Welcome to the inaugural posting of I Read This Somewhere, a series that aims to share my opinion on the many things I read. I let my eyes soak up all that they fall over, which is anything from news articles, other blog posts, quick buzzfeed lists, rolling stones articles, books and novels, and lyrics and poetry. Sometimes these posts might be lists of things you should read, sometimes I may analyze an article that got me thinking and put my two cents in. Either way, I read it somewhere and I want to share it with you. That's what life is all about; a continuous cycle of information gathering, opinion formation and the actions that result of it.
I've never thought of myself of a big reader, but it turns out I've been seriously underestimating myself. I don't read books and novels nearly as often as my brother (an English teacher who can read faster than I can speak) or my mother (an avid member of her book club). My style of reading has always been different from the rest of my family and I'm just now realizing that I might even read more than they do on a daily basis. I gravitate towards articles and quick reads. And now whenever I read something, I'm coming up with new ideas for blog series (point and case.)
FEAR NO HEADLINE
I came across an article on LinkedIn by Forbes called The Day Bill Belichick Discovered Public Relations by Fraser Seitel. I was totally sucked in by the headline alone; being a PR major and a Patriots fan sealed the deal. I was a bit surprised by the brash tone that it began with. As a fan of the team, I've lived through plenty of disappointing headlines about the Patriots. The Aaron Hernandez scandal, SpyGate, losing two Super Bowl games, Tom Brady's knee injury, plus others. I know the media has never been a friend of Bill Belichick. How ever these stories influenced public opinion, for Seitel to say that these things caused the Patriots to be perhaps the most hated team in all of sports just left a bad taste in my mouth. The author came off with such a negative bias that I almost dismissed his credibility right off the bat.
 Found on bleacherreport.com. | Once I got past that, I ended up enjoying the article very much. It was interesting to analyze the Deflategate scandal from a PR perspective and I feel that if I was a part of the Patriots' communication team, I would be happy with the outcome of it. I believe it was a key move to put an end the media discussion and for Coach Belichick to have the last word. The team was proactive, took charge and played PR offense rather than defense. |
As a student, I've found that one of my favorite aspects of PR is crisis communication. In PR, when you are able to prevent or respond to crisis in a tactful way, you've done the definition of the job. I applaud the Patriots for consistently getting the job done in every aspect and inspiring me to do the same in my life. I can't think of a more worthy team for a Super Bowl ring. Give me your thoughts on Deflategate in the comments below!
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