Last week gave us the political PR version of how haste can do a heck of a lot more harm that simply making waste.  Early on it looked like the Democrats were having a good week media-wise.  The Tea Party kicked out activist Mark Williams after the controversy stirred up by his attack on the NAACP.  Sarah Palin had her "refute" episodes and President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection financial reform bill at the Ronald Reagan Building.  It seemed like a week made in PR heaven for the Democrats.  Then the Shirley Sherrod story broke and obliterated every other new story out there.  Sherrod was forced to resign from her job based on incomplete and misleading reports about a speech she gave in March.

The controversy began after conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted a portion of the speech in which Sherrod spoke of not offering her full help to a white farmer. The initial video indicated that the incident Sherrod mentioned occurred when she worked for the Agriculture Department.  The news media jumped on the story.  The video seemed to be everywhere instantaneously.  Yet the impression it left the view with was a false one.  The incident took place decades before Sherrod joined the department, and her speech in its full, unedited form made the point that people should move beyond race.

The edited Sherrod video initially brought condemnation from the NAACP, which later retracted its statement and apologized to Sherrod after the context became clear.  Sherrod has also received an apology for her firing from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.  A call from President Obama and a new job offer from the administration.  She has yet to receive an apology from Breitbart and it doesn't look like that's coming anytime soon  Breitbart told CNN's "Anderson Cooper: 360" on Thursday that he saw no reason to apologize: "What would warrant an apology? ... I'm not the one who threw her under the bus."

In a week where the White House had hoped the focus would have been on the signing of the Wall Street Reform Bill, all eyes and ears were focused on the Sherrod fiasco.   In its haste to deal with what looked like an embarrassing and volatile situation the media and the administration ignored the source, took no time to investigate the story and with a knee jerk reaction created a media fiasco that could have been avoided.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

About the Author:
Anthony Mora began his media career as a freelance journalist for such publications as Us, Rolling Stone and other local and national publications. He served as editor-in-chief of two Los Angeles-based entertainment and lifestyle-oriented publications, and co-founded Phillips & Mora Entertainment, a public relations and personal management company, which ventured into video and film production. In 1990, Anthony formed Anthony Mora Communications, Inc. a Los Angeles-based media relations company that specializes in media placement, image development, and media training. AMC Inc. has placed clients in: Time, Newsweek, 60 Minutes, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and other local, national, and international media outlets. Anthony has been featured in: USA Today, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The BBC, CNN, Entrepreneur, Fox News, MSNBC, and other media. He has written three books. The most recent, Spin to Win, is a step-by-step guide on how to define goals and utilize the power of the media to achieve success in any field. Practical and user-friendly, Spin to Win can be utilized by heads of major corporations, small business owners, and entrepreneurs.