Wow.

Dude, you’re the TECH reporter for the National freekin’ Post. Social media + inappropriate comments = disaster and RTs forever.

Based on the number or RTs within the first few minutes, this little dust-up will find it’s way into many a media relations training manual.

That aside…I know my days as a major media outlet’s reporter would have been numbered after a public display like this. I wonder if the National Post has good media relations peeps?

Hey Ian,
I have to say that was one of the strangest things I have ever participated in, in my entire life.
I feel bad for David. I really didn’t mean my newspaper comment to be personal, rather a comment on the arrogance of old media vs. the less hierarchical new media.
He’s clearly under a lot of stress and the fact that he deleted the posts shortly after was enough of an apology for me.
We have all had bad days. It stinks when you happen to do it in public.
April

WOW!
@davefleet tweeted last week “always be careful what you write down” (paraphrased). i wonder if this is what he was talking about.

maybe they should change the “globe and mail test” to “national post test”

good for you April, if there is one, you certainly came out the “winner”

Mostly unrelated but touches on old/new media, I recently approached a local paper, through their twitter acct, about attending our upcoming DemoCampGuelph8. The response was to ask me to email them a press release. All the details were in the link to the barcamp wiki page I sent.

I have no clue how papers work but why do I have to write a press release for the press? The event’s taking place literally 15 feet from your office, stop by if you feel like it.

[...] If you were looking for a case study on what not to do on Twitter, then read this blog post. [...]

Good for you April! You held it together and I admire your calm through it all. I’m a tech PR person who’s had my fair share of editors and journalists having a “bad day” on both sides of the border. This is unacceptable! David represents his employer in this situation and I’m sure his bosses are not appreciative of this. NO REPORTER should speak to ANYONE like this – I don’t care if there are massive media layoffs!!! There is NO excuse for his behaviour!

@April.

SirDavid may have deleted them on his twitter page but the posts remain on his blog twitter feed.

http://strangehold.com/blog/

Great job at playing it ‘Obama cool’ as your southern friends might say…

Is this what we have come to, now? This has the appeal of watching two sparrows fighting…too silly to contemplate in a serious manner.

I read some of his back-Tweets. There are far more that should be deleted than just the ones referencing April.

Wow.

I don’t know the whole story and all, but if you had agreed to provide information to a reporter for a story and could not deliver on time, you basically just let him down. I would be upset too. And why post a twitter update about it? That’s just calling him our for a fight.

The Christian Bale of twits?

April’s tweets may have been more measured than David’s but if she truly wanted to be professional she shouldn’t have engaged him at all. Not that it’s her fault, but I think this looks bad for both of them. He clearly has anger issues, but she clearly didn’t have the maturity to not take the bait. JMHO.

[...] 11, 2009 This article (caution: some language in this article is NSFW – reader discretion advised) at MediaStyle just [...]

Lessons for all. Remeber, you can’t erase what was said on the Internet.

Wow, he totally went Christian Bale on her for no apparent reason. I think some anger management classes are in order. Way to keep your cool April and not respond in like fashion.

Shouldn’t a reporter be able to come up with more appropriate language than what we see here?

April – kudos to you, you handled it very well, it says a lot about your character.

[...] Check out this Twitter exchange between (soon to be former) National Post reporter David George-Cosh and April Dunford, founder of Rocket Launch Marketing.  As David might say: un-fu@k!ng-believable.  See full MediaStyle report here. [...]

I know this isn’t the point of the story, but I agree with Benn. If he called April out of the blue and asked for information, even if she “wasn’t selling”, wouldn’t that be a good thing? Isn’t part of the job to connect with journalists so they eventually approach you first for stories or ideas?

Regardless of the back story, the journalist was way out of line in his reaction and completely unprofessional. She handled it calmly, considering the nature of his tweets. Angry much, David?

i had this write up sent to me just now and i love it. great catch. this thing is becoming common on twitter and i’ve started featuring it if anyone’s interested. friday fights! – http://www.d-blogged.com/search/label/friday%20fights

Do you think they dated in a former life? He is entirely too worked up over her, she handled it professionally. Stick a fork in him, he is done!!

Completely unprofessional (and childish) behavior on the part of Mr. George-Cosh. I read Ms. Dunford’s original Tweet to be towards newspapers/traditional media in general, certainly not an attack on “sirdavid”.

The class she displays here in the comments only serves to confirm that.

Deleting your Twitter rant/personal attack isn’t an apology, and an apology is what is owed.

The internet never forgets….

Just to be totally clear here, I did not initiate contact with David in a marketing/PR capacity. He left me a message saying he wanted my input on a story he was writing. I’m pretty busy at the moment and couldn’t drop everything to call him back, so returned his call the next day. He was annoyed because I didn’t call him back sooner. I was annoyed because he was rude. His day got a lot worse and now I’m feeling really bad the whole thing. End of story.
April

Just to be totally clear here, I did not initiate contact with David in a marketing/PR capacity. He left me a message saying he wanted my input on a story he was writing. I’m pretty busy at the moment and couldn’t drop everything to call him back, so returned his call the next day.
April

AAhhh. I interpreted the story all wrong. I apologize.

It is a real shame that reporter chose to act that way. Not only does it make him look like an ass, it makes all reporters look bad. April, I applaud you on your professionalism.

I generally don’t read the National Post, which is basically the public relations outlet for Stephen Harper and the Canadian Alliance. Kind of like a Canadian version of Fox News. The level of intelligence of their reporters doesn’t surprise me – way to stay above their level April!

I agree that this David guy was rude and lost his temper – but April was also in the wrong. Not just because she engaged him but because she was wrong in the first place to a) not return his call in a timely fashion and b) post a snarky tweet about it, even if she didn’t identify him.

April said in the comments above: “Just to be totally clear here, I did not initiate contact with David in a marketing/PR capacity. He left me a message saying he wanted my input on a story he was writing. I’m pretty busy at the moment and couldn’t drop everything to call him back, so returned his call the next day.”

Her initial tweet puts it even more baldly: ‘Reporter to me “When the media calls you, you jump, OK!?” Why, when you called me and I’m not selling? Newspapers will get what they deserve’

I can see why it got him so riled up. It sounds indicative of her attitude, which seems to be that the contact with the journalist is ONLY important if SHE is the one selling something. That sums up everything that is wrong in the marketing/PR world.

As a journalist, the thing that bugs me most about PR people is that so many of them think like this. They want journalists’ time when THEY have a story to push and then they’re not available or slow to respond when the journalist initiates contact and needs something from them.

Good marketing and PR professionals DO drop everything and return calls in a timely fashion, which in media time frames when you’re work on news or to a deadline is measured in minutes and hours not days and weeks. I’ve worked with many good marketing and PR professionals who do exactly that.

I’ve also worked with many marketing and PR professionals who are like April. Guess what? If you’re not around to take my calls and respond in a timely fashion, then I won’t be around to listen when you decide you want to make a sales pitch. The only way you’re going to build a relationship with the media is if you give as well as take – and by give, I mean listening to and responding to what we consider important or happen to be working on right now.

And if it happens to be that we’re working on a negative story about your company, it only makes it even more important to respond – a statement from the company putting your side of the story looks an awful lot better for you than ‘the company was unavailable for comment’.

I said this in the first sentence but perhaps should emphasise: I do agree that the way David spoke to April was unacceptable. He should have kept his cool and if he needed to vent, he shouldn’t have sworn at her. I’m just pointing out that he had a right to be upset and April not only partially (or even mostly) caused the situation but also exacerbated it, albeit in a more genteel manner. I don’t think this shows her in a good light at all.

Also you didn’t give us the full tweet history. I just went and looked up @AprilDunford and found these tweets, posted before he started responding on Twitter.

# THEN the same reporter leaves me a message and says “That was very f#@cking unprofessional of you blah, blah” Um, wow. I’m speachless. about 5 hours ago from web

# THEN the reporter (who by the way, I don’t know at all) calls me back and says “What the fuck was up with that Twitter message?!” Like, wow. about 5 hours ago from web

He should have thought twice about engaging with her in a public, written format, but seriously? I can see why he was upset. Firstly, she didn’t return his calls (and I’ve already answered the ‘but I wasn’t selling anything’ question) and secondly, it WAS unprofessional to immediate tweet about his phone conversations and messages, even if she didn’t name him.

I don’t know this guy and I’m not defending his behaviour but you’re all letting April off waaay too lightly. They’re both as bad as each other.

Hey April – when his paper goes under, don’t return his call when he comes looking for a job.

Way to keep your cool and professionalism.

Rich

Astonishing! Just heard about this via – you guessed it – an RT on Twitter. Which I’ve also RT’d.

I can see nothing redeemable in the reporter’s appalling behaviour. I suppose the only consolation is that it was remote, ie, text messages via Twitter. Imagine if that had been on the phone or, worse, face to face.

Full credit to you, April, for your handling of a situation that must have been a bit alarming.

This will come back and bite him if he’s the Abu Dhabi-relocater, yes.

Yeah but April, hitting the world with ‘Newspapers will get what they deserve’ when you’re a marketing person??

Dumb, people.

Obama speechwriter, Ketchum PR VP, big-head journalist, April the marketing gal…. Public. It’s public.

wow,
as a tech reporter for a major Canadian newspaper, how could he not realize the damage he just caused to himself! This not only is echoing throughout the tweetsphere, but the blosphere and the general internet. Can you say goodbye reputation?? He will be known as tweetspaz for a long time to come…

This will come back and bite him if he’s the Abu Dhabi-relocater, yes.

But April, hitting the world with ‘Newspapers will get what they deserve’ when you’re a marketing person??

Dumb, people.

Obama speechwriter, Ketchum PR VP, big-head journalist, April the marketing gal…. Public. It’s public.

There’s two sides to this one I’d say. I give some credence to Caitlin above who points out April may have been more than a little provocative. Having said that, clearly there is no place for abuse. So children, if we’re all finished here, let’s kiss and make up and then you can get back to tweeting about your iphone apps.

Caitlin – I see what you are saying but I call reporters all day long and many don’t call me back. If you want me to jump and call you right back, why can’t you have the courtesy to do the same?

Look folks, we are all busy. We don’t all have the time to call every person who calls us back within the hour. 24 hours is not an unreasonable time frame. Even 48 hours. If this guy left his story to be on deadline in one hour, he didn’t deserve her calling him back.

And if I call someone for something and they don’t call back, I try once more then I move on to my other contacts for those needs. I certainly don’t threaten the person when they do call back. I don’t care about attitudes towards PR people or the media… HUMANANITY requires that we are polite and don’t tell the other person “when I say jump, you say how high.” Especially when you need something from that person.

If it were me, I would have told him politely that I would not be able to help him and hung up. And probably tweeted about it. And then reported his tweets to twitter as abuse and called his editor.

Cause that’s how I roll.

David was way out of line in his response, and acted unprofessionally. Everyone above has gone into that.

April was also way out of line and extremely unprofessional. This behavior points to a deeply short-sighted point of view that in the long term is destructive to her reputation and career. Now more than ever, longer-term relationships and reputation are what’s valuable. People are what’s important, much more so than your product of the moment.

“Why… when I’m not selling?” is the most telling line in this mess. That’s something you hear from a crack dealer on a street corner, not from a savvy, experienced and reliable business person.

I hope both of these folks are fresh out of school and will grow from this.

This pleases me.

And just like that, I’m on marketing’s side in the first time since forever.

People underestimate the potential audience they have when they post on their blogs or Twitter. You might only have a handful of people paying attention to what you write on any given day, but this is a great lesson in how things can quickly step up to a *much larger* audience. And as Caitlin demonstrated above – then your entire archive of posts could fall under scrutiny.

Caitlin : “They’re both as bad as each other.”

Really?

REALLY?

For someone who’s expressing a lot of critique, you’re surprisingly equivocal.

She was a bit snarky in reaction to something truly offensive. That’s understandable. I can see how you judge it as wrong, but I think it’s well within the realm of professionally allowable/forgivable.

He, on the other hand, was WAY over the line, not just professionally, but socially and in practically every other respect imaginable. Just because she isn’t perfectly spotless, it is unreasonable to judge their actions as equally egregious. Are you *sure* you’re reacting to this without some personal or professional subjective bias? (That’s rhetorical — I won’t be checking back here for a reply.)

Dear National Post,

Looking for a new Tech reporter? Look no further…I’m available at twitter.com/trentono .

Looking forward to working with you,
Trent Olson

I’ve worked with April in the past, and she’s a consummate professional. This is know way should reflect on her in any way but positively.

April – if you were so busy, why did you have time to twitter but not time to call? Sometimes I wonder if people twitter just to get attention.

Anyone else find it funny that April’s last comment is missing a few lines from the comment immediately above it?

Hey Caitlin, returning a call the next day is timely and reasonable. You felt the need to post 3 times to carry on about the wrongs April committed. Then you tack in a statement beginning “As a journalist…” of course with a link to your page and neat links to all the things you do. Nice to not pass up an opportunity to promote yourself.

And who cares if April exacerbated the situation? Who cares wtf she tweets about? It sounds like sirdavid was harassing her, I read her twitter and I can’t even fathom how she is to blame in this. He would only know (or care) what she was writing if he was stalking her on twitter. It sounds like he phone stalked her as it is.

**on a complete side bar, how awesome is it that there’s an article and several follow up comments regarding a bunch of 160-characters or less statements a couple of people made?

[...] and was met with a flurry of venom from the reporter. You can find the full story and exchange here. Provided is a snippet that made me lol: sirdavid: @aprildunford if u can’t handle any heat from [...]

The National Post apologized

Caitlin brought up returning a journalist’s call in a “timely fashion”. What exactly is that? 1 hour, 5 hours… 24 hours? I’m curious to hear everyone’s opinion.

This is nasty stuff.

Caitlin – Thanks for taking the time to explain the other side of the story. Count me as one person who always appreciates additional perspectives.

In light of your comments I agree that one is no better than the other.

[...] his telephone call in a timely manner. So she posted this on her Twitter account (hat tip to Media Style blog): “Reporter to me “When the media calls you, you jump, OK!?” Why, when you called me and [...]

Amazes me what people will tweet in a professional capacity. I had a situation with a company and we weren’t agreeing over a matter – while their emails directly to me were an attempt to appear level headed and professional, I was also watching their tweets which were displaying quite agressive and boardering slanderous comments although were not ‘naming’ my company directly.. it was very clear. The matter was never resolved as a result of their tweeter comments. Although you may present well professionally.. your twitter comments are a reflection of your professionalism also.

Wow and Wow! Is this behavior a sign of what is to come? Seems like there is a lot of talk about these types of incidents on line, lately.

I am sorry that April had to take such vulgar nastiness…she handled it well. How can one claim to be a professional and act like this? I do understand that people have bad days and say things they don’t mean, no one is perfect (I am guilty of it myself) but not over and over and over again esp. in black and white. You’d think after 1 rude comment, one would begin to consider the consequences of the after shocks.

The whole story/situation kinda freaks me out. Glad that her friends were very supportive to her and that her new followers can see the situation for what it is.
Hat’s off to you April for your forgiving nature.

That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. I always believe in there being two sides to every story, but no journalist has the right to go off like that in any circumstance.

And heck, I’ve posted some snarky stuff in my blog, but personal attacks are a whole different animal.

[...] Category Cloud 2009 PR Predictions Andrew Hudson Awards Democratic National Convention Denver Denver Business Journal Denver Post Economic News Events Fox31 GBSM GroundFloor Media Jobs Johnston Wells journalism Journalism Moves KUSA Layoffs Linhart Newspapers Penny Parker PR Moves PRSA PRWeek Public Relations Rocky Mountain News Schenkein Uncategorized Westword Wins Catfight Alert, Twitter-style February 11, 2009, 7:54 pm Filed under: Twitter Remember the old days when a spat between a reporter and PR or marketing person took place on the phone and only their friends and colleagues found out about it? Well, no longer. [...]

Much ado about nothing. Still, children should learn to play nice (before they become adults and demonstrate indisputably that they never learned same). There is something here for both sides to learn. Hope it sticks. And remember this little dust up will hang around the net for ever. Did you really want that?

Technology reporter – you must be kidding. Given David George-Cosh’s apparent disregard for internet posting it’s a wonder he’s reporting for anything more than a high-school paper.

Another reminder that the internet doesn’t make people stupid, it just allows them to share their stupidity with millions of others

I disagree that April is to blame.

April’s tweets are routinely personal. She tweets with her friends.

This is what many forget. The lines between work and self have melted. Why we call these things “social” media tools. It’s about being social.

So for April to express her frustration to her friends without naming the paper is TO BE EXPECTED.

Treat us like you are HOLY and from the TOP of the food chain and we will react. To our friends. Who will get our frustration.

And we understand that things are recorded for all time. And can’t be “recalled” or “taken back.” Something the “elite” of the dead media world are going to have to learn.

Congrats, April for keeping your cool AND for giving this gentleman a bit of a painful lesson. Good for you.

I currently sit on both sides of the marketing vs. writer fence and I agree with Caitlin. While the reporter’s behavior was rude and ridiculous and vulgar, April’s earlier behavior and her initially reported tweet wasn’t exactly professional, either. Names or not, it wasn’t good behavior on April’s part. I am not impressed with either side. At least a lesson came out of it. But both sides should heed this lesson.

If I were her employer I’d likely have a talking to her about blowing off a reporter, too. Isn’t that what she is there for?

[...] that the hard way today when an expletive-filled argument he had with a source on Twitter was publicized, making him (and the paper) look pretty [...]

Hey April, why don’t YOU cool your jets. You come across as pretty mouthy. Just saying.

[...] then there’s the other side: There isn’t much of a future if you use Twitter the way this National Post writer did, assailing a marketing consultant who didn’t get back to him fast enough for a [...]

As a recruiter – if you apply for a job, I will have a look at your tweets so although its ‘social media’ its in a public forum and available for everyone to view. What you write now is on the public record so if you have made reference of work you have done, let out private information regarding employers or clients or anything questionable.. a prospective employer is going to see it.

People, people – this is just ‘handbags’. If you want to know what a bad day in the office is like click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqx0GzUOmEw

Ah, just saw that she is an independent consultant. OK makes more sense.

First, I think @sirdavid should change his name to @sirfuckwit.

Second, I agree that he was abusive and his remarks were completely unacceptable.

Third, I take offense to April’s saying “Newspapers will get what they deserve.” As someone who loves newspapers, and a former journalist myself, exactly what did you mean by that, April?

OMG, Caitlin. Drop everything when a reporter calls? I’m not in PR so maybe I don;t “get it” but that sounds like crazy talk to me.

I’ve seen a fight on twitter. It’s a fascinating thing to watch.

I call it TWISTICUFFS.

To morph the catchphrase of an old SciFi movie: “In Cyberspace, everyone can hear you scream.”

Aside from the breach of professional standards and etiquette, this incident shows what happens when a new media technology like Twitter starts entering the mainstream.

People start using it without understanding or realising the consequences of this mode of communication. There have been several high profile gaffes on Twitter, including the head of the BBC multimedia newsroom announcing senior editorial appointments by mistake.

[...] wouldn’t take his phone call. Ian Capstick does a nice job of rehashing the battle on his MediaStyle blog so I won’t go into it other than to say… Dunford is no victim (hence my [...]

Honestly? Without knowing anything about either one I think David had a bit of a crush on April. When April wasn’t completely swept of her feet by his roundabout admiration, he blew his top. Happens all the time. Shouldn’t have been made public though. It may be that April should have ignored him on Twitter, but hey, we’re all human right? I would have found it really hard not to say anything myself.

I find it really amusing how seriously people take Twitter in general… The bottom line is that we’re all people and we all do silly things at times. No biggie unless you do it all the time.

[...] was a reference in the video to Ian Capstick’s blog mediastyle.ca, who wrote a post on the twitter fight between a National Post journalist and a marketing [...]

Yeah, um, wow. This is exactly why I’m real hesitant to get on Twitter in a professional capacity as a journalist. As a hobby it’s a blast. I wouldn’t have cursed at April, of course, but she is instantly on my never-interact-with-this-hack list. ReTweeting a potential contact’s foul Tweets? On company time? And publicly taking a holy ground above the publications she’s also trying to pitch? Man, I’d say she has more repair work to do than David. He’s vile and writes for an outlet that doesn’t matter. But April showed no skills I’d want in my shop. At least David was attempting to do his job.

Oh well, it’s just the Internet. Right?

oh dear, nothing messier (or more entertaining) than a public stand off

will keep following (pun intended) this one

good catch, Caitlin, on noting that this ‘consultant’ did not give the full history, showing what she said at the start to stir the pot. makes her look a lot worse than him when it all comes out. sure he’s all ranting, but she looks very deceptive. hope her clients notice that.

[...] the double-edged sword of Twitter. It’s not nice when it makes PR people and reporters look like asses, as Jennifer Leggio will post [...]

Twittering when angry is about as bright as twittering at 4am loaded.
Neither party come off well. The marketer starts out arrogantly and then the human time bomb [soon to be ex National Post] reporter implodes.

As noted in an earlier post by Caitlin, there has been some selective editing that paints the marketer in a better light [see above] but there was some fanning of the flames.

I guess it’s one way to ‘get your personal brand out there’… lol
Some scar tissue for both from this ‘How not to use Twitter” 101 case study in the making.

Too funny.

http://twitter.com/ScottKilmartin
http://twitter.com/haul

LOL

I don’t clearly get the point of the conversation, but that guy is really pissed off I know. Good good good. I guess the reporter has just being a superstar awkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkw

I can’t believe some of you are criticising April here.

As I see it:

1) He calls her for input on an article.

2) She has lots of higher priority work on at the moment, higher priority than one journalist. You know, paid stuff. The stuff that keeps the business going. Helping journalists is well and good, but not at the expense of the day job.

3) She calls back as soon as she is able to spare enough time to be able to do a good job helping the journalist.

I really can’t see where she went wrong here.. possibly even bothering to engage with him on Twitter at all, but I’m sure we’ve all made mistakes and interacted with trolls and the like in the past.

Good on you April, you kept a cool head under the circumstances. That’s exactly what I’d be looking for in someone if they were handling Marketing & PR stuff for me.

…and I thought I was taking a risk tweeting that I was “listening to” a South Park episode while coding. WOW!!! That was over the top and I’m sure the bad press won’t be punishment enough.

[...] National Post reporter has total Twitter melt down [...]

Sean Howard – I don’t think that you can be careless and hurtful towards your colleagues/peers just because you’re used to bad-mouthing people in your personal circle. You can’t say she isn’t responsible for her comments simply because something like that may be acceptable on Twitter.

Zappa (February 11th, 2009 at 5:43pm)

I generally don’t read the National Post, which is basically the public relations outlet for Stephen Harper and the Canadian Alliance. Kind of like a Canadian version of Fox News. The level of intelligence of their reporters doesn’t surprise me – way to stay above their level April!

–
I’d second that except I don’t read the national post often for the same reasons. Last week I watch a panel which included a writer from the National Post, and I’d have to agree in this case it is a fair assessment (I’m sure there must be exceptions though?)

I remember several of the comments and at one point when he said “let’s go in with guns a blazing” the other pundits almost look at him like he had six heads.

What’s the National Post?

People behave this way in real life, too. I am always astonished when people can’t keep their cool.
Everyone gets annoyed some times but that does not give you license to blow your top/ behave like you are on a VH1 reality show.

I suspect this to be a staged Twitter meltdown in order to gain more followers.

@Talia
I certainly agree that “when I say jump, you say how high” is extremely rude, plus of course there’s all the swearing. I’m not excusing that.

Regarding journalists returning calls, that’s probably very true. I do try to return calls – especially when I know they are offering me something exclusive and will be waiting to hear back before trying somewhere else. I don’t feel obligated to reply to every PR pitch if it’s on general release and gone to every media outlet, or if it’s completely untargeted and irrelevant, as so many PR pitches are. If I returned every single PR call and replied to every single PR email I would literally spend the day doing nothing else. I don’t think it’s a case of the pot calling the kettle black. I’d be interested to know how many calls from journalists the average marketer or PR (especially one who is in house rather than at an agency) receives in a day and I’d be astonished if it was anywhere near the number or PR pitches received by the average journalist.

Regarding leaving a story to “an hour before deadline”. No one does that deliberately but the deadline is dictated by when something happens, who else knows about it, and whether you’re writing for the web or print (and if print, daily, weekly or monthly). If it’s a breaking story for a website, sometimes I’ll have 20 minutes to write the story – but then I can probably add company comments as an update to the story any time that day. The next day would certainly be too late.

@Monkey Brad It may be a rhetorical question, but I’ll answer anyway. The whole “why… when I’m not selling” and “newspapers will get what they deserve” lines are extremely offensive. And far from exhibiting the exemplary professional behaviour some commenters are describing, I also think her tweet responses egged him on in a subtle way. She kept her cool, while he lost his temper. So she exhibited more self-control but her underlying attitude was still at fault and her motives far from pure.

@fwick I routinely fill in the name, email and URL field when I leave a comment on any blog so I wasn’t doing any special self-promotion. I actually think that people like to know WHO someone is when they leave a comment – it’s very easy to say whatever you like anonymously. If anything I considered leaving the URL off this time since I wasn’t sure my views would be popular. But I decided I should have the courage to put my real identity to my comments.

@fwick @Stephanie
What’s the definition of a reasonable timeframe in which to return a call? It depends on the industry and the context. The next day might be reasonable in most lines of business or if someone is working on a feature for a weekly or monthly, but it might not be reasonable if you’re working on a news story for the following day’s paper or for the internet.

@Sean Howard
“April’s tweets are routinely personal. She tweets with her friends.”
April’s tweets are not protected, therefore they are not solely personal. They are public.

[...] the link for the journalist who “Went Christian Bale” on Twitter. Site might be slow, he’s getting [...]

LoL! Bet Sirdavid’s regretting it all now. ‘spect he’s already been invited into his editor’s office for a “chat without coffee”!

I don’t have any problem with April’s behaviour – specifically that she tweeted about it – but Caitlin (Hi Caitlin btw, nice to see you out here!) raises an interesting point about response time.

PRs are definitely getting better at it, but way too many still think in terms of traditional media lead times. The assumption is that a deadline is a ‘soft’ deadline so a journo who is writing a piece today probably has a soft deadline in 24 hours for a magazine item that won’t be subbed for a week or printed for 6 weeks.

The reality for many of us is that the piece being written now, will ‘go to press’ in 30-90 mins.

Christ, no-one comes out of this looking good. ‘Newspapers will get what they deserve’?

[...] Capstick wrote yesterday about an online bust-up between National Post technology reporter David George-Cosh and marketing consultant April Dunford [...]

How to Disagree With Style: http://bit.ly/2ifEe

Wondering, you said:

“April – if you were so busy, why did you have time to twitter but not time to call? Sometimes I wonder if people twitter just to get attention.”

Seriously? It takes 3 seconds to tweet something, and I can do it from my phone while I’m scarfing down a burger or riding the subway. If I have to call someone, it’s not exactly asynchronous, right? I have to set aside a half hour or so just in case the conversation runs long….it’s just about being efficient.

[...] his telephone call in a timely manner. So she posted this on her Twitter account (hat tip to Media Style blog): “Reporter to me “When the media calls you, you jump, OK!?” Why, when you called me and [...]

‘SirDavid’ was way out of line, but ‘SaintApril’ still has yet to explain what she meant by ‘newspapers will get what they deserve.’ The mmore that lines between our personal and professional lives/personas are blurred, the more we’ll see similar incidents.

Joni, others:

Here’s my take on the ‘newspapers will get what they deserve’ statement. Just like the industrial age supplanted many things in agricultural society (handcrafted goods, rural living, being close to the land, etc –> urban living, mass production, mass marketing, blah blah blah), I think that the information/postindustrial age is going to supplant industrial age norms, organizations, ideas, processes and more.

Among those “industrial age” artifacts are: advertising agencies (born because companies that made mass market products needed to communicate difference), newspapers, lots of traditional media actually, on and on and on.

They won’t be destroyed, just supplanted. They’ll be like these Amish communities you see sprinkled throughout PA and OH. It’s not good or bad, just inevitable.

Again, just my take.

If ONLY there were a way to do a mashup of Christian Bale versus Sir David…(daydreams momentarily)
sirdavid: what the fuck. I called you for comment two days ago. What did you expect when you called me back? Don’t post that shit online

Bale: Am I going to walk around and rip your ——- lights down, in the middle of a scene?

sirdavid: furthermore, I called you several times in the afternoon. Don’t be condescending to me when I actually wanted to talk to you

Bale: Then why the —- are you walking right through? Ah-da-da-dah, like this in the background.

sirdavid: how about you stop blasting personal conversations on twitter and call me back. what the hell is wrong with you.

Bale: What the —- is it with you? What don’t you ——- understand?

sirdavid: & then repost everything? & then hang up on me & don’t call back? I’ve recorded everything. U don’t look as nice as u put on

Bale: You got any ——- idea about, hey, it’s ——- distracting having somebody walking up behind Bryce in the middle of the ——- scene?

sirdavid: if u can’t handle any heat from what u post and immediate hang up, fuck u. u know my number. u call if you want to settle.

Bale: Give me a ——- answer! What don’t you get about it?

It only illustrates how new media has completely broken down the barriers that once existed between ‘ordinary people’ and consumers of media. Everyone is a publisher these days and everyone is a consumer of published materials. It doesn’t matter if the material is published in a newspaper or on a tweet, people will consume it and talk about it.

It also illustrates, at poor David’s expense, how old media – i.e. newspapers – perhaps fail to ‘get’ new media.

Oh, and it finally illustrates that you can’t expect your interactions with people not to end up on the ‘net…

ahahahaha who cares who was right or wrong? its AMAZING when people flip out via twitter or facebook! its so hilarious and passive aggressive. if you were really as hard as you think you are you would call the person and yell at them or leave a message at least! ahahahah

Yeah he overreacted, but she illustrated a problem I have with Twitter: It’s very passive-aggressive.

“I haven’t got time for that” is the catchphrase of GenerationTweet.

Bottom line, Twitter, like Facebook like _____ whatever you say you are accountable for. Sure it is more a personal tool but people are watching and you are exposing yourself to others. Like email even, read what you have written out loud before you press SEND.

Wow, this guy sounds _insane_. Cheers to Ms Dunford, she handled it very calmly and professionally (even though that’s not the right word to describe a Twitter conversation, ever)

Interesting exchange that was unwise on such a public forum.

Do “professionals” nowadays really say things like “Wow. Seriously, Like, Calm Down”? She forgot to say “dude”

this twitter post battle is ridiculous.

and it much of it started from those ‘snarky’ twitter posts.

those ‘subliminal’ shots are also unprofessional. we all understand go berzerk on twitter isn’t the smartest thing to do but when you post things like that it comes off as self-indulgent and passive agggressive insults which could one of the most insulting things to do to a journalist.

when someone is blowing a gasket the last thing you do is tell them to ‘calm down’ or ‘take deep breaths’ which is condescending and clearly escalated the situation.

although i won’t condone losing your mind via twitter; don’t be a snark on twitter or msn or facebook because it’s childish.

Tiffs on Twitter are nothing new.. it happens a lot more than people think I imagine.

April seems to clearly have her head in the game while others seem more upset by something that really isn’t black or white- no one really knows what happened behind the call or closed doors so to speak. Granted what he said on an open platform was disrespectful, and it stings more because what you say on Twitter.. sticks… but we don’t truly know the entire story.

Interesting that a marketing person feels so comfortable flipping the bird to an entire industry. Sounds to me like a lack of respect. Nobody is saying, suck up to reporters, but respecting where the internet and social media has (in part) grown from – what’s so bad about that? A tad unprofessional for a social media marketing person, no? Looks to me like TWO people had a bad day yesterday and that maybe TWO people need to take some responsibility. Looks to me like someone took advantage of someone else’s breakdown to put on a marketing show. Or maybe social media = authority to disrespect others? Amazing what sitting behind a key board can encourage. Just look at me – all self-righteous. I think I’ll go stand on York street with a big fog-horn and yell “newspapers will get what they deserve”. Wonder if it will help me get a marketing contract or if I will simply look a tad arrogant.

[...] on Twitter over a perceived slight. We think Twitter can be a great business tool, but this is not a good way to use Twitter for work: sirdavid: @aprildunford what the fuck. I called you for comment two days ago. What did you [...]

I don’t care how bad a day he was having, David’s a complete tool. Tweeting “hey april – fuck you. seriously. fuck you.” is utterly and absolutely out of line; he deserves any and all abuse he’s getting for this. A “technology reporter” ought to be keeping a cooler head on what’s the hottest messaging platform on the planet right now.

Just because David used coarse language and April didn’t doesn’t make her any less innocent. Caitlin is completely right.

April, it’s your job to market things. Maybe, you should try thinking about the people who work to help market those things (such as the press, even if it’s negative) and do your job and call him back, even if it’s just to say “No comment” or “I don’t have time.”

You have no idea how hard it is to be a reporter for a newspaper. He probably called you because he felt you were the expert in whatever he was writing about.

One of the most frustrating things is PR and marketing people who don’t do their jobs, and instead play around with their e-mail and TWITTER accounts for the entire day. At least the reporter has a reason to be on Twitter (for instance, waiting for a return phone call or looking for resources/story ideas).

While you were able to keep your calm, you were still just egging him on. You are just as guilty.

[...] out this article on Media Style for the whole uncomfortable [...]

I don’t know, I think I would have taken the high road and just left my first comment at something like “you know where to find me,” or “sorry you’re feeling like you need to bash it out on twitter. ping me if you want to nip this in the bud.”

[...] National Post reporter has total Twitter melt down | MediaStyle – RT @crystallyn: Be thoughtful about what you tweet, as evidenced in this reporter/marketer exchange: http://bit.ly/4bdcf [...]

A couple of lessons in this interchange.

1. Stress is a matter of perception. Comments or events can cause one person to thrive and another to take a dive.

2. When someone is overwhelmed, they react as opposed to act…can lead to anger/rage very quickly. The 1400 physical & chemical changes that take place can make it difficult to be rational. Cortical inhibition has occurred.

3. Why did this even continue on Twitter for as many tweets as it did? Sometimes when tempers are flaring, it’s wiser to just walk away and resume the discussion when cooler heads (& hearts) prevail.

I’m surprised people are faulting April for not calling back for an *entire* day. Seriously? I’m a reporter, and I’m impressed if someone returns my call within a day without a follow up from me. I’m sure many other reporters also spend a good deal of time chasing quotes down. Obviously, explicitly stating your deadline tends to get things rolling faster and from what it sounds like David George-Cosh neglected to do that. Just because someone works in a PR capacity does not mean they are your stepnfetchit quote monkey or a mind reader.

+1 for the daily twitter drama!

Great business requires great relationships, does that not apply to media as well? I’d say this National Post guy needs a vacation!

[...] If you’re a Twitter fan, you’ve probably already heard about Ketchum’s Twitter faux pas. And, maybe you even read about the National Post reporter embarrassment. [...]

This guy needs a firing. This is grossly inappropriate behavior.

As a former reporter and PR guy, there’s no one to defend here. The F bomb vs. essentially a F U to the entire news industry.

[...] fight, but the first top be so widely publicised. Yesterday, communications site MediaStyle posted National Post reporter has total Twitter melt down showcasing a Twitter “fight” between a tech reporter and a marketing [...]

[...] real-life examples here.  Print This Post |  Email This Post | SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “How not to use [...]

Um… I see he blocked his updates now. Nice.

And unless he has lost a lot of followers recently (gee, that would be odd, eh ), he has a shockingly small number of followers for a reporter.

@esoomllub

[...] back and forth continues as you’d expect it would. David is mad at April for cursing him publicly; April defends [...]

I’m a journalist (and I use Twitter) and I understand the whole “lack of respect” argument that some people have thrown out in defense of @sirdavid, but even if someone jabs you (slightly) online, you’ve got to be professional about it.

I almost feel dumb typing this comment because it seems like such an obvious statement that should apply to anyone using Twitter for any reason, period. (And even if @sirdavid felt he needed to make a stink about it — eff bombs? Really?)

@sirdavid GOT OWNED.

Having experienced deadline pressure myself due to wanting a quote from someone who isn’t cooperating in a timely manner, I understand the first 3 seconds of this event. Beyond that it gets kind of crazy. Ah, but any publicity is good publicity right David and April? Adding to next case study slide deck as we speak…

[...] An important lesson we can all learn from that recently occurred is how to NOT use Twitter. What I’m referring to is a mental meltdown by a reporter from the National Post. He basically freaked out on a PR person through Twitter.  The matter has been widely covered, including some notes by Pat at the BeatBlogging.org. However, the original posting of it seems to have come from here via Mediastyle.ca. [...]

[...] Reporter meltdown on twitter. [...]

[...] For an example of how not to use social media, click on the link. [...]

There are lessons here, obviously. I’m a former newspaper reporter and occasionally have done some freelance PR work, but I tend to side with journalists in most cases.

Not here.

(a) If you’re a reporter looking for feedback, you need to leave your deadline in the message, and you need to not put all your eggs in one basket for sourcing on a story.

(b) If you’re a PR who initiated contact, the reporter’s biting on your story, and you jump through hoops for your client. If you didn’t initiate contact (as is the case here), you call back if you get a chance — you can always call it in as a favor later — but you’re getting paid to do other work.

Two business days is entirely reasonable. For all the reporter knows, the PR could have been out sick.

(c) Be careful what you post online. If it’s meant to be a private conversation, pick up the phone. At least it’s likely only your employer, the phone company and the feds listening in, as opposed to the *entire world*.

Leaving the taking sides thing alone for now, but interested in the media evolution aspect of all this.

PRs naturally want to be on good terms with reporters from all media, new and otherwise. But I have to agree with some earlier comments about the increasing irrelevancy of print, at least non-coated. On the Maslovian needs hierarchy, print reporters don’t stack-rank very high any more.

To the extent that I purposely “read a newspaper” it is online. I like to pick up the Sunday dog trainer for the funnies, that’s it. Otherwise, I open three papers a day, local, regional, and national, and always at their websites. And I don’t spend much time there.

OTOH I may visit 20 or 30 newspaper sites a day, but following a link from twitter or other social source. This presages doom for daily rags. I wouldn’t give their problems to a monkey on a rock.

I’m saddened by that; my Dad was a newsman with a daily most of his adult life. But I have to be realistic; daily newspapers are not very good at any of their putative purposes; they don’t inform the electorate, they don’t sell eyeballs, and they don’t influence the cultural consensus. Doomed, sezaxon.

So a statement like “newspapers will get what they deserve” isn’t really all that snarky, imo. It’s the truth, and the “deserve” part isn’t a character judgment, just a fact of life. They’re buggy (heh) whips.

Perhaps April might have been more responsive, or less annoyed, but I don’t find anything in David’s behavior that warrants that slack, frankly. Having been a raging dick myself from time to time, I have an acute awareness of how that rolls back on you no matter how Sisyphean your assignment may seem. See also: instant karma.

And as for the storm of commentary about this incident, all I can say is that if it wasn’t for schadenfreude sometimes we’d have no freude at all.

–Ax

[...] the soul. And, it’s needed now more than ever, especially on Twitter (see: here and here and here). Therefore, I bring you Ultimate Tweet Fighter – where you can kick someone’s ass via [...]

[...] see how quickly things can get really screwy on Twitter? Here’s a fun little exchange between @aprildunford and @sirdavid, during which National Post reporter David George-Cosh gets [...]

Wow – does this guy still have a job? A little scary for a reporter to be doing this. I think the language is especially extreme.

Wow! I had someone try to start a fight with me. I just blocked them. I don’t have time for foolishness. My motto is “don’t feed an overfed ego”.

The good news is… Only PR/marketing/media folks use this site. So really – it’s the same people as usual, just talking to each other. No harm done in the wider world I’d say!

Burrito

People have gotten way to comfortable trashing each other on Twitter. Fighting via Twitter is for wimps. If you’ve got a problem with someone, I’d rather hear: “I’m going to kick your ass for that. Meet me after school.” Unfortunately that ain’t gonna happen any time soon. However, you could set up a Tweet Fight. See details here: http://bit.ly/gktMW

She still hasn’t exited 5-yo schoolgirl stage and he cares way too much about all the marketing experts who don’t return calls.

STILL LMAO at Tweet #7 in stream!

[...] n National Post reporter has total Twitter melt down | MediaStyle [...]

Twitter Fight Results In Potty Mouth Exchange NSFW!…

This is Weird and not the best language so I apologize in advance. I have come to liken twitter to a Carnival of late. Here is why, folks just loose all control and eat cotton candy til they loose it:National……

[...] I found this post National Post reporter has total Twitter melt down (via Judy Gombita) shocking in terms of the attitude of the PR person involved, and so many of the [...]

[...] Ian Capstick of the Media Style blog.  He reports in his post Twitter Fight,  about an exchange which became heated on Twitter between reporter David George-Cosh  and  [...]

[...] polite This may seem obvious but there are already some abuse reported. So think twice when you tweet, because your short text will be publicly broadcast and read before [...]

[...] media, made a not-so-enthusiastic remark about being in their city. Another mistake occurred when a reporter was upset at a marketing [...]

[...] MEDIA vs SOCIAL MEDIA: National Post Reporter Has Total Twitter Melt Down and from [...]

[...] National Post reporter has total Twitter melt down | MediaStyle [...]

[...] now a fixture of mainstream society, how you behave online sends a powerful message. [From: MediaStyle] via [...]

[...] always, common sense still applies to the Twitterverse as well.  Don’t have a public meltdown, feel free to post news on latest and greatest apps, and by all means, be careful what you say. [...]

[...] National Post reporter has total Twitter melt down – This is incredible. Another example of what NOT to do on Twitter. [...]

[...] Classic Example I came across this blog article discussing a “conversation” on Twitter between a reporter and a marketing e…. I am not going to provide my opinion on who is right and who is wrong. The important lesson to [...]

[...] Twitter exchange that appears to be between National Post technology reporter David George-Cosh and marketing [...]

[...] reader Scott Springman left a pretty clever comment on this blog post about a nasty Twitter shouting match between a National Post technology reporter and a Toronto based PR cons… (warning contains strong [...]

[...] MediaStyle’s Ian Capstick noted this potential explanation for George-Cosh’s behavior: Perhaps this had something to do with this tweet posted moments before he let loose on Ms. Dunford:   “Well, it sounds like the cat is out of the bag – I’m quitting the National Post for a job at a newspaper in Abu Dhabi. More in a blog post. [...]

[...] the National Post reporter who took his tweets towards a disgruntled marketing consultant to the next [...]

[...] National Post reporter has total Twitter melt down (warning – language) [...]

[...] of the individuals involved personally, but if you need to know the specifics there is an overview here. In any case, I know that it has been a difficult week for them both (although in very different [...]

[...] recent and extreme example of this is a conversation between Canadian National Post journalist David George-Cosh and marketing professional … in which a bad day, a late phone call and a few ill-chosen words led to an expletive-strewn public [...]

[...] der National Post hat das wohl im Eifer des Gefechts vergessen…in einem Artikel auf MediaStyle kann man die etwas unangenehme Konversation nochmal [...]

[...] Martin mentions that Ian Capstick has a post encapsulating where things are in terms of this [...]

[...] on Twitter, see if they talk about them – Yes, reporters and PR people alike can get very public (and very nasty sometimes) about their relationships on Twitter. Very important to see how they’d take being [...]

[...] As you can guess,the news is all over the net, Cosh has locked down his Twitter page and deleted the exchange.  But, of course, we have archives.  Check out the screengrab of the convo courtesy of Media Style. [...]

[...] the media calls you, you jump, OK!?” so says a rather arrogant tech journo exposed while flaming a marketing consultant via Twitter. Ta to Simon Bronson for the story lead on the journo David George-Cosh (nice turn of Anglo-Saxon [...]

[...] til en journalist? Her er så et eksempel, som går den anden vej og viser, hvor galt det kan gå, hvis man ringer tilbage til en journalist meget sent. En usædvanligt arrogant journalist slutter en samtale med en kilde med; “When the media [...]

[...] the link for the journalist who “Went Christian Bale” on Twitter. Site might be slow, he’s getting [...]

[...] by people who took screen captures. You can read the entire exchange on Ian Capstick’s blog. But be warned: if you have delicate sensibilities, look away [...]

[...] professional meltdown on Twitter Ian described a few days ago logs another case study about the double-edged sword social media wields. It’s another [...]

[...] March 5, 2009 by Kathy Hubbell Oh man, oh man.  This link was sent to me by a former professor at Syracuse, and it certainly puts in stark relief the conflicts going on today between traditional media and social media.  My take on it is that some traditional reporters are not used to this “brave new world” yet, in which reporters are not always calling the shots.  Either that, or the guy was just having a very bad day.  In any event, this is now not to use Twitter – a caution about strong language:  http://www.mediastyle.ca/2009/02/national-post-reporter-has-total-twitter-melt-down/ [...]

[...] meltdown, right? There’s a not-so-secret thrill in seeing other people publicly self-destruct. (Evidence here). The difference is that online, those meltdowns stay in the public domain forever. Your friends [...]

[...] the following exchange,as reported by MediaStyle, did not exactly fall in his [...]

[...] no. 4 – When frustrated – step away from the computer. Do not send messages in the heat of the moment. Do not air your dirty laundry with another chap in an online space. Do not lie, cheat, steal, call [...]

[...] called me and I’m not selling? Newspapers will get what they deserve” (read the full exchange here). Needless to say, it was an ugly Twitter conversation. Who knew you could cram so much wrath into [...]

[...] Twitter! | Während der eine den gerade angebotenen Job wieder verliert, verliert der andere die Nerven und Reputation als Journalist. Twitter ist in aller Munde. Noch mehr als je zuvor, nicht zuletzt Dank der Profis rund um Barak [...]

[...] or potential clients to see you bitch.  Bitching about clients is like bitching about exes — don’t do it publicly.  At the same time, do not designate a persona as one you use for promotion and then ignore it.  [...]

[...] @craighepburn Twitter Fight, fight, fight, fight : Now to be known as #twitterage http://tinyurl.com/b8cy5fGot the #brighton mayor outside our new offices opening the newly developed street/areaGreat [...]

[...] Think Before You Tweet [...]

[...] As you can guess,the news is all over the net, Cosh has locked down his Twitter page and deleted the exchange.  But, of course, we have archives.  Check out the screengrab of the convo courtesy of Media Style. [...]

[...] harass, threaten, impersonate or intimidate other Twitter users.” In a highly publicized Twitter fight, National Post reporter David George-Cosh slammed marketing consultant April Dunford for not [...]

[...] it takes to destroy one. I’m talking years vs. seconds. Not only do you have to worry about the natural misunderstandings that often occur online but you have to also have to worry about internet abusers who thinks it’s fun to destroy another [...]

[...] the first Twitter fight to be widely publicized. Yesterday, communications site MediaStyle posted National Post reporter has total Twitter melt down showcasing a Twitter “fight” between a tech reporter and a marketing [...]

[...] on sharing the details of his cancer via his blog – but other times it is not so – as this Twitter breakdown from National Post reporter David George-Cosh [...]

[...] it takes to destroy one. I’m talking years vs. seconds. Not only do you have to worry about the natural misunderstandings that often occur online but you have to also have to worry about internet abusers who thinks it’s fun to destroy another [...]

[...] Earlier today I was involved in a Twitter fight which was captured in a few places, including here (mediastyle.ca) and here (Torontoist) and here (Valleywag.  My version of the events is described [...]

[...] at their treatment by sections of the PR industry. The open public arenas of social media allow arguments to flare up, battle lines to be drawn and frustration to be laid [...]

[...] another Twitstorm arose this week between Marketing Consultant April Dunford and reporter David George-Cosh.Here we have, again, a situation where things got out of hand on Twitter, in public. Is it too easy [...]

[...] tell immediately. Obviously, you probably shouldn’t chew out a source publicly on Twitter using abusive language. But that’s a little like putting a warning sign on a chainsaw saying “Do not stop [...]

[...] and journalists might disagree a lot of the time, but don’t use Twitter to do this. This entry was posted in social media cafe and tagged PR, Twitter, twitter for journalists. [...]

[...] PROs and journalists might disagree a lot of the time, but don’t use Twitter to do this. [...]

[...] ensued was a classic case of letting one’s emotions run away with you. I won’t repost the whole exchange – you can check out Ian’s excellent coverage for that – but suffice it to say, [...]

No doubt Shawn, I totally agree with you.