This post originally ran on the PR Breakfast Club blog, but I wanted to share it with readers who may have missed it.
I am pissed off. The PR industry has recently received one black eye after the other – and you know what? It’s our own damn fault.
Yes, I said it. The recent bad press for the PR industry (and individual practitioners) in TechCrunch, Forrester and the New York Times came from the work of horrible PR people. These ranged from bad pitches to scamming a small business.
That pisses me off even more than anything. Instead of being a source of news and information from the media – our industry is being looked at as nothing more than a bunch of snake oil salesmen.
While every industry has its share of bad apples, it seems like we’ve had more than our fair share. Sure bad news and our symbiotic relationship with reporters makes our follies easy fare to sell papers, but it’s still no excuse to promote shoddy workmanship.
So how do we fix this?
Well, some suggestions I have heard include standardizing the industry with some kind of licensing certification, like lawyers or accountants. I will leave those kinds of fixes to smarter folks. I think we all need to do some self policing -if you see someone acting shady or blatantly spamming, give them a kick in the ass or point them to better ways to do their jobs.
If we don’t, well, we might just use this Metallica song as our greeting cards…
What are your thoughts on fixing the space? We’d love to hear below.
I’m pissed, too! Did you see the AVE story that PR Daily ran…and then shonali rebuttal? I think, until the influential blogs and journalists stop allowing such shoddy story-telling (or doing it themselves), we’re going to have a hard time fighting the fight (though we’ll keep at it). Earlier this week we had a guest blogger write about social media integrating with PR. Jon Aston commented that he didn’t understand why we were running it because all PR pros should already know what was recommended. The sad thing is, they don’t. As evidenced almost daily.
I agree with you and with @ginidietrich . Industry trade journals and bloggers need to spread the positive word and we can all help by encouraging the “bad seeds” to do better. We’re all responsible for it and can help. PRSA has created the Business Case for PR and that’s a great source for answering questions and getting the tools we all need to help turn this around. But we should also help encourage media to focus on the good and not the bad. It’s hard though because I’ll admit, I came to your blog because the headline says “PR Sucks.” It’s the negativity that brought me here while something like PR is the #1 Profession likely wouldn’t have. Additionally, we need to remember it’s not a new fight. A friend here who’s been in PR for nearly 40 years has been fighting this battle his entire career. Onward and upward to a more positive story…I hope.
@mdbarber @ginidietrich I really hope so. The title just reflects the outward perception. It is a bloody shame that there are a bunch of people who ruin it for everyone. It also hurts that journalists have a medium to lash out at and give the industry a black eye without noting that they need folks like us for their jobs as well.
@ginidietrich shonali I saw both responses and they are great. It was a reckless article that shouldn’t have run, especial with some of the work done by Katie Paine (et all). You know I saw that in PVSM as well but you know what putting that article up in the same light with Brian Cantor’s piece on why PR shouldn’t run social media and you really see the need for it. It is unfortunate, but some people who get into the industry do so because they can write or need a job (see Todd Derfen’s interview today in PR Week [I think] on how he wound up in the space) and just throw poop at the wall to see what sticks. It is a shame and is why I fear that SM in general will get diluted and taken away from most SM folks who just do it awful and without regard.
@jeffespo @ginidietrich So true Jeff and I wish the journos would take a look at their own ethics as well and be more responsible in their reporting. They do need us and the good ones know that.
@mdbarber @ginidietrich Yup but what was that old adage about a few rotten eggs?It bothers me to hell and high water and I have a lot of journo friends so I get it. Hell I wish I printed all the bad pitches I get but just kindly reply to the PR folks saying you do know I work in PR and can spot a bad pitch to hopefully educate them.
@jeffespo @ginidietrich Aw, thanks guys. Did you see what @commammo called it? “BSVE” – ROFL!
This is really part of a larger issue, isn’t it, as you say, Jeff. I think self-policing is a good thing, but we should be equally vigilant in commending those who are doing it well.
@jeffespo @mdbarber What is it I say? Oh yeah. Spin Sucks. 🙂
@Shonali @ginidietrich @commammo Agree but that falls on the heads of a larger organization as well like the PRSA not just the individuals like us @keithtrivitt what do you think?
@ginidietrich I can spin like a mofo if needed to. I’ll give you stories from pro sports days in May when I come to your city
@ginidietrich @jeffespo Yes spin does suck…and it’s yet another word in the English language with meaning that no longer allow its use as originally prescribed.
@jeffespo @ginidietrich shonali Here’s the link to the piece about Todd…from PRSA http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/BusinessCase/OnTheCaseWith/Cases/view/9102/106/On_the_Case_with_Todd_Defren.
@jeffespo @Shonali @ginidietrich @commammo @KeithTrivitt I agree it falls on PRSA to help tell the story, and probably to take the lead…and to provide us the tools to help tell the story. And they have a great tool in the Business Case for PR, the piece on Todd is part of it. If you haven’t seen the business case, check it out: http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/BusinessCase/
@jeffespo @Shonali @ginidietrich @commammo @KeithTrivitt A great conversation going on here, and sorry for jumping in a bit late. Like Mary, I, too, saw the hed for this post and that quickly caught my eye, but I didn’t have a chance to comment until now.
So you ask what large industry orgs like PRSA and others can do to help turn the tide of negative attention on PR to shed light on more of the great work and value that PR offers the business community and the public. Well, there’s lots of things actually. And as Arthur W. Page noted, reputation is 10 percent what we say, and 90 percent what we do.
As Mary already alluded to, PRSA has its “Business Case for Public Relations” that offers a lot of valuable resources to professionals (http://ow.ly/4vaxy). It’s also set up as a one-stop resource for media and business decision makers to better understand the strategic business value of PR.
In terms of doing more to educate the business community about PR’s value and role, there is only so much preaching that can be done before the point becomes dull. That’s why PRSA revamped its national advocacy program late last year (full disclosure: I oversee PRSA’s advocacy initiatives), and implemented a focus on three core areas: the business value of PR, ethics and diversity in the profession.
Frankly, I think some of our early results in terms of better speaking to the business community have paid off in raising PR’s profile as a valuable and absolutely necessary management resource. From op-eds in the Harvard Business Review (http://ow.ly/4cRhu), BusinessWeek (http://ow.ly/4cRit) and Advertising Age (http://ow.ly/4cRji & http://ow.ly/4cRjS) to our advocacy work with the U.S. Senate (http://ow.ly/4cRpb) and the FTC (http://ow.ly/4cRqw) on behalf of the industry and our members, PRSA has routinely spoken out to the broader business community about the significant value of public relations.
But there are also times when we aren’t afraid to call out the bad actors in the business. For example, we had a letter to the editor published in March in Jeff’s hometown paper, The Boston Globe, re PR and public affairs firms working with the Libyan government to help whitewash its reputation (http://ow.ly/4vc4i). We’ve also spoken out frequently against firms that come afoul of the FTC’s “blogger rules” in an attempt to fleece consumers (http://ow.ly/4vc9n).
But could we do more? Absolutely. And discussions like this and many others in recent weeks have inspired me to rethink how we reach those business leaders, how we communicate PR’s value to them and how we help them better understand the vital role public relations plays in helping businesses grow (not to mention serving the public interest).
So where can we do more? How can PRSA help you as PR pros not only better do your jobs but earn greater respect for the value of your counsel? If you have any ideas, please let me know.
@KeithTrivitt @jeffespo @Shonali @ginidietrich Sometimes it feels like those of us to take our profession seriously are the proverbial voices crying in the wilderness. The news media exists to highlight extremes, and coverage of PR winds up focused on the worst of us — celebrity gossip, political chicanery, outright lying. I wrote somewhere that everyone is looking for easy answers — hence the tendency to grasp at the AVE straw, flailing and clutching. Research isn’t very sexy, especially wnen compared to just doing something (and particularly in social media, but that’s another rant). But that’s what our cousins in marketing do — they start with research and develop campaigns, then evaluate the results ongoing. We should do the same — then we can further develop our body of knowledge, refine our tools and hasten the creation of standards. Whether that leads to licensing or not, who knows (Brazil requires it, but that just means people doing PR work are calling it something else…) I’m glad to see PRSA’s recent refocusing, but the scale is limited to the US, and I believe most of the professional growth in PR is happening elsewhere in the world (witness the success of the European Conference on Measurement via AMEC, and the scholarship coming out of Germany and Eastern Europe these days.) I remain bewildered that IABC (member for 20-odd years, or 20 odd years, depending on your perspective) hasn’t seized more assertively on measurement. I spoke at its Seattle measurement conference last year and we had a pretty small crowd (@shonali and Mark Weiner, Angela Sinickas and Shel Holtz, and others also presented) — it speaks to a wider issue with measurement in general.
Apologies for the long comment — sometimes (as @Shonali said) you have to rant.
Sean
@commammo
@KeithTrivitt @Shonali @ginidietrich @commammo Keith – While it is a lot of commentary it is all justifiable. One area that I think could help is on the campus level. Whether its at career fairs or in the classes. Perhaps getting teachers accredited by your organization could be the first line of defense of sorts to get the next generation off on the right foot instead of picking up lazy habits from career ASEs.
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