NBC is in hot water after a short video to open the Emmy Awards on Sunday. The video was of a plane crashing and its intention was to spoof the ABC television show Lost. But hours earlier a plane had crashed in Lexington, Ky., and killed 49 people.

NBC apologized for the video saying it was prerecorded and it was not meant in any way to poke fun at those killed in the plane crash in Kentucky. But while its intentions were good, the final outcome was not.

Many believe that the video should have been scratched from the opening of the awards ceremony. But others were not so offended because they clearly saw the ties to Lost and not to the Kentucky plane crash.

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I hate to admit this, but I am completely behind on the current events of the world AND the PR world right now. I have not looked at my RSS feeds in about a month and I am scared to look at them. But because I am scared to look at them it has made me think of something that I think is important, staying on top of things. ‘Staying on top of things’ is vague so here is what I mean: KEEP UP WITH CURRENT EVENTS.

One thing that has stuck with me as I go through college is something that almost all of my professors have preached. They have all preached about how important keeping up wtih current events is. Even with me knowing how important it is, it is still very hard to do.

It is important because it could determine if you get an internship or a job. One professor cited several examples of students that had all the skills necessary to perform the tasks, but did not receive the job because they failed the current events part of the interview. Keeping up with current events seems like a trivial thing, but I believe it is very important to being successful in the PR world

As I have already admitted I am not good with keeping up with current events. Thus, if I went into an interview today and was quizzed on current events I would fail.

So I am confident that there are others out there that don’t necessarily like current events either, but yet still manage to keep up with them. How do you do that regularly? I can do it for a few weeks, but never for any longer.

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College is such an important stage in a person’s life for many different reasons. One, we (students) learn to do things on our own. Two, we are required to grasp concepts and ideas in a very short time and make quality grades. Three, we learn how to accomplish the previous two things at the same time (a.k.a. multitasking).

For instance, as I write this post I am washing laundry, studying for a test, washing dishes, making dinner AND improving my resume. How do I manage to accomplish all of these things at the same time? Thanks to the help of modern technology. And also, trial and error to see if my completed work was good quality.

Modern technology has been such an aid when it comes to multitasking. We can ask our boss a question via e-mail or online chat and at the same time talk to a client via phone. It is one thing to multitask, but it is another thing to do it well.

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For the record, I am a huge music fan. Thus, in the summers I am always reading about music festivals and concerts. The other day I was reading about the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and came across a well written piece of PR literature. It was the Bonnaroo “2006 Info Guide.”

The info guide is virtually just a handbook of what is permitted into the festival, and it answers frequently asked questions. It wasn’t great because of its AP style, but because of its clarity. Without clarity it would have done more harm than good. It would have left me and others asking, “what did that just say?” If someone has to ask that after reading a piece of PR literature, then I think the author has failed in one aspect of his job.

Most people know that the role of a PR professional is to relay a message of an organization to the organization’s publics. But something that is necessary in relaying the message is relaying it with clarity.

It is the responsibility of a PR person to put technical jargon and complicated matters into layman terms for the benefit of the publics and the organization. It is not always an easy thing to do because often PR people may not be experts on the subject themselves. But, that is no excuse not to find out about the topic and make the message clear.

I feel that it is necessary to write clearly to be successful in the PR industry. Most young PR people (including myself) aren’t very clear writers. I would assume that we all want to succeed, and part of the success is being able to write clearly. So does anyone have any tips or exercises that will make it easier to write more clearly?

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I find myself between a rock and a hard place. It isn�t life or death, but I am stuck when it comes to approaching this particular problem.

The problem is, this business I want to help doesn�t have a clear name in the community. Its customers call it by about four different names, but very few call it by the right one.

The business found this by asking customers to fill out a survey. The survey asked where certain products were bought. The customers knew the competitors� names, but didn�t know this particular store�s name - even though they shopped there.

I want to help this business get its name out there, but I don�t know how to approach the manager that I would have to deal with. The business has no PR or marketing department, of course; thus the person I would be dealing with isn�t even in my directed field.

My question isn’t about pitching my ideas because that was covered in Ashley’s post. But how do I get my foot in the door? I know there is no perfect way, but the more possible suggestions to begin with the better.

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It is impossible for my mind to fully grasp what blogging can do for people. Last December I thought only geeks blogged. But the more I am immersed into the blogosphere and become more comfortable with it, the more I realize it is for everyone. There is a niche blog for every person out there.

Why I hadn�t thought of this particular genre of blogs before I don�t know, but photographers have blogs too. I was oblivious to this until I came across my buddy David (Dave) Higginbotham�s blog, and it hit me. Blogs can help every type business — even small businesses. So in my interest about his blog, I e-mailed Dave and asked him a couple questions about it. And here is what he said:

�This appears to be a huge trend for photographers across the country. So I hopped on the bandwagon. It is especially good because you can put up a couple of images immediately after a session so a client can get a preview.

I’m excited about it. Now if it makes me any money…that remains to be seen.�

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A lot of college students go on trips for Spring Break.� Some of those will come back with tattoos.� Will that hurt them when it comes time to apply for a job?� I wrote a little bit about�it at my�own blog:

I raise the question, should an organization penalize (not hire) someone for something they did when they were 18 or 19 years old?� I think it depends on the situation.� …

…All I am saying is BE CAREFUL. The decisions we make today may have a great impact later in life.

(You can read all my thoughts here.)

I am curious what everyone else thinks about the issue.

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A very popular question by PR seniors is �Should I go to graduate school immediately after I get my undergraduate degree?� Well, maybe there is no definite answer. But Michael Morton brings up some interesting points.

I completely agree with Michael about experience being very important. But is it the most important thing? I personally don�t know what the most important thing is, but does anyone? Doesn�t it depend on the employer to decide what the most important attribute is for the specific job? I would think so. But at the same time, without experience, you probably won�t even get looked at for the job. So maybe it is the most important.

I also agree that you don�t learn everything you need to know about the field from your internships. However, that isn�t the point of an internship. As I see it, the point of an internship is to get your feet wet; especially the formal internship. It is about gaining experience, not about becoming a master. So I pose this question: why do you have to be a master before you get your master�s (degree)?

I think it would be a tremendous plus to be able to directly apply what you learn in grad school to your company. I also think it would help you remember the information better because you use it immediately. Am I saying I won�t remember the information if I don�t have something to apply it to immediately? Not necessarily. But it certainly gives the lessons another dimension.

I think the real question in the student�s mind is �Do I have to get a full-time job before I start graduate school to be successful?� I say no. I am confident that there are people out there that went immediately to grad school and are successful today. There is no doubt in my mind. But would it have been easier for them if they had a full-time job first? You�ll have to ask them.

Everyone knows what Michael and I think. We’d like your perspective.

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