Comments on: The Flak Over Flacks
In The Wake Of Scott McClellan's New Book, Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen Says PR People Are Aghast At The Truth
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- Mr. Cohen,
Are you aware what men in glass houses should not do?
Posted by mikehro at 08:31 PM : Jun 02, 2008
Buy a Pinto based on its PR... - Reply to this comment
- Wow, I guess this guy has been burned by a PR person. Every profession has liars, but that does not mean it''s right. PR is a noble profession of creating awareness about a product or organization amongst its target public, not about LYING.
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- Mr. Cohen,
Are you aware what men in glass houses should not do? - Reply to this comment
- The dissed PR professionals and Mr. Cohen are arguing about bad apples when the real issue is the trees in the forest Most people working in public relations do their jobs with care and integrity. They are right to point out that the scumbag spin doctors Mr. Cohen describes are not likely to be very effective%u2014at least not for long.
However, we should not be comforted by good intentions and ethical decision making of individuals. We should focus instead on the actions of the powerful institutions on whose behalf they work.
And better still on the logic of the forest: a capitalist democracy. It%u2019s no accident that the practice of public relations was born in America. Edward Bernays, the %u201Cfather of modern public relations,%u201D said it best: Public relations is the engineering of consent. - Reply to this comment
- Mr. Cohen: Thank you. You have simply re-affirmed my belief that all broadcast journalists are really entertainers. Show me a "journalist" who wants his/her mug on TV, and I''ll show you a frustrated actor. No wonder citizens want to take back control of "free" thought.
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- Show me a PR person who is "accurate" and "truthful," and I''ll show you a PR person who is unemployed.
Show me a CBS lawyer who is "accurate" and "truthful," (during the forthcoming Dan Rather trial) and I''ll show you a lawyer who''ll soon be unemployed.
PH
http://tinyurl.com/68bduw - Reply to this comment
- Show me a PR person who is "accurate" and "truthful," and I''ll show you a PR person who is unemployed.
Show me a CBS lawyer who is "accurate" and "truthful," (during the forthcoming Dan Rather trial) and I''ll show you a lawyer who''ll soon be unemployed.
PH
http://tinyurl.com/68bduw - Reply to this comment
- Show me a PR person who is "accurate" and "truthful," and I''ll show you a PR person who is unemployed.
Show me a CBS lawyer who is "accurate" and "truthful," (during the forthcoming Dan Rather trial) and I''ll show you a lawyer who''ll soon be unemployed.
PH
http://tinyurl.com/68bduw - Reply to this comment
- Show me a PR person who is "accurate" and "truthful," and I''ll show you a PR person who is unemployed.
Show me a CBS lawyer who is "accurate" and "truthful," (during the forthcoming Dan Rather trial) and I''ll show you a lawyer who''ll soon be unemployed.
PH
http://tinyurl.com/68bduw - Reply to this comment
- Show me a PR person who is "accurate" and "truthful," and I''ll show you a PR person who is unemployed.
Show me a CBS lawyer who is "accurate" and "truthful," (during the forthcoming Dan Rather trial) and I''ll show you a lawyer who''ll soon be unemployed.
PH
http://tinyurl.com/68bduw - Reply to this comment
- It''s not a matter of honor amongst thieves, PR people working for the whitest house.
There is no honor amongst these thieves. Otherwise they would admit the commandment should be "Thou shalt not ''call'' it stealing" rather than "Thou shalt not steal." - Reply to this comment
- It''s not a matter of honor amongst thieves, PR people working for the whitest house.
There is no honor amongst these thieves. Otherwise they would admit the commandment should be "Thou shalt not ''call'' it stealing" rather than "Thou shalt not steal." - Reply to this comment
- It''s not a matter of honor amongst thieves, PR people working for the whitest house.
There is no honor amongst these thieves. Otherwise they would admit the commandment should be "Thou shalt not ''call'' it stealing" rather than "Thou shalt not steal." - Reply to this comment
- As a PR practitioner and former journalist, I have to take issue with Mr. Cohen, as so many others have done. Good PR people take great pains to tell their clients that lying or skirting the truth is not an option in communications with the media. That said, every "side" in a debate deserves a chance to be heard and have their position explained in a manner that is rationale and supported by the facts. It is up to reporters to ask the hard questions, not smear PR people for bringing them the information that helps prompt them.
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- Absolutely comical. An attorney and employee of CBS -- the most biased major "news" organization on earth -- pontificating regarding ethics. Hello kettle, you''re black. Signed, Slick and Untruthful in California
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- IOWEIGN, how ridiculous... it''s as if you are saying ethical PR professionals are responsible for SOMEONE else''s lies. I have no ability to influence the truth or lies that come from the leaders of our nation any more than you do. Come on, give me a break! What do you put your life''s blood, sweat and tears into? Let me tear down your credibility for a bit and accuse you of falsities, and see how that feels to you. We don''t protest too much. We''''ve been falsely accused with a broad brush in one quick stroke and are just trying to educate an ignorant public about the PR standards. Many have made excellent points about how not all practicing PR people are trained in and accredited by PRSA ... here''s an idea for you, try reading objectively imaginging the tables reversed.
Posted by EliskaF at 01:53 PM : Jun 02, 2008
You may not write the lies but you are the ones that pass them on or put the lipstick on the pig and try to pass it off as something it is not. - Reply to this comment
- So, in your response to our responses, you admitted to "hyperbole" when you said in your original piece that "Show me a PR person who is ''accurate'' and ''truthful,'' and I''ll show you a PR person who is unemployed." So you are saying by "hyperbole" that you were exaggerating? Sounds like "spin" to me. I''ve been a reporter and I am now a PR practitioner. I''ve seen liars and "spinners" in both. The only difference I can detect is that journalists tend to be more self-righteous about their ethics and less self-aware about their biases.
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- Mr. Cohen, judging by the comments on your article, I would say you have %u201C%u201Dhit the nail on the head%u201D%u201D.
Why else would so many, supposed, PR people respond so negatively to something at least 90% of Americans, indeed the entire world, already knows to be a matter of fact?
I also noticed that they used their usual, fact-reversing, rhetoric. - Reply to this comment
- Well, shame on Mr. Cohen and CBS News Sunday Morning. In an effort to come up with a new spin to a story that has been in the headlines all week, you decided to throw an entire profession under the bus as a way to garner attention for yourself and your news program. My esteemed collegues have responded more than adequately, but let me add that by being so accusatory of the entire public relations profession, you also indict the customers they serve and the journalists who depend upon these professionals to help them with a story. Stick to the "facts" of this story - about one press secretary who apparently lied at the request of his customer - The President - and didn''t have enough guts to walk away from this high ranking job when asked to violate his professional code of ethics - because obviously he wasn''t going to walk away because of his personal code of ethics.
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- Mr. Cohen:
That is easily one of the laziest and most ignorant pieces of so-called journalism that I have ever read. I''ve been a public relations consultant nearly all of my 26-year-long career, and adhering to the Code of Ethics is easy; you simply don''t take on a client whom you cannot trust and believe in. And when you do take on a client, you sit them down and say, "I am not a ''yes'' person. Let me introduce you to the PRSA Code of Ethics; this is how we will operate." You take care of your relationships with reporters like you would take care of diamonds, because you need to have complete credibility with those reporters for the next story you want to submit. If you''ve lied or been evasive, they won''t return your calls. So among other things, your diatribe infers that reporters swallow everything they''re told hook, line and sinker, and do no fact checking. Interesting. As my colleagues have said, we live in an age of complete transparency. You must not trust the public, Mr. Cohen. We are all more than capable of going online and finding any number of sources that will provide the truth. Granted, there are sources that provide falsehoods as well, but most people are quite good at ferreting out the truth for themselves. Speaking of sources: Normally, when someone writes in as lazy and ignorant a way as you did I would advise them to consider the source. Must we really do that with CBS News? - Kathryn D. Hubbell, MS, APR, Fellow PRSA
Member, PRSA Board of Directors - Reply to this comment
