Connecting the Dots on Facebook’s Smear Campaign

Perhaps you’ve probably heard: Facebook and Google are at war, and Facebook’s not afraid to play dirty. Thursday’s revelation that the social networking site hired PR firm Burston-Marsteller to plant a negative story about Google’s privacy settings raises a number of questions. Like, “Who at Facebook thought this was a good idea?” The company isn't responding to the question right now. Until they do, it helps to look at the players involved. There’s Burston-Marsteller, the global PR firm run by CEO Mark Penn. There’s Jim Goldman, the former Silicon Valley bureau chief for CNBC (and frequent target of high school-style ridicule). He’s become the fall guy for Burston-Marsteller. There’s Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s universally praised COO. And then there’s Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s VP of communications and public policy. Penn, of course, is a Washington heavy hitter: he worked as a pollster to President Clinton during both of his terms and the Washington Post noted how “thoroughly integrated into the policymaking operation” he’d become. Penn’s also no stranger to criticism from Washington observers: he gained notoriety for missteps as chief strategist to Hillary Clinton during her 2008 Presidential bid. He eventually stepped down after feuding with other aides, and for reportedly offering Clinton some of her worst advice (like, emphasize Barack Obama’s foreignness). Penn’s also no stranger to the tech world—he’s credited with making Microsoft into one of the country’s most... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #googles head #silicon valley #focus attention

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Connecting the Dots on Facebook’s Smear Campaign'


Facebook considering hiring editors to pick quality news for users

Mark Zuckerberg also said he is weighing up paying publishers for use of their journalismFacebook could start employing editors to select “high-quality news” to show to users, in the social network’s latest attempt to lose its reputation as a source for disinformation.Mark Zuckerberg said he is... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hiring editors #mark zuckerberg #latest attempt


Facebook COO says it's 'exploring' restrictions on who can go live

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg took to the Instagram blog this evening saying "We have heard feedback that we must do more – and we agree" (the post was also published as an op-ed in the New Zealand Herald). Despite the lack of credibility big te... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2019-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #zealand herald


‘We can’t afford it’; Daunt hits back at real living wage campaign as petition approaches 8,000

Waterstones m.d. James Daunt has warned the business cannot afford to pay the real living wage to its most junior staff and increase the pay of its most experienced booksellers, as nearly 8,000 people backed the campaign calling for the rise.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #james daunt #campaign calling


HUD accuses Facebook of housing discrimination — and eyes Google and Twitter too

The Department of Housing and Urban Development alerted Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google last year that it is scrutinizing their practices for possible housing discrimination, a sign that more technology companies could be ensnared in a government probe of their lucrative demographic... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-28 23:15:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #eyes google #housing discrimination #technology companies #government probe


HUD accuses Facebook of housing discrimination — and eyes Google and Twitter too

The Department of Housing and Urban Development alerted Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google last year that it is scrutinizing their practices for possible housing discrimination, a sign that more technology companies could be ensnared in a government probe of their lucrative demographic... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-28 23:15:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #eyes google #housing discrimination #technology companies #government probe


Inside Facebook-born Freeda Media’s distributed publishing strategy

Two-year-old female-focused Freeda Media has worked with 150 brands on branded content campaigns, and revenue has seen triple-digit growth. The post Inside Facebook-born Freeda Media’s distributed publishing strategy appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2019-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Europe backs new laws that clamp down on Facebook, Google, Big Tech: Wednesday Wake-Up Call

Welcome to Ad Age's Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital news. You can get an audio version of this briefing on your Alexa device. Search for "Ad Age" under "Skills" in the Alexa app.What people are talking about todayEurope just pushed through another... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital news #audio version #alexa device #alexa app #copyright rules #pay publishers #news snippets #reuters reports


Campaigners hail 'seismic shift' in diversity of US children's books

Number of books featuring African Americans has more than doubled in the past decade, with Asian Americans triplingCampaigners have hailed a “seismic shift” in US children’s publishing after statistics showed that the number of kids’ books featuring African-American characters has more than... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cooperative children #uk children #ethnic diversity #campaigners hail #seismic shift #past decade #book center


Facebook knew about Cambridge Analytica prior to 'Guardian' exposé

Facebook has admitted that it suspected Cambridge Analytica of scraping data from the platform even before the first reports about its massive data collection were published. The Guardian has learned about the social network's suspicion from a court... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2019-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook knew


Facebook left ‘hundreds of millions’ of users’ passwords stored in plain text

Facebook Inc. said Thursday that it had left “hundreds of millions” of users’ passwords exposed in plain text, potentially visible to the company’s employees, marking another major privacy and security headache for a tech giant already under fire for mishandling people’s personal... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-21 20:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #passwords stored #plain text #left hundreds #passwords exposed #potentially visible #major privacy #security headache #tech giant #mishandling people #personal information


Facebook left ‘hundreds of millions’ of users’ passwords stored in plain text

Facebook Inc. said Thursday that it had left “hundreds of millions” of users’ passwords exposed in plain text, potentially visible to the company’s employees, marking another major privacy and security headache for a tech giant already under fire for mishandling people’s personal... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-21 20:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #passwords stored #plain text #left hundreds #passwords exposed #potentially visible #major privacy #security headache #tech giant #mishandling people #personal information


Art Connects Us: Sarah Odedina

As a recipient of the Arts Connects Us Grant I travelled to Ghana and Sierra Leone to meet with writers and publishing professionals working in the field of books for young readers to foster creative and collaborative exchanges between those contacts and publishing professionals and readers in... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-03-19 11:10:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #central library #young adults #collaborative approach #short stories #publishing industry #memoir


How Facebook is spending more to ensure wary publishers rely on it less

The pilot program is designed to improve the spread of information among local news publishers looking to modernize their businesses. The post How Facebook is spending more to ensure wary publishers rely on it less appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2019-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pilot program


Facebook and Google broke down barriers to broadcast media — even for mass killers

The killing of 49 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, was engineered to be viewed and shared on the world’s largest technology platforms, taking full advantage of Silicon Valley’s laissez-faire approach to content moderation. It began with a racist manifesto uploaded to the... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-16 00:05:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #google broke #mass killers #silicon valley #laissez-faire approach #content moderation


Facebook and Google broke down barriers to broadcast media — even for mass killers

The killing of 49 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, was engineered to be viewed and shared on the world’s largest technology platforms, taking full advantage of Silicon Valley’s laissez-faire approach to content moderation. It began with a racist manifesto uploaded to the... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-16 00:05:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #google broke #mass killers #silicon valley #laissez-faire approach #content moderation


El apagón global de Facebook fue causado por' un cambio en la configuración del servidor'.

El apagón global de Facebook Inc., que afectó a los usuarios de su red social homónima, así como a los servicios de Instagram, Messenger y WhatsApp, fue resultado de un problema técnico,  anunció la compañía. El problema fue causado por "un cambio en la configuración del servidor" y ahora está... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chris Cox Is Leaving Facebook

Cox, Facebook’s chief product officer, announced he’s leaving the company one week after Mark Zuckerberg published his privacy manifesto. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2019-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #leaving facebook #chris cox


Facebook loses top product officer Chris Cox, Mark Zuckerberg’s confidant

Facebook Inc.’s top executive in charge of all products, Chris Cox, the longtime confidant of Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, is leaving the company. It’s the highest-level departure at the social media giant amid nearly two years of sustained crises. Cox’s unexpected departure, which he... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-14 22:45:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mark zuckerberg #chris cox #longtime confidant #top executive #highest-level departure #sustained crises #unexpected departure


Facebook loses top product officer Chris Cox, Mark Zuckerberg’s confidant

Facebook Inc.’s top executive in charge of all products, Chris Cox, the longtime confidant of Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, is leaving the company. It’s the highest-level departure at the social media giant amid nearly two years of sustained crises. Cox’s unexpected departure, which he... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-14 22:45:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mark zuckerberg #chris cox #longtime confidant #top executive #highest-level departure #sustained crises #unexpected departure


Facebook’s global outage was caused by ‘a server configuration change’

Facebook Inc.’s global outage — which hit users of its namesake social network as well as sister services Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp — is winding down, the company announced Thursday. The issue was caused by “a server configuration change” and is now resolved, “and our systems are... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-14 16:55:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #global outage #hit users