Tag Archives: Government

Why “Kony 2012″ went viral

Posted on March 9, 2012 by marcusmessner

An online campaign can hardly be more effective than the one of Invisible Children. This week, the nonprofit published an online documentary video on the abductions and mass murder of children in Uganda that went viral and brought attention to … Continue reading →

Posted in International, Journalism, Politics, Public Relations, Social Media | Tagged Audience, Campaigns, Global, Government, Invisible Children, Joseph Kony, Kony 2012, Non-profit, NPR, Social Media, Strategy, Uganda, Youth | 1 Comment

Online protests for freedom of speech on the Internet

Posted on January 21, 2012 by marcusmessner

The proposed SOPA and PIPA legislation has not only triggered protests by new media companies, but it has also led to a widespread social media campaign that is likely to stall the bills in both houses of the U.S. Congress. … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Government, International, Law, Politics, Social Media | Tagged Audience, Business, Congress, corporations, Democracy, Egypt, Facebook, Global, Google, Government, PIPA, Piracy, Protest, Social Media, SOPA, Strategy, Technology, Twitter, Wikipedia, WRIR | Leave a comment

The battle between Hollywood and Silicon Valley

Posted on January 20, 2012 by marcusmessner

The legislative efforts in the U.S. Congress to fight online piracy abroad have caused unprecedented protests by new media companies and organizations this week. The one-day shutdown of Wikipedia and highly publicized protest of Google, Facebook, Twitter and other websites … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Government, International, Law, Politics, Social Media | Tagged Audience, Business, CBS 6, Congress, corporations, Democracy, Facebook, Global, Google, Government, Hollywood, Newscorp, PIPA, Protest, Silicon Valley, Social Media, SOPA, Technology, Time Warner, Twitter, Wikipedia | Leave a comment

Tweets on C-SPAN

Posted on November 2, 2011 by marcusmessner

Traditional news media are increasingly using social media in their news reporting. Our recent study on newspaper reporting patterns has stressed this trend. But C-SPAN has now incorporated congressional Twitter feeds into its programming. During breaks between political debates, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Journalism, Politics, Social Media | Tagged Audience, C-SPAN, Democracy, Government, Newspaper, Poynter, Social Media, Sources, TV, Twitter | Leave a comment

Al Jazeera and the Arab Spring

Posted on October 26, 2011 by marcusmessner

Kimberly Halkett, anchor and reporter for Al Jazeera, will speak at VCU’s School of Mass Communications and give an overview on the Arab Spring, the rise of Al Jazeera as well as her work on Capitol Hill in Washington. I … Continue reading →

Posted in International, Journalism, Politics, Social Media | Tagged Al Jazeera, Anchor, Capitol Hill, Democracy, Egypt, Election, Facebook, Global, Government, Protest, Reporter, Social Media, Students, TV, Twitter, VCU, YouTube | Leave a comment

Social media and the 2012 presidential campaign

Posted on October 26, 2011 by marcusmessner

President Barack Obama and the Republican field of candidates are putting their social media campaigns in place for the 2012 presidential race. Republicans recently announced that they will be ready to play social media this time around, and President Obama … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Government, Politics, Public Relations, Social Media | Tagged American Public Media, Blogs, Campaigns, Candidates, Democracy, Democrats, Election, Facebook, Government, Marketplace, Newspaper, Obama, President, Republicans, Social Media, Strategy, Tumblr, Twitter | Leave a comment

Social media fire up “Occupy” movement

Posted on October 15, 2011 by marcusmessner

“Occupy Wall Street” in New York has developed into a worldwide protest movement during the last few days. As with many other street protests in recent years, social media played a central role in promoting and organizing the movement. Reporter … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Government, International, Journalism, Politics, Social Media | Tagged Business, Campaigns, corporations, Democracy, Facebook, Germany, Global, Government, iPad, Occupy, Protest, Social Media, Strategy, Tablet, Technology, Twitter, Wallstreet, YouTube | Leave a comment

PR firms and the presidential election in Egypt

Posted on August 11, 2011 by marcusmessner

As Egypt prepares for the first presidential election in the post-Mubarak era, candidates are seeking the advice of public relations firms to craft their campaigns and public images. Business Today Egypt reporter Randa El Tahawy interviewed me recently on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Government, International, Politics, Public Relations, Social Media | Tagged Business, Business Today Egypt, Campaigns, consultant, Democracy, Egypt, Election, Global, Government, Mubarak, Obama, President, Protest, Social Media, Strategy | Leave a comment

Social media and the city

Posted on August 5, 2011 by marcusmessner

The City of Richmond awarded a marketing contract to a company in Denver and subsequently upset one of the local bidders, David Saunders from Madison+Main. In a social media blitz, Saunders caused widespread media coverage and an uproar within the … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Government, Journalism, Politics, Public Relations, Social Media | Tagged Business, Campaigns, City of Richmond, Contract, Denver, Facebook, Government, Madison+Main, Newspaper, Social Media, Strategy, TV, Twitter, WRIR | Leave a comment

Are news media poisoning public opinion?

Posted on July 13, 2011 by marcusmessner

The cases involving Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Casey Anthony have shown some news organizations at their worst. Prejudging the outcomes of these cases, news outlets had to make 180-degree turns in their reporting when the two cases had surprising twists. CBS … Continue reading →