REICH COMMUNICATIONS

What We Do: GMA

 

For one of our clients, we develop programs with youth organizations. The leaders of one of the those groups, FCCLA -- Family Career and Community Leaders of America -- were in New York for meetings with us.  They had been able to score some tickets to be in the studio audience Tuesday for the live telecast of Good Morning America in Times Square, and they were hoping to be noticed by the anchors of the show and, hopefully, invited to tell about the organization.

Just showing up there -- or similarly, in the group on the plaza outside The Today Show studio -- is no guarantee to getting airtime, other than possibly having your face shown as the cameras pan the crowd.  But in a case like that, only your family and friends will recognize you.

So here's how we improved the chances for some real air-time that would have more meaning than just being shown waving at the cameras.

We put together a brief email message explaining that leaders of the group -- representing about 164,000 members nationwide -- would be in the studio audience, along with a thumbnail description of what FCCLA does.  We kept it short and to the point, with contact info, and we sent it to two of the show's senior producers and one of the hosts.

When the group arrived at the studio, they were asked who could be a spokesperson, and that young person was miked. And finally, toward the end of the program, host Robin Roberts mentioned they had some important guests in the audience, citing FCCLA and using some of the info we had sent in our email.  One of the student leaders was called on to tell more about the group and why they were in New York.

So thanks, in part or maybe more than in part, to some advance work, FCCLA got more than a minute of national exposure on Good Morning America.

We had similar success several years ago with The Today Show, by sending in advance some info on a group planning to be in the audience to weatherman Al Roker and his producer.

Getting exposure by being in the audience at these shows is a gamble, but you can improve your odds by getting some concise and compelling information to the show's producers the day before, so they'll know who you are and why you're there.

 

 

 

More fake news...this time on infrastructure spending

 

Once again, we are getting fake news from the White House, this time regarding one of the president's big campaign promises -- spending to fix our nation's infrastructure.

On the campaign trail, he complained about crumbling bridges, roads and rails, and our power and water systems.

The official White House proposal revolves around a $1.5 trillion infrastructure spending bill.  But as is typical from this Administration, what they say doesn't line up with reality.  In reality, it is more like a $300 billion plan...way short of what the president is touting.  Here’s why…

In the past, government spending on infrastructure generally worked on an 80/20 ratio... the Feds putting up to 80 percent for projects, with states and/or local governments putting up the remaining 20 percent. 

The new proposed spending reverses that ratio, making it, in many experts' opinions, unrealistic.  The White House says we should look to private funding and other sources of revenue like tolls and taxes...more taxes by that will impact the middle classes, now that we are swimming in money from our huge temporary tax cuts. (Sarcasm here, in case you missed it.)

Even some industry and manufacturing groups, as reported in respected trade publications like Industry Week and Route 50, are skeptical of the president's proposal.  As to be expected, some industry officials are being a bit cagey in their quotes so they don’t incur nasty tweets from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

I find it curious that the White House continues to push for full funding of a southern border wall for $31 billion that, supposedly, Mexico was going to pay for.  Why can’t we use the same 20/80 ratio the president proposes and see how quickly that project gets done?  Hey, here’s an idea for the funding the wall… sell ad space on it.  Trump himself might buy some to plaster his name all over it.

It seems this infrastructure plan is yet another broken campaign promise accompanied by the usual falsehoods and misdirection we’re getting used to seeing from the White House. 

What We Do: Drive Safe Chicago

 

Going to Chicago to introduce the winner of the Drive Safe Chicago teen PSA contest at a news conference at the Chicago Auto Show Friday morning.  This is a program we developed for The National Road Safety Foundation, which sponsors the Drive Safe Chicago contest as well as similar projects with auto shows in D.C., L.A. and Atlanta. 

There's still time to vote for your favorite teen-produced Drive Safe Chicago video PSA! Click here to see the three finalists and then vote. http://ngx.me/2nnXUym #DriveSafeChicago

 

 

What We Do: The New Jersey Home Show on WCBS-TV

 

Working on advance publicity for The New Jersey Home Show, the biggest in the Garden State, taking place next weekend.  We have radio and newspaper stories coming over the next few days, but kicked it off this morning with a great segment on WCBS-TV Channel 2 News. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                Post interview -- CBS2 anchors Cindy Hsu and Andrea Grimes with client Eric Udler (center) and a NJ Home Show exhibitor Anthony Cotugno of Richmond Bath & Tile.

Super Bowl Sunday becomes This is Us Sunday

 

Super Bowl Sunday has been about more than the Big Game for years, as advertisers and viewers hype the crazy-costly ads that run during the game -- this year, going at prices in excess of $5 million for a 30-second spot. 

Remember, 30 seconds is just enough time to run to the other room to get a snack or pee.  Thirty seconds and some advertiser who spent $5 million+ just missed you.

But this year it's not about the commercials.  It's not about the game.

This year, it seems Super Bowl is simply the prequel to "How did Jack die?" when a special episode of NBC's mega-hit This is Us finally answers the question viewers have been asking since the series began last season.

 

Who wins the game Sunday or which ad is most-liked will be almost anti-climactic.  The real reveal will come after Super Bowl on NBC. 

We'll be watching, for sure.

What We Do: Drive Safe Chicago

 

 

 

Just finished in Washington for The National Road Safety Foundation's Drive Safe D.C. program at the Washington Auto Show, even as we move ahead with Drive Safe Chicago. We got coverage of the filming of the winning student PSAs that will debut at the Chicago Auto Show in two weeks.

 

 

What We Do: Drive Safe D.C.

I'll be heading down to Washington this week to announce the winner of the first Drive Safe D.C. teen PSA contest at the Washington Auto Show.

My client, The National Road Safety Foundation, invited teens from metro Washington to give us their ideas for a TV public service announcement about the dangers of distracted driving.  The winner will be introduced at a news conference Thursday at The Washington Auto Show, where her finished PSA will be shown for the first time.  We arranged for the PSA to be shown in several theaters near our winner's hometown, and it will air later this year on Teen Kids News, syndicated on more than 150 TV stations nationwide.

The program is similar to what we've been doing in conjunction with three other major auto shows in Los Angeles (in November), Chicago (coming up next month) and Atlanta (in March).  It's a way to engage young people in learning about and communicating the dangers of distracted driving, which kills upwards of 3,300 people every year and injures hundreds of thousands more.

Our winner, 16 year-old Makiya Mason, is a sophomore at Suitland (MD) High School.  She told me she's very excited about this, since she hopes to go to film school after she graduates high school.  This will certainly be a nice addition to her resume.

 

 

And the winner is ...

 

Forget The Golden Globes.  Forget The Oscars.

 

What we've all been breathlessly awaiting (not) is the twice-delayed Fake News Awards.  Many news organizations and reporters have been hoping to see their names highlighted by the king of all that's fake -- our current president.

The New York Times, which proudly won two of the awards yesterday, reported -- accurately, I'm sure -- on the honors announced via the president’s Twitter feed.

The lead of The Times’ story puts the awards into focus… 

“President Trump -- who gleefully questioned President Barack Obama’s birthplace for years without evidence, long insisted on the guilt of the Central Park Five despite exonerating proof and claimed that millions of illegal ballots cost him the popular vote in 2016 – wanted to have a word with the American public about accuracy in reporting.”

Other winners were CNN, with four mentions, ABC News, The Washington Post, Time and Newsweek, each with one mention.

The article goes on to show how a few of the “fake” news stories cited were in fact errors that were quickly corrected or, in the case of a Washington Post story about the small crowd at a Trump rally referred to a photo the reporter briefly posted on his personal Twitter feed before deleting it a few minutes later.

Most of the other “fake” news stories that won honors were, in fact, not fake.

Appropriately, the majority of the public and the media are not taking the awards seriously.  Instead, they've provided fodder for the late-night talk-show hosts' monologue jokes.

What’s not a joke is that the continued attacks on the press have taken a toll.  A Gallup poll showed that 66 percent of Americans believed news organizations “blurred opinion and fact,” up from 42 percent in 1984.  The Committee to Protect Journalists earlier this month included the president among its annual list of  ‘world leaders who have gone out of their way to attack the press and undermine the norms that support freedom of the media.”

Going beyond partisan politics, two Republican senators – Jeff Flake and John McCain – denounced the president’s attacks on the media, with Flake saying on the Senate floor that the president has borrowed a term frequently that was used by Stalin describing the media as “an enemy of the people.”

I believe nothing could be farther from the truth.  Our founding fathers recognized the importance of the press in informing the public and keeping our leaders transparent and honest in their work on behalf of the people.

Yes, reporters do make mistakes.  Once a mistake is discovered, media do their best to quickly correct it. 

And there is bias. Reporters, after all, are people with opinions. But most journalists keep their own opinions out of their news reporting and leave bias to be expressed in clearly marked editorials and op-ed pages or on news channels widely recognized as having a political slant – MSNBC and FOX.

But the hardcore news media are truthful and trying their best to get it right.  If the White House doesn’t like the news media’s truth, perhaps it should work to make its truth more in line with the ultimate truth -- reality.

He had a Dream ...

 

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed:  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

 

August 28, 1963  Washington, D.C.

 

Click here for full text of speech

 

all

men

are

created

equal."

He Does Not Speak for Us

 

 

Donald J. Trump does not speak for the vast majority of Americans.

The president's hateful and racist words about immigrants and some countries they come from do not represent the views of most of us.  It's no longer a party thing.  It transcends the many political issues that divide us.

Our founding document, the Declaration of Independence disagrees with him in the very first sentence that clearly states one of our fundamental principles... "All men are created equal."

Men and women from Africa, Haiti, Mexico, Puerto Rico and any other places he has maligned over the past year are our friends and neighbors, our co-workers, our teachers, doctors and nurses, our NASA engineers and so much more.  They prepare and serve us food in restaurants, hospitals and hotels. They help keep our cars, trains and planes running.  They keep us safe with their service in the military, police and fire departments.  They have been and continue to be part of what makes America great.

I would hope most Republicans are equally outraged and embarrassed by these horrible remarks.  It is now time for all elected officials, regardless of party affiliation, to publicly condemn what the president has said and issue a joint statement to assure the rest of the world that those misguided comments do not represent what we as a nation honestly believe.

We must make our voices heard.  He does not speak for us.