Rich Robinson
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Rich Robinson spent 20 years in Hollywood as a publicist, journalist and Emmy-winning television producer. He's worked with many of the biggest stars in the entertainment industry, including Quincy Jones on "A Call for Reunion," the celebration of President Clinton's first inauguration. Other major clients he's worked with include The Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, Harry Connick, Jr., Paula Abdul and Smashing Pumpkins.

As a TV producer, he created more than 1,200 celebrity and political guest segments for various national and L.A.-based programs, including Comedy Central's quirky talkshow, "Turn Ben Stein On."

In 2006, Rich began work as a media strategist as the communications director of the Western Washtenaw Democrats, an active political organization based outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan. He also served as an informal media consultant to Mark Schauer, who was the Democratic caucus leader in the Michigan State Senate.

During the election cycle of 2008, Rich was named communications director for the campaign to re-elect Michigan State Representative Pam Byrnes. He crafted a media strategy that helped Byrnes defeat her challenger, 63% to 34%. Rich was interviewed several times on Air America Radio and had numerous op-eds published. After the election he continued to advise Schauer, who was elected to Congress in Michigan's 7th District.

He works as a media strategist in Washington, DC.

Blog Entries by Rich Robinson

The Top 10 PR Blunders Of 2011

14 Comments | Posted December 22, 2011 | 16:10:45 (EST)

Some blunders are unavoidable; often they are self-inflicted. One thing's for certain: 2011 provided some stunning examples of public relations disasters.

10. There are no claw backs in PR. Back in January, a guy named Mitch Delaplane thought it would be cool to write a press release that touted his...

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Top 10 PR Blunders of 2010

Posted December 17, 2010 | 00:02:53 (EST)

This year proved to be a golden one for public relations meltdowns. Compiling this list was easy - trimming it down to the 10 biggest wasn't. As far as PR blunders go, 2010 was a target-rich environment.

10. The Nazi Candidate. Republican Rich Iott has a hobby. He likes to...

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We Came, We Saw, We Politely Reminded America to Take it Down a Notch

Posted November 1, 2010 | 12:45:16 (EST)

It was a huge throng, stretching from 3rd Street on the National Mall down to the Washington Monument. Initial estimates put the number somewhere north of 200,000, and if the difficulty of getting back on the Metro was any indication, it was certainly the largest crowd in the Nation's Capital...

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Democrats Must Act Quickly and Decisively to Regain Messaging Edge

Posted September 16, 2010 | 12:55:53 (EST)

It seems to be a foregone conclusion the Democrats will take an expected hit and end up losing the House in the upcoming midterm election. Should that hit become a shellacking (i.e. losing the Senate), many factors will be cited: an unemployment rate that is too high, a stagnant housing...

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Tigers Hurler Is Pitch-Perfect in Blown Call Dust-up

Posted June 3, 2010 | 16:41:52 (EST)

Armando Galarraga, who was robbed of a perfect game by a blown call from umpire Jim Joyce, has also pitched a perfect example of how to handle a potential media storm. The young Detroit Tigers pitcher has been nothing but calm, cool and classy in the kerfuffle, giving us all...

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A Soldier's Story; A Son's Gratitude

Posted June 1, 2010 | 17:05:55 (EST)

Memorial Day inherently is a time of reflection. Honoring what our soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen have done for the sake of our freedom is not a single-day activity, but one that should be in the hearts of all of us, all year round.

Whenever this holiday comes, I invariably...

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How Badly Is Bank Reform Needed? Even Ben Stein Agrees With Obama's Plan

Posted April 25, 2010 | 21:21:02 (EST)

A little over ten years ago, I was asked by Al Burton to come down to his office and talk about working on a new TV show he was putting together with Ben Stein. Stein was hot at the time with his Comedy Central quiz show Win Ben Stein's Money,...

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Obama Tends to the Big Bullets -- How About the 45-caliber Ones?

Posted April 9, 2010 | 18:29:55 (EST)

President Obama deserves congratulations for the new nuclear arms treaty with Russia. Reducing the number of nuclear bombs in the world is a good thing, and the Senate needs to ratify it as quickly as possible. So some of the big bullets are being removed as a threat to American...

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Keep Swinging the Mops; There is Still a Big Mess to Clean Up

Posted March 25, 2010 | 18:57:38 (EST)

It's difficult not to consider Barack Obama's first year in office as one of the most successful in American presidential history. Saving the economy from the brink of collapse with the Recovery Act, Stimulus Package, and the recent Health Care Reform bill are major acts of legislation that will help...

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Top Ten PR Blunders of 2009

Posted December 15, 2009 | 15:04:19 (EST)

For some this was, as Queen Elizabeth might say, "annus horribilis" - a horrible year. For the rest of us, it was another lesson in public relations crisis management. Here are the Top 10 PR blunders of 2009:

10. Fox News Caught Using Fake Footage. To make it seem like...

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Hollywood Flacks Provide Better Party Security Than the Secret Service

Posted December 4, 2009 | 15:24:14 (EST)

As a guy who spent the better part of twenty years of his life in Hollywood working as a publicist and in the TV news biz, I almost found the flap with the Salahis getting into the State Dinner amusing. Almost, except that particular party-crashing represents a huge security breach,...

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A Seedling of Sanity Takes Root in the War On Drugs

Posted October 28, 2009 | 04:35:20 (EST)

With the Justice Department's release of an important policy memo, we find a small bit of common sense seeping into the long-failed "War on Drugs." Federal prosecutors have been instructed not to target patients or sanctioned providers of medical marijuana for prosecution in states that allow the substance for medical...

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Gut-Check Time For Congress Over Health Care Reform

Posted September 30, 2009 | 14:12:40 (EST)

The time has come for Congress to step up to the plate over health care reform. President Obama's speech to the joint session put forth his plan -- an address "presented as a societal imperative and a test of the nation's character" according to one TV commentator. The stakes are...

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