Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

How Did We Get Here, e.g. George Floyd? - Maybe TV Cop Shows Played a (big) Role

How did we get here - that is, institutionalized racism in America?

After the George Floyd killing at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, myriad factors are being probed.

One is the long legacy of network television police dramas, reports Kelly Lawler in USA Today. That reaches all the way back to "Dragnet," when those in the loop at police departments approved the scripts. The entertainment industry and the police in America had a mutually beneficial relationship.

Currently, according to Nielsen, three out of the five top network television shows are police dramas. The longest running series is the police show "Law & Order SVU." In it, as in all police programming, the police are the good guys - and girls. Heroes, actually. 

Sure, the individual police officers have their flaws. Elliot Stabler from "SVU" is a hothead who often lacks detachment when involved in a case. On that same series, Oliva Benson is haunted by the reality that she is a child of rape. 

Also, there are corrupt individual cops. Last night on a rerun of "Chicago PD" a cop goes rogue. When cornered, good cop Trudy talks him out of committing suicide. He surrenders to system of law enforcement. That system is portrayed as good. 

Now, there is the question: Should such programming be eliminated in the medium of network television? After all, it's still a powerful force, even in this time of living with a smartphone. 

As the world bore witness in the tragedy of George Floyd, parts of the law enforcement system seem embedded in racism.

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Managing a Media Presence - Why PR Experts Get Paid the Big Bucks

Media, some contend, is the most powerful force in the world. More massive than government or wealth.

So, it would seem that positive media attention would be a good thing.

We don't know the answer to that if the focus was on personal aspects of their lives.

Two high-profile recent examples are David Lat and Colin Levy. Will the extensive media exposure on their personal lives help them to achieve their professional goals? Or could it even turn out to be some kind of obstacle? Or will it have no effect?

Near-Fatal Encounter with COVID-19

Founder of Abovethelaw.com, David Lat made the transition to legal executive search. That included being managing director of Lateral Link's New York Office. 

That was news itself.

But what became even more news had been when Lat was close to death from the coronavirus. The legal media closely covered that ordeal. Once he recovered and was out of the hospital, his story was featured in the general media, including "Nightline."

It is useful to many that he share that experience. But the issue is: Has it been a plus for his ability to attract orders for search and then close the deals? Currently, reports Law.com, the lateral market, with exceptions in some practices such as bankruptcy, is depressed. In it recruiters tend to be struggling. Is Lat among those or has he derived an edge from his media presence related to his being a victim of COVID-19. Could the media coverage have hurt him?

Laid Off from Position of General Counsel

As influential in legal circles Law.com blared, Colin Levy had lost his job as General Counsel at Salary.com. He was candid about the experience as traumatic. Currently, in terms of keywords "Lay Offs" is clickbait. The article itself received lots of traffic. Other legal media such as Abovethelaw and here Law and More picked it up.

Then, Levy moved onto social media (including his own blog) and social networks (LinkedIn in particular) to discuss issues related to his feelings about unemployment and a job search. On LinkedIn his posts attract both likes and comments. 

So far, Levy admits that his efforts on social haven't panned out in solid leads on full-time jobs comparable to the one he was laid off from. He has, though, run into opportunities for contract assignments.

Question for Professionals in Transition, Job Search

The long-term question professionals, especially those in transition or out of work, should ask is this: Does letting the media in on personal items help or hurt one's business prospects? Or, could it be just neutral?

Sometimes, all that generates is more media attention, without a significant professional payoff. 

Of course, media attention is a heady experience. In itself, though, it could distract from the fine points of how to get business or land a job. 

Public relations professionals get paid the big bucks, often as much as lawyers, in order to guide clients on their relationship with media. The force has to managed. 

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Mergers Mean Reductions-in-Force: ViacomCBS Cuts Loose 400 More at CBS

For many members of the workforce, a merger is the professional kiss of death.

Mergers create redundancies. And the jobs of those from all entities in the merger are in play.

Also, mergers are expensive. That cost has to be recouped. 

And, third, the players expect cost-savings from synergies so all eyes are on new kinds of cost-efficiencies. 

No surprise, then, ViacomCBS has been a busy bee slashing jobs. The latest round of layoffs is at CBS. The cuts number 400. They hit entertainment, news, studio, sports, and local news, reports the New York Post. 

Earlier this week, the 60 cut loose at CBS News had already been covered by the media. 

Another grim aspect of mergers is that they are usually part of consolidation in an industry.

The pie is getting smaller.

Those put out on the street will find it more difficult to land a comparable position in that sector.

This blog wishes resilience to the men and women who are losing their work at ViacomCBS. 

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.

Chief Marketing Officers - As the World Keeps Unraveling, Peril and Opportunity

"The average tenure of chief marketing officers and others in equivalent roles at 100 of the top U.S. advertising spenders declined to about 41 months last year from roughly 43 months in 2018 ..." - Nat Ives, The Wall Street Journal, May 27, 2020. (Source of statistic is Spencer Stuart)

It's not new that the function of the Chief Marketing Officer is the hotspot in organizations. What they do is measurable. If the metrics don't match expectations then they will be ousted. It's all too easy to scapegoat marketing for the failures in financial performance and tarnishing of branding. 

What is new - actually unprecedented - is the ever changing fallout from COVID-19. The most obvious example is that the organizational voice, which is related to the branding, has to soften. The media noted that when conducting a reduction in force at CBS News President Susan Zirinsky was compassionate.

Humor, of course, has become almost too risky. 

The core competence of the Chief Marketing Officer function is The Message. Essentially that mindset is: Think Marketability. The Law & Order franchise, created by Producer Dick Wolf, had the message of public service. It delivered on that by showcasing plots ripped from the headlines. On Wednesday night on NBC another generation of programming plays that out. 

A major part of the public relations counsel Gene Grabowski, Partner at kglobal public affairs, provides clients in crisis is just that: guidance about the messaging. That ranges from the tone/content to what entity controls it to how often should it be delivered.

Here are Grabowski's observations in PR News Online about crisis communications during the recent Midland, Michigan flood. Dow Chemical is based there. Since MI had become high profile during COVID-19, this development took on greater gravitas. The Dow brand, therefore sales of its products, could have unraveled. Marketing is the message.

Another COVID-19 factor impinging on marketing is pricing or fee for service. Money, in these hard times, has become the loudest voice in the room. Smart organizations such as Allstate introduced and extended the Shelter-in-Place $15 payback to those driving less. Both the cold hard cash and the symbolism resonate.

So, clearly, COVID-19 can also prove a gift from the universe for Chief Marketing Officers. Since the pandemic threat will hang around until a vaccine is available, this opportunity is wide open. 

Way back in the early 1980s - relatively tame times for business - management consultant Peter Drucker advised clients to unlock the edge in turmoil. To do that, Drucker hammered not solving problems but exploiting opportunities. 

Like crisis guru at kglobal Grabowski, Chief Marketing Officers have to continually re-think what had been best practices in communications. What Grabowski brings clients is viewing their situation through a fresh just-in-time lens. 

Today I contracted a new account with an entrepreneur whose enterprise is scaling rapidly. What closed the deal were my digital media ideas for COVID-19 related memes. My approach has not been to commiserate with prospects about current challenges but to light the way to spotting unique edges in messaging. I offered a COVID-19 discount. That sent the message: I care about the success of your business.

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com. 

Glam World of CBS News, Including "60 Minutes" - 60 Laid Off

Uneasy lies the head which works in glam.

That, of course, is a paraphrase of an iconic line from Shakespeare's "Henry IV." And, it is a meme which is dominating high-profile media.

There were the layoffs at Conde Nast. Remember not being invited to the Vanity Fair Academy Awards party?

Now the latest shoe to drop in media professionals losing their jobs is at CBS News. That includes "60 Minutes." 

The New York Post reports that President of CBS News Susan Zirinsky was, as COVID-19 times demand, compassionate in how she positioned and packaged the development and informed those affected.

She, for example, blamed the unexpected fallout from COVID-19, not anyone's or any team's individual performance. In addition, she cited the costs associated with the merger of CBS and Viacom. In many cases she personally called those being terminated. 

It has to dawn on white collar workers and youth in high school that those with some bit of job security seem to be men and women in the trades. They range from landscapers to plumbers. 

During the crash of 2002 -2009, on the Gold Coast of Connecticut, professional services players were starving. Blue collar workers and business owners with "essential skills" felt no financial pain. Gallows humor was the forced into early retirement law partner advising his or her grandchildren to become truck drivers.

This blog wishes resilience to those whose lives have been upended by this reduction in force.

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.

Ronan Farrow Controversy Could Provide Platform for Matt Lauer Comeback

From Golden Boy to Possible Lawsuit target. 

That's the reversal of fortune which is hovering over the career of Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter and best-selling book author Ronan Farrow, reports the New York Post. 

Incidentally, Farrow is also known for taking on his father Woody Allen who had been accused and cleared of charges of sexual misconduct. Another platform for his celebrity is that his mother is Mia Farrow. She has stayed in the media by managing to keep going for decades her feud with Allen, a former lover.

Darkness began to fall on Farrow when Ben Smith published in The New York Times a criticism of Farrow's journalistic methods.

The fault-finding included Farrow's alleged positioning and packaging facts to fit a pre-ordained narrative. Also there is the allegation of cherry picking facts and leaving others on some tree out there which probably no one will happen to see. 

Soon enough all of Farrow's work but especially his book "Catch and Kill" was open to attack. This was war.

Those whom he attacked sensed the timing was perfect to take him on.

At the top of the list has been former head of "Today" Matt Lauer. In an article in Mediaite, Lauer claims that there were instances in which Farrow was not held accountable for checking facts and vetting sources. Lauer also points out that there is a difference between journalism and activism. Farrow veered more to the latter, Lauer contends.

Others who had been targeted by Farrow also came out of the woodwork. 

On May 19th, journalist John Zeigler published in Mediaite that among those coming forward are players who are seriously considering suing both Farrow and his publisher Little, Brown and Company.

Meanwhile, it shouldn't surprise anyone, though, that on Amazon, "Catch and Kill" ranks 771. That's even though it was released way back in October 2019. 

As we know from the play-out of public relations moves to distract from Gabriel Sherman's "The Loudest Voice in the Room," media attention of any kind can be a gift from the gods for book sales.

A negative biography about Fox founder Roger Ailes, Sherman's book could inflict significant damage on the Ailes brand, right.

So, in parachuted Ailes personal public relations representative Bob Dilenschneider.

What Dilenschneider did was buy an ad for the New York Times Book Review for the Ailes vanity biography by Zev Chfets. Since that book was already a year old, media outlets smelled something fishy. Ranging from AdWeek to Gawker, they outed Dilenschneider's caper. For a long long time Sherman's book was an influential best seller. Sherman's commentary on both Ailes and Fox itself became the loudest voice in the room.

While there's no predicting the next chapters of the Farrow controversy there certainly could be sustained brisk sales of "Catch and Kill." 

Currently, we can reflect on this one: The career game is one of strange twists and turns.

This dust-up could be the platform for a Lauer comeback. His Mediaite piece was well-done, particularly in his admission of his own "sins." 

In addition, media lawyers, both plaintiff and defense, could enhance their brands or create new power ones if there are lawsuits.

As it is well-known, the lawyers themselves are stories unto themselves. Recall the presence of lawyer Norm Pattis in the role of defense for the late Fotis Dulos. That was the sensational case of the missing wife on the Gold Coast of Connecticut. The Farrow saga is set in an even bigger media arena - Manhattan. 

For a nation beaten down by COVID-19, the war declared against Farrow provides endless entertainment. Soon enough, Mama Mia should be inserting herself. Maybe estranged father Allen will pop in too. 

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

"World on Fire" - After So Much Loss, Some Finds

This evening's episode of "World on Fire" ends with Kasia's and Harry's life in danger in Poland.

But, otherwise, during the episode, after so many people lost so much in war, both the first and second, they are able to find what they need. 

• Robina is able to circle hack to her humanity. She gave up on that after her husband committed suicide. In the first world war he broke and couldn't glue himself back together at home. Robina was unable to forgive weakness. It's Harry who shakes her loose from being frozen. He reaches out and does this because he may not return. He's taken on the mission of rescuing resistance fighters in Poland. When he does parachute back into Poland, among the resistance fighters is his wife Kasia. Part of Robina as human is accepting Harry's child, a daughter born out of wedlock to Lois.

 

•  Lois finds loves that can love her back. Vernon, the pilot, proposes. At first she can't accept his offer to care for her and the baby. Then when he is assumed dead after being shot down her heart breaks free from earlier hurt. Then, he appears at the hanger, very much alive, She answers "yes." The "yes" in her actually developed earlier. She graciously accepted money for the child from Robina. 

 

•  Jan finds that his brother is alive. He's in a mental hospital in England suffering shell shock. But he is there, with two arms and two legs. Will he recover? To Jan that's irrelevant. All that counts is that he has a blood relative in this strange new land. That will mean a lot if he loses Harry. 

 

•  Nancy finds the strength to share the story of her rape to her nephew, an American medical doctor working in Paris. That allows her to exit her hard shell, for a few moments in time. The assault occurred when she was just starting out as a foreign correspondent. The odds are, though, that she will maintain her hard-edged persona. The audience has a hunch that the rape isn't the whole backstory of pain.

But all this emotional uplift is disrupted when the truck in Poland which is supposed to transport Harry and Kasia to safety turns out to be filled with armed Nazi soldiers. They mow down all the resistance crew with the exception of Harry and Kasia.

To escape, the two flee into the woods and head to the highway. Harry looks like he will make it. Kasia not so much so. She hesitates when she shouldn't dare do that.

One wonders if her own ambivalence about her actions during the war are making her unable to be totally self-protective. She tells Harry she is no longer the Kasia he fell in love with. Her guilt over murdering is profound. She can't be convinced that she did what she had to do. 

A major takeaway from this episode of "World on Fire" for these COVID-19 times is that catastrophe changes us. The way it does can be for the good, for the bad, or for a mix of both. 

With the economic fallout from the virus likely to hang on until the end of 2021, we will continue to change. We have to. That's the way it goes during upheaval.

On "60 Minutes," Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave it to us straight: This ordeal won't end soon and in it is embedded so much uncertainty. Here is the transcript of his "60 Minutes" remarks.

The challenge is to be able to navigate this set of circumstances which has no precedent.

Be a Post COVID-19 winner. Exactly the right positioning and packaging for your messaging. Complimentary consultation for what you need for strategy, research, ghostwriting, and editing janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Dark Comedy "Good Girls" - Renewed for 4th Season

Oddball series "Good Girls" has made it to its 4th season.

That's amazing, since its ratings have been lackluster and the viewership stuck at about 2 million. 

The plot line follows three Detroit suburban housewives from lives spent in SUVs transporting children to a life of high crime. That starts out with the simple inability to make ends meet. Then it escalates into an addiction to More. Always more money is needed, right. Also, more excitement.

The niche business currently is counterfeiting. 

The season's finale had a socially challenged female FBI meeting up with the three in the park. She pretends to be only a customer from the nail salon where Ruby is officially employed. What she doesn't realize is that she's going up against too formidable a tribe of criminals. The previous FBI agent who investigated was gunned down in a set-up.

The undertow of sexual tension is between Rio the gang leader and Beth the leader of the Three Good Girls. They had been in bed before. The odds are that they will be there again.

Be a Post COVID-19 winner. Exactly the right positioning and packaging for your messaging. Complimentary consultation for what you need for strategy, research, ghostwriting, and editing janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

COVID-19: Time-Travel Back to Pre-Adulthood or Be Like Harry Chase on "World on Fire"

I wonder: Am I regressing into the college student w/o coping skills I had been in the 1960s or putting together the person and professional I always longed to be?

COVID-19 is changing all of us, for the worse or the better.

What I get every Sunday on PBS at 9:00 P.M. ET is a model of growth during catastrophe. That comes packaged as upper class Harry Chase.

In "World on Fire," he starts out as a young man full of himself. When doing translating in Europe he marries one women, then returns to England and gets a former girlfriend pregnant. In his first test in battle during WWII he freezes. 

But, that's the end of all that. Not only does Harry transform into a human being. He also becomes a natural leader in the military. The shift is so profound that British intelligence gives him a big job. 

On Sundays, I want to be Harry.

But by Monday evening, after being buffeted by the COVID-19 fallout, I want to time travel back to pre-adult status. At least the kind I experienced in my own college days.

Essentially it was a state of total self-absorption, with no zest to move on into the challenges of putting together a life, earning a living, and thinking of others. 

One or more of those inspirational coaches would bellow out that COVID-19 is a great platform for trying on a better and stronger version of ourselves. There is a lot of wisdom in that. But I don't know if I am up to it.

Be a Post COVID-19 winner. Exactly the right positioning and packaging for your messaging. Complimentary consultation for what you need for strategy, research, ghostwriting, and editing janegenova374@gmail.com.

Cybersecurity, Yeah Sure - Amazing Cyberattack on Grubman, Shire

As a prominent entertainment and media lawyer Allen Grubman of Grubman, Shire is fully aware of the confidentiality of his client files.

Of course then, he is no slouch at protecting them from hackers. Those clients range from Lady Gaga to Elton John. 

But nevertheless, hackers who call themselves "REvil" got in. They, reports the New York Post, stole 756 gigabytes of documents. In addition, they deleted some backup files and encrypted others. 

Their demands have escalated to$42 million. Also, they have moved on to claims of access to files related to Donald Trump. However, there is no known connection between the Grubman, Shire law firm and Trump. At least that is the official word.

Grubman hasn't caved. He's working closely with the FBI which classifies this attack as a form of foreign terrorism.

Essentially, Grubman knows that even if he were to buy back the files the hackers have copies of them. Also, there is a continuum of extortion. Not only can the hackers try to shake him down for money. They can also reach out to shake down his clients whose confidential files they currently have access to. 

The issue is clear: Is any law firm safe from hackers? What kind of cybersecurity protection should prospects and clients specify?