Salon Magazine: Fortress Microsoft

Thanks to Judge for this
link.

“Redmond’s Scorched-Earth spin strategy has turned into a PR
nightmare.”

“Bill Gates appeared before an audience of journalists via a
satellite link at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in
December to clear up some of the mysteries and confusion
surrounding the Microsoft antitrust case.”

“It was, in a sense, the ultimate tech support call — and as is
the case with many calls to Microsoft for assistance, the results
left users frustrated, angry, resentful and stymied.”

“Whatever you call it, the event epitomized the mess Microsoft
has been making of its media relations. The company keeps reaching
out, convinced of its own righteousness; but reporters, faced with
Microsoft’s unyielding party-line mind-set, increasingly mistrust
it. Recent conversations with a wide range of reporters, few of
whom would speak on the record, suggest that, even as the company’s
credibility has been battered in the courtroom, Microsoft faces a
crisis of trust among the press.”

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