On a trip to Scotland in the 1980s, from my rented car on a road outside of Glasgow, I spotted a crude hand-painted sign nailed to a tree that read, “Ian McTavish Bagpipe Maker.” I slammed on the brakes and took a sharp left turn up a narrow, dirt road. I had long wanted to play the bagpipes, and in a heartbeat decided that bringing home an authentic set of Scottish bagpipes might help to cross that item off my bucket list. At the end of the dirt road there were two simple stucco structures, each one about the size of a detached two-car garage. One structure appeared to be a home, with a front door sandwiched between two small windows, and a raised porch. Although it had no signage, the othe
Regardless of how well a company communicates with the press, it stands a good chance of being "burned" on occasion. From minor misquote to major hatchet-job, these real and perceived offenses occupy the attention of senior managers and their advisors, whose polite clarifications and outraged denials fill the "Letters to the Editor" section of every business and trade publication. Unfortunately, no standard methodology exists for redress of grievances with the press. In the business of keeping everyone else honest, the news media is "one of the worst sectors in keeping themselves accountable," according to American Lawyer editor Steven Brill. There are, however, several field-tested procedur
