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Oct 18, 2007 02:43 PM
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San Francisco, 1:21 AM
Mon Mar 15
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Yes, PR flacks are typically mindless automatons programmed to spout the company line. But sometimes I feel for them. Take Viacom's Jeremy Zweig, for example. Man's got to be dizzy from all the spin. First, he tells us that Viacom general counsel Michael Fricklas is "delighted" with Google's new YouTube Video Identification tool. Then we spot him telling others the lawsuit is still on. Because Viacom sues people it's "delighted" with? Not exactly.
The line Zweig has to give is that while Google is behaving now, the damage is already done. When clips go on YouTube, the argument goes, it degrades their value. But now, to explain why it put 13,000 clips of "The Daily Show" on the Web, Paul Beddoe-Stephens, VP at Viacom's Comedy Central, said that the success of Comedy Central clips on YouTube helped Viacom recognize the true value of putting archives online. Zweig's response to the latest? No comment. We don't blame him. (Photo by chefranden)
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