As a former journalist of more years that I care to remember, I retain a hack’s instincts, despite being now ensconced within the warm embrace of the PR industry.
I have watched with sadness as the relationship between PRs and journalists has become increasingly imbalanced.
Not that many years ago, it was almost a level playing field, with informed and experienced journalists enjoying the tussle of wits with PR professionals. The fun was as much about “playing the game” as winning the argument.
But as the number of hacks has been whittled down, the ranks of PRs have swelled exponentially. For every reporter there is a legion of “communication professionals”.
This situation is unhealthy for both sides of the industry. It leads to poor quality journalism and a fanaticism to control the message by parts of the bloated PR industry.
A recent article by Emma Barnett, Women’s Editor at the Telegraph, really brought home this reality.
In the course of a telephone interview with Ella Henderson, the 17-year-old starlet of last year’s X Factor, a PR ‘minder’ called Russell, stepped in to stop Emma asking the ‘talent’ a very mundane question, on the grounds that it was not to do with the topic that she was supposed to be promoting. You can read the article here.
A few weeks ago, no less a diva than Quentin Tarintino refused to answer a question from Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy, on the grounds that it wasn’t a topic he wanted to discuss.
“Make no mistake, this is a commercial for my movie,” the great director proclaimed.
And then last week the poor UK Managing Director of Blackberry, Stephen Bates, gave such an appalling performance in a succession of broadcast interviews that the story became less about the launch of the company’s new handset and more about his refusal to answer simple questions.
He had been so over media trained that he gave the impression of being a minimum wage call centre operative, living in fear of being fired if he deviated from a pre-approved script.
At one point during his interview with BBC Radio 5, Nicky Campbell, the presenter, actually said, “it sounds like you are reading from a press release”.
Poor Mr Bates may have kept slavishly to his key message sheet, but he completely failed to sound like a human being.
So while PRs are now more common than urban foxes, it appears the industry’s ability to fall over its own expensive shoelaces is undiminished.
But more worryingly, all three of these examples point to a growing conviction within parts of the PR industry that editorial output can be completely controlled.
How very dare journalists ask a question that might be unwelcome?! It seems like some ‘reputation guardians’ actually believe that journalists, in exchange for access, have no right to ask what the hell they like. And if they do, then the client can safely ignore the question.
Well I am sorry if this might come as a shock to some of my industry peers, but newsflash – your condescending and bullying attitude towards journalists makes your clients look like fools.
There are ways of deflecting a question, but simply ignoring it or refusing to provide any answer at all is absurd.
Which is why I applaud Emma Barnett’s decision to publish her article on the Ella Henderson PR fiasco. High time that sort of behaviour was brought to book.
Andrew Murray-Watson, Head of Corporate
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