reaction and it was instead due to party differences, people like Professor Rucker noted that this was a great opportunity for the media to talk about and face an issue that people don’t like to talk about and instead sweep under the rug. This uproar served a purpose of at least reminding the public that racism is still an issue and it isn’t something that is dead and buried. This is the sort of message that the media reports covering Richmond rape case should have communicated, but in regards to gender.
Women are still widely undervalued in our society, many for example still making much less money than men holding the same position, or even being passed up for a job because a man was picked instead. The Richmond rape case was a huge example of the way in which women are so commonly undervalued, and yet so many people refuse to acknowledge this. The mentality around thoughts such as “she was asking for it” are commonly used by many men, and people don’t pay attention to the consequences this sort of thinking can have. In this CNN report while discussing the actions of the people watching as this young girl was raped at her outside her high school dance, not once did they mention the idea that they didn’t think much of it. These people didn’t care enough to even try to text for help, and the “she asked for it” mentality is a likely excuse these sorts of people tell themselves.
Overall though, the greatest disappointment with all of the media coverage surrounding the incident, focus was not put on the fact that this was a woman being brutally raped, and the gender problems associated. If the media provided a strong reaction to the incident and did take gender into more consideration, it would be a step in the public acknowledging this sort of gender problem and the undervaluing of women across the country. Very disappointing.
WC: 557
Scholarly Journal Article #2
Under the Microscope. Shannon A. Bowen, Ph.D and Robert L. Health, Ph.D. Communication World January-February 2006.
This article analyzes the need for the training and understanding of ethical issues in the workplace, and the public relations practitioners’ ethical role in the company. The IABC Research Foundation initiated a global research study for the further understanding of business communications ethics, and found that top majority of those surveyed found ethics considerations as a vital part of their executive decision making. The study also showed that public relations practitioners pretty strongly agree that they should advise on ethical matters to management. Some CEO’s find that paying too much attention to ethics can be expensive, but in the end people who communicate ethically “finish first,” because that meet legal standards as well in turn attracting investors.
One problem public relations practitioners have with advising on ethical issues is the tendency to butt heads with the legal counsel of the company, which can discourage some practitioners. Analysis of the study showed there are two ethical roles that communicators can use: the conscience counselor and the core values manager. The conscience counselor and sets and clarifies ethical behavior expectations and provides management with analyses. The core values manager handles ethical issues in relation to the values of the company and helps “perpetuate” the values and reputation of the company. Overall ethics should be a continued commitment in a company, and public relations practitioners should do their best to help guide their company ethically and help guide their CEO’s in the right direction.
WC:257
This article analyzes the need for the training and understanding of ethical issues in the workplace, and the public relations practitioners’ ethical role in the company. The IABC Research Foundation initiated a global research study for the further understanding of business communications ethics, and found that top majority of those surveyed found ethics considerations as a vital part of their executive decision making. The study also showed that public relations practitioners pretty strongly agree that they should advise on ethical matters to management. Some CEO’s find that paying too much attention to ethics can be expensive, but in the end people who communicate ethically “finish first,” because that meet legal standards as well in turn attracting investors.
One problem public relations practitioners have with advising on ethical issues is the tendency to butt heads with the legal counsel of the company, which can discourage some practitioners. Analysis of the study showed there are two ethical roles that communicators can use: the conscience counselor and the core values manager. The conscience counselor and sets and clarifies ethical behavior expectations and provides management with analyses. The core values manager handles ethical issues in relation to the values of the company and helps “perpetuate” the values and reputation of the company. Overall ethics should be a continued commitment in a company, and public relations practitioners should do their best to help guide their company ethically and help guide their CEO’s in the right direction.
WC:257
Scholarly Journal Article #1
Mission impossible: Increasing employee trust in your CEO. TJ Larkin and Sandar Larkin. Communication World January-February 2006.
In this article the authors measure the importance of the ability of employees to trust their CEO. The CEO should focus more on stakeholder than on employees, and should not use a lot of time in attempts to build or rebuild their trust. If the CEO does decide to communicate directly with their employees it needs to be infrequent, concerning a matter that is significant, and presented with a dignified attitude. The CEO communicating directly with lower level employees should be “talk that matters” and not some trivial issue or personal matter. It is recommended that the CEO doesn’t’ waste tine on a communication campaign for their employees either, since often those campaigns are in a formal and public setting that doesn’t increase emotional trust. Also these sorts of actions could risk “commoditizing” the CEO, turning them into the face of the company.
In regards to employee loyalty and trust it is best to put the managers in charge of building trust communicating the CEO’s message to the employees. It is not necessary for all of the employees at a company to trust the CEO so long as they can trust management, who closer examines their needs and can communicate more personally. In the end trying to get all employees to trust their CEO is “mission impossible” turnaround. There have been CEO’s to turn things around, but it would still risk them becoming a major face of the company. The CEO’s should communicate to their managers and have them then disseminate the messages down to the employees at the company.
WC: 277
Monday, November 9, 2009
Word of the Week #10
reverie
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
noun- a state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing
"It was a few moments before I was brave enough go break into her reverie."
He didn't notice the professor call on him, as he was lost in his own reverie.
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
noun- a state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing
"It was a few moments before I was brave enough go break into her reverie."
He didn't notice the professor call on him, as he was lost in his own reverie.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Japanese Internment Memorial
Due to the attack on Pearl Harbor in the 1940’s, 120,000 Japanese Americans were interned in the United States. Cities including San Jose sent their Japanese American residents to the internment camps, actually gathering them together to send them off at SJSU. The vignette I saw was impressively sculpted and organized, with the order of events wrapping around the sculpture. Ruth Asawa the Japanese American sculptor that created these vignettes, actually was interned at the Santa Anita Racetrack camp during World War II making it that much more powerful.
One of my favorite parts of the vignette was the barbed wire that wrapped around the entire sculpture; it added that special touch that put the viewer into the experience of being imprisoned. The story of the sculpture began with the Japanese immigration coming over on the Taiyo Maru, and working left to right led to the depiction of evacuation sales of property and belongings. One of the most powerful parts of this vignette was on the far right of the story’s beginning side, and it was an American soldier hammering down a sign that read “Instructions to all persons of Japanese ancestry.” Instructions to a person, a human being? No matter what kind of instructions these could be, it is downright wrong.
From there it went to people boarding the busses, and then walking over to the other side of the vignette, from left to right, were the people arriving at the camps. On this side there was a striking amount soldiers with large guns, and the center and largest illustration was a tall watch tower hovering above the camp. This watch tower depiction shows superiority the way it is so large and watching all of the camp, higher than all of the Japanese Americans down below having guns pointed at them in all directions.
This entire section of history is beyond shameful, and in truth is still hard to believe considering it was not that long ago. When I first heard of the Japanese internment camps during WWII, my face was practically glued into scrunched-up confused expression. Weren’t we over in Europe fighting Hitler because not only was he trying to “take over the world,” but his attempt at mass genocide? Granted in the United States we were not killing off millions of people, torturing many others, and performing things such as medical experiments, but does that excuse it? No. I don’t understand what the president was thinking. It is understandable (when considering human nature, not morality in the least) that the public was freaked out and started identifying Japanese people in general as the source of what happened, but the president’s job is to keep order. Roosevelt authorized the internment of the Japanese people and it makes no sense, especially since we had the definition of evil right across the Atlantic doing the exact same thing, only with added brutality, murder, etc.
We may not have gone to the extent of the 3rd Reich, but we ruined these people’s lives. They didn’t get to just pick up where they left off after they were released from the camps, because before leaving for the camps in the first place they literally had to give up their lives, as well illustrated in Asawa’s vignette. They had to sell the houses, sell or burn their belongings, get rid of their businesses, everything. The United States may not have gone to the extent of genocide or anywhere near it, but that doesn’t change the fact that we stripped these innocent people of their lives for no logical reason. I still don’t understand, and I think it makes absolutely no sense that the situation went as far as it did.
This can’t happen again, and I don’t believe it will. One of the most significant turn of events that should guarantee the non allowance of this sort of behavior, was the public’s awakening during the Vietnam War. The atrocities were finally brought to the direct attention of the public to a point they could not ignore, and afterwards it seems many more people found their strong moral voices. The American people are too wise with this sort of not so distant history to allow something like the Japanese internment to happen again.
WC: 709
One of my favorite parts of the vignette was the barbed wire that wrapped around the entire sculpture; it added that special touch that put the viewer into the experience of being imprisoned. The story of the sculpture began with the Japanese immigration coming over on the Taiyo Maru, and working left to right led to the depiction of evacuation sales of property and belongings. One of the most powerful parts of this vignette was on the far right of the story’s beginning side, and it was an American soldier hammering down a sign that read “Instructions to all persons of Japanese ancestry.” Instructions to a person, a human being? No matter what kind of instructions these could be, it is downright wrong.
From there it went to people boarding the busses, and then walking over to the other side of the vignette, from left to right, were the people arriving at the camps. On this side there was a striking amount soldiers with large guns, and the center and largest illustration was a tall watch tower hovering above the camp. This watch tower depiction shows superiority the way it is so large and watching all of the camp, higher than all of the Japanese Americans down below having guns pointed at them in all directions.
This entire section of history is beyond shameful, and in truth is still hard to believe considering it was not that long ago. When I first heard of the Japanese internment camps during WWII, my face was practically glued into scrunched-up confused expression. Weren’t we over in Europe fighting Hitler because not only was he trying to “take over the world,” but his attempt at mass genocide? Granted in the United States we were not killing off millions of people, torturing many others, and performing things such as medical experiments, but does that excuse it? No. I don’t understand what the president was thinking. It is understandable (when considering human nature, not morality in the least) that the public was freaked out and started identifying Japanese people in general as the source of what happened, but the president’s job is to keep order. Roosevelt authorized the internment of the Japanese people and it makes no sense, especially since we had the definition of evil right across the Atlantic doing the exact same thing, only with added brutality, murder, etc.
We may not have gone to the extent of the 3rd Reich, but we ruined these people’s lives. They didn’t get to just pick up where they left off after they were released from the camps, because before leaving for the camps in the first place they literally had to give up their lives, as well illustrated in Asawa’s vignette. They had to sell the houses, sell or burn their belongings, get rid of their businesses, everything. The United States may not have gone to the extent of genocide or anywhere near it, but that doesn’t change the fact that we stripped these innocent people of their lives for no logical reason. I still don’t understand, and I think it makes absolutely no sense that the situation went as far as it did.
This can’t happen again, and I don’t believe it will. One of the most significant turn of events that should guarantee the non allowance of this sort of behavior, was the public’s awakening during the Vietnam War. The atrocities were finally brought to the direct attention of the public to a point they could not ignore, and afterwards it seems many more people found their strong moral voices. The American people are too wise with this sort of not so distant history to allow something like the Japanese internment to happen again.
WC: 709
Monday, November 2, 2009
Word of the Week #9
desiccated
Midnight Sun, by Stephanie Meyers, pg. 10
“My mouth was baked and desiccated.”
She was a big fan of desiccated coconuts.
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