Who Had the Worst Week?

• Did USA Today publish AI-written articles under the names of fictitious reporters? The Washington Post thinks it may have.
• Some bears recognize quality when they see it. If you were a bear wandering through Pitkin County, where would you want to be? The kitchen of the St. Regis Aspen Resort, of course.
• I’m going to be honest – I didn’t realize that “Audubon” was someone’s name. I assumed it was a Latin word for bird or something. But this week we (or at least I) learned that not only is the National Audubon Society named after John James Audubon, but that he was a “19th-century ornithologist, naturalist and painter who owned slaves, opposed abolitionism and exploited Black and Indigenous people.” As a result, three chapters of the National Audubon Society are dropping his name from their branding.
• Boeing may have solved the 737 Max fiasco, but it is still hemorrhaging money. The company has reported losses of $25.5 billion since the 737 Maxes were grounded in 2019, and about $1.1 billion (and counting) of that loss is due to its contract to build two new Air Force Ones. Boeing’s CEO described the decision to seek that contract as “a very unique moment, a very unique negotiation. A very unique set of risks that Boeing probably shouldn’t have taken.”
• Is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson a white guy? Of course not. He’s talked proudly about his Black father and Samoan mother. But his wax figure in France’s Musée Grévin had to undergo some emergency touch-ups to reflect that.
• A woman in Atlanta returned home from a vacation to find that her house had been completely destroyed when a demolition company confused the address.
• An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot attempted to disable a plane’s engines mid-flight after taking “magic mushrooms” 48 hours before the incident.
• Denver‘s relatively isolated geography is causing more and more music stars to skip our city while on concert tours. The most recent include Drake, Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, Billy Joel, Pearl Jam and Metallica.
• Michigan State apologized midway through its 49-0 loss to rival Michigan, not for the team’s dreadful performance but rather for a trivia question that appeared on its Jumbotron that included an enormous picture of Adolf Hitler.
• If you are wondering what happened to George Costanza, he may have been working at Citigroup. One of its executives was recently fired for expensing a lunch with his significant other, and then claiming he had actually ordered and eaten two of everything – coffees, sandwiches and pasta dishes. Citigroup forbids expensing meals for partners. And, of course, the employee was part of the company’s … wait for it … financial crimes division.
• More than 42% of Coloradans consider our state to be located in the “Midwest.”
• Halloween is Tuesday, and it is the most deadly day of the year for child pedestrians.
• Chief 9News meteorologist Kathy Sabine reduced her on-air schedule following recent treatment for skin cancer, but she is now returning to her previous role handling the 4 pm, 5 pm, 6 pm, 9 pm and 10 pm broadcasts. Unfortunately, it appears that fellow meteorologist Danielle Grant is the odd woman out. She is leaving the station and hasn’t announced what she plans next.
• In what is candidly a reflection of a lack of self-awareness, a survey of PR professionals found that getting reporters to respond to their pitches is the biggest challenge they face in their jobs. Reporters would likely say being overwhelmed with irrelevant pitches is their biggest challenge.

So, who won the week?

• 9News reporter/anchor Steve Staeger and his wife are expecting their first child.
• Emily Spencer has joined SE2 as a senior associate.
• Novitas Communications won two gold PRGN awards in the Digital Media and Community Engagement categories. 
• And, on a personal note, I have accepted an offer to become a partner at GFM|CenterTable (formerly GroundFloor Media). I will continue to lead our Crisis and Issues Management practice, as well as support a number of non-crisis clients.