Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Where's the picture?
Estimating crowds is a risky undertaking. Take yesterday's Clinton-Kerry rally.
The Kerry website put the number of attendees at 100,000. The Inquirer said 80,000 citing a fire department official (ditto the Daily News, though it put a range of 80,000-100,000 on the estimate. Instead of coming up with a number, Jill Porter's Daily News column quoted Vince Fumo, who said it was the biggest crowd since the Pope visited 25 years ago.
But where was the picture that was better than 1,000 words? The photo that would have made a crowd estimate in type superfluous? It was noiwhere to be found in the Inquirer. The Daily News did a slightly better job with its page one photo.
PR Push? Over the weekend, the NY Times featured a favorable article on how Urban Outfitters, headquartered in Philadelphia, has found a way to grow with its aging clientele while still bringing in the young fashionistas. Today, another glowing report on Urban Outifitters appeared, this time on the Inky's business page.
What gives?
A number of securities analysts have started to "follow" Urban Outfitters stock, and as a result, they are issuing reports which get the attention of the media. Reuters started the ball rolling last week when the stock popped up on its investment "screens".
The Kerry website put the number of attendees at 100,000. The Inquirer said 80,000 citing a fire department official (ditto the Daily News, though it put a range of 80,000-100,000 on the estimate. Instead of coming up with a number, Jill Porter's Daily News column quoted Vince Fumo, who said it was the biggest crowd since the Pope visited 25 years ago.
But where was the picture that was better than 1,000 words? The photo that would have made a crowd estimate in type superfluous? It was noiwhere to be found in the Inquirer. The Daily News did a slightly better job with its page one photo.
PR Push? Over the weekend, the NY Times featured a favorable article on how Urban Outfitters, headquartered in Philadelphia, has found a way to grow with its aging clientele while still bringing in the young fashionistas. Today, another glowing report on Urban Outifitters appeared, this time on the Inky's business page.
What gives?
A number of securities analysts have started to "follow" Urban Outfitters stock, and as a result, they are issuing reports which get the attention of the media. Reuters started the ball rolling last week when the stock popped up on its investment "screens".
