Here’s how the week went: On Wednesday, either GM was under attack from corporate raider Kirk Kerkorian, or as he tells it, Kerkorian just decided GM stock was a great investment for the long term (did I mention that he’s 87?). On Thursday, Standard & Poor decided GM’s corporate bonds should not be rated as investment grade. The bonds went from a BBB- rating to a junk grade BB. This means GM has to pay more to borrow money from investors.

LaNeve wrote: "There’s no denying that we’re going through some tough times right now. It seems like every day I read or hear news stories that focus on the negative. I won’t say that it’s all undeserved. However, every once in a while there’s a good news story that I wish would get a little more attention." He pointed to a press release that noted that the Buick Lacrosse, Cadillac STS, Chevrolet Cobalt, Chevy Corvette and Pontiac G6 are all selling better than their predecessors.

Readers were not kind. Here’s a sample of their comments:

• Tom Guarriello wrote at The TrueTalk Blog: "Other than that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"


• "Suggest that all the GM folks who post here keep in mind that few of the readers are GM salespersons and none of us are looking for any Cheer Leading. Direct that to your employees."

Scoble’s second rule on his Corporate Web Log Manifesto is: “Post fast on good news or bad.” But show me a corporation who’s posted fast on really bad news. Boeing’s Randy Baseler obliquely mentioned the resignation of CEO Harry Stonecipher ("We’ve had an interesting couple of weeks, that’s for sure. But none of that has made a bit of difference down here on the ground.")

One big reason for being cautious, of course, is that under SEC rules, publicly traded corporations must be extremely careful about statements that can affect their stock prices. Their protocols involve phone calls to alert financial journalists, press releases to mainstream media and carefully planned press conferences with analysts. The corporate blog should be included in the protocol, and I think it will become eventually become part of every public relations arsenal. But even so, what can an executive say on the blog other than, "Ulp, we lost a billion dollars last quarter. But (pick one): we’ve turned the corner / wait till you see our new products / heads will roll."

Elsewhere in his manifesto, Scoble acknowledges the difficulty of writing when you’re depressed. Rule No. 13 is: "If your life is in turmoil and/or you're unhappy, don't write."

Believe me, "tumultuous" is an understatement for the atmosphere these days in Detroit.

So what do you think? When the news is very bad, what’s a blogging executive to do?