How Apple Relates To And Manipulates Media Coverage Examined

9To5Mac’s Mark Gurman ahs produced a major report on Apple’s relationship with the media, noting that “Apple’s public relations (PR) department is probably the best in the world — certainly more impressive at shaping and controlling the discussion of its products than any other technology company.”

Gurman observes that “Before customers get their first chance to see or touch a new Apple product, the company has carefully orchestrated almost every one of its public appearances: controlled leaks and advance briefings for favored writers, an invite-only media debut, and a special early review process for a group of pre-screened, known-positive writers. Nothing is left to chance, and in the rare case where Apple doesn’t control the initial message, it remedies that by using proxies to deliver carefully crafted, off-the-record responses.”

However, he notes that with Apple’a longtime PR honcho Katie Cotton having recently departed, CEO Tim Cook is looking to make a major change in the way Apple interacts with the press and its customers, and the hunt for Ms. Cotton’s replacement is still in progress. Meanwhile, Gurman reviews the techniques Apple has used to quietly manipulate its coverage over the years in:

– Part 1) Apple Events and Shredded White Booklets

– Part 2) Introducing the Teams: How PR Is Organized at 3 Infinite Loop

– Part 3) Strategies: The “Art of Deep Background” and Controlling the Press

– Part 4) The Departure of a “Tyrant”

– Part 5) Two Heads In Place Of One

– Part 6) Controversies: From Maps to Beats to Haunted Empires

– Part 7) Product Reviews, Briefings, & Reviewer’s Guides

– Part 8) Steve Jobs and the Process Behind Press Releases

– Part 9) A Friendlier, More Transparent Future?

Gurman says, this article has been two months in the making, and is the product of over a dozen interviews with journalists, bloggers, and PR professionals, including many who have worked at Apple.

You can check it out at:
http://bit.ly/VVIej3