Nothing is Gone Forever

The past few months our news and tabloids have been filled with celebrities and sports stars making racial comments or defending themselves from allegations of racial comments. Yesterday January Jones became the next victim to these allegations and quickly made a move to correct it.

January Jones participated in the highly popular hashtag on Instagram, Throwback Thursday, by posting a picture of one of her first modeling gigs. In the photo she was modeling a sweater and standing next to two young African Americans. Though the picture or title had no racial slurs or comments whatsoever, Jones received comments of criticism for the post being racial. Jones quickly removed the photo and replaced it with a solo shot of her modeling with this caption, "I had to swap my #tbt pics because I was receiving to many negative comments and assumptions. This forum should be a happy and fun place I had no patience for hate."

I thought that Jones handled this very well. It's clear that she never intended to make a racial statement but she didn't sit there and argue about that, instead she made a move to remove the photo and state her intentions. It was smart of her to quickly act on this and also make her intentions clear for all of her posts on Instagram.

When I read this, I was reminded of another lesson that we will learn again and again. Nothing is ever really deleted. Even though Jones acted quickly and removed the picture, we can still see that picture and it's out there. As a PR professional it's important to remember that because there maybe things that come back from the past that we will have to deal with for our client and that nothing is ever gone forever. We need to handle it well from the beginning and hopefully we won't have to worry about it again but if we do it will help the second time we have to deal with it.

Here's the article

Here comes Miss Indiana

This past weekend was the Miss USA pageant. I could not tell you who won the competition, but I do know who Miss Indiana is. Thanks to social media, especially Twitter, Mekayla Diehl, feels like she is Miss USA.

Mekayla Diehl, has been in the spotlight since the swim suit portion of the competition. She has been praised for her “normal body” and her healthy and fit figure. Ironically, she was eliminated for a low score in the swim suit competition, but that did not stop America from loving her. After an out pouring of support, Diehl released simple response that you could tell came from her and make us love her even more. Just as Diehl herself pointed out, the main reason that people love her is that she is relatable.  As I’ve been studying PR I feel like this is key factor is dealing with the public. They want to see the real you and be able to relate to you. Why do you think that tabloids have a “Stars are just like us” section where they show celebrities doing normal things just such as grocery shopping? 

I do know how the Miss America pageant handles their PR for each contestant, I’m sure there is some kind of help for Diehl, but she seems to be handling all of this attention very well. Each of her statements sound like herself and sincere; this is so important. She’s been interviewed for People magazine and said that she if becoming a role model for healthy body image is more important than winning the crown and she just hopes to inspire people. I really admire the way she has handled this and wish her the best of luck because the world need more “real life” role models. I’m sure that someone is looking to dig up some dirt of her, but I hope they don’t find any and that if they do she can handle it just as well.

Article 

The Power of Words

We all know Justin Bieber. As a celebrity he is constantly in the news. In the past few months it has not always been for positive reasons. Justin’s streak of bad publicity continued this past week when two old videos leaked to the public; both videos were of Justin telling jokes using the “n” word.  After the first video Justin Bieber came out with a written apology, which is what I would like to focus on.

I really liked this article written about how well Justin and his team handled this situation. I agree with what they said and it really made me think about what makes a good apology. There seems to have been a lot of racial comments made lately by public figures and they are now taking the heat. As these issues happen, whether a racial comment or other unpleasing comment is made, an apology is necessary for someone’s reputation. Just the lack of an apology will likely harm a reputation.

As I thought about how I would advise Justin on his apology I thought of some key points. The key to the apology is to own up to the mistake. Nobody wants to hear your excuses even if they are really good. Being accountable for your actions shows that you are human and people will be more likely to forgive you when you admit your own wrong doing. Next, is a sincere apology, saying you’re sorry and asking for forgiveness. You may explain a little of why you may have done something, but keep your apology the main point of your statement. Lastly, it is really important to show what you’ve learned from this experience and how you will change and move forward from it. You need to show the public that you will be different than before. This shows that you are proactive in improving your life and possibly helping others. Of course each apology will differ depending on the situation; these are the core parts of a good apology.

Just as we read about in our chapter for class today and in previous chapter, words are powerful and we need to use them carefully. Your word choice can make all of the difference. Though Justin was in the wrong, he and his team make a great statement that many will respect, even if they don’t quite think this 19 year old as “a man,” they can respect that he’s learning and growing. 

These are the two articles I read for this post. Time and Eonline