Companies paying bloggers to push their products is nothing new. It’s an online concern which has drawn the attention of The Federal Trade Commission.
Commenters are paid to search and go to blogs and websites where they pitch a product by making personal comments. There are bots which search by keyword and drop what look like personalized comments into comment sections. Using bots, a person can take a generated list and put in a cheery ‘personal’ comment which has a better chance to get past a spam filter.
It is known governments set up propaganda blogs which do not identify the blog owner as a government contractor or employee or the political agenda.Â
Commenters are send out to by political parties to plant ideas under stories and posts do damage control and disparage commenters with a contrary point of view.
Go to a newspaper website such as The Globe and Mail, The Star or National Post, pick a hot topic and check out comments yourself.
It’s hard to know if any of the commenters under political posts are being paid to do so isn’t it?
One of the points which has come up here at BDBO is how quiet Crossroads Christian Communications has been since the April/May legal documents came out.Â
The longer the silence, the harder it will be for Crossroads to win back viewer, donor and public confidence.
So, if you were handling Public Relations for Crossroads - what would you do?
1) I’d be careful about media interviews, asking all staff to zip their lips, especially with ongoing legal issues and investigations. Crossroads CEO Doug McKenzie has done one interview with an offline pentecostal magazine, calls were not returned to the first media outlet (The Hamilton Spectator) to run a story. The other Crossroads story is by Christian Week. which receives letters to the editor but doesn’t use online comments.
2) I’d send my pr staff out searching all forms of media for any information about the company/ministry. The longer official company silence, the more important it is that well placed ideas by the pr department can be used.
3) I’d be checking to see what the average viewer or donor might be saying. Planting information deflecting from the main issue is a common marketing management tool.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Crossroads pr people were leaving comments at BDBO, that is a none issue as far as I’m concerned.
 What pr techniques would you use if you were running a company/charity facing tough issues?
This comment is interesting and I’m using it merely as an example of what I’m attempting to explain.
I want to be very clear to the above commenter. I am not questioning your integrity.Â
With the open communication comment sections provide readers drop in with pieces of information.
To add to this tone of sadness–a few months ago the volunteer group of prayer partners were told that they were gradually being phased out and would no longer be needed in the future; the plan was to replace this group with some kind of hitech tapes.
Many of the prayer partners were quite upset and disillusioned with this announcement These volunteers are older folks who have faithfully supported Huntley and prayerfully ministered to viewers!
It would appear that Huntley is becoming insensitive to their volunteer groups and disconnected to their viewers!
Sad!!
Volunteers seem to be available for Nite-Lite, a Crossroads production. There are 2 call in numbers for prayer.
416-9291500      905 335 0100     One seems to be a local area land line, the second toll free is VoIP.
The Crossroads Prayer Centre now uses two VoIP numbers and has continued the  online email field for write in prayer requests. The web platform Crossroads now uses is donor.com, a specialized system for non-profits which collects specific data for the company/charity from sign ins.
The Crossroad Prayer Centre page says:
Crossroads National Ministry Centre is pleased to provide coast to coast spiritual support, through our Telephone prayer lines.
Providing two way communication, nation-wide, we support individuals twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week with their prayer needs.
The prayer lines are supported primarily by volunteers who give more than 25,000 hours per year to provide this vital service to the nation of Canada and beyond.
Monthly, the ministry receives calls from more than 30,000 needy people, representing a myriad of requests.
There is no way to know how many calls the ministry receives.
There is a TTD (hearing impaired line) that requires some training to use (it’s like texting) and there is a toll free number     1-866-273-4444  .   (I took the Cdn toll free VoIP number and changed countries to see what would come up).Â
A land line can still be used, do any other voIP systems come up?
Is VoIP the ‘hi tech’ mentioned in the comment?Â
The commenter says ’the plan was to replace this group with some kind of hi-tech tapes.’
Would elderly, faithful volunteers find Skype or other VoIP difficult to work with?
VoIP can run pre-taped messages, trace calls etc., and it’s a lot cheaper to use.
This is the first time I’ve seen a VoIP number available on a company/charity, but then again I haven’t been looking.
How many volunteers have been let go?
Was this dismissal part of the re-structuring mentioned by CEO Doug McKenzie or reaction to the April/May issue?Â
How many volunteers does Crossroads usually have staffing prayer lines? How many now?
There is another possibly brought up by a commenter. Gotta love BDBO readers.:^)
 I have reflected on the prayer centre and have remembered that during the last several weeks on the programs 100 Huntley Street and Nite-Lite, they run a 45 to 60 second video clip of the prayer centre.
I wonder if that is to dispel the rumour of the recorded tapes coming in. It’s hard to discern what’s what, here.
——-There is something else, about recorded systems.
If one presses 1 for marital problems, 2 for compulsions, etc., could that be a way of streaming callers so they end up speaking to a person who can best handle the callers concern?After all, not all volunteers have had the experience of addiction and not all have had the experience of grief and mourning.
I just wonder if volunteers are being prepared for such an undertaking.
The fact that little information is forthcoming does not do anyone a service. A service such as telephone counselling should not be taken lightly and major changes sprung on the system and its callers with little or no advance notice.
Both scenarios presented above are possible, both are probable. However the longer Crossroads stays quiet about changes which have nothing to do with legal issues the more speculation takes root and the more people move on.Â
What do you think is occurring?
If you cast your memory back to the 1980s, you’ll remember
the tainted Tylenol situation. Tylenol was laced with cyanide
and there were deaths in the US. Fortunately, Tylenol in Canada
is a separate laboratory and manufacturing operation so we
were safe here.
The makers of Tylenol were on top of the story from Day 1.
They kept up on top of the situation until it was resolved.
For their quick action and direct honesty with the general
public, they were rewarded with no loss of market share.
A similar situation happened with Evian bottled water and
they kept on top of the situation from Day 1, also and
did not lose market share.
————
On the other hand, you have the silence of the government
on the Listeriosis situation last year and the reluctance to
be straightforward with the public. Maple Leaf was greatly
hurt in that because of the government’s stalling.
Now there is the situation with 100 Huntley Street and
Crossroads– and its reluctance to come forward and be
honest and forthright from the get-go. This reluctance
sounds as though they don’t have a co-ordinated media
outreach for such situations or they are not administratively
prepared for such a conflagration. The longer the wait,
the greater the damage to the entire operation.
————-
In short, the best PR technique is to be straightforward
from Day 1.
Everyone deserves nothing less than this.
The longer the silence, the greater the doubt about
the veracity of any statement. A recent Iranian
election should bear out that fact.
Curious, isn’t it that a Christian mission organisation
seems to be lacking in principled leadership and
internal discipline. It’s like the aging maple tree
that was on the front lawn more than 15 years ago.
The city wanted to cut it down and I said it looked
healthy. When I came back from errands, the
city forestry workers showed me the mealy texture
of the inside of the tree. It was rotting from the
inside outwards and only time would tell when it
would collapse on a passing person or car.
In both cases, Crossroads and the maple tree,
there is something greatly deficient at the core.
Is it now too late to save it?
Hi Ben,
Wow you will turn anything into a conspiracy.
VOIP stands for “Voice Over IP” and IP is the protocol that makes the internet work. Many companies use VOIP to connect their phone systems in a region or country. My company uses VOIP to connect all of our offices in North America. Many calls centres use VOIP to allow them to receive calls from multiple regions and time zones and route them to a central location.
“Would elderly, faithful volunteers find Skype or other VoIP difficult to work with?
VoIP can run pre-taped messages, trace calls etc., and it’s a lot cheaper to use.”
VOIP has nothing to do with tapes. Of course like any phone system or voice mail system it can run pre-recorded messages but this has nothing to do with the fact that it is VOIP. VOIP isn’t any harder to use because to the user it is a normal phone. The new Rogers home phone is VOIP – watch the commercials – no difference in how you use it. VOIP cannot trace calls in any different a way than caller-id works on a normal phone.
You did get one thing right, it is cheaper to run (ignoring capital purchase cost) because it uses the Internet instead of paying long distance charges to a phone compnay.
Hi Walter it’s BD. Your comment was deleted. We have an agreement about links.
Bene,
Both the ponzi involvement and prayer partner changes reflect a lack of good judgement within the Crossroads Organization!
Viewers,donors and volunteers should not feel guilty for raising concerns and asking questions!
Bene you are right on!! The current “culture of quiet” and mute response can only bred a growing distrust that may result in a further decline of support!
The internet is a wonderful tool for exposing wrong doing and working towards truth within responsible perimeters.
I also think that if lawyers, PR firms are taking note this could signal much more serious problems. Manipulation and threats are not the upright approach!
Garnet:
My bad, I could have used the term pre-recorded messages.
I find some elderly computer users do find tools such as VoIP difficult to adjust to, and there is no shame in that.
Let’s not deflect here.
If we are seeing a simple capital cost decision then why not say so?
I’m all for a charity using money wisely.
Why not tell donors and the public why volunteers are no longer needed?
If volunteers have been dismissed, what is wrong about asking for clarification on the reason?
Why it is so difficult for the ministry to communicate?
A TV ministry not using cross platforming effectively doesn’t inspire confidence, the organization’s silence on simple things comes across as fearful and reactive, not pro-active.
The internet can be a powerful tool for answering questions.
David Mainse sent a newsletter out to donors.
If anyone has a copy, I’d like to read it.
From Christian Week letters to the editor June 25, 2009:
“As an investor in Crossroads Television System and a strong supporter of Crossorads Ministries, I felt very satisfied with the letter I received from David Mainse stating that the situation is definitely one of Ron and Reynold being “duped” as you put it, not consciously aware of wrongdoing.”
For some, David Mainse reassurance is enough.
For others it isn’t going to be.
See Mark Peterson’s piece for donors.
http://markpetersen.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/a-donor-drives-down-huntley-street/
Ben,
I have a VOIP phone on my desk at work. It is my only phone and it works just like any phone. It is not a computer. A person of almost any age could operate it. Even grandma can use the Rogers Home Phone.
“If volunteers have been dismissed, what is wrong about asking for clarification on the reason?”
I think questions are fine and healthy. Questions without accountability are not fine. Had some of the posts by your readers been done in an accountable way, they would be open to a slander suit.
Ben, with postings like Walters above, do you honestly think any organization would treat this blog as credible and worthy of answering?
I was following this story on your blog at first because I found the information source helpful. I have a friend who is involved in one of those other investment pools I mentioned. Sadly he has lost a lot of money.
Lately however I have been very discouraged by some of the poor posts. They are disrespectful, they lack wisdom, they are hurtful. People on this blog seem to feel free to jump to conclusions before true facts are known or before any facts are known.
p.s. Why are you talking about Crossroads Television System? This is a completely diferent organization than Crossroads / 100 Huntley?
“p.s. Why are you talking about Crossroads Television System? This is a completely diferent organization than Crossroads / 100 Huntley?”
I’m not.
http://www.christianweek.org/letters.php
I think it is entirely possible a CTS investor or Crossroads donor doesn’t know the difference between a charity and a non-profit.
The point was David Mainse sent a newsletter out to supporters.
As for Walter, thank you, I didn’t see that. Gone.
“I have a friend who is involved in one of those other investment pools I mentioned. Sadly he has lost a lot of money.”
I’m sorry for your friend.
He is lucky to have you.
Why don’t you write a post? I’d be happy to have you guest blog.
I have approached Crossroads and 100 Huntley Street directly.
I have approached individuals in the organization directly.
I have asked media to use their resources to follow the money.
If you have something of substance and wisdom to offer investors such as your friend, then send me a post. Guest blog.
“Questions without accountability are not fine. Had some of the posts by your readers been done in an accountable way, they would be open to a slander suit.”
I violated a copy disclaimer.
My ignorance of that disclaimer is no excuse before the law. Readers and commenters did not receive the SLAPP, I did.
I’m accountable.
Interesting assumption you are making.
No investor asked me to post or post about that newsletter.
The client’s lawyer is paid to follow the clients wishes.
I believe that interview is a valuable snapshot of what happens when you question someone accused of an alleged ponzi scheme/affinity fraud.
I will challenge that assumption investors are to blame for commenting, for having opinions, for having them publicly.
You can’t have it both ways Garnet.
My offer stands.
If you’d like to guest post and offer your friend and the 100+ investors substance and wisdom let me know.
If you have advice for Crossroads about message and message delivery, you are welcome to guest blog. I’ll take care of the technical stuff and won’t edit a word. The platform is yours.
If you care to educate people about investigative process, running a charity, crisis management, then guest post.
I’m discouraged too.
Silence speaks louder than words.
Then again, I have no trust in mega church/mega ministries with big personalities and charismatic popular leaders.
Something just doesn’t ‘feel’ right about the silence. Torontonian – very well said.
Bene:
What copy disclaimer did you violate?
Apparently this:
“The entire contents of this message are intended for the recipient only and may contain confidential information of a privileged nature. Do not copy or forward this message without the express permission of the sender.”
I received a take down notice.
While I complied with fair use in the original post, I did link the message using google docs.
I’ve requested a compliance confirmation notice from the client’s lawyer. To date I have not received it.