US News Article | Reuters.com
I'm sorry, but how do some people get paid to write news articles for Reuters? Reuters (I think the worlds largest news organization) is pretty much letting anyone write for their organization these days. In this article about Gillette's new men's razor the author has succeeded in contributing nothing substantiative, yet released the article anyway.
His title grabs the attention of the reader about a possible new product from Gillette, the makers of the Mach3 and the M3Power series of razors, but his article discloses nothing about the product. The single substantive point of the article is to announce that a new wet razor product is in the works from Gillette, as announced by the company's senior vice-president for strategy and business development. The article goes on to not discuss a release date, to not discuss the name of the product, and to not discuss the new advancements Gillette has acheived. It does however serve as a quintessential example of bad journalism.
Why do I feel so strongly about this? It's because anyone could have told you there was a new product in the works, and they would have been right. They are Gillette. At any moment in time throughout the company's history they have always been developing the next great shaving system for either men or women. It's the company's sole reason for existence. The only thing this writer has acheived is to offer the Gillette company (one of my favorite companies by the way) another piece of absolutely free and useless media [while getting paid to do it].
My only conclusion is that the author should be taking kick-backs from Gillette for writing about them and offering such great publicity. Gillette is quite possibly the second greatest marketing company (product innovator) in the history of the world. It is the company's job to make new wet shaving products, it is the author's job to be a journalist. In this case only one has succeeded in doing their job.
Whats your opinion? Do you agree or disagree with my view?
About Me
- Sean
- Founder of DashingMan.com; currently a Marketing & Sales Specialist for several major brands at a global technology distributor. Passionate about work, entrepreneurship, computer and A/V technologies.
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