PR Studies

Odone, oh don't!

There's more ink (but little new insight) into Editorial Intelligence in today's Media Guardian. But Cristina Odone, who sparked this off, has this naive addition to the debate (scroll to 'The moral of the story').

Journalists are in the business of exposing the truth, PRs are in the business of twisting it... So no, there is no moral equivalence between journalism and PR.

How superior she must feel - but wait a moment, don't journalists get paid too? And why does this honourable profession need a Press Complaints Commission (PCC) to investigate its transgressions? I'm not aware of a Public Relations Complaints Commission (PRCC) - though I think it would be worth considering. Only yesterday Peter Preston described Odone's 'occasionally febrile way with facts'. Perhaps her judgement is in question too.

UPDATE: Philip Young has written a good, measured post on this matter (he has a foot planted on both sides of this particular divide - which is different from 'sitting on fence').

Comments

Odone, oh don't!

There's more ink (but little new insight) into Editorial Intelligence in today's Media Guardian. But Cristina Odone, who sparked this off, has this naive addition to the debate (scroll to 'The moral of the story').

Journalists are in the business of exposing the truth, PRs are in the business of twisting it... So no, there is no moral equivalence between journalism and PR.

How superior she must feel - but wait a moment, don't journalists get paid too? And why does this honourable profession need a Press Complaints Commission (PCC) to investigate its transgressions? I'm not aware of a Public Relations Complaints Commission (PRCC) - though I think it would be worth considering. Only yesterday Peter Preston described Odone's 'occasionally febrile way with facts'. Perhaps her judgement is in question too.

UPDATE: Philip Young has written a good, measured post on this matter (he has a foot planted on both sides of this particular divide - which is different from 'sitting on fence').