Michael Rogers, a blogger who was on NewsChannel 8 promoting “Outrage,” a new documentary on closet homosexual politicians and activists who “out them.” Rogers could barely get his promotional explanation out on what the video entails, which is the sole purpose he was invited on the show.

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So what happens when a public relations professional misleads a journalist by pitching a false news hook or a story saturated in spin? Well as of late, all over the Internet, journalist are complaining about the amount of unrelated pitches they receive (rightfully so), the level of newsworthy stories, and if their source (a pr professional) is credible to write the story.

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Isn’t that the old adage? The shoemakers children don’t have shoes?  That’s what I think of when I read the Feb. 10 review of “PR: A Persuasive Industry” in USA Today.

The article starts out with this…

Sleazy. Disingenuous. These are words used in U.K. newspaper coverage of the public relations industry. PR, oddly enough, doesn’t have great PR. People tend to think that PR involves being manipulative and saying whatever is in the employer’s best interests.

Gee. Allow me to keep reading.

(The authors) call PR an amoral industry, a tool for good or evil purposes. There was, alas, Hitler, Goebbels, and the Nazi propaganda machine.

More? Why make my face more red that it is right now? Stop reading!  I can’t…it’s like a traffic accident. Must…keep…reading.

I’ve not read this book, but the reviewer goes on to say that in the book the authors debate whether or not it is the role of a PR professional to tell the truth.

I am here to tell you that every journalist (both traditional and new) I’ve ever worked with would tell me where to stick it if I ever lied to them.  If a client asked us to lie (and it has happened), we immediately resign the business.

I’m also here to tell you that PR professionals live by a Code of Ethics and I’ve seen people kicked out of industry organizations for displaying anything but professionalism. So there are good and bad in every profession. Until you walk a day (or five) in our shoes, let’s leave the negativeness and bashing alone.

My friend Eric Seidel is a professional media trainer who has worked both on the media side and the client side.  He has Fortune 100 experience and works with top executives.

He recently wrote a blog post called, “Get ‘spin’ out of your lexicon.” He goes on to say it’s bad for your business health because “reporters know when you’re spinning and they use it as motivation to really dig in their heels and come after you.”  Check out the post – it has a great case study via video about Jet Blue.

But this isn’t just for clients.  Yes, it’s our job to teach our clients how to work with the media, but it is not our job to teach them how to spin, lie, or evade the media.  Our job is not to spin.  Our job is to help our clients communicate with their customers via the media by being honest, open, and transparent.

Let’s do our jobs.

It may not be national news but for some allergy sufferers, it’s huge news.  Last November, the Chicago Tribune did another investigative report similar to one from several years ago during the height of the stories about lead paint on children’s toys. This time, the testing and subsequent report was on various food products labeled “gluten-free” that are on the shelves of several Chicagoland grocery stores. 

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We have a running game with our out-of-state friends; we stop at every Mexican place that says, “The world’s {insert adjective} margaritas!”  In Chicago, that’s quite a game as you only have to get in a cab and drive up and down Lincoln before you’ve had a few too many.

My good friend Martin Waxman last week blogged about this very topic, but in terms of sweepstakes.  You know that letter you receive that says, “The fact that you are now in possession of enclosed documents that are proof of your chance of becoming a prize winner is all but confirmed.”

There are many instances of this in our lives and some advertisers have been sued over extraneous words that can’t be proven (most know my favorite is “The Funnest iPod Ever”, mostly because “funnest” isn’t a word).  But this is spin in it’s finest flair.

Martin is right; the excellent PR professionals will stop this practice through social media and honest and transparent communication and it will eventually trickle to the rest of our lives.  Well, one can hope!

There is an old saying that a dog is a man’s best friend. Well President Bush’s “best friend,” a Scottish terrier named Barney, obviously wasn’t named after the fun-loving, purple dinosaur. During Barney’s morning walk Thursday, Reuters reporter Jon Decker made an attempt to pet Barney, who was having none of it and bit Decker’s right index finger drawing blood and medical attention.

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As the world focuses on politics, as it probably should with the upcoming election, I find it difficult to get involved. My parents are both Democratic, but by no means are they considered hardcore political enthusiasts. So, in a way, I was raised to not really care. Let’s be honest, does anyone truly know the platforms of all the politicitains on the voting card, besides the future president?
 
Recently, I can’t help but read up on what John McCain is doing — throwing celebrity slurs at his counterpart and hiring a woman to keep up with Obama (I hope McCain didn’t miss Saturday Night Live this past weekend.) Now McCain is dealing with bias journalists that he used to be friends with. WAIT… biased journalist? A politician friends with media professionals? Hmmm…

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News organizations often prepare stories in anticipation of something occurring so they can be the first to leak breaking news. Well, the Los Angeles Times made a premature mistake by going live and announcing that Barack Obama actually chose Hillary Clinton to be his vice presidential candidate along with Bill Richardson, Kathleen Sebelius, and four other Democrats. While you cannot blame the Los Angeles Times for their preparations, this is not the only time Obama was misperceived through the media. John McCain tried a couple different stunts that backfired on him when he related Obama to Paris Hilton — who would have thought?

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Well, Paris Hilton took part in another video, but this time her video is rated “E” for educational. Hilton’s video on superstar comedian, Will Farrell’s Funny or Die Web site was a response to one of John McCain’s negative public relations stunts of comparing his rival, Barack Obama, to celebrities Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. McCain is taking the approach of bringing out the negativity in his counterpart, rather than focusing on the important facts; war, oil, economy, or the over so popular term “change.” McCain is reaching an all time low, spinning Obama’s image and comparing him to the queen of party girls. McCain are you getting a little worried?

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