Wes’ Blog

Oprah Winfrey is on top again. When was she not on top you might ask? Well in the past few weeks Oprah has been denying that a book that she added to her book club was full of lies. James Frey’s book “A Million Little Pieces” caused all kinds of trouble for Oprah and for Frey. You can read about the story here.

Believe it or not for this post I am not going to discuss the unethical promotions of the book by Frey. I could, but in my opinion he is not worth writing about. But instead I am going to discuss how Oprah managed to do the right (PR) thing as always.

When Oprah found out about the allegations against Frey altercating the truth she didn’t believe it. She even called on the Larry King Show and let him have it. That would make for an awkward situation if the allegations were proven true. Guess what? Oprah found herself in an awkward position.

What was she supposed to do? She could stick with the lying author or she could apologize to Larry King and to the entire World. You know Oprah she did the right (PR) thing. She sincerely apologized to all of her viewers and everyone including Larry King on Thursday. Yes it is Oprah and she always does the right thing, but any person trying to save face should have apologized as well.

Oprah wouldn’t have had to save face if she had checked her facts before adding the book to her club. We as PR students and practitioners realize how important it is to know the facts. But Oprah handled herself incredibly well after she was being scrutinized. I’m not really surprised since Oprah is one of the best at keeping her image spotless. I really don’t understand how she does it, but she does. All I have to say is, good work Oprah.