There have been many articles about the decline of telephone calls and voice mail amidst the rise of social networking, email and text messaging.
Some people apparently did not get the memo, based on the recent celebrity voice mail rants that have made the news (e.g. by now I am sure everyone has heard about Mel Gibson's tirade).
Voice mail is just another form of content which can sometimes be very entertaining. However, if you are in PR, and it is your client (or someone on your executive team, if you work on the client side) who is at the center of the controversy, I am sure it can be very uncomfortable.
I thought of this as I watched the NBC Today show earlier, which covered Sumner Redstone's voice mail, in which he asked a reporter of a negative piece to reveal the leaker (see the related USA Today story).
It must be a peculiar blend of arrogance, blind lack of concern over consequences, anger and impulsiveness (I will not say stupidity as the stories like this that make the news generally involve very successful people, those who presumably are not dummies) to cause someone to mouth off while they are fully aware that they are being recorded.
As to the PR cure for this relatively new type of crisis? It seems a little bit like trying to put the toothpaste back into the tube. I admit I am stumped, and am at a loss for words (for a change). If I do happen to find them, you can be sure I will not leave them on someone's voice mail.
