Open mouth, insert foot

Media savvy and awareness isn’t something that happens only when the “on-air” light kicks on or a reporter opens up his notebook. A true professional stays on message 24/7/365 … but, sometimes even those who should know better, fall victim to sloppiness or a temporary breakdown in their guard.

In this day and age, video, photos and sound clips can be captured by any ordinary citizen with small, affordable gadgets. Whether they like it or not, public figures must be aware that anything they say or do is fair game.

We recently saw this happen when Jesse Jackson was caught on a live microphone, using crude language to tell a reporter he’d like to castrate Barack Obama. There was also the incident when George Allen, the former senator from Virginia, called a young Indian American man from his rival’s campaign a racially charged term. Allen was expected to win his re-election bid in a landslide, but he never recovered. His seat went to Jim Webb instead.

So a word to the wise – watch yourself; you never know when something you say or do could come back to haunt you.

1 thought on “Open mouth, insert foot

  1. So true. And don’t forget your Facebook/MySpace accounts. These are your thoughts, out there for all to see. Don’t go running your mouth, especially if you are friends with clients/colleagues!

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