So much for "ABC and CBS PWN BUSH"

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Damn gone for a couple days and I miss all the fun.

Hi GePap.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Not Defending The Brand

Didn't anyone at Viacom or CBS go to HBS?



In October of 1982, someone began to put poison into Tylenol bottles, and seven deaths resulted. Johnson & Johnson, the owner of the brand, responded immediately and aggressively to the consumer reaction, and the response has become a model for corporate crisis managers, and a famous "case study" at Harvard Business School. Commentary on the episode has always focused on the company's decision to put the public interest first. One historian of the crises wrote:

"The public relations decisions made as a result of the Tylenol crisis, arrived in two phases. The first phase was the actual handling of the crisis. The comeback of both Johnson & Johnson and Tylenol, was the second phase in the public relations plan. The planning for phase two began almost as soon as phase one was being implemented."

"Phase one of Johnson & Johnson's public relations campaign was executed immediately following the discovery that the deaths in Chicago were caused by Extra- Strength Tylenol capsules. As the plan was constructed, Johnson & Johnson's top management put customer safety first, before they worried about their companies profit and other financial concerns."

"The company immediately alerted consumers across the nation, via the media, not to consume any type of Tylenol product. They told consumers not to resume using the product until the extent of the tampering could be determined. Johnson & Johnson, along with stopping the production and advertising of Tylenol, recalled all Tylenol capsules from the market. The recall included approximately 31 million bottles of Tylenol, with a retail value of more than 100 million dollars. (Broom, Center, Cutlip, 381)"

"This was unusual for a large corporation facing a crisis. In many other similar cases, companies had put themselves first, and ended up doing more damage to their reputations than if they had immediately taken responsibility for the crisis."



The contrast with CBS corporate behavior this past week could not be more stark. Dan Rather is a spent asset, with perhaps a negative value even before this collapse, and the producers that fed Rather this stew of forgery, flawed back-up, unpersuasive experts, cover-up and sham can easily be replaced from the nearly limitless supply of hungry would-be producers. In other words, there is no downside to walking away from the story, but enormous damage is done by refusing to come clean and admit what every objective observer --even the Los Angeles Times, for goodness sakes, has figured out: "CBS News was had."



For reasons unfathomable to outsiders, the Board of Directors of Viacom is watching the brand value burn to the ground without lifting a finger to stop it. This isn't about a one week ratings fade. It is about setting free an entire generation of news viewers to sample other networks and develop new habits.



The events of the past week may be taught in business schools for decades to come as the companion to the Tylenol case study: How to destroy a brand it took nearly 90 years to establish. The roped and doped network, all because there isn't one person above Rather with the guts to speak the truth?

[Dis]

Rather should resign. Plain and Simple. He's too old anyways.

[Dis]

Originally posted by OldWarrior_42


Just a point of interest here.... Arnold can never be President of the US. He was not born a US citizen. He was naturalized. You must be a born US citizen in order to hold the highest office in the US.

there are movements to change this as we speak.

[Ned]

Recall that I reported an affiliate executive who said that, if these documents turned out to be fake, he would call for Dan Rather's resignation. I think the verdict is in on that issue, so don't be surprised if the people who depend upon CBS News for a living are calling for Dan's head.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Originally posted by Dissident
there are movements to change this as we speak.

Bowel movements in bovines?

[Ned]

BTW, on several talk shows recently Dan's past exploits in this fraud game have been discussed. Apparently in the early 80's, Dan ran a special on Westmorland. Westmorland sued for libel. He won and collected a lot - so much so that it really hurt CBS.

In 1988, Dan had 8 "Vietnam Vets" describe the attrocities they committed in Vietnam. But, like Jane Fonda's Winter Soldier Investigation once before, none of these "Vets" had ever seen combat in Vietnam. The story was as false as false could be. AFAIK, Dan Rather has never been held to account for either fraud.

He seems to be skating on thin ice now -- because he has become a laughingstock to the people of America. But, he has twice survived fraudulent reports before. Maybe he will survive this time as well.

[GePap]

This is so "tempest in a teapot" that I seriously doubt Dan Rather would be asked to quit, anymore than the editors of the NY Post wre asked to quit for saying Gebhardt was the VP candidate, or the RS's won the series.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by GePap
This is so "tempest in a teapot" that I seriously doubt Dan Rather would be asked to quit, anymore than the editors of the NY Post wre asked to quit for saying Gebhardt was the VP candidate, or the RS's won the series.

The editors at the New York Times however weren't as lucky when facing a similar situation over Jayson Blair's "work."

[GePap]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
The editors at the New York Times however weren't as lucky when facing a similar situation over Jayson Blair's "work."

That was a far greater problem, dealing with many stories over many months.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by GePap


That was a far greater problem, dealing with many stories over many months.

How many fraudulant cases does it take for it to be major

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by GePap
This is so "tempest in a teapot" that I seriously doubt Dan Rather would be asked to quit, anymore than the editors of the NY Post wre asked to quit for saying Gebhardt was the VP candidate, or the RS's won the series.

Ratings will determine that fate.

[GePap]

Originally posted by Sprayber


How many fraudulant cases does it take for it to be major

Jason Blair made things up- no one has blamed Dan Rather for making those papers up, only broadcasting them- in the realm of journalistic ethics, passing of a false story to me is far less than being part of a felony (Hello Mr. Novak), and yet no one else seems to care. Dan Rather has been stupid by not saying "we might be wrong"- but that is all he has to do, apologize. To call for his resignation is absurd.

[Lefty Scaevola]

But do consider that each of his three famous wrong stories, and each of his other fauz pas, were attacking the the same part of the poltical spectrum, a pattern leading to a strong appearence of bias entering his work. He has made no notatle foul up or lapses in demeanor when dealing with the left.

[Ned]

On one of the talk show programs tonight, one of the guests said that the person who forged the documents may be guilty of some crime (I can only speculate as to what crime), and that Rather may be caught up in this as a co-conspirator precisely because he has not said the either he or CBS were mislead in any way.

Indeed, it high time to turn this sordid affair over to the professionals in the Justice Department.

CBS may be facing a huge criminal penalty and Rather may be facing time behind bars with his lusty admirers.