War Correspondents Weigh Citizenship with Service to Readers

As a former print journalist and a veteran of the Army's 29th Infantry Division (which landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day), I'm amazed that some war correspondents were trusted with the details of the operation prior to the June 6 invasion.

In today's dog-eat-dog, 24-hour news cycle, no military commander would ever divulge such sensitive information to journalists. If he did, certainly no reporter would keep quiet about it for very long.

Though the D-Day reporters stayed mum until the invasion began, one World War II journalist encountered a similar situation and made a very different decision.    

While serving as a war correspondent, the esteemed New York Times reporter/editor James "Scotty" Reston learned a Nazi submarine had attacked a British warship in the Scapa Flow, causing serious damage to the vessel. Despite operating under strict censorship restrictions, Reston reported the story to his editors using coded language to evade scrutiny, a decision he later regretted.

Case Western Reserve University journalism professor Ted Gup recounted Reston's reaction in his article "Secrecy and the Press in a Time of War."

“I think that was unethical,” Reston reflected. “That was a case where my fastball was better than my control. I’d like to take that one back.”
"Reston’s remorse confirms the conventional wisdom that reporters in times of war often find themselves torn between the instincts of a journalist and the duties of a citizen," Gup writes.

While some argue this brazen action launched Reston's storied career, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was reportedly furious at the reporter's actions.

As a former member of the Fourth Estate and the military, the struggle is easy for me to understand. It is also the topic of Chapter 4 in "Media Ethics Issues & Cases" "Loyalty: Choosing between Competing Allegiances."

Once he'd learned of the attack on the British cruiser, Reston certainly struggled to balance his loyalty to his "professional practice" (as well as his "loyalty arising from employment") with his "loyalty arising from shared humanity," but in the end, one loyalty triumphed over the other. I'm not surprised that Reston felt divided loyalties. What does surprise me is that he admitted he'd made a mistake in the one he eventually chose to honor.

Reston knew that reporting a submarine attack on a British ship in British waters would give Germany vital intelligence on what physical damage its fleet was causing. It is likely he also knew this information would be a propaganda windfall for Great Britain's enemy and would be used to demoralize the Allied cause and inspire the German public and its military.

The censorship restrictions Reston operated under were certainly strict and, as Gup points out, many war correspondents "were easily discouraged in their fights with the censor and the gold braid and contented themselves with writing pretty stories about generals and admirals and movie heroes who happened to be wearing uniforms. Or they were content to sit around the rear bases and write only what the public relations officer brought around to them."

But as draconian as these restriction may have been, I believe there were valid military reasons for implementing them, a fact Reston surely would have acknowledged. Had I been in Reston's situation, I would have balanced the need to serve my readers with the possible impact my reporting would have on civilian and military populations, both in my country (and the countries of its allies) and the enemy's.

While it might be more difficult to envision what would happen if I didn't report such information, the impact of reporting it would be more easily considered. Clearly, it would provide Germany a military advantage, even if only in the short term, and would have a negative impact on the Allied cause. These facts are nearly impossible to dispute.

As a U.S. citizen (as Reston was), I would have viewed the issue within the context of press freedoms and the conflict itself by asking "If the enemy of my nation, Germany, were to gain advantage from my reporting and eventually emerge victorious, what press freedoms would remain?" While Allied war correspondents labored under restrictions and censorship during World War II, these were temporary measures and ones that would evaporate once the war had ended, but only if the Allies were the victors.

 

 

When The Bottom Line Trumps the Byline

As one the MACOMM program's "seasoned citizens," I've spent time as a journalist and have encountered several incidences where I've experienced an ethical dilemma. Most of these were fairly minor, but the most memorable example came when I was the managing editor of a bi-weekly Fairfield County newspaper.

One day, I received a call from a reader who said he'd just watched a segment on ABC's "20/20" that focused on several New York pharmacies that were under federal investigation for allegedly collecting old prescription drugs and selling them to customers as new drugs. Why did this concern my newspaper? The answer was simple: because the same owner was the proprietor of a pharmacy in the town the publication served.

Although the Connecticut pharmacy was not under investigation, the "20/20" segment certainly did raise some interesting questions about what might be going on a few blocks from our newspaper office.

As a journalist and the newspaper's managing editor, I immediately asked myself "What duties do I have and to whom do I owe them?" Again, the answer was simple: I have a duty to our readers (one of whom had contacted the newspaper with a tip) to investigate the situation and report on the findings.

I summoned the newspaper's head reporter, a man at least 25 years my senior, to discuss the reader's concern and to assign him the story. It was clear by his initial response that his dedication to the story and desire to investigate and report it was, well, less than enthusiastic.

"You know _________ Pharmacy is a major advertiser, right?" he sighed.  

Despite my initial internal impulse (which involved screaming and choking the reporter), I took a deep breath and calmly told him that didn't matter and I expected him to look into the situation and report on what he learned. We had a duty to, as highlighted in Chapter 1 of "Media Ethics: Issues & Cases," tell the truth.

He sighed again and shuffled out of the room. His body language previewed the story he would later file, even though he hadn't yet written a word.

A day or two later, I checked in with him on his progress and, unsurprisingly, was disappointed both in his product and his principles. He had barely worked on the story and spent most of our meeting discussing how uncomfortable he felt about writing it. "I'm sorry you feel that way," I told him, "but you need to have the story on my desk on deadline day."

When deadline day arrived, the senior reporter's work was what I will politely call "embarrassing." It was a poorly written story that clearly reflected his lack of commitment to undertaking any serious investigation. It also reflected his desire to appease the editor and the publisher, both of whom had a reputation for killing stories they thought would portray the town or its advertisers in a negative light.

I could understand the reporter's intent to please his (and my) bosses and his fears about losing his job (he had a family to support while I was still single), but I was angry about his actions and told him I'd be writing the story myself. While I didn't say it out loud, I knew this reporter's loyalty was to something other than the code of ethics journalists were bound to follow. Principles espoused by the Society of Professional Journalists such as "seek the truth and report" and "act independently" were being subjugated to the baser principle of self-preservation.

Throwing myself into the story, I produced a comprehensive, well-sourced article about the federal probe and the "20/20" segment involving the New York pharmacy locations while pointing out to readers the Connecticut store was not under any type of investigation. I then filed the story with my editor, who immediately called in the company's general counsel and summoned me to the meeting.

As I had expected, the editor told me the story would not run. The lawyer explained to me the concern the company had about a potential lawsuit.

"But couldn't anyone sue our newspaper for anything?" I queried. "If that's your concern, why do we print a newspaper at all?"

He stood silently, refusing to respond to my question. I walked out of the meeting, tired of tilting at journalistic windmills, at least for a day. By now, the staff knew the situation and had rallied behind the story, so I walked into the newsroom and told them it had been "spiked." I also told them I didn't support the editor's decision, but he was in charge and we'd all have to respect it.

Needless to say, the story never ran in our newspaper. About a month later, however, the daily newspaper that served our area ran a lengthy article about the federal investigation of the New York pharmacies, scooping our little publication.

I'm not sure if any lawsuits were ever filed against the daily newspaper for running the story, but I'm certain the pharmacy owner later "admitted to having been convicted of Criminal Diversion of Prescription Medications and Prescriptions in the Third Degree, a class E felony," according to New York State's "Summaries of Regents Actions On Professional Misconduct and Discipline."

As a journalist, I had a firm set of ethics to guide me on this issue, thanks to SPJ, but so did the reporter. How could he have reached a completely different decision from mine?

Many of my classmates will face ethical dilemmas in their future careers and look to the MACOMM program to prepare them. While no course will provide a definitive "how-to" on making choices, learning about everything from Aristotle's Golden Mean to John Stuart Mill's utilitarianism (and other philosophies) will provide guidelines from which a decision can be made.

In my example, I followed the ethical guidelines provided by SPJ and took what I still believe was the right action. While the actions of my editor upset and disappointed me for a long while, I eventually realized I had no control over the ethics of others, which was the most important decision I learned as a young journalist faced with a tough decision.

Arsenal Holdings PLC: Scoring Goals in Business and Football

When the Blog Post 6 rolled around, I was presented with a dilemma. Since Jelly Belly Candy Company is privately held and doesn't interact publicly with investors, I could either post my shortest blog assignment yet or find another company that would allow me to answer the prompts more fully.

Needless to say, I chose option #2.

For this assignment, I'm looking at Arsenal Holdings plc, the parent company of London's Arsenal Football Club, a professional team in England's Barclays Premier League. Arsenal Holdings plc ("plc" stands for "public limited company") isn't a publicly traded company, either, but it has issued more than 60,000 shares. These shares are not traded on the London or New York stock exchanges but on specialty exchanges and the majority (66.7 percent) shareholder is American Stan Kroenke, better known for owning the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League and the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association.

In providing updates on the activities of its 12 subsidiary companies, which include the team itself and companies that manage the team's stadium property and operate the venue itself (known as Emirate Stadium), Arsenal Holdings plc does an excellent job in keeping all its stakeholders, including investors, fans and followers, current using traditional financial reports and its annual general shareholders meeting, which was held this year on Oct. 27. In the fiscal year ending May 31, 2011, the football (soccer) team posted a profit of £45.8 million ($71.8 million) and the other subsidiaries were profitable as well. In 2009, Forbes ranked Arsenal as the third most successful football franchise on the planet, behind only England's Manchester United and Spain's Real Madrid.   

A quick Google search for "Arsenal Holdings plc" brings up its latest financial year-end report as the first result. This report, available in downloadable PDF format, includes detailed financial results for all subsidiary companies as well as reports from the chairman, chief executive and directors.

The "Community" section of its annual report details the many initiatives Arsenal Holdings plc has undertaken to help local government in improving the North London area. One of the company properties, Elthorne Park, was recognized in March with the Mayor of London's Safer Parks Gold Award for efforts to fight anti-social behavior and create safer community environments for children. And, despite its primary focus on football, Arsenal has introduced a host of sports, including field hockey, as part of its community outreach and one participant, Darren Cheesman, will represent Great Britain during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Arsenal's charitable campaign, "Be a Gooner (a play on the team's nickname "The Gunners"), Be a Giver," raised more than £600,000, some of which was used for efforts to aid homeless youth through education and employment training.  

While Arsenal's reputation in Europe and worldwide is well-known, it is still a work in progress here in the United States, and I feel that Arsenal has an opportunity to accomplish more through its commercial partnership with the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

This alliance, which dates to 2007, focuses mainly on developing players but could be expanded to integrate some of Arsenal's London-based charitable and community outreach efforts into neighborhoods in Colorado where some of the same services could be utilized. Such an expansion would be especially helpful because the percentage of Colorado children living in poverty grew from 11.3 percent in 2000 to 15 percent in 2008, according to U.S. census data.  

Sports franchises don't often experience crises like chemical or oil spills or massive financial mismanagement, and Arsenal Holdings plc would be well advised to stay its course should the company undergo any business disaster in the future. There is excellent communications with all stakeholders, particularly its investors and its Arsenal Footbal Club fans, and a deep conviction to and proven track record of corporate social responsibility.

Many viewed the start of the team's 2011/2012 season as a crisis, as it included losses to league rivals Liverpool and Manchester United, but top management was unshaken. During the annual general meeting in October, the normally media-shy majority owner Stan Kroenke told shareholder that "Arsenal has all the elements that you need to have success in this kind of business," a statement that sent all the right signals.

In English football, head coaches (known as "managers") normally get quite nervous when the results don't go their way and worry about getting fired (or "sacked" in British slang), but Kroenke's timely remark helped sooth manager Arsene Wenger's nerves and the team has since posted five wins, two draws and one loss, a record that included beating crosstown rivals Chelsea F.C. 5-3 October 29.

Ronald Reagan, Jack Donaghy and Jelly Belly

U.S. presidents don't endorse products while still in office, but Ronald Reagan came as close to a celebrity spokesman for Jelly Belly as anyone else in the company's history. Jelly Belly even offered a special deal "fit for a commander-in-chief" to commemorate Reagan's 100th birthday in February. Even more recently the game show "Jeopardy" featured a question about Jelly Belly jelly beans (3.5 tons worth) being served at Reagan's 1981 inaugural festivities, 30 years after the event.

In a related move, Jelly Belly also served as the sponsor for the Ronald
Reagan Centennial float at this year's 122nd Annual Rose Parade, issuing
press release to announce the deal.

As mentioned in a previous post, singer Kina Graniss is Jelly Belly's most visible celebrity spokesman, and her video for "In Your Arms," made with 288,000 Jelly Belly jelly beans, is featured prominently on Jelly Belly's Facebook fan page. Not surprisingly, Jelly Belly products were included at the launch party for the single and photos were posted on the Facebook wall.

"In Your Arms" video director Greg Jardin (with tie)

and the video's designers and production team.

One strategy that Jelly Belly seems to rely on more than celebrity endorsement is product placement, both direct and indirect. Whether its a deal on "Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans" linked to the DVD release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" or luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman's window display made entirely of jelly beans on NYC's Fifth Avenue, Jelly Belly's integration and visibility would make even GE Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming Jack Donaghy proud.

While not an official celebrity endorser, comedian/musician "Weird Al" Yankovic appears in the recently released documentary, "Candyman: The David Klein Story," which chronicles "the epic rise and fall of Mr. Jelly Belly." In one scene, Yankovic is seen tasting a Jelly Belly flavor with Klein, an action that can only be interpreted as an endorsement. Celebrities are too protective of their own brands and images to get involved with products they don't use or enjoy.  

Despite a strong social media presence for Jelly Belly, it's harder to find in the blogosphere. Several bloggers write regularly about the company and its products, including CandyBlog, which recently discussed the new Jelly Belly Mint Jelly Bean Chocolate Dips (the blogger was not a fan), but Jelly Belly Cycling seemed to be the only steady presence, particularly with its informative and regularly updated Twitter page. My guess is that, as Bhargava discusses, "blogging is not right for every business" and Jelly Belly feels it has gained enough ground in other social media and doesn't need to blog.

Jelly Belly does a great job of leveraging social media to promote and market its products and its brand identity is the envy of many, but I think Jelly Belly would benefit from a corporate blog aimed at retaining existing employees and attracting new talent. There's all kinds of information about the company, its history, products and interactive offerings like plant tours, but the "Careers" section of their Web site is the exact opposite of Jelly Belly itself - colorless and bland.

Prospective employees would like to know if working at Jelly Belly is as exciting and different an experience as its 50 gourmet jelly bean flavors. Though the Web site says Jelly Belly "thrive(s) on the company's rich diversity of personalities and ethnic and cultural backgrounds and seek special individuals who demonstrate potential," without examples that's just corporate-speak.

Surely Jelly Belly could follow Bhargava's advice to "think outside the CEO and senior members" and find some employees who'd be willing to share their personalities, as well as their experiences as Jelly Belly employees, with outside stakeholders. If they did, I'm sure they'd solidify their customer loyalty as well as attract new talent to their workforce.

What's the Scoop on Jelly Belly Media Relations?

As a former journalist, my first thought when examining Jelly Belly's media relations was to examine how easy the company made it for a reporter to find contact information on its Web site. Despite my diligence, I had a lot of trouble locating the person I'd need to reach if I wanted to do a print/broadcast/Web story about Jelly Belly. 

In its "Contact Us" section, there is a mailing address for company's Fairfield, Calif., headquarters and the its Pleasant Prairie, Wisc. distribution center, but today's journalists are inclined to use snail mail as they would be to take notes with a quill pen and inkwell.

The email function is a generic form with a pull-down menu that includes nearly everything but how to find a media/corporate communications contact. The "FAQ" is no better and clearly targeted to consumers. Searches for "media" and "corporate communications" were fruitless, but I did learn the Fairfield, Calif., factory offers RV parking.

There is also an "800" number, but my instincts tell me that when the outgoing voice is Mr. Jelly Belly, most information will center on selling candy. After listening to all telephone options, I sadly learned my instincts were correct. There's no specific option for journalists to use to contact someone at the company.

Despite the lack of contact information or a media kit on its Web site, Jelly Belly doesn't suffer from media underexposure. A Google News search reveals a variety of coverage, much of it on Kina Graniss, including an interesting Associated Press feature story on Jelly Belly creator David Klein's latest attempt to create the next big thing in candy (Klein and a partner sold their company interest in 1980 for $4.8 million, then Klein disappeared from the candy scene) and a Web posting on how her video (made with 288,000 Jelly Belly beans) has gone viral. The AP story was picked up by numerous outlets, including The Huffington Post's "David Klein, Former Mr. Jelly Belly, Looks For A Comeback," so whatever media relations strategy Jelly Belly uses seems to work pretty well.

David Klein (AP/Jae C. Hong)

But I couldn't believe that brand with so much media exposure would have such a hide-and-seek media relations mentality, so I kept searching. Finally, in frustration, I did what most people would do - a Google search for "Jelly Belly" AND "media contact," which immediately turned up a seemingly separate Web site, www.jellybellypress.com," which had all the information I'd been laboring to find all along.

The "Contact Us" section has a generic email address publicrelations@jellybelly.com, but there's a local California phone number for the director of communications along and a serious disclaimer that "Only calls/emails from media outlets will be returned."

The "Press Kit" section claims to "include every resource you will need about Jelly Belly Candy Company," but the link on the words "Press Kit" doesn't seem to lead anywhere and the rest of the page contains a yawning gap where one would guess additional information would reside.

However, the section includes the latest press releases, many of which are recipe-focused, such as the latest, Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes. These releases, which fail to meet the standard of "Template for a Press Release," contain tagged keywords like "baking," "cupcakes" and "decorating," which lead to related items/entries across the JellyBelly.com.  There are more traditional press releases such as "Jelly Belly Intros New Beanaturals® Superfruit Flavours," but I'm stumped as to why an all-American company like Jelly Belly would spell "flavor" with a "u" in its press release. Maybe Madonna wrote that one.  

Finally, there's a link allowing users to subscribe to a feed, with the ability to select terms from "baking" to "uncategorized." This is a useful tactic to regular connect consumers, journalists and others with the latest company news and information.

Overall, I found that Jelly Belly's media relations strategy mirrored its corporate strategy by positioning its product as "the world's #1 gourmet jelly bean" and focusing on the qualities that differentiate it from other brands. My only complaint was that the "Pressroom" site, though full of great information, wasn't just difficult to locate on the company's main corporate site, it was impossible.

Jelly Belly + New Media = A Recipe for Success

For a company that dates back to the 19th century, Jelly Belly mixes with today's new media as easily as Sunkist®  Lemon and coconut (Two gourmet flavors which combine to make "lemon meringue pie." For the curious, more Jelly Belly recipes can be found here).

Without annoying pop-ups or other irritants, Jelly Belly has succeeded in making social media nearly unavoidable for Web page visitors. Click on the company's home page and a toolbar appears at the bottom displaying the various options, including "Shop JellyBelly.com," "Click here to see our latest Facebook updates," "(Facebook) Like," "Click here to watch videos from our YouTube channel," "Click here to share this page" and (while not exactly a "new media" function) a cool "Translate" button aimed at Jelly Belly's worldwide customer base. With one click, this can transform the page into Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Russian.

While not yet reaching Kutcheresque social media status, Jelly Belly's Facebook fan page boasts a respectable 236,302 members (as of Nov. 12) and the interactive toolbar function allows you to post a message and connect to Facebook if you hadn't already. And as far as the latest updates, the window fills up regularly with both corporate and fan input about everything from singer/Jelly Belly aficionado Kina Graniss' (see previous post) upcoming "Ellen" performance (Tuesday, Nov. 15) to a Nov. 11 corporate post listing the 11 best-selling Jelly Belly bean flavors (Berry Blue Blueberry, Bubble Gum, Buttered Popcorn, Coconut, Cotton Candy, Green Apple, Juicy Pear, Licorice, Very Cherry and Watermelon).

As an ardent Jelly Belly fan myself, I wasn't too surprised to see robust participation on Jelly Belly's Facebook page, but it was encouraging (and a little surprising) to see how often Jelly Belly responded and interacted with fan-generated information. Reacting to one fan's post about Graniss' "Ellen" appearance, Jelly Belly responded "We do and we can't wait! Our DVRs are already set."

The YouTube channel offers a variety of content, including a Kina Graniss-led video factory tour (where you can watch her eat a rotten-egg flavored jelly bean) and recipes and suggestions for using Jelly Belly from folks like Karen Stack, author of "Hello, Cupcake!" and "What's New, Cupcake?" Stack's latest video offers tips on how to make pumpkin-shaped cupcakes using not only Jelly Belly's signature jelly beans, but other Jelly Belly products like gummi fish, one of which she cuts in half  to use the tail for the pumpkin's stem.

"You may not know," Stack tells viewers, "but Jelly Belly makes all different kinds of candy." If that weren't enough, promotion-wise, she then suggests visiting a local candy store or logging on to JellyBelly.com.

While there is no corporate Twitter identity for Jelly Belly, its cycling team is well-represented (@JellyBellyTeam)  and those who follow the team can read blog posts about how the team fared in China's Tour of Taihu or see photos of team cyclist Brad Huff meeting Japanese fans.

JellyBelly.com would earn high marks for "organization" from Halvorson and as long as someone can find the home page (Google it), the sky's the limit. The site is chock-full of both user-friendly and high-quality content, both company- and fan-generated.

So whether you need to shop for candy or find a winter-themed computer desktop wallpaper (listed under "Fun Stuff"), you're never more than a few clicks away.

288,000 Reasons to Pay Attention to Jelly Belly

If you did a Google News search this week on "jelly bean," you would have found, right at the top of the results, stories about singer Kina Grannis and her newest single, "In Your Arms." When I watched her video (take a look), I saw one of the most clever product placements ever - 288,000 Jelly Belly jelly beans used to create intricate mosaics that served as Graniss' props and backdrop.

What's even more amazing than the music video itself is the YouTube video about how it was made, detailing the year's worth of painstaking effort that brought forth "In Your Arms." In the opening of the "making of" video, the stacks of bins clearly marked with Jelly Belly flavors like green apple, kiwi and peach reinforce the candy's unique offerings. At other times, the brand's logo is clearly visible.

On its Web site, Jelly Belly actively promotes Graniss, driving visitors to its Facebook page, which features the video and an exclusive interview. The catch: you can only see them if you "like" the page first. This is a classic "call-to-action" if I've ever seen one.

Clearly, Graniss is a fan of Jelly Belly. Indeed, the Facebook page tells us her "'flavorite' Jelly Belly beans are Piña Colada, Juicy Pear, Coconut and Chocolate Pudding" and shows us a colorful jar of "Kina's Mix" as a wall photo.

Jelly Belly art isn't new but it's certainly unique. After all, have you ever seen a portrait of Mona Lisa made with Butterfinger or a rendering of Princess Diana in Hershey's Kisses? Probably not, but you can see both of these subjects and so many more at Jelly Belly Bean Art Collection. There's even a "Bean Art Maker" on the company Web site, where you can upload a photo to see how it looks in Jelly Belly. You can also submit your photograph to the company or share it with friends on Facebook or Twitter.

 
Sure, there are other artists who work in foods like potato chips, hamburger buns or pretzels, but this unusual variety of art gives people a chance to create something memorable while interacting with a brand-name product that's as different as the art created. With 90 different flavors and as many colors and shades, using Jelly Belly as a palette makes sense if your medium has to be candy.

And if music videos or candy art don't appeal to you, Jelly Belly has a stable of athletes competing under its banner in sports as varied as rodeo, cycling, minor league baseball and golf. And because "candy isn't the only thing you'll find with the Jelly Belly name on it," each sport is now branded with the unmistakable Jelly Belly logo as well as with the superlative tagline "if our name is on it, you know that it's top of the line."

Jelly Belly's adherence to "brand identity ideals" is hard to miss, whether with the product itself (jelly beans) or the marketing initiatives that support and promote it, Jelly Belly works hard to ensure the recognizability, consistency and enduring nature of its brand.