Good PR, bad PR…or not PR

Those of us in this profession that have made the decision to make a living the hard way by asking to be paid only if we actually land positive press coverage for our clients rather than ‘counsel’ them, may be passing on some good income these days. I hope it’s not a sign of the dour economic times, but it’s apparent there are a lot of clients out there in need of some solid counsel rather than publicity. Do Michael Phelps, A-Rod, Jessica Simpson, and continuing fan and press fav, Blagojevich, come to mind?

Maybe it’s a backlash to the seeming adulation and feel-good nature of the coverage of the historic inauguration and charismatic new president, but we, as represented by the media we subscribe to (and ingratiate ourselves to as PR people) lately seem to have veered toward a fascination to report and elevate the weaker and sillier side of our nature. It’s as if we needed a good old-fashioned, what my grandmother used to say, “come-uppence” for being so smug in our reporting of real news that seriously affects our lives and incomes. “Enough” said the media kings and the publicists that feed off of them…"bring back the court jesters!” And of course, there are those amongst us, more than happy to do so.

The fact that we’re in the midst of an important debate with valid issues on all sides of the aisle that will affect all of us in the most personal ways over the next few years does not preclude us from the enjoyment of entertainment news, of sports, of even some fluff to lighten our day. Not at all. We all need and deserve a guilty pleasure or “silly fix” once in a while. But to be transfixed on it, to have it become a story with legs is an embarrassment to the media covering it, the audiences into it, and to the PR-types behind the scenes promoting it for income and profit.

Having been the PR renegade for most of my working life, it’s not entirely comfortable for me to wear the cloak of professional indignation in discussing my brothers and sisters in the business. The battle I’ve waged against fat retainers and hourly fees versus a pay-for-performance model is not the issue here, however. Public relations and specifically media relations under any compensation model can be a really tough business with more than enough justified criticism from within and especially from without. But for that very reason, it’s especially important to note and separate the pros from those that simply feed off the weaker side of our and some of the media’s nature. Too many of us have worked way too hard for way too many years fighting to squeeze in some justified media attention for clients deserving of the public’s attention, to be lumped together with the self-anointed “PR Gurus” or “PR Impresarios.”

Call it and them what you may, but please don’t call it “good PR.”