Blog
09.21
A Flack Joins an Unholy TV Alliance
Every industry has its “Holy Grails” and conversely, its “Snowballs’ chance in hell” situations. The latter can be a more interesting coup for public relations professionals.
For example:
- Featuring George W. Bush on MSNBC for the “Wisest Presidents” series
- Securing the Detroit Lions in Sports Illustrated fpr its “Dark Horses of the NFL Playoffs”
- Arranging for PETA do to a deskside briefing with Michael Vick on “The Joys of Dogs”
- And finalizing Hillary Clinton for a cover shot in “Vogue”
And then there’s this, courtesy of the Washington Post: Katie Couric has a new failure… show on CBS News called @katiecouric.
Most likely, it’s branded in a Twitter fashion because her stories lose ratings after 140 characters (or seconds).
Anywhoo, Katie Couric is sitting around her imperial table, sipping from her golden goblet and wondering who could be her first guest. It would have to be someone who would create a splash, bring in ratings and fit as a fill-in.
She gets a call and makes her decision – Glenn Beck?!
You can just hear Billy Joel singing the theme to “Bosom Buddies” in the background, can’t you?
This was entertaining TV, but who had the chutzpah to pitch this? According to PR Newser, it was flack Matthew Hiltzik, Glenn Beck’s publicist.
Hiltzik must have been shouting with glee as half the G.O.P. hurled themselves into D.C. buses thanks to Beck’s loaded quote on the show: “I think John McCain would have been worse for this country than Barack Obama.”
So, how did he do it? Was it intelligence? Was it ingenuous? Or was it just a card in his back pocket? More of the latter as Glenn Beck’s publicist… is also Katie Couric’s publicist.
So much for killing the rumor, “It’s all in who you know.” Sigh.
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