Sat, November 28, 2009
Here’s an unfortunate example of good intentions gone horribly bad. A local news station used interactive billboards that pulled in the latest tweets from their Twitter page and, well, I’ll let the local paper tell you what happened. According to the website for Lagniappe, a local news outlet in Mobile, Alabama:
“WPMI-TV insiders have confirmed what has been a swirling rumor for the past day — that the station’s general manager and news director were suspended for a week because of an embarrassing billboard. General Manager Shea Grandquest and News Director Wes Finley have been suspended, allegedly because of a ‘snafu’ with one of the electronic billboards in town that showed a picture of anchors Greg Peterson and Kym Thurman and Chief Meteorologist Derek Beasley alongside the headline ‘3 Accused of Gang Rape in Monroeville.’ The headline was under the header “Right Now on Twitter,” and clearly was aimed at promoting the station’s breaking news, but a photo of it has made its way to e-mails all over town and brought plenty of laughs.”
See the picture in the link below and it will make more sense. (It certainly got a chuckle out of me!)
Unfortunately in the world of real-time, quick delivery of content – mistakes will happen which can make you look a bit foolish. But, if this is the sole reason the GM and news director were suspended, I take serious issue with that call. This just sent the message of fear to anyone in the organization who wanted to try something slightly out of their comfort zone. Not good for breeding innovative ideas in an organization.
Thanks Adrian at BBB for the heads-up on this article.
Read the article here.
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