Free Republic

Palestinian PR Stunt Fails As Israel Allows Gaza Protest (photo)A Palestinian "Exodus"? The only thing missing was Steven Spielberg and democracy. By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem, Israel --- August 23, 2008 ... Israel's PR has always been lacking. One can find three very well substantiated reasons: lack of professional public relations manpower in government, lack of funds and lack of coordinated communications between the Israel Prime Minister's Office, the Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Israel Defense Forces. But today was different. The terror group Hamas tried to stage a media PR event and failed big time. "We...

Beijing seeks PR advisers on Tibet By Jim Pickard in London and Richard McGregor in Beijing Published: April 4 2008 01:48 | Last updated: April 4 2008 01:48 The Chinese government is set to hire an international public relations agency in the wake of the Tibet crisis. The agency will advise it on strategies to repair its image before the Beijing Olympics. Several British and US agencies were invited to interviews with Chinese officials to discuss a contract, which includes pre-games PR strategies, media training and market research on western perceptions of China. The winner has not yet been announced,...

Who did the most to help victims of Hurricane Katrina? According to a new study, it was the company everyone loves to hate.

John McCain has retained the services of a conservative public relations firm to assist with right-wing outreach. Shirley & Banister, well-connected in both conservative and mainstream media circles, have been helping McCain for a few weeks now placing surrogates on TV and in news stories. They also helped craft an open letter sent out earlier this week signed by five longtime "Reaganauts" -- Craig Shirely, Frank Donatelli, Jack Kemp, Dick Allen and Peter Hannaford -- urging their fellow followers of the Gipper get on board. The firm is led by Shirley and Diana Banister. Shirley is longtime conservative consultant who...

TEXARKANA, Texas — The biggest construction project ever attempted in Texas comes under public debate beginning Tuesday in the first of a series of town hall meetings about a proposed 4,000-mile network of superhighway toll roads. The Trans-Texas Corridor, or TTC, as it's become known, was initiated six years ago by Gov. Rick Perry. It's rankled opponents who characterize it as the largest government grab of private property in the state's history and an unneeded and improper expansion of toll roads. Texas Department of Transportation officials, and Perry, have defended the project as necessary to address future traffic concerns in...

It’s looking like a tough year for toll roads in Texas, and no one could be happier about that than Terri Hall, the San Antonio woman whose group is leading the grassroots fight against the controversial pay-to-drive roads that Gov. Rick Perry and others want to see crisscrossing the state. In September, Hall and her group, Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF), filed suit in the state district court in Austin against the Texas Department of Transportation, alleging that TxDOT has broken the law by using public funds to lobby legislators for laws favoring toll roads. TURF and Hall...

AUSTIN -- House Speaker Tom Craddick has asked lawmakers to review the Texas Department of Transportation's multimillion-dollar ad campaign promoting toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor. Craddick, R-Midland, included a review of the Keep Texas Moving campaign on a list of topics that the House State Affairs Committee will study leading up to the 2009 legislative session. Craddick also asked the Appropriations Committee to review transportation spending over the past five years and study alternatives for funding future transportation needs. The transportation matters were among the "interim charges" that Craddick assigned last week. Other matters to be reviewed in advance...

Mark Regev Appointed Israel PM Olmert PR Foreign Media Advisor By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ----- December 2, 2007 ....... The Israel Prime Minister's Office, the Israel Foreign Ministry and the Israel Government Press Office announced today that Israel Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev has been appointed as the Prime Minister's Foreign Press and Public Affairs Adviser replacing IDF Col. Miri Eisin (res.). Eisen, who is stepping down after a year and a half in her position. During her position as the Prime Minister's chief PR consul, she became one of the most recognizable faces in the foreign...

AUSTIN — Two state lawmakers are requesting formal inquiries into whether the Texas Department of Transportation is improperly spending money on advertising. Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, question whether an estimated $7 million to $9 million TxDOT is spending on its "Keep Texas Moving" campaign is a proper use of resources. The lawmakers have asked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick look into the matter. Paxton said he is concerned that the transportation department is spending the money to argue its case before the public in response to lawmakers' questions about projects such...

Some readers have asked me to re-visit a few of my concerns regarding the Trans-Texas Corridor or TTC, because I have mentioned the project in my last two columns. Recently, I introduced what I like to call Nosygate. I think that is an appropriate name for the advertising campaign and subsequent information gathering effort, by a private company, on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation or TxDOT. A brief re-cap is probably in order. Unsuspecting motorists had their license tag numbers photographed while traveling and minding their own business. Their tag numbers were then traced to their home address.Their...

TexDOT: No Money to Build New Hghways Agency blames diversion of state gas tax money, curbs on privately funded toll roads By Jim Forsyth Friday, September 28, 2007 At a time the Texas Department of Transportation is defending spending thousands of dollars on a public relations campaign designed to convince you to support toll roads, the department says it has no money to pay for highway construction, 1200 WOAI's Robert Wood reports. "The bottom line is, we're running out of money very quickly," TexDOT's Chris Lippincott says. Lippincott blames decisions by state lawmakers to spend more than $1.5 billion in...

Monitoring the court fight between activist Terri Hall and the Texas Department of Transportation is a lot like staring at a buffet line full of warmed over hospital cafeteria food. On the one hand, you're hungry and interested in eating. But on the other, you really can't get excited about the choices before you. It's tempting but unpalatable to root for Hall, who has adopted the noble cause of trying to stop TxDOT from spending millions of dollars on a PR blitz to build support for toll roads. Despite Hall's impressive gifts of organizing, public speaking and rabble-rousing, she is...

Two unconnected events this week left no doubt of the failure of the people of the United States to hold our own in the arena of international public relations – in other words, the winning of hearts and minds in the Muslim world. Those in the Muslim world, at least the ones with access to some form of medium, must have watched in amazed amusement and disgust at the civil-rights field trips to Jena, La., and at the over-the-top protestations against the speech by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a private university. “You want us to be like you, the...

AUSTIN — An activist outraged over state transportation officials' multimillion-dollar campaign to promote toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor is taking her fight to court. Terri Hall of the San Antonio Toll Party and Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom wants a state court order to halt spending on the "Keep Texas Moving" campaign because, she contends, it violates a state prohibition on state officers or employees using their authority for political purposes. "Unlike purely educational public relations efforts such as the 'Don't Mess with Texas' campaign, the KTM campaign is a one-sided attempt to advocate one political point of...

150th Anniversary of Mountain Meadows Massacre 11 September 2007 Elder Henry B. Eyring’s remarks at the Mountain Meadows Massacre Sesquicentennial on 11 September 2007, in Washington County, Utah. Dear Friends— I speak today, by assignment, on behalf of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In so doing, I express their appreciation for the invitation to participate on this program. It is important and appropriate that we meet together on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. We gather as relatives of the massacre victims and perpetrators and as unrelated but...

With all the madness in the world, I meditated Tuesday on two matters of great gratitude. One is that through vigilance and good fortune we have, so far, gone six years without another major attack on U.S. soil. The other is that I wasn't one of the Texas officials who was forced to attend a workshop in Austin in which PR flacks would try (under a $20,000 contract) to teach me techniques for selling Gov. Perry's massive toll road boondoggle. It was a small part of a $7 million to $9 million campaign that will include feel-good ads pushing Perry's...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorSeptember 6, 2007Aurora, IL (LifeNews.com) -- The Planned Parenthood abortion center in Aurora, Illinois if fighting back after a massive protest over its building a secret abortion center there. The outcry has been so strong that thousands of local residents have attended protests and meetings with local officials, who are looking into the construction process.Pro-life advocates have asked officials to prevent the abortion center from opening.They want Mayor Tom Weisner to complete an investigation into whether or not it followed the law in approving Planned Parenthood's application, even though it didn't use its name during the approval...

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) says it needs to spend $9 million in taxpayer money to sell its vision of transportation policy to the public. Maybe if TxDOT pursued rational transportation policies, the public support would follow, and it could spend that $9 million building and maintaining roads. Here’s why Texans ought to be concerned. Borrowing carries a price tag. The Texas Constitution has traditionally eschewed deficit spending and required existing revenue to pay for existing spending. Now, the state wants to build most of its roads by borrowing, either publicly or by getting a private firm to agree...

Let the fracas continue over Texas transportation policy. It's important to keep people alert to the Legislature's failure to address the state's glaring highway needs, and a new dustup is one way to accomplish that. The latest is over the Department of Transportation's developing "outreach" campaign to advocate for the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor and other proposed toll projects. The price tag could reach $9 million, and some lawmakers have badmouthed the idea. Good. Along with their complaints, maybe we'll see a rare thing come out of the Capitol – realistic solutions for meeting demand for new roadways in the face...

AUSTIN — The Texas Department of Transportation, which complains about chronic underfunding, has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign that promotes the divisive Trans-Texas Corridor plan and toll roads. The campaign is anticipated to cost $7 million to $9 million, according to a memo titled "Keep Texas Moving: Tolling and Trans-Texas Corridor Outreach" sent to transportation officials by Coby Chase, director of the agency's government and public affairs division. Such use of state highway-fund dollars is drawing questions, but the department says it's an important effort to educate and engage Texans. "It's a waste of money," said Rep. Warren Chisum, chairman of...

Israel PR Public Relations Directory By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem, Israel ---- May 18, 2007 ...... Perhaps one of most challenging jobs in the world is promoting the State of Israel. PR professionals, governmental directors and academics integrate an accumulated sum of creative brain power to defend the tiny, democratic Jewish state through research, images, sound bytes and written words. Not always agreeing, coming from a rainbow of political, religious, academic and professional backgrounds, the Israel public relations and public affairs professionals are the unsung heroes who confront a well oiled and continuous slanderous assault of PR campaigns...

Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Regev To Leave IDF PR By Jonathan Schwartz Israel News Agency Tel Aviv---- May 11, 2007 ...... For many PR professionals who serve in the IDF reserves, the announcement a few hours ago that IDF Spokeswoman Miri Regev will be leaving the IDF after two years in that position, was sweet news. There had been a total lack of professionalism coming from the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's office which led both to the demoralization of that office and the Israel Defense Forces. Regev was appointed to the post when former chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan...

Israel PR Public Relations Pros Hold Syria, Iran War Exercise By Israel News Agency Staff Jerusalem ---- March 23, 2007..... Israel, Jewish, Christian PR public relations and media professional volunteers throughout the world are presently conducting a virtual war exercise responding to simulated war missile attacks by Iran and Syria on Israel, US, UK civilian and military facilities. The PR crisis communications and image war exercise is presently being held in IsraelPr a closed professional room on Yahoo Groups. "As Israel's IDF Homefront command is presently holding exercises to protect Israel's civilian population in the event of conventional and non-conventional...

Mixed Reviews For TheMarker’s International Israel Internet Convention By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ---- March 19, 2007..... The news release read in Hebrew that 60 senior Internet executives from the USA and Europe would participate in TheMarker’s International Internet Convention. That convention attendees would be able to meet with the most senior entrepreneurs, visionaries and executives in the international Internet business. But the sad reality was that only about one half of this Internet convention's auditorium was filled with attendees. TheMarker Com.Vention was held March 18-19 in Airport City just next to Ben-Gurion Airport between Tel Aviv and...

Gissin: 'Take The Israel Media War To The Enemy' By Herb Keinon and Joel Leyden The Jerusalem Post, Israel News Agency Jerusalem -----November 13 ..... The Palestinians have succeeded in turning battlegrounds into crime scenes and forcing Israel into the defendant's dock, Ra'anan Gissin said Sunday, adding that Israel desperately needs to be proactive and turn the tables. Gissin, a longtime Ariel Sharon adviser who served as an Israel foreign media spokesman during Sharon's tenure as Israel prime minister and serves as a reserve colonel in the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson's office, said a good example of how to do...

"This undated photo made available by the Islamic Society of North America shows Ingrid Mattson. Mattson, a Canadian convert to Islam and an Islamic law scholar at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, was elected to lead the Islamic Society of North America just ahead of its annual convention, which starts Friday, Sept. 1, 2006 in Rosemont, Ill."

Moscow officials will open a public-relations shop and launch media offensives in foreign countries as they embark on a $27 million, three-year campaign to combat Cold War bias and bolster the city's image abroad. The campaign will also include several million dollars for hosting concerts, conventions, meetings and other events in Moscow; holding pro-Moscow events in international venues; and researching the city's PR problems. Foreign journalists covering Moscow will also be courted by city officials, and ties will be strengthened with Russians living abroad. The effort comes at the same time that federal authorities are looking to boost Russia's reputation....

Polish PR offensive The Polish government is launching a campaign to improve Poland's image in the eyes of western media. Slawek Szefs reports 03.07.06 The necessity has been mainly prompted by recent negative stands and opinions voiced by various EU bodies and politicians. The greatest blow to the country's image has been the recent resolution of the European Parliament criticizing Poland for intolerance, homophobia, racism, anti-Semitism and a lengthy list of other malpractices. At the same time Poland enjoys the status of a fast growing economy with a fairly strong position among the EU. Western media have been mostly projecting...

NEW YORK, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- 64% of Americans could identify the Dixie Chicks as the Country music group with a #1 hit album while only 46% of Americans knew that Donald Rumsfeld is the United States Secretary of Defense. More participants also knew that Jennifer Aniston is dating Vince Vaughn than knew that former Vice President Al Gore's new movie, "An Inconvenient Truth" is about global warming. These results are part of a recent VH1 telephone poll measuring 18-49 year olds' knowledge of pop culture and hard news.

The Pentagon's brand-new plan for winning the battle of ideas against terrorists Pentagon officials have just finished writing a document that they hope will help officials steer a path through contentious debates over how the military should handle communications, seen as central to the war on terrorism and, more generally, to the promotion of U.S. interests. The terrorists' increasingly savvy use of videos and the Internet to recruit followers and shape world opinion has given added urgency to the project. The document, called the "strategic communications roadmap," a copy of which was obtained by U.S. News, has been through 10...

Polish public relations Letter from Poland by Peter Gentle 28.11.05 Once upon a time, Poland used to get good international press coverage. But recently the headlines have mostly been negative. What’s going wrong with Poland’s international image? It’s not been a good couple of months. Headlines in the international newspapers scream at the injustice of gays denied the right to demonstrate, and then get beaten up when they do. A couple of weeks ago a demonstration in Poznan, organized by the Campaign Against Homophobia, was banned by the local council. When gays and lesbians went ahead with the march, as...

Latin America: Oil earnings have given Hugo Chavez a colossal sense of his own power at home and abroad. He's not limiting himself to small countries like Bolivia, though. Surprise: The U.S. is also in his cross hairs. Venezuela's president has targeted America and not just by organizing political fifth columns called "Bolivarian Circles" ... He's also getting himself good press for delivering discounted oil for his handpicked "poor" ... Chavez has won plaudits from the mainstream media for his newly launched program to deliver cheap heating oil to carefully "screened" low-income constituencies. Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA, through its...

PR Machine Behind Cindy Sheehan? ABC7 Looks At The Financing Of 'Camp Casey'  By Mark Matthews With the President back at his Crawford ranch, the anti-war protest right outside his ranch is getting a lot more media attention. ABC7 looks at who is financing the operation and who's providing on-the-ground support. The camp at Crawford is full of Cindy Sheehan supporters, people from all walks of life. But off to the side are a small group of professionals, skilled in politics and public relations who are marketing her message. Cindy Sheehan kneels before a cross with her son's name on...

Freeper Investigation: Cindy Sheehan "Vigil" and "Anti-War Protests" Fake, all bought and paid for by George Soros. I have been reading the stories on Cindy Sheehan and her "Valiant Vigil" at "Camp Casey" as the "Peace Mom" on AP, CBS, AFP, Reuters, etc... and now the "I Shall Return" announcements and speeches being reported about in the wires. I noticed a similarity in each and every story I read. Each referenced one or another "Spokesperson" named Michelle Mulkey, Mike Smith, Steve Smith, Ryan Fletcher. Well, I did a quick investigation and I found that with the exception of Ryan Fletcher,...

WASHINGTON - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved the nomination of Karen Hughes, a former political adviser to President Bush, as the State Department's top public relations official. The Senate is expected to complete the confirmation process this week before leaving for its August recess. Hughes' main assignment as Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs is to reverse anti-American sentiment around the world. She said at a committee hearing last week that the challenge was "the urgent need to foster greater understanding, more respect and a sense of common ideals among Americans and people...

After London Terror Bombing Attack, Defining Terrorism In Israel By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem----July 8......The people of London suffered their worst terror attack yesterday since being bombed by the Nazis in World War Two. At least six powerful explosions ripped through buses and subway cars murdering over 50 innocent civilians. The Islamic terror group al Qaeda, responsible for destroying 4 US passenger aircraft, crumbling New York's World Trade Center and attacking Washington's Pentagon on September 11, 2001, has claimed responsibility. Over 2,000 innocent civilians were murdered in those attacks. The Prime Minister of England, Tony Blair, has described...

'Real men moisturize' Mona Charen (back to web version) | Send June 3, 2005 "Real Men Moisturize." So begins an article on "Sharp Dressed Men" that appeared in a State Department funded magazine aimed at youth in the Arab world. The magazine, called "Hi" is published in Arabic and English. A State Department website explains that Hi is published "with the hope of building bridges of greater understanding among our cultures." The article continues: "In fact, some of them, like Michael Gustman, a 25-year-old public relations account executive from Boca Raton, Fla., even have separate moisturizers for the face and...

Indeed, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) has not ruled out embracing some form of personal accounts. And the White House has consulted with Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who has argued for addressing Social Security's long-term problems but has staunchly opposed any approach that is heavily financed by government borrowing. When he traveled to North Dakota on Thursday, Bush invited Conrad to join him on Air Force One. After a long conversation with Bush during that flight, Conrad told reporters, "I do believe that there is a kernel of a good idea in individual accounts."... Bush's effort to change the political climate...

Public relations bills submitted to the Port of Los Angeles by a Fleishman-Hillard executive who is now Mayor James Hahn's press secretary were marked up by more than $1,700 in 2003 without documentation that extra work was done, according to records and interviews. Shannon Murphy, who left the firm less than two months later to replace Matt Middlebrook, who joined Fleishman-Hillard, declined to be interviewed but said in a statement that the handwritten additions to her billing statements were "outrageous." A company official said the "write-ups" lacked supporting documentation that the extra work was ever performed. The paperwork appears to...

Countries the world over jockey hard to attract foreign investment. They care about it enough to make it a national priority, to send spies against their competitors, to build infrastructure, and to change laws to make their investment climate attractive. Most know of the economy-developing potential of foreign capital. The United States itself was developed this way, largely on British capital which built its great railroads, mining ventures, universities and corporations. China is now the giant of this game opf attractring foreign investment, aptly offering favorable business conditions and great opportunities to businesses the world over. But it's not just...

The public corruption scandal that surrounds Mayor James Hahn and taints City Hall gets uglier by the day. In the latest development, it appears that disgraced P.R. giant Fleishman-Hillard tried to bill the city's Department of Water and Power for the cost of a political fund-raiser for then-City Councilman Nick Pacheco, who was fighting for his political life against Mayor James Hahn's archenemy Antonio Villaraigosa. We write "appears" because, like the rest of this saga, the details are murky. And that's why the citizens of Los Angeles need a full accounting and explanation -- in advance of the March mayoral...

In addition to DWP's contract with Fleishman-Hillard, Mayor James Hahn used the harbor and airport department contracts with the P.R. firm to strategize and publicize himself and his administration, records show. A review of invoices City Controller Laura Chick turned over to the City Attorney's Office show Fleishman-Hillard billed Los Angeles World Airports and the Port of Los Angeles thousands of dollars for publicizing events that showcased the mayor. Chick has accused the firm of overbilling the Department of Water and Power $4.2 million over a six-year period. She has not specifically looked at billings at the other agencies. Both...

Dear Freepers All, Again I turn to you for help. I am working with GOP Republicans' Abroad Italy in the 2004 election race. I am official spokesperson and will be speaking publicly on the night of the 2nd. I have been told that I will also have to deal with the PRESS. SOMETHING I HAVE NEVER DONE BEFORE (Oh! Horror and Cringe!). So I need to be prepared for enemy fire. I need combat training ;). Please Freepers: post questions you think the international press will be asking, post evil, cowardly, indecent, under-the-belt, questions you think the liberals may throw...

Fox and Friends - Friday, 7-16-04, aprox. 8:55 AM Guest: P.R. expert, Frazer Seitel - president of Emerald Partners Consulting Firm and author of the book, The Practice of Public Relations. Excerpt of the interview transcribed by me from my personal videotape: "What Kerry ought to do is disassociate himself from extremists. He doesn't need Hollywood, you know, he's already got them. Now he's got to attract the middle. And the middle isn't swayed by the political views of Hollywood lunatics." ~ Frazer Seitel

<p>The sound of fingernails scraping a dusty chalkboard makes a listener immediately squirm and cover her ears.</p> <p>One company believes that there is real science behind such a reaction to sounds. NeuroPop is integrating neurosensory algorithms into music to create a certain mood and evoke more intense responses from listeners. The company hopes to market its compositions to the movie industry and video game companies.</p>

More on media bias in yugoslav civil wars on http://www.balkan-archive.org.yu/kosta/mediji/ The excerpt from the book is published in the following periodicals (as far as I know, maybe elsewhere too): - A Monthly Jewish Review - Midstream, New York, April 1994 (Under title: "Stopping the war in Yugoslavia", Author: Dr. Yohanan Ramati) - Intelligence Digest, Great Britain, February 4, 1994 (Under title: "Manipulating the media") - Jewish Chronicle, Great Britain, December 10, 1993 (Under title: "The secret weapon? PR", Author Nora Beloff) The following introduction to the interview is taken from the reference #1 (Written by Dr. Yohanan Ramati, Director of...

UN special envoy to Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi – a man who is purportedly meant to be neutral – recently told French radio that "the great poison in the region is this Israeli policy of domination and the suffering imposed on the Palestinians." Brahimi then told ABC television that the brutal, repressive Israelis "are not interested in peace, no matter what you seem to believe in America." Normally, the Israeli and Jewish response to such silly lies, which contradicts all the facts of the Arab-Israeli conflict, is to roll our eyes and to dismiss such stupid allegations as beneath contempt –...

<p>While it may appear spontaneous, Mayor Gavin Newsom's leap onto the national stage has been a controlled performance from the get-go -- complete with story line, image control and attention to detail aimed far beyond the San Francisco audience.</p> <p>From the minute Newsom lifted the curtain with his call for gay marriage licenses, to his cross-continental debate with President Bush, Team Newsom has done its best to manage the image coming out of City Hall.</p>

Our (Israel) Newspapers Fail Us - (UPDATED) September 28, 2003 Editorial - Israel News Agency "Over at the Jerusalem Post, Israel's venerable English language daily newspaper, rumblings of publisher/staff dissatisfaction are being heard loud and clear. Long-time managing editor, Avi Hoffman was fired last week after he recommended pulling an ad that included language he felt would expose Israel to charges of war crimes. New Post editor Bret Stephens apparently agreed. Publisher Tom Rose was furious and ordered Hoffman fired. The full page ad appeared last Friday. According to Aviv Lavie writing in the rival Haaretz English edition, senior staff...

Our Newspapers Fail Us Editorial - Israel News Agency There is no public relations or public affairs without a carrier. The most established carrier is called a newspaper. And in Israel the only newspapers which enjoy abundant readership and wealth are the Hebrew dailies – Yediot, Maariv and Haaertz. As for the English newspapers here in Israel – one is a mere translation of the Hebrew edition and the other is fifty percent wire service copy. Yes – there are some brilliant writers on these papers but their voices become deluded when you have a lack of proper leadership integrated...