Nothing to Fear

Wow, my last post was October?? Well, I do have the excuse that I've moved across town, and then our DSL connection was unavoidably delayed, so there's that. Nevertheless . . .

There's a great book review in the Fall 2010 edition of The Strategist (for those who don't know, it's a quarterly publication of the Public Relations Society of America). The article is by Kathleen Larey Lewton, APR, and the book is “Deadly Spin - An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out On How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care And Deceiving Americans,” by Wendell Potter, APR. The article is worth the read, enough so that I plan to pick up the book.

Now I won't be touching the topic of health care – that's for other bloggers. But I am going to touch upon a subject I've reviewed several times on this site: doing the right thing, abiding by a standard of ethics, and trusting your instincts. Ethical public relations practitioners have nothing to fear from Potter's cautionary tale – although the thin-skinned among us might be chafed (Richard Edelman must have a truckload of thick, luxurious emollients waiting on back-order, judging from his response).

Here you go

Potter's book names names, including major agencies and individual professionals, and admits to his own share of blame for unethical practices ranging from misleading statistics, to bogus surveys and front groups. One of those names was Richard Edelman, President and CEO of Edelman. In his book, Potter writes that Edelman created a false grassroots movement as part of its campaign to help Wal Mart improve its image, including references to reports by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal in March 2006 that Edelman recruited bloggers to publish favorable comments about Wal Mart, which was being criticized regarding low wages and a lack of health benefits (BusinessWeek.com later exposed a blog titled “Wal-Marting Across America” as an Edelman project).

Adequately chafed, Edelman has shot back that Potter “has done the public a great disservice in distorting the PR field, which provided you a good living for the better part of your career. There will always be much to criticize in the world of PR, but do not call into question the motives of the vast majority of practitioners who are interested in the truth and in educating stakeholders about issues of our time.”

A short time later, Potter responded to Edelman's remarks: “Clearly, Deadly Spin has struck a nerve. Good. It’s about time. The reason only a handful of PR people use PR in their titles these days is because PR itself has a PR problem, and for good reason. That’s a shame because PR is not inherently evil or manipulative. As I wrote in the book: PR has been — and is being — used to good ends. Even the noblest of causes can benefit from the services of a communications expert to clarify facts, disseminate information, and counter unfair arguments. And there are plenty of ethical PR people out there to do this.”

Without getting into the nitty-gritty of who did what to whom, and why, I am of the belief that any effort that sheds light on the public relations profession is a good thing.

Sunlight is a great disinfectant.