That applies to people — and to cats on the adoption block.

OK, we only have five — so this isn’t a book proposal. They are:

1. “I criticize by creation — not by finding fault.”
2. “No one can speak well, unless he thoroughly understands his subject.”
3. “He only employs his passion who can make no use of his reason.”
4. “It is a true saying that ‘One falsehood leads easily to another’.”
5. “If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second, or even the third, place.”

So how come people knew this stuff 2,000 years ago and we still have such trouble with it?

Greg Auman, who covers University of South Florida sports for the St. Pete Times, has had it with USF football coach Jim Leavitt:

What’s the point of Leavitt making himself the only outlet for information to the media if he’s not a source of any meaningful information? What’s the point of limiting player interviews to Tuesday lunches if you then limit the players who are actually showing up on Tuesdays? Leavitt funnelling all media interviews to him has a reverse effect: instead of shielding his players from the press, it says he doesn’t trust his assistants and players to know how to say the right things to the media.

Why did Auman pick a Times blog, rather than the paper itself, for his rant?

I’ve written a ton here on the blog, but you won’t find anything in Wednesday’s paper about it. At least initially, I don’t think it’s proper for me to question the way Leavitt handles the media in the newspaper, simply because I’m a little too involved. You could argue it’s just a matter of semantics, but I’m telling a couple hundred people here as opposed to a couple hundred thousand in the paper.

In other words, if Leavitt’s poor media relations efforts continue, it will end up in the Times — perhaps as a running theme. USF’s PR department should consider Auman’s blog an early warning system.

Chris Roush, the UNC journalism instructor who writes Talking Biz News, was a little surprised by a PR solicitation he received from GM:

Dear Advisor,

I’m writing to inform you of General Motors’ First College Journalists Event taking place in Las Vegas, NV on September 9-10th. This is the first time we’ve done this sort of event and it’ll be a great learning opportunity for young journalists. The program will focus on car customization culture which is relevant to young adults.

While in Las Vegas the college journalists will have the opportunity to meet with professional journalists and GM executives who’ll be in attendance. GM will pay for travel, hotel and meals for students that attend. Travel will be scheduled so students don’t miss any school (arrivals and departures will take place during the weekend).

More information on the program is below. Please feel free to forward the information below to students you believe are qualified and would benefit from this opportunity. For questions or more information, please contact me at 805-373-9523 or diedra.wylie@gm.com.

Best,
Diedra Wylie

Roush’s takeaway: “It seems what young student journalists would be ‘learning’ from this experience is how to take a free trip and meals from one of the country’s largest corporations.”

What do you think?