Sensationalism or Spin?

Robert Peston, Economics Editor of BBC said in June this year: “When I worked on the Sunday Telegraph a decade ago, the fax machine was strategically placed above the waste paper basket so that press releases went straight into what we called the round filing cabinet. Now newspapers are filled with reports based on spurious PR generated surveys and polls, simply to save time and money.

He went on to add: “More disturbing, perhaps, PRs seems to have become more powerful and effective as gatekeepers and minders of businesses, celebrities and public or semi-public figures.”

In my 20-year-long career I have garnered journalistic, PR agency and in-house work experience, industry insights and perspectives giving me a 360 degree view of the triangle; I am not sure if that would make sense from a geometrical viewpoint, but what I know for sure is the truth; the right answer to the perennial question that has baffled media and PR industries’ commentators for decades; who is right? The journalists who complain that PR pros don’t understand their needs or the PR pros who complain that the journalists are not responsive to their pitches?

In journalistic terms they are both blatantly wrong. in PR lingo neither of them is entirely right. The truth, as always, has many shades of grey.

Journalists are wrong because they view my colleagues as an unnecessary barrier between them and our clients - who are always right, remember? They detest seeing their inbox flooded with spam (that’s how they refer to emails containing press release attachments), they  loath having to occasionally answer a telephone call to acknowledge receipt of a ‘spam’ email and they totally dislike making a commitment to publishing a story for which they find zero value or interest in. They forget though that almost 70 per cent of a daily newspaper’s editorial content is either directly or indirectly, in its entirety or partially, verbatim or transliterated, impacted by the work of a PR pro, agency or in-house.

The PR pros are also wrong, because they view my ex-colleagues (The Press) as an unnecessary barrier between them getting a nod on the back from a satisfied client or getting one of those looks by their direct agency reports who are adamant that a press release on the launch of a new vacuum cleaner is of great value and it should even make front page news in next day’s paper. PR and clients sometimes forget that journalists are in the news-making industry and news they must receive if they are to oblige.

Journalists are wrong because they feel that their request to interview the visiting CEO of our multinational client for an exclusive deep look into its Middle East bottom line was declined by my colleagues just to get back to them for not using our press release on the vacuum cleaner.

And PR’s are also wrong for making pitches for interviews that are of little or no relevance to the media. But they also have the duty to educate clients about the process and the type of spokespeople and content journalists look for their editorial needs.


Who is right and who is wrong? It’s a chicken and egg situation and the yoke, instead of bright yellow, is of course, grey. Copy the link on your browser to watch this six-minutes video to help you form an opinion of your own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjKosO8CLiQ

Venting my PRustration

From the doldrums of ignominy to the distinction of becoming ‘integral’ to the clients’ marketing mix, Public Relations’ journey to the boardroom has been agonizingly long for PR practitioners and loathsome by the rest of the communications hacks, including colleagues from advertising and collaborators from the Media.

Thankfully, it seems that the end is nigh, the destination is within reach, PR’s path to the summit can be opposed, yet not obstructed.    

According to some, PR is a support function. At least they have an opinion and they are free to express it, albeit at the expense of their own credibility and professional posthumous fame.

But the majority of the advertising lot– from client service account managers to creatives and from digital designers to media planners – cannot offer any judgment other than a yawn perhaps and a pair of watery blank eyes in an effort to mask their ignorance simply because they haven’t got a clue.

It’s frustrating to those of us who simply must waste eons of manpower hours in meaningless ‘integrated’ campaign planning meetings where PR is in the agenda, usually at the bottom and always out of time.  

It’s even more frustrating when PR is actually being discussed only to realise that the discussion isn’t about PR at all, but about PR the way they perceive it.

I call this PRustration - the fatigue and mental drainage experienced by PR professionals when put in the presence of fellow communicators who offer an opinion or a PoV, (or even a yawn) for PR strategies and tactics.

Surely we can make this new word official, right? Just highlight the word and add it on your MS dictionary, I promise you, it works.