Hit the mute button: The bottom line: Spinmeisters at the major media companies can't seem to get out of their own way these days.
Under the microscope of the press and shareholders, traditional media is facing the need for ever-more sophisticated methods of PR.
Corporate spokesmen often are forced to fend off an ever-expanding number of press outlets. With online media increasingly covering the media, the demands to respond to charges and counter-charges have never been greater.
"The news cycle is a nanosecond," says Warner Bros. Entertainment exec VP of communications Susan Fleishman. "That can be difficult."
But as the media's demands get louder and faster, corporate culture grows ever slower and more insular. Some congloms can get defensive, retreating with a "no comment" that allows even negative rumors -- sometimes from misperceptions, but sometimes deliberately planted by competitors -- to flourish.
"No matter how many outlets are out there, one of the basic principles of P.R. still applies: If you don't tell your story, someone else will," says Chris Ender, CBS' senior VP for communications.
