Two book events this week are all about reputation, especially when pesky media gets involved.
Friday, January 23rd: From 6-8:30 p.m., at the Women’s National Democratic Club, there will be a speaker reception for Mike Canning’s book Hollywood on the Potomac: How the Movies View Washington, DC (Friends of Southeast Library, $25).
The book goes movie-by-movie to show how our favorite district (D.C.) is depicted on the silver screen. Fifty-eight films over 75 years are represented, such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Exorcist, Courage Under Fire, No Way Out, The Contender, Wag The Dog, Shattered Glass, All The President’s Men, True Lies, The American President, J. Edgar, and many more.
Each film gets its own entry with its cast, synopsis, production data, critiques, and behind-the-scenes photos or factoids. A “Goofs” section features D.C. movie mess-ups, like when Kevin Costner escaped from his assassins through the Georgetown metro stop. That would never work.
Plus, the book includes three essays: “Politics and Film”, on how the two work together; “Location, Location, Location,” on the historical challenges of filming in D.C; and “Selected Short Subjects”, on the influx of D.C.-based movies in recent years.
Hollywood on the Potomac is geared toward fans and students of movies and politics, and Canning has a rich background in both. In a city that almost serves as a character itself, he unveils a Washington portrayed in as many lights as you can imagine.
Canning has reviewed films for Capitol Hill’s Hill Rag newspaper since 1993. He is also a freelance writer on film, politics, and public affairs, and has contributed to Films in Review, The Hill, The Washington Review, and the Foreign Service Journal.
Tickets are $25 to attend the light supper (beginning at 6 p.m.) and the reception, which will be a talk with film clips hosted by Canning (beginning at 7 p.m.). Tickets for only the reception are $10. The book will be available for purchase and signing. Buy tickets here.
Saturday, January 24th: At 2:30 p.m. at the Newseum, damage control expert Eric Dezenhall will discuss his new book Glass Jaw: A Manifest for Defending Fragile Reputations in an Age of Instant Scandal (Twelve, $27).
Glass Jaw, named after the boxing term for a tough-looking fighter who can’t take a punch, analyzes the “spin” industry brought on by the 24-hour news cycle. The industry has changed the nature of controversy, as people, organizations, and brands are more easily destroyed by a little bad press.
Dezenhall provides specific insights brought to you by recent PR nightmare examples like the Susan G. Komen Foundation, BP, Anthony Weiner, Paula Deen, Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, and the NSA.
Glass Jaw also shares lessons on handling scandals and how to protect yourself from them. Some highlights: How there really is no “getting ahead” of a bad story; navigating the “Fiasco Vortex”; the artful transaction of the public apology; why a crisis is not an opportunity; The Nixon Fallacy; and the self-sabotage of selfies, tweeting, emailing before thinking, and so on.
In addition to running a D.C. communications firm, Dezenhall is an author, lecturer, and commentator for NPR, CNN, FOX, CNBC, and MSNBC. He is a regular contributor to the Daily Beast and Huffington Post, and has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. He has been named one of Business Insider’s 25 Most Influential PR People Behind the Scenes of Corporate America.
Admission is free with Newseum tickets, and the event will take place in the Knight TV Studio. More information can be found here.
