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	Phil's Blogservations Friday, November 04, 2005 Posted by philgomes 5:03 PM And The Hits (To Reputation) Keep On Coming... And The Hits (To Reputation) Keep On Coming... Michael O'Connor Clarke points to the EFF's hilarious parody of Forbes' "Attack Of The Blogs" piece, entitled "Attack Of The Printing Press." Forbes' original: Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective. Their potent allies in this pursuit include Google and Yahoo. And the EFF's parody: Printing presses are the prized platform of a public lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel, and invective. Their potent allies in this pursuit include Ben Franklin and John Hancock. Very funny! The analogy might begin to fall apart after heavy scrutiny, but the point is well-made. The boss says that "we [PR folks] should put around the positive cases of blogging" (my emphasis added), and I very much agree. Dilbertian pointy-haired executives nationwide got the Forbes piece plopped on their desks and many are likely to heed it. It's up to savvy communicators — whether so engaged in the formal sense or otherwise — to point out the fallacies in the piece and ensure that the negative impressions it will likely give are balanced with a discussion of the compelling advantages of thoughtful community engagement. In the interest of equal time (not that I'm obligated to, but it's just a good thing to do in this case — to heck with you and the Fairness Doctrine you rode in on), here's Sam Whitmore's audio interview with the Forbes article's author, Dan Lyons. | HOME | OBSESSIONS | FAQ | HEROES | CAREER | BLOG | CONTACT Note that the views expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Phil's employer, its business partners, its clients, or anyone or anything that doesn't come from Phil's demented imagination. Hell, to be perfectly honest, even Phil disagrees with what he thinks sometimes. This site has virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Clicking on a link doesn't automatically send a 1/2-cent donation to UNICEF. You can't buy, sell, auction, swap, find a date, win friends, influence people, cross the chasm, or decode the human genome using this site. You won't get free email. You won't win a free video game console. This site will not end world hunger, foster peace in the Middle East, help you smell better, teach you how to swing dance, or move the global economy from petroleum to hydrogen fuels. You'll learn a lot about this site's master, though, which amounts to a haphazard collection of strange and useless facts that pretty much won't help you at all.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This is the blog of Phil Gomes, SVP with Edelman Digital and senior advisor to the Society for New Communications Research. This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. Phil currently resides in Chicago, IL. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes.com View my page on PROpenMic SYNDICATE Feedburner ARCHIVE YAHOO! IM SKYPE WISH LIST PITCH POLICY MY PHOTOS www.flickr.com Photostream RSS Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz COMMENT AND TRACKBACK POLICY Comments and trackbacks are unmoderated, though I will delete the patently offensive ones. Any comments and trackbacks are the opinions of the individual writer of those comments and trackbacks, and not those of Phil Gomes, his employer, its clients, or its business partners. If you have a bone to pick, bug the people who wrote the comment or trackback.