Manage the Media: Don't Let the Media Manage You

Embrace the New Media

When New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman attacked General Motors in a column in May 2006, he used surprisingly strident language. He wrote that GM was “more dangerous to America’s future” than any other company and was “like a crack dealer” addicting helpless Americans to sport utility vehicles. General Motors didn’t appreciate the comments and asked the newspaper to print its response. But the editors declined. So GM documented their refusal and then went on the attack—on the company’s blog, called GM Fastlane (http://fastlane.gmblogs.com).

It is instructive that even a company long known as a lumbering giant is now resorting to electronic combat. Senior communications executive Steve Harris used equally strident ...