Breast Cancer

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This column was published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on May 19, 1999.

All rights reserved.

Television PR: War of Images

One of the best things about our job is finding new

dimensions to people we thought we knew but never really knew. Everybody

around here knows of John Popper, for example, the Princeton High

School graduate who — with three other PHS alumni — formed

the highly successful rock and roll band, Blues Traveler.

Now, as writer Elaine Strauss has discovered, Popper (or his public

relations person or ghostwriter) has a quirky sense of humor and a

muscular writing style. We thought all he could do was play the harmonica

and holler. See page 34 for Strauss’s story of the rocker’s reunion

with his high school bandleader and the unusual concert that will

result.

While Strauss was running with the rockers, Barbara Fox was surfing

with the legal crowd. Now we don’t know what you might think of lawyers,

and we won’t tell you our opinion without checking with an attorney

first, but we can safely (we hope) report the general public view

of the legal profession. A story in the May 13 New York Times, commenting

on the dubious legal presentations in the Abner Louima police brutality

case, may have stated it best:

"No one, of course, is surprised by anything lawyers do. The public

expects even less of lawyers than of journalists [our emphasis!].

In a Gallup/CNN/USA poll last October, only 14 percent of Americans

gave lawyers high marks for honesty and ethical standards, which ranked

them below every other category except insurance salesmen, advertising

practitioners, and car salesmen."

For Fox, though, touring more than a dozen websites posted by Princeton

area law firms was a refreshing experience. As her story beginning

on page 12 notes, lawyers on the web can be helpful (offering free

use of an extensive database on a particular subject), honest (one

of them even posted information about a judgment that went against

his cause), whimsical (how about a picture of a Russian doll to represent

an investment fund in the Soviet Union?), and imaginative (one has

a two-minute video, with music, introducing the firm).

Just as the World Wide Web helps level the playing field for small

companies in many other industries, it can also help on the legal

field. Some small firms are using their websites very effectively

as a marketing tool.

Those Princeton-based law firms that lag behind, Fox reports, may

not realize what they are missing — in convenience, for one thing,

when all their information is accessible. Others have put up websites

that they know need to be improved. They just wanted to start early

on their learning curve. At this stage of the legal web game, anything

is enough. But several years hence, clients, legal peers, and even

the court system will expect more.

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Breast Cancer

Update

The May 5 cover story on Jane Rodney and the Breast

Cancer Resource Center helped show many readers the special energy

that Rodney brings to that program. The story also had not only a

personal impact, but also a financial one. Within 48 hours after it

was published (May 5), the center received 10 new registrants for

the breast cancer workshop, many new clients, and a $45,000 anonymous

corporate donation toward the Race for the Cure.

Please note, nevertheless, that the date and location for the Race

for the Cure has changed; it will be held on Sunday, October 3, at

Bristol-Myers Squibb on Route 206. Call 609-497-2126 to volunteer.

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