PR Week Editor Tries to Polish PR's Tarnished Image

In a Guardian article, Daniel Rogers, editor of PR Week, tries to put a positive spin on the PR industry's tarnished image. He says PR industry is finally gaining the respect it deserves, at least in some quarters.

However, in others, particularly in the blogosphere, PR is roundly derided. Just yesterday, I spoke at a PRSA New Technology meeting, and met PR people -- professional communicators -- who don't know a blog from a bagel. My favorite question: "But how can we control the message in blogs?" The answer: you can't. But control was always an illusion anyway.

"Corporate affairs directors, essentially PR people, sit at the right hand of their chief executives advising on what to say to a vast number of stakeholders - from customers and suppliers, to pressure groups and the City," Daniels writes.

That's true, and a large percentage of publicists do their jobs well. And PR is a necessary part of the news cycle. There are not enough reporters -- or bloggers -- on the planet to uncover every story.

So why is PR bashing so prevalent in mainstream and new media? Because there are still flacks doing clueless pitching, writing "Dear Blogger" and "Dear Editor" emails; and making "did you get it?" phone calls. Cut that out already!

"Clueless pitching" is just one of many things that clueless PR agencies do. They also:

--Email news releases to media (including me) that gush in the lead about their agencies.

--Assign twentysomething twinkies to call media people (including me) and ask, "Hi. I'm Jennifer. I'm just checking to see if you got my news release and if you know when you're going to print it. (No, and no.) And they bill their clients for this worthless task.

--Argue with media people (including me)who turn down their pitch.

B.L.: Clueless PR people are part of the problem, but it's a broader issue.

I think public relations is looked upon with more skepticism than ever today -- not so much because the practice of PR has fundamentally changed, but because consumers increasingly have the tools and sophistication to look behind the curtain and see how the worlds of PR and media interact. They're finding out how the soup's made, and realizing that a lot of fingers are trying to get into the pot every day.

The public has finally come to understand that the newspaper that plops on the front porch each morning is not some pure, objective "truth" on stone tablets. It is an imperfect product created through imperfect processes, where often the loudest voice -- inside or outside the news organization -- gets disproportionate attention. The media has always been a "squeaky wheel gets the grease" business, and PR firms squeak for a living.

Personally, I'm glad the public is figuring out how all of this works.

The problem for so many practitioners is that they are locked into the busy, busy world of ever more frantic calls to make the old systems work. They have little time to be involved in professional development or to see behind the drivers of relationship management.

"twentysomething twinkies"

Priceless description!