Yesterday, the September issue of Levick’s monthly e-newsletter, High Stakes, was published and I’d like to invite all the readers of Bulletproof to check it out. This month’s focus is on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the communications strategies that can diminish the impact of an investigation or keep an international company out of hot water all together. With the number of FCPA prosecutions carried out by the U.S. government doubling between 2006 and 2007 – ... Read More

As the election season reaches a fever pitch, the ad wars are about to get ugly. Only we’re not talking about Obama versus McCain, but rather another battle being waged for the hearts and minds of American citizens – that of the PC versus the Mac. This week, Microsoft announced the second phase of a $300 million advertising campaign to remake its tattered image following a year-and-a-half long assault on Windows-based computers from rival Apple. Central ... Read More

Of all the issues one might expect Governor Sarah Palin's vice presidential candidacy to highlight, data security seemed like an unlikely contender. That was, of course, until last week when hackers broke into the Governor’s personal Yahoo email accounts and posted messages, screenshots of her inbox, and family photos all over the Internet. Now the Governor is taking some flack, not because she was complicit in or could have somehow prevented the virtual break-in. Rather, the ... Read More

Do you hear that sound? Listen carefully. It’s being heard in newsrooms from Los Angeles to Orlando and from New York to Cleveland. It began as a low, almost inaudible murmur in the late 1990s and has grown ever louder with each passing day. It’s the sound of the last gasping breath of those unable to adapt to a changing world. It’s the sound of irrelevance. Today, newspapers are struggling to keep up with the evolving ... Read More

As a final to caveat to this miniseries on the evolution of investigative journalism and the newfound power of bloggers and others that are carrying on a proud legacy, I’d like to highlight what happened to United Airlines last Monday when an erroneous report of the company’s bankruptcy hit the Wall Street rumor mill. On the morning of September 8, a reporter performing a routine Google search at a Florida investor information service found a bombshell ... Read More

Last week, we took a look at how bloggers are emerging as a new breed of investigative journalists in an era of massive cutbacks at traditional media outlets across the country. Today, I’d like to delve into another way that everyday citizens are picking up the slack. It’s called “crowdfunding” – and it offers all of us an opportunity to shine the media spotlight on the stories we want told. A few weeks back, Sarah Kershaw ... Read More