“Phony Edelmania has bitten the dust”

Edelman Public Relations: It’s Edelmanic!

From: "Pforzheimer, Harry" <harry.pforzheimer@edelman.com>
To: [Various scattershot, promiscuously-Cc:ed recipients, including us]
Subject: Thoughts for you to consider
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 10:34:22 -0500

[To a NUblog supporter:]

Appreciate your comments. However, when an individual misrepresents themselves as a journalist and writing for a credentialed publication, subsequently changes that story, and then posts email correspondence, that has been modified after it was sent, that attacks individuals publicly and is not factual – I see that as wrong, unprofessional, offensive and extremely inappropriate. I am 110% for the freedom of the press, full disclosure and free speech, but that also must have the associated truth included in what one says, writes or posts.

I have never met Mr. Clark and have no idea if he is a wonderful person or a flake... that is not for me to judge. However, his actions based on any basic standards fails to meet the minimum degree of ethics or facts.

Harry

We do, in fact, have unimpeachable journalistic credentials, with 390 published articles appearing in three dozen periodicals. We’re writing a book under contract with New Riders Publishing. Then there’s the editing experience (books, articles, manuscripts, questionnaires, sites) and published photography. Even if those facts did not hold, we’ve been writing online since 1991; our production of over 100 articles here at the NUblog (see partial subject listing) constitutes journalism chops in and of itself.

Misrepresenting? What part of “I also write a Weblog on online content, the NUblog, where I frequently discuss localization and internationalization issues” do Edelman agents still fail to understand?

Oh, and as for those “modified” E-mails? It’s called copy-editing. Salutations, previously-quoted text, and signatures were removed. We didn’t even bother to pursue our conceit, after the manner of other queens and editors (and people with tapeworms), of employing the editorial we, leaving the original I intact in posted E-mails for verisimilitude.

Remember, all we were looking for was an E-interview with some Mac OS X engineer or other on the topic of language preloading. Play “Institutionalized” here if desired.

Posted on 2001-05-02