According to the news screaming across the wires this morning, the real Deep Throat has finally 'fessed up.

An advance copy of a Vanity Fair article (PDF: here) reveals that the key source who fed Woodward and Bernstein their Watergate info, was W. Mark Felt - the guy who held the number two spot in the FBI during the Nixon administration.

Reporter John D. O'Connor writes a good piece, with some memorable moments such as this one:

"I believe that Mark Felt is one of America’s greatest secret heroes. Deep in his psyche, it is clear to me, he still has qualms about his actions, but he also knows that historic events compelled him to behave as he did: standing up to an executive branch intent on obstructing his agency’s pursuit of the truth. Felt...has lived for more than 30 years in a prison of his own making, a prison built upon his strong moral principles and his unwavering loyalty to country and cause."

"The media serve the interests of state and corporate power, which are closely interlinked, framing their reporting and analysis in a manner supportive of established privilege and limiting debate and discussion accordingly."

-- Noam Chomsky

Not as much going on here as there should be.

When I'm not busy job hunting, I'm staying up too late, with the words just pouring out of me onto the screen. Thing is, all the stuff I've been writing recently seems better suited to the Flackster gig, which is why posting here has been so sparse.

There's plenty to plough through over at Corante though, including the continuing Seven Deadly Agency Types series, as well as this piece (below), from earlier today. Apologies for posting the same stuff in two locations, but this needs to receive all the oxygen it can:

Morgan Stanley Introduces New Test of Editorial Integrity

A Reuters report in this morning’s Globe and Mail describes changes introduced by Morgan Stanley and their ad agency into the contracts they’re proposing to use in booking print advertising.

“Under the policy, Morgan Stanley wants publishers to tell it about any objectionable stories that will be run in their newspaper or magazine,” according to Reuters’ sources.

The clear implication is that the mighty Morgan Stanley is threatening to pull lucrative advertising from any publications running stories critical of the firm.

The Reuters piece points to coverage of the new contracts on AdAge.com, including this genuinely disturbing clause:

“In the event that objectionable editorial coverage is planned, agency must be notified as a last-minute change may be necessary. If an issue arises after-hours or a call cannot be made, immediately cancel all Morgan Stanley ads for a minimum of 48 hours.”

The request has apparently been made to a number of prominent news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

As leading business newspapers, it would be very difficult for these guys not to write about Morgan Stanley, especially during the company’s ongoing battle with disgruntled former execs and shareholders.

It might be tempting to simply deny the firm the oxygen of “earned media”, but that would be almost impossible for a paper such as the WSJ to contemplate – how can the leading business newspaper in the States possibly avoid writing about Morgan Stanley, whether its good news or bad?

At the same time, any editorial board with an ounce of integrity must surely object to this kind of extortionate shake down.

Whether they intended to or not, it looks like Morgan Stanley have just introduced a clear test of editorial probity. Any newspaper that accepts paid advertising on these terms is displaying, at best, questionable integrity, IMHO.

It might seem extreme, but I think the cleanest response would be to refuse to take Morgan Stanley’s ad dollars, and continue to run whatever stories the paper sees fit to run completely free of any coercive restraint.

Next time you plan to spend a productive afternoon following up on job opps and getting some writing done at the local, free WiFi-enabled, coffee shop, remember to bring the damn iPod.

Man, I hate daytime "all hits" radio.

I'm a tad late getting into this one, but like just about everyone else out there I'm really enjoying The Huffington Post (aka Live Nude Arianna, or The Blogesse Dorée).

Ms. Huffington (who she?) has enticed an extraordinary collection of luminaries, loonies, legends and loveys to contribute to her splendid blog-based enterprise (Walter Cronkite, Greg Gutfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, John Cusack, Irshad Manji, and many others).

Very smart stuff. It's a little like Corante, but with valet parking.

One thing I really like about the set up of the site is the range of RSS choices they offer - the site editors have made it braindead easy to have your feedreader pull down the entire site, just the headlines, featured posts, or just the news-y sections. Nicely done.

I'm sure you've already played with Google Maps by now. Seconds of fun switching back and forth between the map and satellite view -- checking out your house, school, office, commute, favourite national landmarks, etc.

Once you run out of ideas, check out this terrific collection.

Everything from the obvious (Bill Gates' house) to the remarkable (the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center "boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base), the mundane (Mall of Georgia) to the awe-inspiring (active Hawaiian volcano).

A couple of notable books I'd highly recommend you add to your reading list.

My friend Leonard Brody's latest book is now out in paperback, and it's a cracking read. Titled: Everything I Needed to Know About Business...I Learned from a Canadian, the book features a series of fascinating and eminently readable essays from Canadian business luminaries such as Jeff Skoll (eBay co-founder), Nick Graham (Joe Boxer co-founder and "Chief Underwear Officer"), Paul Tellier (Bombardier, CN Railways, etc.), Bonnie Fuller (Glamour, Cosmopolitan, etc.), architect Moshe Safdie, and many others.

It's engaging, entertaining, educational, and a snip at $17.49 on Amazon.ca. And as all the proceeds are going to Junior Achievement Canada, you can have a great read and feel all warm and noble about it at the same time.

Also, I just finished reading one of my birthday presents, Malcolm Gladwell's astonishing Blink. One of those rare books that I found I had to stop and put aside every couple of pages, just to soak in the revelations and insights Gladwell reveals. Buy it.

David Weinberger comments on the return of Flackster and opens up an interesting discussion about the role of PR in our hyperlinked world. Lots to think about, as always, in David’s remarks.

One turn of phrase, in particular, resonates for me – David talks about the need for PR to "get out of the way" (a thought I’ve touched on in the past). I’d go so far as to say that "Get out of the way" should be adopted as the rubric for the entire public relations profession. But more on that another time.

Thinking along these lines reminded me of one of my favourite "get out of the way" stories, which I can’t resist posting here.

Some years ago, I had the opportunity to work closely with the huge PR machine at Intel Corporation. At the time, one of the most senior people in Intel PR was Ursula Herrick, a genuinely smart, charming, focused woman with a terrific background in corporate and high tech PR.

One of the many aspects of Ursula’s daily life at Intel was “handling” Andy Grove – looking after his speaking calendar and high-profile public appearances in particular. At dinner in Santa Clara one night, Ursula told me this great little story about the life of a PR pro. I hope she won’t object to me relaying the anecdote here.

Andy Grove was invited to give the keynote address at one of the big industry events one year, and Ursula was alongside to make sure he had all he needed for the event. She’d worked with him on researching, drafting and rehearsing his speech; coordinated all the logistics; managed the program of press interviews lined up before and after his appearance; and was there beside him in the wings as he was being introduced to the audience of several thousand attendees.

Unfortunately, Dr. Grove also happened to be struggling with a horrible cold on the morning of the event. The headachey, snuffly, congested, nose-streaming kind of cold that really throws a kink in your day. Determined not to disappoint, Andy was primed to soldier on regardless (if you’ve read Swimming Across, you’ll know he’s just that kind of guy).

Moments before he’s due to walk out on stage, Andy had to blow his nose – trying to clear his head and his sinuses as well as possible before the big speech. Casting around for a garbage can in the half-light behind the curtain, Andy heard his cue from the event host on stage and was briefly at a loss, clutching a fist full of damp, gluey Kleenex with nowhere to chuck it.

Ursula stuck out her hand to take the bundle of tissues away, flicked a speck from his collar, and ushered Andy out in front of the waiting audience to deliver his presentation.

So here’s this woman, at the absolute pinnacle of her career – one of the two most senior PR people in the whole of the mighty Intel Corporation, and she’s catching snot for her boss.

Don't be fooled by what they tell you at PR school. This is what the job is about. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with it.

As well as dusting off the cobwebs here at the main blog, I've also managed to pump some life back into my "professional" blog over at Corante.

Just posted the first of a series - "The Seven Deadly Agency Types" over here.

Ahhh...it's good to have somewhere to rant again :-)

From Joey (Accordion Guy) deVilla:

Right. Won't go into the full story here, but I find myself suddenly and unexpectedly on the job hunt again.

After four terrific years flacking my brains out as a senior exec. with some of Canada’s foremost public relations companies, I've decided to explore options to re-enter the technology sector, where my career began. I'm certainly not averse to agency gigs, of course - the priority is to find the right fit with a creative, growing organization. Right now, it's all about finding a job where the sanity level exceeds the craziness.

Here's a representative snapshot from the top of my résumé. I'll post the full thing online later. Always feel a little egotistical writing stuff like this, but it's all true and verifiable - I have the scar tissue to prove it. This is what I've been doing in the last few years:

• Managed 45-person global marketing organization for Canada’s third-largest software company, with total accountability for US$4.5 million budget.
• Grew market share of global software company’s principal product to 42% (by independent estimates), through focused and intensive marketing campaigns.
• Created and grew new Technology Practice for Canadian arm of large international PR agency, generating $1.2 million in new revenue in first year.
• Developed and presented compelling new business pitches resulting in significant key account wins against very strong competition (including winning business with Accenture, eBay.ca, Agilent, MDS Inc., AOL Canada, H&R Block, and others).
• Led the communications plan for one of the largest and most successful technology sector mergers in Canadian history – Hummingbird's $300 million acquisition of PC DOCS Group.
• Successfully managed the integration of two international marketing organizations into one with minimal disruption to clients, staff and business partners.
• Co-designed and executed long-term PR strategy for Compaq Canada that led to national media coverage increasing by 64 per cent in first 12 months.
• Co-founded successful UK-based software company; negotiated acquisition by Canadian technology firm; relaunched in North America and helped manage through $36 million Initial Public Offering.

If you hear of any openings that might seem like a fit, let me know.

Thanks.

Walking with the kids on the boardwalk this beautiful, crisp afternoon; struck me that today is haiku day. I'm sure I'm not the first person to have noticed this. Groovy.

No blogging long time,
Words stored up with no way out:
Head aching to write.

:-)

I like being back. YMMV.

Nurse! The paddles!!

CLEAR!

**Fffzzzzzzzzzttt**

. . . . . . .

CLEAR!

**Fffzzzzork**

. . . . . . .

Gimme 15 mills adrenaline. STAT!

**SPIKE**

. . . . . . .

Come ON dammit! CLEAR!

**Ffrrazzzap**

. . . . ./\. . . ./\. . ./\. ./\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

All right! We did it! We saved the blog!