Flack's Revenge

A Peak behind the Curtains (The Future of PR)

There has been much public debate about what the emerging world of unmediated media means for the future of PR. 

It is well tread territory, and instead of rehashing this I thought I might instead look to the future and both humbly and publicly make some suggestions about where we go from here.

In doing so publicly, I can only increase understanding of this profession, since, as many have pointed out, we are starting from a basis of widespread mis perception and cynicism about PR. (Not that I am carping. If we are misunderstood, it is our own fault; we are in the communications business).

No, I think we as a profession have perhaps all too much enjoyed (if not basked in) the mystique surrounding PR. Magicians do not reveal their tricks, right?

The problem is that this actually does more harm than good, because when people do not understand, they tend to cynically assume the worst. 

So in the blog-driven spirit of transparency, I thought I would share my thoughts and opinions about how the profession might evolve from here, in this first of a series of posts. I do this with the hope that the PR Practitioners’ Guild does not revoke my membership (just kidding, is there really an organization like this)? 

I start with a discussion of PR ethics. Yes, believe it or not such a thing exists!

I can talk until I am blue in the face about how there are “bad apples” in every profession, and most PR people really are very ethical and above board, yet we will still be referred to as flacks, fixers and spinmeisters of weak moral character.

So, although it might not be the fun or sexy part of PR, it is incumbent on us to constantly educate that PR does not translate to “ethically challenged.” 

Also, given the subject at hand – The New Face of PR in a New Media Dominated Media Landscape – it is an extremely important topic because in the online world, it is much easier to deceive and possibly compromise ethics. 

So, I think the established PR Code of Ethics (PRSA has an entire page with many links devoted to ethics resources and standards, including this Member Code of Ethics) needs to be updated to address the ethical rules of engagement in a world where everyone can have a blog-based megaphone, identities can become blurred if not completely veiled, and people can submit and vote on their own stories. 

Please chime in if you agree, and if you have suggestions about what would be important for an updated code.

 

Defending Those “Cozy” Media Relationships

There are some blog rumblings raising alarms about the “cozy relationships” that apparently exist between PR agents and the media (see below for links and excerpts).

As the stories go, PR people and journalists cut deals - over access to info and sources - that compromise objectivity and cloud otherwise fine editorial judgment.  This results in shoddy or at least suspect reportage.

It would be amusing if it wasn’t so off base and potentially damaging. After all, stories can have legs and reputations are at stake.

I think that, if the people who were casually propagating this viewpoint did some real digging, i.e. if they looked beyond the simple storyline and actually spoke with real PR people and journalists, they would get a different viewpoint.

When I consider phrases that characterize how PR and journalists relate, I do not think of the words "cozy relationships."  Adversarial?  Often, unfortunately.  Friendly? Sure, sometimes.  There can be mutual admiration, mutual distrust, and all things in-between.

But cozy? No. At the end of the day, we all have jobs to do. 

I think the reporters I have worked with would agree that the most productive relationships are built on mutual respect and understanding. 

To the extent that we – PR people – can be of help with information that contributes to a good article – i.e., we don’t waste journalists’ time, and they, ours – the relationships by and large work well.

The PR folks that I know do not expect special treatment for information and access to sources. We know all too well that even implying that the reporter’s viewpoint  is for sale would surely spell the end of that relationship. 

We understand that it just is not good business.

So, no - slaying the PR journalist relationship, or end running it through blog-based citizen journalism, is not the sure way to pristine news coverage.

Valleywag said, in A Flack Resistant Journal:  The Wall Street Journal's new managing editor is bad news for the tech industry's corporate communications control freaks. Marcus Brauchli, who takes over from Paul Steiger at the helm of the powerful business newspaper, is a noted opponent of the media embargoes ... the younger generation of newspaper managers, Brauchli among them, are tired of these cosy arrangements; and tired of being scooped if news leaks out to the web before the embargo is lifted."

Emily Gould, co-editor of Gawker wrote in the NY Times op ed piece Coordinates of the Rich and Famous:  "But the Internet, instead of relying on the expertise of an incestuous network of reporters and managers and publicists and photographers, gets its information from an army of anonymous strangers. And no matter how long and hard celebrities work to get the well-timed, utterly staged attention that’s going to be most profitable for them, the Internet can circumvent those efforts in a heartbeat. Celebrities like Mr. Kimmel who pretend that this new generation of gossip is hurting their feelings are covering up their real concern — that it’s hurting their bottom lines.

The effects of Internet-based, user-generated gossip aren’t limited to the stars themselves, of course. Publicists’ jobs are made more difficult when clients blame them for not being able to manipulate coverage by controlling access. "

User Generated News - Unintended Consequences

I discussed in my post Welcome to the New, User Generated Non stop Media Whipsaw, how user generated content and participatory journalism can stir the pot of news coverage, impacting the spread of news and the course of events that are being covered.

In theory, the trend in user generated content should be a boon to PR.  After all, if we are brutally honest with ourselves, hasn't PR always been all about User Generated News?  Crafting interesting stories and content is part of our DNA.

There are obviously pitfalls.  Not just PR agencies have access to these mechanisms.  Anyone and everyone does: ad agencies, new media agencies, companies and consumers.

There are also unintended consequences.  The events of the day - Digg caught up in a controversy because of DVD encryption code hacks being Dugg on the site, reader response to Digg's initial decision to kill the story, and Digg's reversal on this (see BBC Story DVD DRM row sparks user rebellion, and mea culpa from Digg founder Kevin Rose: Digg This: 09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0) and Chase fuming over a YouTube video about a data breach (see Consumer Affairs article: YouTube Video Purports To Show Discarded Bank Documents) seem almost all too predictable in hindsight.

It just goes to show you, it will be the Wild West out there for awhile as all stakeholders wrestle with the rules of engagement and new realities of the user driven, user generated news world.

"The Office" Does PR

It was great to see "The Office," one of my favorite shows, take on PR last week.

Sure, they were more concerned with creating a funny episode than a true-to-life portrayal, or educating about PR.  But cops, lawyers, doctors and mobsters like to weigh in on the accuracy of TV portrayals.  So I just thought I would offer my observations, as a PR professional in good standing (i.e., the last time I checked).

It's a good exercise in exploring popular misconceptions, and the treatment of PR in pop culture.

Briefly, the premise was that the Scranton office of fictional paper company Dunder Mifflin had a crisis on their hands when a renegade plant worker placed an obscene watermark (two Disney Characters "doing it") on a production run of stationery, which  Quality Control failed to catch.  The offending paper quickly found its way into customers' hands, leading to said crisis.

Regional Manager Michael Scott quickly (and correctly) decided to be proactive in the face of a crisis, but it was all downhill from there.   

The game plan was to host a press conference, spearheaded by chief flunky (or Assistant to the Regional Manager) Dwight Schrute, who intoned: "You are now entering the No Spin Zone."

Schrute has no experience in PR.  He started out the press conference by pointing out that the animals shown in the watermark were consenting, of legal age, and none got hurt in the process.  Pretty funny.

Of course, PR is all about and just about spin, press releases and press conferences (Myth #1).

There was no PR professional - either internal staff, or from an agency - on hand, and no apparent help from headquarters.

You don't hear about PR agencies much in the TV world, and when you do it is generally about publicists - i.e. entertainment PR (PoweR Girls, the short lived reality series about Lizzie Grubman's agency) or political (K Street, the short lived HBO series about DC lobbyists and PR).

When things came crashing down, Scott astutely observed that the fiasco was likely to find its way to YouTube.

I won't ruin the ending, for those who have TiVO'd it.  Suffice to say that it was a funny episode, even thought they did not get everything exactly right.