The world moves faster today than it has ever before. And while that’s good in some cases, it can prove disastrous in others. Investment bank Bear Stearns recently learned a hard lesson when it comes to how quickly news travels. The rise of online media, the increasing interconnectedness of global financial markets, and healthy dose of fear all played a large part in nearly bankrupting that venerable institution -- and scarring global markets in the ... Read More

A colleague of ours in Buffalo, NY has observed something extraordinary going on in his local media market. Comments by consumers -- especially comments they’ve posted on media blogs -- are having an unprecedented effect on what the newspapers and especially Buffalo’s three local TV news stations are choosing to cover. The good news is that the Internet is allowing the public to directly feed the dominant mainstream media with story ideas and tips, and that ... Read More

If a company does all the right things in a crisis, yet still loses, there's only one explanation: It failed to communicate its actions. In the recent Westland/Hallmark Meat Company recall of 143 millions pounds of beef -- the largest food recall in U.S. history -- President Steve Mendell immediately cooperated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture as soon as he learned that two 'downer' cattle had been videotaped on their way to the slaughter line ... Read More

It’s with a heavy heart that I say that disgraced New York Governor Eliot Spitzer must resign. Recent allegations that he was ‘Client 9’ to high-dollar prostitution service Emperors Club VIP irreparably sullen the image that Spitzer had worked his entire career to cultivate: Mr. Clean, the noble knight riding in on the white steed and saving the day. In an instant, he transformed himself from prosecutor to prosecuted. Too often people look for the "silver ... Read More

If you’ve read the Stop the Presses blog for any amount of time--and we hope you have--you know that we’re not likely to use this space to toot our own proverbial horn. That’s why I hope you’ll forgive us a moment of self-indulgence to tell you about something exciting that recently happened here at Levick: the second edition of our book, Stop the Presses: The Crisis & Litigation PR Desk Reference, was just released. Stop the ... Read More

Does your company need another reason to start paying attention to the blogosphere?  Here's a big one: mainstream media journalists monitor blogs on a regular basis. In the latest research studying the connection between traditional reporters and online citizen journalists, global communications group Brodeur found the following: Nearly 70% of all reporters read blogs on a regular basis More than 20% of reporters spend more than an hour a day reading blogs Fifty-seven percent said they read blogs ... Read More