Comments on: Ah, Wal-Mart http://www.krempasky.com/?p=1270 The opinions expressed with these here pixels are my own. You can't have them, and no one else is responsible for them. Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:17:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Ashley Imsand http://www.krempasky.com/?p=1270&cpage=1#comment-5029 Ashley Imsand Tue, 14 Mar 2006 06:34:17 +0000 http://www.krempasky.com/?p=1270#comment-5029 I'm hoping to add a few comments from the perspective of a college student. I think it is true that ideally we would only want to rely on the blogosphere as an innocent conversational community with no hidden agendas. As I am always grasping to stay on top of current events, I can appreciate that many bloggers will openly give opinions about current issues, unlike many traditional mediums who claim to present raw news, but in actuality are now rampant with hidden agendas as well. The thing is, that although bloggers might have outside influences from time-to-time from companies like Wal-Mart to help promote that company, at least a major basis for the blogosphere is for such expression of opinions. But expression of opinion is NOT the main focus of the press, or shouldn't be in any part of a newspaper other than the editorial section. In fact, the press is supposed to be that unbiased source of information in our society, which makes the obvious presence of agenda setting in this situation, and in many others, all the more aggravating and hypocritical. Blogging was destined to be used in promotional ways by any smart and innovative company worth its salt, and the fact that any criticisms about transparency and credibility are coming from the so commonly partisan press these days, well there's your news story. I’m hoping to add a few comments from the perspective of a college student.

I think it is true that ideally we would only want to rely on the blogosphere as an innocent conversational community with no hidden agendas. As I am always grasping to stay on top of current events, I can appreciate that many bloggers will openly give opinions about current issues, unlike many traditional mediums who claim to present raw news, but in actuality are now rampant with hidden agendas as well.

The thing is, that although bloggers might have outside influences from time-to-time from companies like Wal-Mart to help promote that company, at least a major basis for the blogosphere is for such expression of opinions.

But expression of opinion is NOT the main focus of the press, or shouldn’t be in any part of a newspaper other than the editorial section. In fact, the press is supposed to be that unbiased source of information in our society, which makes the obvious presence of agenda setting in this situation, and in many others, all the more aggravating and hypocritical.

Blogging was destined to be used in promotional ways by any smart and innovative company worth its salt, and the fact that any criticisms about transparency and credibility are coming from the so commonly partisan press these days, well there’s your news story.

]]> By: Usher Lieberman http://www.krempasky.com/?p=1270&cpage=1#comment-4982 Usher Lieberman Thu, 09 Mar 2006 18:58:08 +0000 http://www.krempasky.com/?p=1270#comment-4982 I would love to see news organizations open the black box of how they compile stories, I think it would be really healthy. Personally I thought the Times missed the broader question, which I cover on my blog which is whether or not Wal-Mart uses the blogosphere to engage in true dialogue at a grassroots level. That is newsworthy, the current campaign is not...its just retail PR using a medium that has already been covered ad nausea. I don't see anything wrong with what Edelman and Wal-Mart are doing. Irksome to the Times? Yes. Newsworthy? No. I would love to see news organizations open the black box of how they compile stories, I think it would be really healthy. Personally I thought the Times missed the broader question, which I cover on my blog which is whether or not Wal-Mart uses the blogosphere to engage in true dialogue at a grassroots level. That is newsworthy, the current campaign is not…its just retail PR using a medium that has already been covered ad nausea.

I don’t see anything wrong with what Edelman and Wal-Mart are doing. Irksome to the Times? Yes. Newsworthy? No.

]]> By: Kami Huyse http://www.krempasky.com/?p=1270&cpage=1#comment-4979 Kami Huyse Thu, 09 Mar 2006 16:14:45 +0000 http://www.krempasky.com/?p=1270#comment-4979 You make a good point about your well-funded opposition, and overall an outreach to bloggers is a smart move. However, we need to start with the understanding that bloggers are not journalists, or at least they don't follow the same codes or have the same motivations. They are more like the opinion page of the newspaper without an editor. Meaning, it is important for the PR function to find ways to enable the message getting out, without making itself the center of that message. A good way to do this is for WalMart to have a blog and this blogger to be another channel of communication with the appropriate bloggers. Maybe in conjunction with the resource-sharing part of the strategy. This is much more transparent and may serve to keep the agency from becoming the entire story. The WalMart message was really lost here, the best you can say is that it brought some awareness that there was a fight going on, but that awareness can be capitalized on by either side. You make a good point about your well-funded opposition, and overall an outreach to bloggers is a smart move. However, we need to start with the understanding that bloggers are not journalists, or at least they don’t follow the same codes or have the same motivations. They are more like the opinion page of the newspaper without an editor. Meaning, it is important for the PR function to find ways to enable the message getting out, without making itself the center of that message. A good way to do this is for WalMart to have a blog and this blogger to be another channel of communication with the appropriate bloggers. Maybe in conjunction with the resource-sharing part of the strategy. This is much more transparent and may serve to keep the agency from becoming the entire story. The WalMart message was really lost here, the best you can say is that it brought some awareness that there was a fight going on, but that awareness can be capitalized on by either side.

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