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ethics
How many times have you been asked,"What is public relations?" The answer to this question strikes at the core of what PR practitioners strive to do each day: extract our companies' and clients' significant messages and disseminate that information in a truthful manner through a variety of media.
PR professionals make a commitment to truthfully and accurately inform targeted publics.The media should follow such guidelines as well.
Through their code of ethics, the Society of Professional Journalists encourages journalists to "Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two."
PR professionals should hold the media to a higher standard because the media are the public's source of information and the public believes much of what they read, see and hear.
Unfortunately, a higher standard has not been enforced, and the lack of accountability in the media seems to progressively worsen. In my media market, many of the builder/properties magazines and small local weekly newspapers tend to consistently run advertising adjacent to an article in which the advertiser is mentioned or featured. Even a few of our major networks have begun trying to pursue an ad contract in exchange for onair or Web coverage.
What I've discovered about the trend from these oudets is to mask this unethical blurring of the lines by calling the coverage "An expert feature series" or "Ask the expert." It's just another way to circumvent the fact that they are seeking cash for coverage with a blatant disregard for real news.
A personal experience
Recently, I was pitching several regional and national print trade publications regarding a large-scale project that my client completed. As I pitched my story concept, more than 25 percent of the editors focused heavily on whether I would like to advertise in their publications.
As I worked to pursue the placement for my client, these outlets were insistent on ad support as the prerequisite for editorial placement. Suffice it to say, due to that requirement, I was unable to secure placement from many of...