As readers of this blog know, I like to call out unfair reports about the PR profession (hence the name of
the blog – “Flack” is pejorative for PR).
I do this regardless of the importance of the offender. E.g. I have taken the NY Times to task a number of times – see my posts NY Times Pans… the PR Profession, Absurd to Call Customer Service Issue a Tech PR “Fail” and NY Times Public Editor puts PR Through its Paces).
The sad fact is that the PR profession is poorly understood, and more often associated with spamming, spinning and fixing than more positive things (see my post PR: The Color of the Brand). This at least partially due to how PR is portrayed in the media and popular culture.
This is all by way of saying that, while I sincerely do not take pleasure in all the heat that Bloomberg is taking for the fact that their reporters (allegedly) crossed the line and improperly monitored sources’ use of the ubiquitous terminals – I was happy to see a news report in the Times that pointed out the positive role of PR execs in getting to the bottom of the story (it is a great read, and explains how Goldman PR chief Jake Siewert compared notes with counterpart Joe Evangelisti at rival firm JPMorganChase to figure out what was going on).
Like I said, I call ’em as I see ’em, and point out the good and the bad – thanks, NY Times for a nice story about PR heroes.
I agree–it’s good to see positive news about PR instead of the same old stereotyping about the profession. I don’t work in PR anymore, but I had my fair share of arguments/discussions with people who had no clue as to what I did other than to ask, “is your job like Samantha’s on Sex in the City?” So frustrating…