Some PR for the other S word

For people who make a living out of making people, companies, charities and animals look good, there are a lot of PR practitioners who go out of their way to disparage one four letter word. Now I know what you are thinking kids shouldn’t be saying those words. But I am not talking about any of those words that I am commonly heard uttering but rather an S-word that some flacks find more offensive – Spin.

Now my whole fascination with this began after an innocent post last weekend about a license plate that I thought was perfect for a PR pro. However, I soon found out that many in the industry hated the word spin more than Republicans hate Democrats (and vice versus).

Now I don’t hold ill-will towards any of these folks even though there were some heated exchanges over Twitter. While I respect everyone’s opinions, I need to chime in and see if the industry as a whole has a grasp on what spin means. I think it may have gotten lost in translation somewhere.

Sure journalists, bloggers and the industry have banded together to try and eradicate some of our bad habits (blind pitching, spamming, etc.), but I would argue spin is something we all do. Show me a story, pitch or post that does not have a slant to it and I will gladly shower you with yawns or show you my unicorn. We all do it, let’s just get over ourselves, we aren’t that important.

According to Dictionary.com, Spin means (Slang) ”to cause to have a particular bias; influence in a certain direction: His assignment was to spin the reporters after the president’s speech.” Also some synonyms according to the same source are: develop, narrate, relate.

Now that definition validates my view of the word. As a PR pro, it is my job to get my company into publications with positive stories. Now this means that the story needs to appeal to a reporter or lead to a larger trend piece. Please notice that I did not say lie or fabricate facts in there. That is something that I do not agree with and feel that my colleagues mistakenly associate spinning with lying. Now I think a great description was given by my friend PRCog a while back. Spinning is something that we all do as our daily job functions; it is something that drives value. Now you can call it whatever you want fluffing, massaging, smithing or chatting with a reporter – to help you sleep at night.

One of my heroes in the PR field is Thomas Paine. Now I never met the wordsmith, he was dead long before my time; however his spin piece, Common Sense, helped spark the revolution that formed the United States.

With that said, how do you feel about spin? Is it something you do? Or is it something that you feel is an unnecessary evil? Do you disagree with my definition?

All opinions welcome, just be respectful of others.