There is only one “PR” in this flak
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008Couldn’t bite my tongue any longer after reading the hatchet job CBS legal analyst Andrew Cohen does on the North American Public Relations Industry in his recent blog about the government lies revealed in the new tell-all book by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan.
Not only does Cohen leave the impression in his CBS blog that he thinks lying is an acceptable part of the government gig (not surprising from a lawyer), but he tarnishes all PR practitioners (of which Mclellan was one before Bush) as professional liars whose sole mission and skill is to be slickly untruthful or half-truthful on their clients behalf. What a disconnected response and characterization of a profession and service that CBS shows or any other media, 680News included, could not live without, because good PR people bring information to news and boardrooms that is then shaped and molded into media product, including blogs like Cohen’s.
The blog flack began when the Public Relations Society Of America opined that McClellan as press secretary violated the “ethics” of his craft. Cohen countered that the PR profession questioning ethics, was like the Burglars Association of America having a creed not to steal. Well, as a colleague of mine pointed out “a lawyer questioning PR ethics is like giving the Boston Strangler an Avon route!”
Good PR makes, builds and saves companies and careers - which is more than I can say for legal analysts who pass reckless judgments off as insight.