October 15, 2010 Nº 968 - Vol. 8
"A true friend freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably."
William Penn
In today's Law Firm Marketing, Putting the "public" back into public relations.
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Federal judge lets 20 states' health-care lawsuit move forward
A federal judge ruled Thursday that a lawsuit brought by 20 states challenging the health-care overhaul law can move forward. The decision by Judge Roger Vinson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida to reject the Obama administration's request to throw out the case was expected. During oral arguments over the government's motion to dismiss last month, Vinson had indicated that he was likely to rule at least partly in the states' favor. And his ruling is limited to the plaintiffs' standing to mount the case, as opposed to its merits - which will be discussed at a summary judgement hearing scheduled for Dec. 16. But Vinson's opinion delineates the issues over which the states - and two private citizens and a business group also party to the suit - will and will not be allowed to make arguments in what could shape up to be one of the most serious of about a dozen pending legal challenges to Obama's signature legislative achievement. Specifically, while dismissing most of the states' other complaints, Vinson ruled that they can contest whether the law's "individual mandate" requiring virtually all Americans to buy health insurance exceeds Congress's constitutional authority to regulate commerce and make laws "necessary and proper" for carrying out its powers.
Call to define rules of cyber war
Nations need to define the rules of engagement for acts of cyber terror. Michael Chertoff, former head of the US Department of Homeland Security, said the lack of direction was giving the initiative to criminals and hampering coordinated responses to the growing number of hi-tech attacks. Countries should be able to defend themselves, he suggested, if an attack posed imminent danger to human lives."It's the least understood threat and the one where our doctrine is least developed," he said. The need for such a doctrine was as pressing now as it was in 1950s, he said, when the emergence of nuclear weapons rendered irrelevant earlier policies governing when and why conflicts were fought. That vacuum was filled by the policy of deterrence which defined what response could be expected from the US depending on how its territory or citizens were threatened. "It was very clear to an adversary the consequences of an attack," he said.
Mine ordeal prompts calls for tougher safety rules
Amid the joy at the rescue of the trapped Chilean miners, there are concerted efforts to make sure the kind of accident that led to their 69-day ordeal doesn't happen again. International work safety groups are pressing Chile to adopt international standards for mine safety, and create a watchdog agency with the teeth to enforce them. The San Jose Mine accident is a sign that the workplace safety culture needs to change in Chile and countries like it. The mine was closed down for safety violations in 2006 and 2007.
Mortgage mess may cost big banks billions
After scratching their heads for weeks over how much the foreclosure mess will hurt banks' bottom lines, investors got out their calculators Thursday to tally the potential costs — and sent bank stocks plunging. Analyst estimates of the possible toll varied widely, but the fear was evident in the stock market. The industry needs to work quickly to put this issue behind them. Wall Street initially hoped the banks would do just that but as the political furor grew, a quick end to the crisis was looking less and less likely. Meanwhile, the foreclosure machinery in many states has ground to a halt. Major institutions like Bank of America, JPMorgan and GMAC Mortgage have halted foreclosures in many states, and have not said when they would resume. As a result, foreclosed homes will remain on the bank's books while racking up thousands of dollars a month in extra costs.
State AGs to investigate foreclosure practices
Attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia announced Wednesday that they have formed a bipartisan group called the Mortgage Foreclosure Multistate Group (MFMG), which will be investigating allegations of procedural defects committed by mortgage loan companies during foreclosure processes. The group also includes state bank and mortgage regulators. In a joint statement, the MFMG explained its investigation will focus on "robo-signing," a process by which individuals signed affidavits and other foreclosure documents without having personal knowledge of the facts and without confirming the accuracy of supporting documentation. The group asserted that such practices "constitute a deceptive act and/or an unfair practice." The MFMG will also look into allegations that affidavits were signed without a notary public being present, which is violative of state law. The group is being led by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and will work to satisfy several objectives including stopping and investigating improper practices, evaluating remedies, and establishing a vehicle for independent monitoring of future practices.
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1 - Tam bonds falter as bet on Lan support becomes 'overplayed' (Click here)
2 - U.S. Embassy bomb trial hears testimony (Click here)
3 - Why Obama is challenging the courts' pro-gay rulings (Click here)
4 - Court date set in New York City anti-gay beatings (Click here)
5 - Cerberus's tower IPO poised for profit after losing Chrysler (Click here)
6 - Burger King sticks with 3G Capital as go-shop ends (Click here)
7 - Verdict proves abortion laws no longer relevant, say pro-choice advocates (Click here)
8 - UBS: no legal action against former execs (Click here)
9 - Legal scholars debate judge's ruling on 'don't ask, don't tell' (Click here)
10 - French lawmakers approve tough rules targeting immigrants (Click here)
11 - Liverpool owners block sale with US court restraining order (Click here)
12 - Philips in trouble for Singapore bear hoax (Click here)
13 - French strikers block refineries (Click here)
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China court 'hears first HIV job discrimination case'
A landmark trial is being heard in China of a recent graduate who says he was denied a teaching job because he is HIV positive. The plaintiff, identified only by his alias Xiao Wu, filed the lawsuit against the education department of Anqing in eastern Anhui province. It is the nation's first such discrimination case. The trial is closed to the public to protect the man's identity. Xiao is not expected to appear in court.
Chinese local authority debt risk
More than one quarter of loans to Chinese local government are at risk of default, according to a report. About two trillion yuan ($300bn; £187bn), or 26% of the 7.66tn in loans to local authority financing vehicles, is at risk. Loans were made to local authority finance vehicles to help stimulate the economy.
Putting the "public" back into public relations
by Grant Armendariz
The Internet has dramatically changed the way we communicate -- both to the media and perhaps more importantly to consumers. The Internet enables companies to tap into a more modern form of media, known as social media. This is where the various communities of bloggers and Internet forum users who might be discussing your services can be found. If you look at the number of followers, they are becoming more and more influential all the time.
Mistakenly, social media is perceived by the more mature generations as being only for 20-year-olds; however, 34- to 60-year-olds are actually the largest growing group in social media. By the end of this year more than 25% of all Facebook users will be in these age groups.
Social media is the new way of distributing news and it is gaining huge traction with public relations professionals. It is clearly important to send your news story to journalists, but you are relying on two things -- one, that they will use it to write an article, and two, that they will write what you want them to. Sending out a release to the wider Internet -- where it can be directly searched for and shared by the end user -- is also vital.
Increasingly, news distribution is moving in this direction, although most service providers recommend using both approaches -- targeting specific journalists as well as publishing on the wider Internet. The modern day press release wire service will offer services that encompass the best of both worlds: the traditional news distribution "push" to the wider audiences of print, broadcast and online media outlets; and the incorporation of social media elements in press releases, enabling readers to both find and share information and connect with like-minded people. Social media has become an incredibly powerful tool not only for brand building and knowledge transfer, but also commercially, as a cost effective way to generate new business.
There are generally two ways to make the best of the social media approach. The first is through search engine optimization (SEO), allowing companies to use keywords and backward hyperlinks to websites on their press release to push their news into the top few results on a search engine result page. SEO analysis tools are available from business news portal sites and aid you in finding and selecting the most popular search terms being used on Google that are relevant to your news. The other is to actively engage with social media and drive traffic back to your website through social networking sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace -- just to name a few.
Photos and video sharing play an important part in the rise of social media, too. Online video is the Internet's "It Girl" right now: Americans viewed 12.7 billion online videos in November 2008, a 34 percent increase compared to a year earlier. That means 77 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience (more than 146 million) watched an average of 87 videos per viewer in November (source: ComScore). What is more powerful than to combine a press release with a photo or video to get your message out? Like press release distribution, good service providers will make the photos and videos as widely available as possible, both online and offline.
Measuring the response to social media releases is also more straightforward than with traditional text releases. Often you can gauge interest in your online release, as a good distribution service will produce an analysis of response to releases and track your website's visitor numbers. Only readers who are interested in that link will click on it, so you are getting qualified prospects delivered to your doorstep.
Until now, many companies have seen online Public Relations as being mostly about defensive action. It should be more about using it as a positive tool to get your content out -- not just to the media and social media, but also to your end users or consumers. It takes time to get results with social media and it is not free. Social networking is like any other networking -- you get out what you put in.
In order to build reputation and maintain strong relationships with your stakeholders, the fundamentals of good public relations do not change with the age of the Internet. A well-written press release remains key, but now it is equally important to engage with your audience where they are active, and in the way they want to be engaged -- be they traditional media via wire services, investors via financial media relations or consumers and other influencers via Twitter or LinkedIn. It is all about knowing who your audience is and what they want to hear.
Press Release Tips
When it comes to getting your release seen online, the rules of writing may be different from what you have practiced in the past. Remember to choose and use your keywords by thinking like your reader. What are the search words that will most likely be used to find your release? Make sure to use those words in your headline and multiple times throughout the release. Google search results display only the first 63 characters of each headline. So make sure to keep your headline short -- between 2 and 22 words is best for optimum visibility and search results.
While your goal is to appear high in search engine results, don't miss the mark by writing copy that's overly repetitive, spammy or unreadable. You want search engines to find you and for readers to click through to your text. Strike a balance. Use bold, italics, headlines and subheads to make key phrases and keywords more visible. Emphasized text may help your release stand out and can positively impact search engine results.
Write timely content that provides useful information to readers. Provide tips, advice, or analysis in your press release that is relevant to your industry or your customers' interests. Search engines are more likely to include releases that are honestly useful in their results, but be careful with puns, innuendo and double meanings. Search engines, spiders and robots have no sense of humor.
Keep it fresh and be consistent. As releases age, they tend to drift lower in the search engine results pages. A campaign of several releases is more likely to drive results than a single press release. Keep this in mind when trying to attract their attention. Some words have multiple spellings -- such as "T-shirt" and "tee-shirt," or "email" and "e-mail." Stick with one spelling to avoid appearing illiterate, preferably choosing the more frequently searched spelling.
Publish on your own website. Be sure to publish releases sent on the wire to your own website as well. Since links are like votes, link to them. And work with your Web team to make sure your site is optimized.
One constant in this industry is the need for a well written press release. All the tips for optimization aside from the need for clear concise writing is as important as it has always been. The difference is that we are now writing for those in cyberspace as well as for our regular audience.
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© Trey Ryder
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Arbitraje
El Gobierno sigue enfrentando un complicado panorama por los juicios de los acreedores privados que siguen en default. Uno de los frentes abiertos está en Tokio, donde los bancos Mitsubishi, Shinsei y Mizuho que representan a los bonistas que no aceptaron la oferta argentina decidieron seguir con el proceso judicial.
Licitación
Un consorcio formado por la colombiana Ecopetrol y la española Repsol-YPF ganó la concesión de cuatro lotes de hidrocarburos en la selva peruana, en una licitación que atraería una inversión de al menos US$ 700 millones al país andino.
Shell
La panameña Petróleos Delta pasará a controlar el 40% de los activos y operaciones de la transnacional Shell tiene en ese país. La transacción involucra terrenos, estaciones, propiedades, equipos, así como los contratos de distribución, suministro y arrendamiento de combustible.
Coca-Cola – Panamá
La embotelladora mexicana Coca-Cola Femsa dijo el jueves que firmó un acuerdo preliminar para negociar la adquisición de una empresa panameña, con la que ingresaría al mercado de lácteos y fortalecería su negocio de bebidas no-carbonatadas.
Brief News
US asks judge to delay gay policy ruling
The US administration has asked a judge to stay her order lifting a ban on gay people serving openly in the US military, pending an appeal. Although the Obama administration favors scrapping the policy, it would prefer it be done in Congress rather than through the court system. The US Justice Department filed the stay request in California on behalf of the administration. In court papers, the Obama administration said serious legal questions had been raised by the case and that the government would be irreparably harmed unless the current policy was allowed to remain in place temporarily.
EU to tighten rules for offshore drilling
The European Commission has proposed tightening the rules for deep-water drilling in the oil industry. Europe has more than 900 offshore wells, although only Norway currently allows drilling as deep as 1,300m (4,265ft), comparable to BP's ill-fated Deepwater Horizon facility. The Commission wants to ensure that firms drilling in European waters can cover the costs of a spill.
Europe walks a fine line on regulation of cloning
New rules on cloned livestock would be stronger than those in the United States with regard to actual clones, but would seek to avoid trade tensions.
Police storm Acropolis protesters
Greek police charge at protesting government workers who had occupied the Acropolis in Athens in a dispute over unpaid wages.
US worried over UK defence budget
Washington is "worried" over the scale of the UK coalition government's planned spending cuts on defense. US secretary of state Clinton said that Nato must be "maintained", as it was the "most successful" defensive alliance "in the history of the world". The Treasury has bes budget between 2011 and 2015.
Oslo Court sentences traders for beating machine
An Oslo court has fined and sentenced two Norwegian day traders under the country's securities trading act for unlawful market manipulation in a ground-breaking case that pits human investors against the automatic wagers of algorithms. Peder Veiby and Svend Egil Larsen each had their profits confiscated and received suspended sentences for making transactions in order to give "false or misleading signals" to keep stock prices at an "abnormal or artificial level."
Lessons from Pecora were ignored
For 16 months in the depths of the Great Depression, Ferdinand Pecora, a former New York prosecutor turned Senate inquisitor, captivated the country. He chronicled how, in the run up to the 1929 crash, Wall Street's elite financiers manipulated stocks, dodged taxes and collected enormous bonuses for peddling shoddy securities to unsuspecting Americans. The sensational headlines galvanized public opinion for reform, giving Congress the political cover it needed to pass the first federal securities laws and the Glass-Steagall Act. "We built completely on his work," one of the drafters of those laws acknowledged.
Facebook and Skype in social deal
Skype is integrating with Facebook to make it easier to call and video chat with friends and family on the social network. The deal comes amid fevered rumours that Facebook plans to launch a phone of its own. Together the deal means access to around 1 billion users
Dollar falls further
The dollar was worth as little as 81.12 yen at one stage, just above the post World War II low of 79.75 yen. The dollar fell 0.8% against the euro, trading at $1.40. The British pound is playing piggy in the middle between a falling US dollar and surging euro.
European Union concerned by big four auditors
The dominance of the four big global accounting firms faced a challenge Wednesday from the European Union, which said it would examine whether laws were needed to reduce their control of the market. Announcing an effort to tighten regulation after the financial crisis, Michel Barnier, the European commissioner for financial services, said that for the auditing sector, "the status quo is not an option."
Armenians face US health care scam charges
US officials have charged 73 people over what is thought to be the largest ever attempt to defraud the country's medical insurance system. Prosecutors say a network of Armenian gangsters and their associates set up fake clinics using stolen identities to make false claims for treatment. Investigators said more than $35m was paid out. The group, most of whom are of Armenian origin, are accused of setting up some 118 clinics across the US, most of which existed only on paper or were "nothing more than shams, shells, and storefronts", US Attorney said.
Russia embarks on citizen count
Russia has begun taking a census of its people, sending about 650,000 workers out to visit every home in the country. Population has been declining in Russia for years - though Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced last year that the trend had been reversed. Demographers believe there are now about 140 million people in Russia. The census has been controversial - criticized by the Orthodox Church and the political opposition, and nearly cancelled because of the cost.
Ontario high court rules witnesses may wear niqab unless unfair to accused
The Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled Wednesday that a witness does not have to remove her niqab unless the failure to do so will prevent the accused from receiving a fair trial. The court stopped short of issuing a ruling that would require all courts to follow in a similar fashion. The decision emphasizes the need for each situation to be considered on a case by case basis.
Indonesia court strikes down law allowing government to ban books
The Indonesian Constitutional Court on Wednesday overturned a law that has allowed the Indonesian government to ban books it deemed controversial for nearly 50 years. The court found that giving the Attorney General the authority to ban books violated the Indonesian Constitution by denying basic human rights without due process of the law. While the government will no longer have the ability to ban books, the power to do so still exists in the courts. More than 400 books have been banned in Indonesia over the last 50 years, including 22 books since 2006. The court's ruling will only affect the government's ability to ban books going forward, and books previously banned will remain so. The court upheld the government's ability to monitor the circulation of printed material to maintain public order, but emphasized that this could not amount to the banning or confiscating of those materials.
Mohammed launches Green Line trial run
Khaleej Times, English-language daily, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Canada court allows rape victim to testify while wearing veil
The Daily Star, Independent daily, Beirut, Lebanon
Yemen, South Korea celebrate 25 years of diplomatic relations
Yemen Observer, Sana'a, Republic of Yemen
Two prison officers seriously injured in Mountjoy riot
BreakingNews.ie, Online news portal, Cork, Ireland
Guards accused over deportation death
The Guardian, Liberal daily, London, England
Mikhalkov Looms Over Copyright Fight
The Moscow Times, Independent daily, Moscow, Russia
Chile miners: after the rescue, the punishments begin
The Telegraph, Conservative daily, London, England
House commission approves Timur as police chief
Antara News, News agency, Jakarta, Indonesia
Decision to be based on need, not dictates: Gilani
Dawn, English-language daily, Karachi, Pakistan
John Abraham gets 15 days jail
India Times, Conservative daily, New Delhi, India
Former Immigration D-G acquitted of bribery
Malaysian Star, Online news portal, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Former King's head lays down the law
New Zealand Herald, Conservative daily, Auckland, New Zealand
Mexico: Alleged chat between lawmaker, capo leaked
Sify News, Chennai, India
The Commonwealth: No slippage from upholding human rights
Caribbean360, Online news portal, St. Michael, Barbados
Republicans put their money where their candidates are
The Globe and Mail, Centrist daily, Toronto, Canada
US Welcomes Arrest of Callixte Mbarushimana
CongoPlanet.com, Independent online news aggregator
Ethiopian man arrested in US on sex abuse charges
Jimma Times, Online news portal, Jimma, Ethiopia
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