the(new)mediaslut

Ohh what a PR boo boo!

Wired journalist Fred Vogelstein was somehow accidentally emailed a secret pre-interview dossier from PR agency Waggener Edstrom prior to his’s interview with Microsoft, Waggner’s client, on their blogging initiative known as Channel9. 

From Wired.com:

I’ve been a journalist for more than 20 years and always assumed that the people I interview do as much homework on me as I do on them. So the existence of a document like this didn’t surprise me. But that still didn’t make it any easier to read lines like, "It takes him a bit to get his point across so try to be patient." I know my long-windedness drives my wife nuts occasionally. I didn’t know it had become an issue for Microsoft’s pr machine too.

What "surprised" Vogelstein was to learned that his story idea about Channel9 was nothing more than a "end game" for the PR.

"Indeed, if you read the memo closely it’s clear that my experience with Microsoft on this story was their end game," wrote Vogelstein. 

"For something like six months prior they had been plotting to get Wired to write a story about Channel 9 and had dispatched three executives to meet with editors at the magazine in hopes of setting their hook." 

The "secret" memo can be found here.

Chris Anderson, Wired’s editor in chief, posted his views about the leaked memo and Waggener Edstrom Worldwide President Frank X. Shaw gives the PR spin on the leaked documents.

themediaslut has read through the memo and found a statement showing Waggner Edstrom taking a stab at Edelman’s blogging fiasco. Edelman PR is also the PR agency for Microsoft.

From the Memo, page 7:

Every company wants to do this, but very, very few are good at it. Look at Wal-Mart and the blogging fiasco there as an example of wanting to do this, but not knowing how. It isn’t as simple as just blogging.

This incident reminded themediaslut about a PR boo-boo which has become a classic warning tale to PR noobies entering this side of the communications field.

A prominent CEO for a local Singapore company was being interviewed by a journalist for a top-tier Singapore newspaper.

Halfway during the interview, the CEO suddenly took out a binded memo, almost as thick as two chapters of a Harry Porter novel, turned to page 23 and pointed to question number 35.

"Here is the answer to the question you just asked me," said the CEO.

"You want to copy the answers? Here, keep the whole memo. 

"Or I can send you the soft copy later so you cut and paste later for the story."

The interview came to the end and the CEO was reportedly seen grinning confidently as he thought he helped the journo do a better job.

The PR was left red face as the journo left the interview room and she could only wish Harry Porter was there to make everything disappear!.