Skip to main content
The Flack

The Flack™ for Friday, April 5, 2024

The Flack highlights changes and trends in the news, examples of communications practices, and content we at BYRNE PR thought you might find useful.

We hope you enjoy, and we always welcome your feedback.

************************

LA Times Edits Column and Apologizes After Drawing the Ire of LSU Coach Kim Mulkey – Kim Mulkey, the LSU women’s basketball coach, recently took issue with some language used by a Los Angeles Times columnist. And the paper folded like a house of cards. MSN has the details.

Free Speech Is Alive and Well at Vanderbilt University – American universities are where free speech goes to die. Or at least that’s how it’s appeared over the past few years. But free speech appears to be alive and well in Nashville. This editorial from the chancellor of Vanderbilt University explains how they’ve done it.

one way to stay young forever: type in lowercase – young people struggle with so many things – college, student loans, relationships, finding a job, etc. but one of their biggest challenges is deciding when they’re old enough to turn on auto-capitalization on their phones. the struggle is real, and the wall street journal has the story.

Authoritarians Threaten Journalists Around the Globe – It has always been dangerous for a journalist to cover international affairs, but it’s become worse since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago. According to advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, more than 520 journalists are imprisoned worldwide, and things don’t appear to be getting better. The Wall Street Journal takes a deep look at a disturbing trend.

Gmail Debuted 20 Years Ago. It Wasn’t an April Fool’s Joke – Google was once known for April Fool’s pranks. Funny job postings and a new scratch-n-sniff feature on their search engine were among their best. But on April 1, 2004 they said they were launching, get this…Gmail. It would be a new email service that is going to convince people to stop using Outlook. Yeah, good luck with that. Inc. has the story.

************************

Feed Your Head:

25 Facts About the 2024 Solar Eclipse

How to Apologize Like You Mean it

An Obit Worth Reading:

Lou Conter, Last Survivor of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor, Dies at 102

************************

flack

noun

: one who provides publicity

flack

verb

: to act as a press agent or promoter for something

The word flack was first used as a noun meaning “publicity agent” during the late 1930s. According to one rumor, the word was coined in tribute to a well-known movie publicist of the time, Gene Flack.