Law And More

Respect in the Recruitment Process - Time for a Public Policy

Tone-deaf.

That's the best way to describe the recruitment policies of an established organization dealing with economic development.

I had applied for a contract position rewriting content. Quickly I received a response. I had been selected to create sample content. That would be paid. 

And that was the good part. 

Now for the bad part.

I was explicitly informed that several applicants, including myself, had been chosen to downsize a policy-heavy document. I assume that in addition to word reduction it should be made engaging. The one applicant whom, they judged, was the best writer would be contracted to work with them on a long-term basis. The rest would be throw-backs. 

Insulting?

That's what I thought.

The powers that be at that organization could have simply indicated there was a paid trial assignment. That would have made good business sense.

After I thought about all that and wound up not participating I recalled slaving in my pre-teen days in the contests to name Lassie's puppies. That had been a popular Sunday night series on network television.

Back then the contest was a useful exercise for children to understand the concept of competition. The adults in the family agreed with that and gladly provided the 2-cent stamps to mail the entries.

No, I never did win the prize: 1 of Lassie's puppies. But I salute the producers of "Lassie" for socializing children to the realities beyond the farm where Lassie lived. With my relatives who worked in sophisticated Manhattan I analyzed what my entries might have lacked. The reverse engineering came up with the need for me to be more creative in the choice of names but still remain within the box of warm and fuzzy dogville. 

Now, I am simply puzzled why a reputable organization would lack respect for communications talent. The more enlightened approach would be to simply position and package the competitive element as a necessary screening whatever.

Can those who create public policy make this happen? 

Takeaway: Don't continue with a process that treats professionals like children. 

Hope: Public policies will mandate gig workers be treated with respect. 

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"Dateline" Effect" - Defense Attorney Lemarr Carver Commits Suicide

On "Dateline," those husbands who are suspected of murdering their wives wind up in court. 

It is becoming common, though, for husbands who murder their wives to commit suicide.

Could it be that they know from watching "Dateline" that they won't get away with the murder? That the husband is the first person the police suspect and that the evidence usually proves the police right?

That's only a theory.

No one will ever know why Lemarr Carver, 42, committed suicide by a gunshot to the head. He had been a criminal defense attorney in Oregon. Eventually, law enforcement may determine that he murdered his wife. Or they might not be able to assemble enough evidence to make such a ruling.  

What we do know is that Carver's dead body was discovered yesterday by police when they went to his Hillsboro, OR home with a search warrant. Two days earlier the body of his wife Tricia Carver, 46, had been found in a field near St. Paul, OR. Here are more details from the Daily Mail.

Both on "Dateline" and in these murder-suicides, the puzzling issue is: Why didn't the husband go the divorce route? Divorce lawyers should pilot a reality show on how divorce, despite what an ordeal and expense it can be, usually creates a fresh start for unhappy human beings.

Litigation Communications

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Real-Life Crime - Very Different from the TV Experience

On all those well-done television shows like "FBI," crime is riveting. There's the fun of struggling to connect the dots about the identity of the bad guy or girl. 

But, in real life, crime is totally an inconvenience.

Yesterday, I was heading out to run must-do errands. There I was on the driveway leading from the 600-unit residential complex - Hillbrook Apartments - to South Raccoon Road. I didn't get too far. 

A whole bunch of my neighbors' cars were stopped on that driveway. Way up ahead a police car was positioned horizontally to block passage. I flashed a look at the back exit. A police car was also blocking that.

Long story short, we were in a lock-down. Something was going on in one of the apartments. The whole complex became a crime scene. 

No one knew how long we were going to be detained. A man had to pick his children up from school. Several other neighbors had to go to work. 

A number of people did a U-turn and headed back to their apartments. The more optimistic, including myself, just stayed there. 

It wasn't fun to speculate what might be going down. Of course, we all thought: a shooting. Later I checked with the office and it wasn't that. 

Eventually, the police finished up. What had been a crime scene returned to normal use.

Just before we got the all-clear a neighbor had our full attention with a story of how he endured a 12-hour lock-down in Texas. A shooter had barricaded himself in his girlfriend's apartment. Police didn't know that she and her mother were already dead so they kept negotiating. No one could leave or enter the complex. 

At least for a few more days he will be able to tell that story. Now that a lock-down has become a reality we are all ears for all the possible scenarios.

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

Anti-Semitism Raw

In Los Angeles, anti-Semitism has taken on a rawness. 

Beginning last September while Jews were observing Yom Kippur, a slim white male in his late 20s or early 30s would target orthodox Jewish woman. There they would be walking on a street, alone. He would grab their wigs off their heads. Usually then he would return them, with a smile.

Obviously, the act was to humiliate, in public. Also, it generates terror among other women in the orthodox community. 

This week, the miscreant was at it again. But instead of a smile, after he pulled off the wig he threw it on the ground. As law enforcement observes on all those popular television crime shows such as "Criminal Minds," the guy is escalating. The Squirrel Hill massacre might have motivated him to up the hostility. 

The New York Daily News has published a photo of him. And anyone with information should contact LAPD detective Dan Fournier at 818-754-8451.

Litigation Communications

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Network Television Is Old-Line Medium - Like Megyn Kelly, Alec Baldwin Allegedly Ignored That

Like Megyn Kelly's NBC Sunday evening talk show, Alec Baldwin's ABC one has poor ratings.

Both can't connect with the audience in a talk-show format.

And the selection of their guests seems all wrong.

And, also like Kelly, Baldwin's behavior embarrassed the television.

For Kelly it was the blackface remark on the third section of the "Today" slot. For Baldwin it was the alleged punch thrown over a parking place.

For a while, gawkers watched Baldwin seem to be penalty-free. Kelly's Sunday show was put in limbo. Then, later she was yanked off the air from the "Today" slot. Currently she is negotiating her exit package with NBC.

Now the shoe, at least the first one, has fallen.

The New York Post reports that "The Alec Baldwin Show" has lost its 10:00 P.M. Sunday slot. Beginning November 18th, it will be replaced with reruns of "Shark Tank." Then, on December 8th, it will start up again in a Saturday 10:00 P.M. schedule. 

How long it will last is uncertain. But given its poor ratings and the reputational trouble Baldwin is in he could find that he could be pushed, as was Kelly, into broadcast oblivion. 

Unlike cable television, the television network cannot tolerate controversial behavior of its stars. 

If Baldwin is banished from Network Paradise, will he, also like Kelly, become an Untouchable? Fox isn't having her back. 

Network television hasn't changed much from its early days when on-air personalities had to be squeaky clean. It's an old medium. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

Chris Christie Is Back - This Time, With Buttoned-Down Persona

Those watching election return coverage on ABC noticed this: Chris Christie was a panel member.

His persona lacked the rawness and combativeness of his days as a politico. Those attributes were replaced with a buttoned-down image. 

Will his next be in media? His presentation of self on ABC was that of a well-informed commentator. Easily he could slip into the role of a public interest talk show host or be a permanent member of panels on such broadcasts. 

Meanwhile, the kind of image he used to nurture has been usurped by Donald J. Trump. There is the old saying that only one kind of person can inhabit space at one time. 

Litigation Communications

Making points of law, policy issues, and politics accessible and engaging for the public, media, investors, and more. Complimentary consultation. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Chris Watts Takes Guilty Plea on 9 Charges

The world still doesn't know much about why Chris Watts might have murdered his wife, the fetus she was carrying, and his two young daughters.

But what it does now know is that he was the one who committed that mass murder. Finally, he admitted the whole thing. Initially he contended that his wife murdered the children and then he, in turn, murdered her. 

As the New York Post reports Watts took a plea for 9 charges. They include murder and the unlawful termination of a pregnancy. In this situation his motivation was clear: to dodge the death penalty. On November 19th, he will be sentenced. 

From the get-go, many suspected Watts when the wife and children were reported missing. His affect was off.

In addition, "Dateline" has socialized the world to assume the husband did it. So much so that there is reason to speculate that there currently are so many suicide-murders in domestic disputes because the husband realizes he will be the person of interest in a simple murder. So, it may make good sense to him to commit suicide after murdering his wife. 

There had been buzz that Watts was emotionally and physically caught up in a gay relationship. But that happens frequently. In itself it's not enough to explain the triple murder.

Both the Watts' saga and the continual the husband-did-it storyline on "Dateline" should make wives wary of the possible undertow of emotion going on within their husbands.

Litigation Communications

Making points of law, policy issues, and politics accessible and engaging for the public, media, investors, and more. Complimentary consultation. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Alt-Right 1, Alec Baldwin 0

As the world knows and the alt-right fills with glee, Alec Baldwin has been arrested for alleged assault by the New York Police Department's 6th Precinct..

The alleged victim had been Wojciech Cleszowski. The police were told that Baldwin punched him. The man had been taken to the hospital. 

And the alleged dispute had been about a parking space on East 10th Street in Manhattan. Baldwin had a relative "hold" a parking space empty in front of Baldwin's penthouse. However, Cleszowski pulled into it. Baldwin observed that and allegedly resorted to physical violence. 

Here are more details from Daily Mail. 

What we do know is that Baldwin has a temper. We bore witness to that when he had an altercation on the phone years ago with his daughter Ireland.

What we don't know is what could have been the tipping point in this alleged incident.

Was Baldwin having a bad day?

Or was something more going on in him. For example, could he be in high angst about the mediocre ratings for and the criticisms of his new talk show?

Litigation Communications

Making points of law, policy issues, and politics accessible and engaging for the public, media, investors, and more. Complimentary consultation. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Of Course, Megyn Kelly Is Negotiating Hard - She Had Been a Jones Day Lawyer

Maybe one takeaway for Andy Lack from the Megyn Kelly disaster is this: Don't hire on-air talent who has a background as an attorney in BigLaw.

What Megyn Kelly is doing, reports the Daily Mail, is being a tough negotiator. No, she isn't slinking out quietly with a decent exit package from NBC. She's going for all she can get.

And she may have become adept in the science and art of negotiation when she was an associate at brandname law firm Jones Day.

According to Daily Mail's sources, Kelly wants a lot.

That includes:

All of the $69 million left on her contract.

More millions on top of that because she contends NBC tried to ruin her career.

A two-way Non-Disparagement Agreement. She will only sign on the dotted line not to badmouth NBC if the players there also sign on the dotted line not to badmouth her.

Meanwhile, sources claim she is threatening to out bad stuff about NBC executives and on-air personalities.

Litigation Communications

Making points of law, policy issues, and politics accessible and engaging for the public, media, investors, and more. Complimentary consultation. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

 

Hotchner Who? - David Rossi Holds BAU Together on "Criminal Minds"

When it was announced that Aaron Hotchner, played by Thomas Gibson, was forced out of "Criminal Minds," many assumed the series would soon end.

The emotionally shut-down, all-work Hotchner, just like the emotionally shut-down, all-work Jack Malone on "Without a Trace," was the character we tuned in for.

For a while, the series did stumble. There was no chemistry among the continually changing cast of team members. The relationships among the old timers like Reid and Garcia seemed forced.  

Then, somehow, David Rossi, played by Joe Mantegna, pulled it back from disaster. He has been able to erase the collective memory of Hotchner. 

Of course, like Hotchner, he has gigantic emotional flaws. None of his marriages worked out. 

However, what he is now bringing to the show is a seminal questioning of issues such as the value of publishing books.

On the one hand, he evolved into a celebrity in his field because of the studies he published.

On the other hand, he began to wonder if they did more harm than good. For example, they gave disturbed individuals ideas about bizarre crimes that they might not have come up with on their own. 

Also, with aging, Rossi's ego seems to be downsizing. No longer does he suck up all the oxygen in the room. The emerging person is the patriarch leader.

Tonight "Criminal Minds" has a Halloween special. 

 

Litigation Communications

Making points of law, policy issues, and politics accessible and engaging for the public, media, investors, and more. Complimentary consultation. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com.